Spirits Airlines Baggage Charge Revolt
One of the press’ favorite business stories this week is about Spirit Airline’s plan to charge as much as $100 for big carry on bags. The airline sets its ticket prices so low that…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Walmart Sued Over Bribery By CalSTRS
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) sued Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) because the world’s largest retailer may have violated Mexican and US laws. At issue is the bribery, or alleged bribery scandal, at Wal-Mart’s…
Facebook CEO Zuckerberg Get Rich
courtesy Facebook Inc.The focus of the Facebook IPO turned to the wealth of founder Mark Zuckerberg, again. The issue is so much more important than the company itself, or its new investors, that Bloomberg…
Europe Results Rip GM
Results from Europe hurt GM (NYSE: GM) sales in the latest quarter, hurting numbers as it did with Ford (NYSE: F) GM’s Opel division has been a problem for some time. The company is…
Chesapeake Energy Board Scandal
The Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) board has gone so far as to strip CEO Aubrey K. McClendon of his role as chairman. Its members say they will change McClendon’s controversial compensation plan, which gives him a stake in some of Chesapeake’s…
What About That Nokia Merger with RIM?
NokiaA merger between Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) will never happen. RIM’s BlackBerry runs its own operating system. Nokia has an alliance with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to run its Windows mobile OS.…
What The Street Tells About the Future of Online News
Jim Cramer, one of the founders of The Street (NASDAQ: TST), recently said the company is in turmoil. The firm, best known for its online financial site, has just replaced its CEO and its…
What’s Important in the Financial World (5/3/2012) Chrysler Plants Open, Roubini’s Iran Worries
The government of Spain got lucky. It planned to raise over 2 billion euros in debt. The amount sold was more than that — 2.5 billion. The international capital markets ignored Spain’s high unemployment…
Media Digest (5/3/2012) Reuters, WSJ, FT, Bloomberg
The European Central Bank will not act to help growth in the region, but it will seek solutions to Spain’s problems. (Reuters) Nokia (NYSE: NOK) promises to build new handsets to stimulate demand. (Reuters)…
The Cars Americans Will Not Buy
April car sales data are out, and they are not cause for celebration. Though sales are up 2% overall from last April, they have cooled somewhat since the February and March run. There are a…
Obama Summer Jobs
President Obama promised that new programs would provide 110,000 jobs for inner city youngsters this summer. The jobs will be added because of funds put through local programs in Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco.…
Chrysler Keeps Plants Open
The improbable recovery of Chrysler continues, just three years after a government supported Chapter 11. Most analysts believed that Chrysler would never have the funds to launch enough new vehicles to compete with larger…
Roubini Worries About Iran Crisis
Nouriel Roubini has come up with a new reason for concern that the global economy will come close to collapse next year. He told an audience at Milken Institute Global Conference that a military…
Spain Bond Auction’s Minor Success
The government of Spain got lucky. The international capital markets ignored its high unemployment and recession. And, maybe Spain’s banks and other financial institutions interested in the survival of the country were aggressive buyers.…
The Least Powerful CEOs in America
It is not unusual for large American public companies to be controlled by a founder, a founding family or a corporation that bought out the large majority of shareholders at some time in the…
The Most Powerful CEOs in America
Several CEOs and founders of well-known American companies have complete control over their companies. Through voting power, they control the boards and strategic decisions of these corporations. The best current example is Facebook, which…
The European Recession Spreads
nationsonline.orgThere was no good news out of Europe today, which makes it like most days over the past two months. On top of labor strikes due to austerity, changes in leadership of some countries…
As Stock Market Hits Four-Year High, So Does Confidence
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has reached a four-year high and has started to close in on its highest level ever. The index would only have to rise at its current rate to breach…
Samsung’s Sales Surge Continues
Data released last week showed that Samsung passed Nokia (NYSE: NOK) as the top handset maker in the world. Just as impressive, in the high-end smartphone sector, Samsung moved ahead of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).…
What’s Important in the Financial World (5/2/1012) Dow at Four-Year High, Facebook IPO Roadshow
There are rumors that the Facebook “roadshow” to present the company’s prospects to investors will begin this week and that the initial public offering of the social network will come before month’s end. None…