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19 Aug 2011 11:11

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Biz, Tech: Hewlett Packard’s stock reflects yesterday’s poor decision-making

  • » Investors were NOT happy with the news: HP fell down to its lowest level in years — a level so low that they last time it was at this nadir, Carly Fiorina had just left the company. We think this should tell HP something — killing off the race horse (WebOS) immediately after it starts the race is terrible business strategy, and investors will not react kindly to this. That was your future, HP, and you blew it because you had no idea how to feasibly make it work.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Aug 2011 01:57

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Biz: Bank of America dropping some assets. By “assets,” we mean people.

  • 10,000+ number of workers expected to lose their jobs in a company restructuring; that’s 3.5 percent of the workforce
  • 3,500 workers could get laid off this quarter alone, which is happening in efforts to stage a company turnaround source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2011 11:52

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Biz: Mortgage rates fall to their lowest level in 50 years

  • 4.15% the current rate for a 30-year fixed loan source
  • » To explain why this is important: Mortgage rates tend to go down when people aren’t buying homes, as an incentive to get them to buy. When the economy was doing well back around 2000, this rate was around 8 percent. Now, the rate is so low that the last time it was this low, 30-year fixed loans weren’t even widely available and the numbers were based on 20 or 25-year fixed loans. This particular statistic has been below 5 percent for the entire year, minus around two weeks.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Aug 2011 11:22

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Biz: S&P facing Justice Department scrutiny over mortgage securities ratings

  • what The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether S&P kept the credit ratings on certain bonds backed by mortgage debt higher in an effort to protect the company’s business concerns.
  • why See: The financial crisis, which happened in part due to toxic mortgage securities that had inflated credit ratings. S&P’s ratings played a huge role in this whole mess, BTW. source
  • » And in case you were wondering: This investigation began before S&P lowered the U.S. credit rating, though there’s a good chance it will now be informed by it. Anyway, if you don’t understand the credit ratings issue, here’s a good way to put it: Companies pay the agencies for high ratings.  Kinda like if Warner Bros. paid Roger Ebert to recommend the latest Harry Potter movie. Now imagine if Ebert recommended “Birdemic” based on his financial interests. This would be extremely unethical behavior for journalists. But did S&P do something like that?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Aug 2011 22:16

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Biz: Just what we all need: Wells Fargo to introduce a new fee on debit cards

  • 5 states will get a new $3 monthly fee from Wells Fargo; hooray!!! source
  • » Is one of them yours? Debit card users in Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada and Georgia could see a charge of $3 per month. Want to avoid the fee? Either sign up for a special account or simply stop using your debit card. Simple, right?
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Aug 2011 02:48

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Biz: Starbucks CEO to corporations: Get off your butt and hire some people!

  • Record levels of cash are piling up in corporate treasuries, idling. The only way to break this cycle of fear is to break it.
  • Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz • Following the lead of Warren Buffett and pushing for more responsibility from those that can afford it. While Buffett went after super-rich taxpayers; Schultz instead is going after corporations that are sitting on piles of cash, yet are staying on the sidelines and choosing not to hire more people — or worse, putting that money into political campaigns in hopes of putting business-friendly leadership in power in 2012. While Starbucks has had union issues and gay rights issues crop up recently, the company does have a reputation for treating its employees better than most corporations of its size. Kudos, Howard. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Aug 2011 10:04

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Biz, Tech: Google to buy Motorola Mobility: More on the blockbuster deal of the day

  • $12.5 billion to buy a key seller of Android phones
  • 17,000 number of issued patents the mobility side of Motorola owns, which would now be Google’s; Motorola split in half back in January
  • 7,500 number of patent filings made under Motorola Mobility’s name; these patents are almost as valuable to Google as the phones source
  • » Google stocks didn’t react well: While an argument could be made that this is a great move for Google, investors appear to be at least somewhat spooked, with Google’s stock currently down despite the more positive market at large. Is it because the company has never really had any sort of success in the hardware business? And what does this mean for HTC or Samsung or all the other big Android makers?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

10 Aug 2011 14:10

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Biz, World: French credit weaknesses pushing markets down worldwide

  • The cost of insuring France’s debt rose to a record high today. And unlike the United States, France can’t just increase their money supply to pay its creditors. Partly as a result, it’s the most indebted of all European AAA-rated countries. It’s having a ripple effect that’s driving markets down worldwide. While S&P and the two other major ratings firms say they have no plans to downgrade France’s credit rating, it’s evident that investors are not as confident in the country’s financial situation. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Aug 2011 10:30

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Biz: Striking Verizon worker: They want to turn us into “Wal-Mart workers”

  • All the benefits that we’ve worked and fought for, 30 and 40 years, they want to take off the table … they want to make us like Wal-Mart workers. No benefits and low pay.
  • Striking Reading, Mass. Verizon worker Paul Murphy • Offering his take on the negotiations that led to the first strike Verizon’s had in over a decade. The strike, which involves the company’s landline workers, flared up after the company pushed to make it easier to fire workers and give raises based on performance, not seniority. The company says that the workers are among the highest-paid telecommunications workers in the industry, and that they have no plans to outsource workers. (h/t John Ness) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Aug 2011 10:07

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Biz: Whole Foods learns that Ramadan promotions are headache-inducing

  • claim After the company faced weeks of criticism from right-wing blogs who perhaps equate Muslims with terrorism too quickly, Houston Press claimed that Whole Foods backed away from a Ramadan promotion, which was meant as groundbreaking but instead created a bunch of headaches for the company. Fail.
  • rebuttal However, Whole Foods claims that they never ended the promotion. “We never sent a communication from our headquarters requesting stores take down signs or remove parts from this promotion,” the company tweeted. Instead, they say one regional branch decided to back away from the promotion (which led to the criticism). source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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