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30 Sep 2010 09:45

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Biz: Fisher-Price blames choking hazard for massive toy recall

  • 10.9 million toys recalled, including tricycles source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Sep 2010 10:32

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Biz: Southwest gobbles up AirTran in discount airline merger

  • $1.4 billion sealed the deal for Southwest and AirTran source
  • » Why Southwest really wants it: The discount airline currently doesn’t have a stake in Atlanta’s airport, the biggest in the world and the biggest major market Southwest currently doesn’t serve. AirTran’s biggest hub is Atlanta. So this is good for the company.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Sep 2010 11:28

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Biz: Free beer giveaway! But there’s a really big catch

  • 500,000 free beers in the U.S. source
  • » But there’s a downside: Before you get too excited about the free beer, we need to inform you that it’s Budweiser beer. If they wanted to give us water, they could’ve saved the trouble by informing us where the nearest drinking fountain was.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Sep 2010 17:39

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Biz: Wall Street Journal as “WSJ”: You can see it from miles away

  • We blame Rupert Murdoch. One of the great icons of traditional American journalism has decided to take a design cue straight out of a 5,000-circulation weekly, taking a once-simple nameplate and making it REALLY REALLY BIG for their new weekend editions. Our buddy Charles Apple had the right thought on this whole thing, referring to the change with the headline “‘WSJ’? WTF”. It’s probably one of the worst design decisions by a major newspaper in a long, long time. It’s harsh, but honest. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Sep 2010 10:28

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Biz: Similac recall: The makers blame it on a bug problem

  • 5 million cans of formula recalled; moms everywhere freak out source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Sep 2010 10:23

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Biz: Blockbuster’s bankruptcy: Sorry, there’s something in our eyes

  • Let’s face it, this is the possible death of an American icon. Or at least a sign of the times. A once iconic business model – Blockbuster’s movie-rental biz – is facing a tough Chapter 11 challenge, in part because of the insane amount of debt it has. So now it’s going to try to fix itself. Good luck trying to survive with Netflix and Redbox in your face. Some numbers:
  • $1Bthe amount of debt the company has right now; time to reorganize!
  • $100Mthe amount of debt it plans to have after bankruptcy ends
  • 3,000 number of stores the company has; expect that to go down source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2010 21:20

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Biz: Bedbug conventions: Itchy hysteria has its own Woodstock

Why is this man smiling? Because he knows he’ll have a job tomorrow. Because he helps people hunt bedbugs, a very in-demand industry. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

21 Sep 2010 10:09

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Biz: Housing starts get boost in August after some crappy months

  • 10.5% boost in housing starts in August source
  • » Why this is really good: Because housing starts just went through a couple of very crappy months. In the aftermath of the end of the homebuyer tax credit, housing starts plunged in May and June at record rates. While early, this suggests that housing is starting to recover on its own. That said, both single-family and multifamily housing starts are near 50-year lows.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Sep 2010 21:44

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Biz: Most businesses wouldn’t get nicked by Bush tax-cut reversal

  • 3% of all businesses would be affected by rescinding the high-end of the Bush tax cuts
  • 8% of non-hobby businesses would be affected, say conservative groups
  • 750k the real number of businesses that would roughly be affected by the cuts source
  • » And a possibly positive side-effect: Studies have shown that increases in tax rates at the top end can lead to more small businesses starting up because of the tax breaks offered, boosting overall growth anyway.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Sep 2010 11:59

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Biz: Sometimes, Groupon can accidentally strangle small a business

  • The experience jaded me, and the interactions with the few bad Groupon customers we had jaded our staff. After all of this, I find myself not even willing to buy Groupons because I know how it could hurt a business.
  • Posie’s Cafe owner Jessie Burke • Explaining how her experience with Groupon greatly damaged her Portland, Oregon-based business. Her deal, which offered a $6 deal for a $13 item, only earned her $3 for each item sold, with the other $3 going to Groupon. There wasn’t a cap on how many people could use it, so hundreds of people used it over a six-month period. At one point, the deal strangled her business so badly that she had to put $8,000 of her own money in just to cover payroll. While she doesn’t blame Groupon for her experience (she’s way quicker to blame herself), the post has spread online like wildfire over the last couple of days because of the implications it has for one of online shopping’s brightest shining stars. Groupon’s response is pretty reasonable. She’s right to blame herself, but Groupon should’ve told her how to avoid such a situation. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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