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09 May 2009 22:11

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Biz, Culture: How the KFC/Oprah free chicken thing blew up in KFC’s face

  • After famously being known as a source of fattening fried chicken, KFC launches a new brand of grilled chicken. source
  • To convince people to give them a chance and rethink the brand, KFC puts a free chicken coupon on their Web site. source
  • KFC then promotes the deal on Oprah’s kingmaking TV show, causing huge visibility and demand for the coupons. source
  • The coupons get redeemed en masse, creating huge lines at the restaurants that were way bigger than they anticipated. source
  • After being unable to keep up with the demand, KFC canceled the offer, pissing people off. Idiots. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 21:20

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Biz, U.S.: The recession reminded people to actually save money

  • -2.7% the savings rate in 2005 – in other words, people were spending more than they earned. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 14:49

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Biz, U.S.: Obama wants a credit card regulatory bill on his desk ASAP

  • There is no time for delay. We need a durable and successful flow of credit in our economy, but we can’t tolerate profits that depend upon misleading working families. Those days are over.
  • President Barack Obama • In his weekly radio address. Obama wants a bill that limits some of the more predatory aspects of the credit industry. The Credit Card Holders’ Bill of Rights, currently waiting on a vote in the Senate after it passed the House, is such a bill, but the banking industry is fighting it. Obama wants a bill on his desk by Memorial Day. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 May 2009 14:25

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Biz, U.S.: Jerks causing Chrysler bankruptcy drama stop being jerks

  • The fact simply is … our group has become too small to have a voice within the bankruptcy.
  • Stairway Capital Management • In a statement about leaving the small group of “Non-TARP Lenders,” which complicated Chrysler’s life and helped lead to their bankruptcy. Larger fund OppenheimerFunds Inc. also backed down, leaving a much smaller group of investors opposed to the Obama administration’s plan to restructure the automaker’s debt. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 May 2009 11:50

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Biz: Think GM is doing really bad? Check out Toyota’s losses.

  • $4.4 billion in annual losses – their first down year since 1950 source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 May 2009 21:04

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Biz, U.S.: Why the stress tests should have Americans stressed out

  • $75 billion in capital needs to be raised by the banks who failed the stress test source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 May 2009 09:32

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Biz, Tech: Protip: Want venture capital? Make a cloud computing startup.

  • Apparently, it’s the big thing for investors right now. Despite the lack of name recognition, there’s a heavy amount of interest in companies who are involved in cloud computing – i.e. using a huge cluster of servers to run powerful applications, rather than forcing those apps to run on home computers. Anonymous companies like Engine Yard and Elastra – who run services to keep those cloud computing apps afloat – are able to get tens of millions in investments in a down economy. Did someone hear the sound of a gold rush? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

07 May 2009 09:03

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Biz, Politics, U.S.: Timothy Geithner sounds like a smart guy in this NYT op-ed

  • The effect of this capital assessment will be to help replace uncertainty with transparency. It will provide greater clarity about the resources major banks have to absorb future losses.
  • Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner • Making an argument in the New York Times as to why the banking industry stress tests were necessary, even though they made Bank of America look like the worst company on the planet to hold your money. Jeez, if only he did this a few months ago when everyone hated him for sucking at his job. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 May 2009 08:32

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Biz, U.S.: GM lost a cartoon-eye-poppin’ amount of money in Q1

  • $6 billion in losses for the broken dreams manufacturer source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 May 2009 11:12

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Biz, U.S.: AIG’s bonus payments are way higher than they first said

  • $120 million amount AIG admitted to giving in bonuses last year back in March, post-bailout source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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