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13 Jan 2011 09:38

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Biz: A record year: How bad were home foreclosures in 2010?

  • 2.9 million the number of foreclosure notices homeowners received in 2010 – a record, but only modestly above 2009
  • 1 million the number of people who lost their homes as a result – Nevada led the nation in Foreclosures, BTW source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Jan 2011 21:21

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Biz: Auto bailouts: Chrysler on the comeback trail, slowly but surely

  • I haven’t gotten any questions yet today like, ‘Will you be here next year?’
  • Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne • On the company’s slow bounceback. Chrysler hasn’t had the dramatic turnaround that Ford and GM have had since the nadir of the financial crisis, but they appear to be making headway with a new generation of vehicles – particularly the newest Jeep Grand Cherokee, which has done well despite the fact that SUVs have fallen out of fashion lately. The company’s collaboration with Fiat has also helped buoy Chrysler. So, how about paying back those loans from the bailout and other sources? “We are going to repay one hundred cents on every dollar of loans we received,” Marchionne said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Jan 2011 21:01

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Biz, Music: Irony: 50 Cent makes penny stock move using influence alone

  • 29¢ increase in a penny stock that Fitty recommended on Twitter
  • 240% the increase in the value of HNHI, a firm that sells headphones
  • $50M the increase in the value of the stock based on Fitty’s tweets alone
  • $10M the amount 50 Cent  made off his 3.8 million followers source
  • » Yeah yeah, we know the irony: A guy named after pocket change just used his power to give a penny stock a boost. And the best part? It’s entirely possible the stock (currently at 39 cents) will reach 50 cents tomorrow. See, when 50 Cent sells out his name, he doesn’t sell it out to make a quick buck on advertising. He sells it out to make a quick buck. Period.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Jan 2011 10:32

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Biz: Hugh Hefner takes Playboy private: Insert (heh heh) dirty joke here

  • $207 million for Hefner to take Playboy private again source
  • » Why’s he doing this? Simply put, the magazine business is not what it once was, especially in the soft-core sexiness department. And the publisher of Penthouse tried to buy Playboy away for $210 million. But the 84-year-old Hef wasn’t having that.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jan 2011 13:02

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Biz: Does Goldman Sachs’ Facebook deal hurt their image rehab?

  • The committee was undertaken in the hope and the commitment to do some things that were going to help restore and improve trust … [Instead] people are going to look at it and say do those standards seem credible in light of the Facebook deal?
  • Boston University School of Management professor James Post • Suggesting that the recent Facebook deal that Goldman Sachs put together may be questionable in the light of Goldman’s recent ethics troubles. The company even put together a business standards committee to help prevent future kerfluffles. They have a report that’s coming out next week. But instead of the story being the ethics report and the image rehab work that Goldman is doing, it’s Facebook. Somebody somewhere screwed up. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jan 2011 09:35

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Biz: Unemployment dips in December, but job growth only moderate

  • 103,000 the increase in jobs last month – decent but lower than expected (and mostly private job growth)
  • 9.4% the decrease in unemployment, which is down nearly half a percentage point source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jan 2011 11:23

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Biz: Could unemployment rate drop? Key indicator looks very positive

  • 297k new payrolls among private employers in December, according to payroll processor ADP, which tracks stuff like this
  • 100k new payrolls were expected in the December survey, so this is an extremely positive sign for economic growth
  • eleven straight months of growth for private-sector payrolls … but will unemployment drop? (those numbers will come Friday) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

04 Jan 2011 10:15

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Biz: New year, new life: BP’s stock soaring today for some reason

  • 5.6% increase in BP’s troubled stock today alone source
  • » It’s at its highest level in six months. But why? Two things. First off, the cost of BP’s compensation payouts is expected to be much less than first thought, and, secondly, BP could be the target of a takeover. After the year they’ve had, it might be a respite or something.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jan 2011 10:31

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Biz, Tech: Goldman Sachs investment: Facebook worth more than God

  • $450
    million     the amount that Goldman Sachs just invested in the massive film-worthy social network
  • $50
    billion     the valuation of Mark Zuckerberg’s baby, based largely on Goldman’s huge investment source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jan 2011 11:09

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Biz: Is American Airlines screwing over online travel sites?

  • It appears American Airlines is burning online travel bridges. In recent weeks, both Orbitz (who couldn’t reach a contract with the airline) and Expedia (who voluntary took them out) have ditched the airline. Is it possible that these sites have been so successful at their mission that they’ve actually forced airlines to make their flights cheaper? Well, to test this theory, we looked online at American Airlines’ site for travel deals to from DC to Dublin (where we’re taking our girlfriend in the next few months). The average cost at a site like Orbitz was roughly $650 per person for a flight and hotel. The lowest price at AAvacations.com? $1260 per person. It’d be way harder to figure out that was an awful deal if we had to go to every airline to compare prices. AA’s efforts to strongarm online travel sites are simply bad for consumers and should not be supported. Who else has good deals to Dublin? (photo by lrargerich) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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