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21 Nov 2010 11:27

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Biz, World: Ireland willing to take bailout money … VERY begrudgingly

  • Hey, yo, Ireland. ShortFormBlog here. We just wanted to commend you for coming to your senses and deciding to take a loan from the European Union. But there’s still a problem – you’re remaining way too timid about accepting help. You guys don’t want to end up like Greece or Iceland, do you? While we don’t know how much you’ll be willing to take (all you’re on the record for is saying €100 billion would be “too much”), but with that crappy housing market and contracting economy of yours, you might be wise to work on improving your economic stability with a bailout, not trying to figure out how little you can get. Again, if you don’t want the bailout money, we’ll take if off your hands. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Nov 2010 20:49

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Biz: Debt collectors stalk people on Facebook, actively break law

  • Debt collectors have hit Facebook. Florida resident Melanie Beacham recently sued debt collection agency MarkOne Financial LLC for harassment. Apparently, they decided to not only bug her, but her friends and family on Facebook, all in an attempt to get $362 in car payments. We’re seriously thinking of sending this friend request just to see what this jerk does. Should we? We’ll leave it up to you guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Nov 2010 20:40

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Biz: Timothy Geithner to GOP: Don’t screw with us. You’ll regret it

  • It is very important to keep politics out of monetary policy. You want to be very careful not to take steps that hurt our credibility.
  • Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner • Telling Republicans in no uncertain terms to stay out of the Federal Reserve’s BIZ-NASS. As we noted last night, Republicans are coming down hard on the money people pretty heavily, with some threatening to strip the Fed of some of its rights. May we offer a suggestion here? How about the legislators stick to legislating and the Treasury sticks to the money stuff? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

19 Nov 2010 21:45

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Biz: Federal Reserve taking it from all sides with stimulus plan

  • On its current economic trajectory, the United States runs the risk of seeing millions of workers unemployed or underemployed for many years. As a society, we should find that outcome unacceptable.
  • Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke • Explaining why the much-maligned stimulus plan (which involves shoving $600 billion into the economy whether it likes it or not) is necessary to save the economy. Republicans and Tea Partiers claim that the plan could raise prices of essentials such as food. Internationally, there’s worries about the stimulus driving down the value of the dollar (thereby making exports to the U.S. more desirable). Republicans in Congress are talking about stripping the Fed of its mandate to promote full employment as a result of this action. We’d like to see Republicans, rather than reacting to things they don’t like, offering up ideas. Is it really that hard, guys? You’ve had two-plus years. Where are your economy-fixing ideas? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Nov 2010 10:15

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Biz: GM hopes for, but can’t promise, a full bailout repayment

  • I don’t know where the market is going to be a year or two down the road, so I can’t make such a bold statement. Sure, I’m hopeful, and I’m not saying it can’t happen. I think the company is well positioned … so things look good for General Motors.
  • GM CEO Dan Akerson • Not committing to a full repayment of the taxpayers’ money from the bailout. It sounds like a hedging of the bets, honestly. If he says it now and the stock goes south, he’s on the record offering a promise he can’t keep. For what it’s worth, though, GM’s stock is doing boffo so far in its first day of trading, already up six percent in early-morning trading. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Nov 2010 22:45

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Biz: GM’s initial public offering does exactly what everyone expects

  • $20.1
    billion     the amount raised by GM’s IPO earlier today (which is amazing, and the biggest ever)
  • $4.35
    billion     the amount in preferred shares the company sold, far above the $4 billion anticipated
  • 33%
    stake     the amount of GM the government will still own after the IPO, down from 61 percent source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Nov 2010 21:49

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Biz, Tech: Google stumbles with high-fashion wannabe Boutiques.com

  • Hey Google, just some advice: If you’re creating high-fashion anything, the design can’t look like a crappy hacked, brittle WordPress knock-off. This design sucks. Why would anyone shop here for clothes? It looks, um, sloppy. But then, so did the design of Like.com, which Google acquired a few months ago (and whose team designed this). The basic idea behind both Like.com and this (think using “visual search” to find the pair of shoes you like) is pretty good, but something simply doesn’t congeal here. Design is everything with this market. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

17 Nov 2010 10:34

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Biz: Amazon’s next scheme: It’s opening up its own movie studio (!)

  • $2.7 million Amazon plans to offer to budding directors source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Nov 2010 09:49

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Biz: To start off your day right, here’s some crappy economic news

  • +0.2% the increase in the Consumer Price Index in October – an increase, but a much more mediocre one than economists expected
  • -11.7% the drop in new housing starts in October; the Treasury’s $600 billion shot in the arm doesn’t look so bad now, does it? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Nov 2010 23:13

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Biz: Four Loko makers Phusion Products decaffeinate potent drink

  • All the bad press finally got to them. In a statement tonight, the drink makers, Phusion Projects, announced they’d be losing caffeine, guarana and taurine from the controversial “blackout-in-a-can” beverage. The company’s three co-founders explain it like so: “We are taking this step after trying – unsuccessfully – to navigate a difficult and politically-charged regulatory environment at both the state and federal levels.” They say they have readily worked with regulators to ensure that their product was legal. The steadfastly claim, however, “that the combination of alcohol and caffeine is safe. If it were unsafe, popular drinks like rum and colas or Irish coffees that have been consumed safely and responsibly for years would face the same scrutiny that our products have recently faced.” Either way, Four Loko is now One Loko – alcohol.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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