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10 Jun 2009 10:41

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Biz: Legal issues pushed aside, Chrysler and Fiat tie the knot

  • Last night, the Supreme Court pushed the biggest obstacle out of the way for the merger of the century … well, until GM has to do something similar. source
  • This morning, Fiat officially owns 20% of Chrysler, a share that could go up to 35% if it goes well. The UAW owns the biggest share, however, at 55%. source
  • Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne sounds upbeat about the sale: “This is a very significant day … for the global automotive industry as a whole,” he said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Jun 2009 09:21

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Biz, Tech: Google’s CEO sez Microsoft is just making noise with Bing

  • It’s not the first entry for Microsoft. They do this about once a year. I don’t think Bing’s arrival has changed what we’re doing. We are about search, we’re about making things enormously successful, by virtue of innovation.
  • Google CEO Eric Schmidt • Who says that, despite Bing’s early popularity, they’re not a threat and will “evolve to a different strategy” that won’t affect Google. In other words, MS is rattling their cage again and not really hurting anyone. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

10 Jun 2009 09:07

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Biz: Banks paid off their TARP loans, but they’re still on the hook

  • $5.1 billion in warrants are still owed to the U.S. by big banks source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2009 23:03

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Biz, Politics: Stupid idea: Charging $100 a year for an e-mail newsletter

  • Good idea Billboard Magazine has for years offered a daily, informative e-mail newsletter that told readers about their latest free and paid content, on top of telling you who was going to the top of the charts. If you’re a chart nerd like us, reading data about music is actually interesting. It was by no means junk mail: We looked forward to reading about the latest music-industry trends in our inbox every day. source
  • Good idea Billboard Magazine has for years offered a daily, informative e-mail newsletter that told readers about their latest free and paid content, on top of telling you who was going to the top of the charts. If you’re a chart nerd like us, reading data about music is actually interesting. It was by no means junk mail: We looked forward to reading about the latest music-industry trends in our inbox every day.
  • Bad idea Today, after numerous changes to the format, Billboard informed its subscribers that it would charge them $100 a year ($2 a week!) for content that they used to give away for free – an e-mail that, throughout its history, essentially linked to a Web site. (Now it offers up a useless PDF. Which makes no sense. What, are we going to print it? Why discourage the positive Web traffic?) source
  • Good idea Billboard Magazine has for years offered a daily, informative e-mail newsletter that told readers about their latest free and paid content, on top of telling you who was going to the top of the charts. If you’re a chart nerd like us, reading data about music is actually interesting. It was by no means junk mail: We looked forward to reading about the latest music-industry trends in our inbox every day.
  • Bad idea Today, after numerous changes to the format, Billboard informed its subscribers that it would charge them $100 a year ($2 a week!) for content that they used to give away for free – an e-mail that, throughout its history, essentially linked to a Web site. (Now it offers up a useless PDF. Which makes no sense. What, are we going to print it? Why discourage the positive Web traffic?)
  • Bad example Why does this bother us so much? Well, it’s a poorly-done example of the trend towards pay walls for content, which newspapers are about to screw up. With all that niche content, they should set the example for everyone. Instead, they’re charging for what should be a promotional tool. Have you not heard of Twitter, guys? E-mail is the same way! Sigh. We digress. What do you think? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2009 21:48

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Biz: The Chrysler/Fiat deal: Screwing over dealerships en masse

  • 789 Chrysler dealerships are losing their contracts source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2009 21:37

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Biz, U.S.: SCOTUS uses super-tight language to allow the Chrysler sale

  • Our assessment of the stay factors here is based on the record and proceedings in this case alone.
  • Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg • In her four-paragraph decision in “Indiana State Police Pension Trust v. Chrysler LLC,” which was the main roadblock in the way of the Chrysler-Fiat sale. Why the wording? It’s likely they didn’t want to set a standard for any sort of GM sale. The decision, by the way, hinged on whether Chrysler was being discriminatory towards the pension program in its actions, which it wasn’t. Everyone’s getting screwed the same way. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2009 15:04

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Biz, Politics: Explaining himself: Why a Boston Globe reporter voted no to cuts

  • They didn’t want more work from us, they didn’t want less holidays, they didn’t want fewer vacations, anything we could have offered besides just our money, they were uninterested. And I feel like they were insensitive to a lot of people who have already sacrificed quite a bit for them.
  • Reporter Scott Allen • A member of the Boston Newspaper Guild who voted no on a 8% pay cut, and since the measure failed, guaranteed himself a 23% pay cut. He claims that The New York Times Co. stacked the cards against employees who hadn’t gotten a raise in four years due to wage freezes. Of course, in the wake of all of this, the paper could close. Scary. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

09 Jun 2009 11:10

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Biz, U.S.: Get ready for a flood of bailout money back into the government

  • $68 billion is coming back their way from 10 bailed-out banks source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2009 09:49

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Biz: Boston Globe workers: Say no to a pay cut, get a much bigger one

  • -8.4% Amount the New York Times Company wanted to cut their pay, per agreement by the union’s guild. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jun 2009 17:03

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Biz, U.S.: The Supreme Court blocks the Chrysler/Fiat sale. Whoa!

  • Wow. That was unexpected. The one thing that could stop the Chrysler/Fiat sale just happened. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delayed the sale “pending further order.” Three Indiana state pension and construction funds were among the foremost opponents of the sale, which they felt left them financially out of the loop. The final sale, which the bankrupt company was counting on, could be delayed for weeks while the court makes a decision. Stay tuned to this Spidey-station. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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