Tablet Sales To Soar To 119 Million This Year
Tablet PC sales will reach 119 million units this year, according to research firm Gartner. Apple is by far the dominant player in the market, and Gartner forecast that will be the case for…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Best Buy CEO Fired, As 24/7 Wall St. Suggested
24/7 Wall St. has said for over a year that Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) could not be turned around under incompetent CEO Brian Dunn. Clueless Best Buy founder Richard M. Schulze must finally have…
More Debate Over National Health Care Costs
Who is right about what health care costs will be in the U.S. over the next decade? No one. The figure is too hard to come by, as is any number based on complex…
How Can Chinese and German Exports Rise?
The Federal Statistics Office in Germany said exports rose 1.6% in February, compared to January. Also, the country’s trade surplus rose to 14.7 billion euros. The EU economy is too weak for the rise…
America’s Poorest Colleges Get Poorer
The Chronicle of Higher Education put out its annual salary survey for 2011/2012. Most of the headlines about the study centered on full professor pay at Harvard, which averaged $198,400. Professors at nine universities…
What’s Important in the Financial World (4/10/2012) Sony Loses More Money, Northeast Refineries Shut
The Sony (NYSE: SNE) train wreck continues. The Japanese company has appointed a new CEO and will fire 10,000 workers. But annual earnings for the fiscal year are much worse than expected. Sony lost $6.4…
Media Digest (4/10/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Charles Blahous, a George Mason University research fellow, reports that the new health care law could add $530 billion to the deficit. (Washington Post) Fed Chairman Bernanke says many banks need larger capital buffers.…
Drop In Refineries Threatens Higher Gas Prices
There is a relatively new reason to believe gas prices will rise, at least in part of the US. CNNMoney reports that almost 50% of the gas refinery capacity in the Northeast will be…
Honda Goes Into Crowded China Market
Honda (NYSE: HMC) is the latest multinational car company to attack China’s vehicle market. People’s Republic drivers bought 18 million cars and light trucks last year, well ahead of the 12.5 million sold in…
Market Puzzled By Facebook Buyout Of Instagram
Facebook is rich and has money to burn. Why not spend it on odd acquisitions? The fight over the questionable value of social networks, fueled by the upcoming IPO of Facebook, got a boost…
Sony Losses $6.4 Billion
The Sony (NYSE: SNE) train wreck continues. The Japanese company has appointed a new CEO and will fire 10,000 workers. But, annual earnings for the year which just ended are much worse than expected.…
AOL Sells Patents To Microsoft For $1.1 Billion, Will Return Some To Shareholders
The promise that AOL’s (NYSE: AOL) patents have value was quickly realized as the firm sold Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) $1.1 billion worth of patents. The patents numbered about 800. The news should shut up…
The Eight Countries Taxing Business Most
Many of the world’s industrialized countries have scrambled to cut their corporate tax rates to stay competitive in the face of the economic crisis. The United States is not among them. Recently, the U.S. became…
AT&T Union and Sony Layoffs: Worker Haves and Have Nots
AT&T (NYSE: T) cannot fire workers it does not want. Sony (NYSE: SNE) easily can fire its unwanted workers. Leverage is at the heart of employee power, now that the recession has ended and companies do not…
North Korea, Another Threat to Markets
Some nations with the world’s smallest gross domestic products could help decide the fates of a number of worldwide markets in the next several months. This despite what appears to be a mending global economy.…
Gas Prices Drop, but Not Enough
The rapid rise in gasoline prices has stalled, although the plateau may only last a few weeks. The AAA Fuel Gauge report shows that the price of a gallon of regular, based on the…
What’s Important in the Financial World (4/10/2012) Chinese Inflation, iPhone 5
China’s inflation rose to 3.6% in March, mostly because of food prices. A number of economists said the move was an anomaly. That is only true if food supplies stabilize, which is by no…
Media Digest (4/9/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Sony (NYSE: SNE) to fire 10,000 people as its tries to improve its long-term profit growth. (Nikkei) The number of U.S. public jobs continues to fall along with tax receipts. (Reuters) Iraq says political…
Bloomin’ Brands IPO
Bloomin’ Brands, the owner of Outback Steakhouse, will try to raise $300 million through an IPO. The deal may succeed although the company’s other brands are hardly known–Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Fleming’s Prime…
Apple iPhone 5 Almost Here?
There is more speculation about the release of the new Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5 than about who will win the presidential election. Both may be settled at about the same time. Companies which…