The 15 Countries With The Highest Inflation Rates
Like death and taxes, no one escapes the ravages of inflation. These days, it’s the talk of folks from Caracas to Lagos to Moscow. Americans who are complaining about the rising cost of living…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
The 24/7 Wall St./Flame Index: Companies With The Worst Press (5/3/2011)
The Flame Index started as a research tool in 2008 at the NY Innovation Design Lab (nyidlab). It was used as a general metric to evaluate companies and their risk in the media. Publicly…
America’s Worst Board Members: Thomas J. Tisch Of Sears Holdings
Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) has disappointed its shareholders so many times since the company was formed in 2005 as a marriage of Sears and K-Mart, that the disappointments can hardly be counted. The retail…
Daily Austerity Watch: America’s Nutty Attitude Toward Taxes
During our brief medical leave, Daily Austerity Watch come to the not-so-original conclusion that Americans have a nutty attitude about taxes. We are not talking Charlie Sheen crazy, but it’s awfully close. Take the…
The Twitter-24/7 Wall St. Market Report (5/3/2011) Pfizer Earnings, NYSE M&A
Twitter has, by most estimates, 175 million members, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than one million…
Top Active Trader Alert Stocks (ANAD, CTSH, KLIC)
Active traders and day traders have many stocks to choose from this Tuesday morning. We are tracking news and moves in shares of Anadigics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANAD), Cognizant Technology (NASdAQ: CTSH), and Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:…
Gasoline About To Reach All-Time High Of $4.11
Regular gas prices are only three pennies short of $4, according to the closely followed AAA gauge of national daily averages. But, $4 may not be the threshold that eventually turns the halting advance…
Sony Will Look Outside For New CEO
Howard Stinger, Sony’s current CEO, is 69 and most analysts expected him to step down in the next year. The hack of the PlayStation Network, which has happened not once but twice will speed…
The Ten Cities Where People Cannot Afford To Rent
Some housing economists believe that there is a sea change taking place in home ownership in the US. Many of the people who bought homes during the boom years of 2000-2006 have since lost…
Media Digest (5/3/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
The Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) and ICE bid for NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) became hostile. (Reuters) A new hack put 25 million more PS accounts at risk, Sony (NYSE: SNE) said. (Reuters) India raise rates…
Sony Hacks Go From Bad To Worse
The press reaction to Sony’s (NYSE: SNE) latest news about another hack of its PlayStation network is predictable. How could it happen again? Sony just disclosed that 77 million of its customers’ records may…
The Worst Best Companies Lists
Harris Interactive came out with its new “Reputation Quotient” list. The research firm has conducted the study for 12 consecutive years. The poll is based on views about the “60 most visible companies” in…
Large American Companies Excluding Women And Minorities
There are still a few large American public companies that have kept women and minorities off of their boards. It must be hard to do in an age of activism which makes their efforts…
Debate Over Debit Card Regs Misses Some Potentially Pro-Consumer Rules
by Marian Wang, ProPublica, April 29, 2011, 11:58 a.m.April 28, 2011 Controversy over the Fed’s proposed debit card regulations has largely focused on the proposed cap on interchange fees—the fees banks receive from merchants for…
Top Active Trader Alert Stocks (CEPH, DISH, SATS, TEVA, TIVO, SPPI)
Active traders and day traders have many stocks to choose from this Monday morning. We are tracking news and moves in shares of Cephalon, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEPH), Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH), Echostar (NASDAQ: SATS), Teva Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TEVA), Tivo,…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (5/2/2011) FTC Google Probe, Facebook Revenue
Updated throughout the day. The FTC has readied a complete investigation into Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) dominance in search. (Bloomberg) A sale of Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) could happen as early as this week…
Chrysler Profits: A Victory For Downsizing
Chrysler made money in the first quarter, a victory for the downsizing of the US car companies and modest vindication of the taxpayer bailouts of the auto industry. The Treasury will still lose money…
No bin Laden Rally
There was little market reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden and there is not likely to be one. European markets were barely higher after the news. France’s CAC 40 was up only…
Greece: Extended Payments Another Name For Default
The Greek government has begun to float the trial balloon of a lengthened period over which it repays its 110 billion euro bailout loans. Greek Finance Minister Georges Papaconstantinou once again ruled out a…
What Would Push Gas Prices Back To $3?
AAA reports that the average price of a gallon of gasoline yesterday was $3.943. A year ago, that figure was $2.885. The price of regular in many large states like California and New York…