CEOs to Fire in 2013
courtesy of Groupon Inc.A number of large public company CEOs have come under fire in the past year because of the extremely poor financial results of the public corporations they run. Some, like Meg…
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Douglas A. McIntyre
American Worry About Fiscal Cliff Grows
ThinkstockData from MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) showed that holiday spending rose much less than forecast. Car sales for December will be released in a week and may show the same. Concerns about the fiscal cliff…
Media Digest (12/26/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Jaguar Land Rover will recall some cars in China over safety concerns. (Reuters) Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) blames Amazon.com Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) e-commerce outsource operation for a Christmas Eve disruption of the service. (Reuters)…
Holiday Sales Falter — MasterCard
ThinkstockMasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) advisors SpendingPulse reports that improvement in holiday sales this year have been the lowest since the start of the recession in 2008. If the information is correct, it probably indicates that…
What Walmart and Amazon Stock Prices Tell About the Holidays
courtesy of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.What happened to bricks-and-mortar and e-commerce sales this holiday season? If Wall St.’s opinion has validity, online operations did well and old-school stores did not. The price of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s (NYSE:…
What’s Important in the Financial World (12/24/2012)
Frank Golhen, via Wikimedia CommonsNo Peugeot-Opel Marriage Peugeot, though in desperate need for a cash infusion, will not try to bolster its fortunes through a merger with General Motors Co.’s (NYSE: GM) Opel division,…
Can Free Shipping Beat the Fiscal Cliff?
Wikimedia CommonsFree shipping has become one of the greatest concerns related to the profit margins at e-commerce operations like Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). Each item shipped free makes money for United Parcel Service Inc.…
Low Gas Prices Versus the Fiscal Cliff
ThinkstockGasoline prices have hit a 2012 low, according to the widely followed Lundberg Survey and the AAA Fuel Gauge. Lundberg reported that the average price nationwide for a gallon of regular over the two weeks…
Media Digest (12/24/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
courtesy of Facebook Inc.The heated competition between Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is expected to heighten next year. (Reuters) The government of China says the antibiotics used in Yum! Brands Inc.…
The Mayan Apocalypse: Live Blogging The End Of The World (Updated)
Thinkstock9:20 PM EST: Europe and its ancient capitals are safe to be destroyed at a later date by austerity, unemployment, unforgivable debt loads, and the disappearance of the EU. Three quarters of the world’s population…
What’s Important in the Financial World (12/21/2012)
Frank Golhen, via Wikimedia CommonsU.K. Nears Recession Add the United Kingdom to the long line of countries that have gotten into more economic trouble that expected. The Office for National Statistics cut its figure…
Major Web Brands Struggle to Make Money
Nielsen released its top Web brands for 2012, and comScore its most visited sites list for November. The two lists overlap, almost completely, when their top 10 are lined up against one another.
A Guided Tour of the NRA Website
The NRA calls its website the NRA Digital Network (nra.org). It contains nine high-definition video channels, news on legislation about your right to keep and bear arms and a “Thank you for visiting — explore and…
Can States Make Up for Tax Increases?
ThinkstockEach day it becomes more likely that Americans face higher taxes, as the battle over the fiscal cliff appears almost certain to stretch into 2013. Many economists expect higher taxes to effect lower class Americans…
Media Digest (12/21/2012) Reuters, WSJ, Financial Times
courtesy of AOL, IncResearch In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) settle disputes over wireless technology. (Reuters) Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) continues to press for a ban on the sales of…
What’s Important in the Financial World (12/20/2012)
ThinkstockGun and Ammo Sales Gun and ammo sales have surged, so say several surveys. This is happening at the same time as politicians start to offer gun control legislation and many Americans press for…
Car Safety: Hyundai and Toyota Drop the Ball
ThinkstockThe Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) regularly ranks auto models of safety, using a series of crash tests. The primary criticism of the IIHS is that a very large number of cars and light…
Home Prices Soar, but Not in Largest Markets
ThinkstockReal estate research firm Zillow reports that November home prices rose 5.2% over the same month of last year. This was the largest improvement since August 2006. But the national data was misleading. The…
U.S. Could Have Let GM Fail on Its Own
Wikimedia CommonsIn the light of a decision by the U.S. Treasury to sell the remainder of its shares in General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) at a loss of $12 billion to taxpayers, proponents of the bailout…
Media Digest (12/20/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NY Times, FT, Bloomberg
thinkstockThe Bank of Japan begins new stimulus, pressed by an administration just voted into office. (Reuters) IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) may buy NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYSE: NYX). (Reuters) Kodak sells $525 million in patents…