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16 Jul 2011 12:40

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Biz: Activist investor Carl Icahn develops strange taste for bleach

  • Well, as long as he doesn’t drink it. You use Clorox, right? You use it to spray stuff? To disinfect surfaces? To bleach your clothes? Well, Carl Icahn, who doesn’t exactly carry the best reputation for company turnarounds but was a real-life influence for Gordon Gekko (seriously — read up on Trans World Airlines and consider how much it compares to the plot of the original “Wall Street“), recently put up an insane, unsolicited buyout offer for the cleaning-supply country, which (think about this next time you eat a salad) also makes Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing. Slowly but surely, Icahn became the company’s largest shareholder, and now he’s gunning for a whitewash. We could keep going with these bleach jokes all day, so don’t tempt us. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2011 19:12

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Biz: Looking for a way to avoid the traffic snarl on LA’s 405?

  • $4 jetBlue Carmageddon flights from Long Beach to Burbank source
  • » This is a pretty genius marketing move, not the least of all because it provides some potential relief from what Los Angeles authorities clearly fear could be a gridlock of epic proportions this weekend — no local government idly urges its citizens not to go places on their freeways, as it’s bad for the economy for people not to be out and about. The $4 flights are the shortest distance tickets jetBlue has ever sold, and they’ll take about 20 minutes.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2011 10:28

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Biz, World: Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB deal straight-up goes bust, painfully

  • We believed that the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation would benefit both companies but it has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate.
  • News Corp. chairman Chase Carey • Explaining why the company chose to drop out of the coveted BSkyB deal  which they had been gunning for for a while. However, this mess with News of the World happened, and here we are. Right now, the company’s problems center on the United Kingdom, but Sen. Jay Rockefeller is threatening to give them some increased stateside scrutiny. This could be bad. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jul 2011 14:27

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Biz, Politics: Unemployment numbers show Obama’s major hurdle in 2012

  • 9.2%unemployment rate, which jumped last month unexpectedly
  • 18,000number of jobs added, which is straight-up anemic source
  • » Why this stinks for Obama: Early on in his administration, he said it wouldn’t go higher than 8.2%. While unemployment declined for a little while, it’s been steadily going up again. The Obama administration is trying to downplay the issue, but it’s proving difficult, and could prove his major flaw in the upcoming election. It’s an easy target for GOP candidates. Instead of talking about how he’s helped turn the economy around, Obama is going to have to fight back by saying how the Republicans will make it worse, and let’s face it: That doesn’t sound like such a great defense.
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jun 2011 12:35

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Biz: Ralph Nader, activist investor? A consumer advocate’s Cisco grievance

  • If they can’t give shareholders value, then they have to give cash.
  • Ralph Nader • Playing activist investor in the wake of frustration with Cisco’s stock. Nader, an investor in the company (he has 18,000 shares), wrote a letter a while back complaining about the company’s low dividends, despite the fact that their stock performance has been week and they have tons of cash in the bank, and the “powerlessness of owner shareholders” that resulted from this. It’s pretty weird that the consumer advocate, of all people, is taking on this role, but hey, maybe he just thinks their shares are unsafe at any speed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jun 2011 11:03

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Biz: Oil crisis: We’re dipping into the reserves due to Libya crisis

  • 60 million number of barrels of oil the International Energy Agency plans to release from the strategic reserves, at the behest of the U.S. and 27 allies
  • 2 million number of barrels that will see release each day for the first 30 days of the strategic release — the third release of its kind in 30 years source
  • » Blame the conflict in Libya: The supply of crude oil has struggled in the wake of the instability in Libya, which cut off a key supply of oil and has had a bit of a ripple effect on gas prices. Other oil-producing countries chose not to boost their output of oil amid prices above $100 a barrel, which led to the current decision to tap into the strategic reserves. As you might guess, the stock market isn’t digging this news at all, and oil futures dipped over 5 percent in reaction to the news — still over $100 a barrel, though.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2011 10:33

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Biz, U.S.: Supreme Court: Walmart’s massive sex bias lawsuit won’t go forward

  • 9-0 Walmart won’t face a massive class-action lawsuit source
  • » So, what’s next? Well, the 1.3 million women who claimed a role in the discrimination lawsuit can pursue their claims individually, but that probably won’t happen. The stakes are also lower as the scope has been lowered. Walmart also faces less pressure to settle such cases. The decision reverses a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case that favored the employees in the class-action lawsuit, and would’ve been a huge deal had it been decided the other way.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

19 Jun 2011 23:47

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Biz: Home foreclosure backlogs laughably long in some states

  • 62 year backlog for foreclosures in New York state (no really) source
  • » And they’re far from alone: Nearby New Jersey has a backlog stretching back a solid 49 years, and noted foreclosure mecca Florida has a decade-long backlog. A big reason? The courts are overworked on this issue and can only handle so many cases. But even in the 27 states where courts aren’t involved, the wait is often still significant — at least a year in many cases. Beyond the courts, the entire system is overworked — and lenders seem to be in no rush to add any more repossessed houses to their balance sheet.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jun 2011 22:56

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Biz, Tech: Skype’s rewarding executives for Microsoft merger by firing them

  • cause A little while back, Microsoft agreed to buy out Skype — an $8 billion agreement, the largest in the tech titan’s history by far. The deal, a surprising one by any stretch, just passed regulatory scrutiny.
  • effectBefore the company’s merger with Microsoft goes final, the comany is reportedly firing a bunch of top executives — timing it so that the workers don’t get full paydays for the merger. Lamesauce. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Jun 2011 18:04

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Biz: United Airlines dodged a bullet with their system shutdown

  • 10k number of flights canceled after a December snowstorm
  • 9k number of flights canceled after a similar January storm
  • 31 number of flights canceled due to United’s data outage Friday source
  • » That doesn’t seem like many, right? Yeah, you’re right … while there were another 105 delayed flights worldwide, the fact of the matter is, it happened on a Friday night – the best possible time for a total system shutdown. While travelers were understandably angry, it was the difference between thousands of angry people and hundreds of thousands of angry people.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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