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14 Mar 2011 10:28

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Biz, World: Japan quake: Tokyo’s main stock index lost lots of money today

  • 6.2% the drop in Japan’s Nikkei stock index today – the largest single-day drop since 2008
  • 4.88B the number of Tokyo Stock Exchange shares that changed hands – the most since World War II
  • $287B the stock exchange’s single-day loss in value; so much collective value, gone … wow source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Mar 2011 21:17

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Biz, World: After the Tokyo quake, stocks aren’t exactly doing so hot

  • 5% decline in Tokyo’s main stock index in its first few minutes source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 21:45

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Biz: Carlos Slim: The world’s richest person, two years in a row

  • $74
    billion     the total worth of extremely rich Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim
  • $20
    billion     the increase in the dude’s fortune THIS YEAR ALONE source
  • » Widening his lead: Carlos Slim has not only benefited by expanding his own personal wealth (we’re sure that New York Times investment was a huge part of all that … heh), but the two guys directly behind him – Bill Gates and Warren Buffett – have been giving away much of their wealth lately. Slim has too, but he’s kept a tighter grip on it than those two.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2011 10:50

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Biz: Could mobile also-rans T-Mobile and Sprint merge? It’s a possibility

  • who T-Mobile, the U.S. mobile carrier owned by Deutsche Telekom, is a fourth-place also-ran in the cell phone market, one that Apple doesn’t even think about.
  • what There are rumors that Deutsche Telekom will sell T-Mobile to Sprint, the third-largest mobile company, in exchange for a stake in the combined company.
  • why While the deal isn’t set in stone and could fall through, a combined company would make it easier for the two companies to build more infrastructure. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2011 10:39

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Biz: Hey, insider trading fans: Keep an eye on this dude’s trial!

The trial of Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of the Galleon hedge fund, starts today. Raj reportedly made $45 million in illicit profits – the worst case of insider trading in a generation. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Mar 2011 23:19

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Biz: Former Michigan Gov. John Engler: Scott Walker’s template?

  • John Engler is something of a template for Scott Walker right now. The former Michigan governor, who once turned incredibly negative polls into one of the lowest unemployment rates the state has ever had, took on social welfare and, after voters eventually forgave him, was rewarded with three full terms as governor. (We lived in Michigan as kids, and Engler was extremely popular back in the day.) Spencer Abraham, who was one of Michigan’s senators during most of Engler’s time in office, wrote a pretty strong defense of Walker in The Weekly Standard, saying that if he sticks to his guns, he’ll win, just like Engler did. Or will he? A little research into what made Engler tick:
  • What happened? Forced to deal with a $1.8 billion deficit when he entered office in 1991, he began by taking a knife to social programs – specifically general assistance programs and programs that employed civil servants. The results were initially extremely unpopular – a symbolic “Englertown” went up in front of the state capital. Engler’s poll numbers initially tanked.
  • What happened next Engler’s work was eventually vindicated, and after a recovery in the state’s auto industry and many cuts, the state suddenly had a $300 million surplus. The results were so good that his name came up in vice-presidential conversations multiple times. He never got the chance, but he did leave office in 2003 as a widely-respected figure – although with a pretty big deficit.
  • His career since After Engler left office, his successor, Jennifer Granholm, had the same kind of budget hole that faced Engler twelve years before. Engler, meanwhile, is now a lobbyist – he spent six years leading the National Association for Manufacturers and now works for the Business Roundtable. People are name-dropping him for a 2012 Senate run. He’s not interested.
  • » Is Engler’s a model to follow? Depends on who you ask. A lot of GOPers have been dropping his name in recent conversations about Scott Walker’s crisis, and a former Engler staffer, John Truscott, makes a pretty apt point. “Polls don’t balance budgets,” he says, noting that it took about three years for Engler’s social changes to recharge the economy. Ultimately, though, Engler and Walker fought for different things – and the difference between cutting off unions at the knees and trimming social programs for the poor is a significant one. See, one big difference: Unions still have money and collective pull, and they’re able to use it. And Engler had backup solutions that benefited nearly everyone. How will Walker help out public employees and the people at large?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Mar 2011 14:03

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Biz: Damn Skippy: Beware the high price of tainted foodstuffs

  • 2 Skippy peanut butter styles recalled for potential Salmonella poisoning source
  • » Step away from the jar: The hazardous brands being recalled are “Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter,” and “Skippy Reduced Fat Super Chunk Peanut Butter,” as distributed in 16.3 ounce jars across the following sixteen states: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin. Though no illnesses have yet been tied to this recall, you can never be too careful when Salmonella is involved. This is the latest in a recent string of high profile food recalls, which helped generate momentum for last year’s Food Safety Modernization Act. The FSMA introduced a host of regulatory updates to a system that had, to that point, been largely unchanged for generations.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

07 Mar 2011 10:29

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Biz: Twitter valuation: A stock auction suggests they’re growing in value

  • $7.7 billion valuation based on a private stock auction source
  • » Worth noting: Just three months ago, that valuation was $3.75 billion, so this is a pretty big jump for the company. Still not Facebook numbers, but getting there. We credit the Dickbar.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Mar 2011 01:02

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Biz: Mideast ripple effect: Gas prices’ second-highest spike ever

  • 32.7¢ the increase in gas prices in the past two weeks, caused by the drama in the Middle East – the second-largest jump on record
  • 38.44¢ the largest jump in gas prices on record, which happened in 2005 – immediately after this storm called Hurricane Katrina source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Mar 2011 14:27

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Biz, Culture: Easy Bake Ovens (as we know them) dead. No brownies for you

  • We are aware that the 100-watt incandescent light bulb will no longer be available beginning in 2012. In fall 2011, Hasbro will launch the Easy Bake Ultimate Oven, introducing a new way to bake for the next generation of chefs.
  • Hasbro • Explaining how the rise of green tech accidentally killed one of the more efficient ways for six-year-old girls to bake brownies: The Easy Bake Oven. See, the “oven” used a 100-watt light bulb as its main baking mechanism. But now, the light bulbs are falling out of favor and will soon be off the market entirely, leaving Hasbro to basically invent a new style of oven. Until then, the company is shilling out its “Easy-Bake Microwave & Style” models, which (as you might guess based on the name) don’t use light bulbs. Since we’re terrible cooks and don’t trust ourselves near microwaves, our options are shrinking and we’ll likely starve to death. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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