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16 Sep 2010 10:53

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Biz: A dubious record, hit again: Home repossessions up yet again

  • 25% increase in repossessions of homes by banks source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Sep 2010 11:10

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Biz: That Iowa egg farm knew it had prior salmonella issues

  • 426 salmonella detections in less than two years source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Sep 2010 10:37

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Biz: Speaking of chocolate, Kraft’s Cadbury merger has sweet rewards

  • $1 billion in new revenue for the edible megacorp source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Sep 2010 10:50

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Biz: North Korea + News Corp.: Evil forces converge on The Dude again

  • What happened? This wonderful pre-iPhone mobile game to the left is called of “Big Lebowski Bowling,” and it came out way back in 2007. A similar game based on “Men In Black” was also released. The notable thing about the game isn’t so much that it exists, but the distributor is Nosotek, based in North Korea and focusing on distributing North Korean software. That’s right, Dude, they peed on your fucking rug.
  • Why this is badFirst of all, it means that developers in volatile North Korea are getting more adept. Also, it means that News Corp. indirectly gave money to the North Korean government through a developer. The UN says it’s legal, but the U.S. thinks it’s bad for diplomatic policy. Here’s what Kim Jong Il told us personally in an exclusive interview: “Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 20:37

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Biz: No co-pilot? Meet the airline CEO who would suggest that

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, is the kind of guy who likes to skip on the somewhat essentials. The center image says it all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 11:28

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Biz: The Washington Times, the victim of a family disagreement?

  • one day, the money stopped flowing. The Washington Times, the once-prominent conservative newspaper funded by the Unification Church, lost a key money flow one week in July 2009, leading to massive layoffs and a precipitous decline of the paper. It turns out that it was caught in the middle of a huge family struggle between its owners, the Moonies. Some numbers:
  • $2billion lost by the Moonie-run paper since it was founded
  • 87,000 the newspaper’s already-declining circulation two years ago
  • 40,000 the newspaper’s circulation now; it’s had major cutbacks of late
  • » The family strife: The Washington Times is at the center of a power struggle between the family of Unification Church leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who’s 89 years old and isn’t long for this world. Other Moon-run businesses aren’t doing so hot either. Moon’s son, Preston, who isn’t as doggedly conservative as his dad was (he was, for example, against the Iraq War), apparently steered the paper in a direction one of his brothers didn’t like, causing the church’s money to stop flowing to the paper. They couldn’t pay key bills, including those for internet access and staffer health insurance. Now the paper may return to into the senior Moon’s hands in a $1-plus-debt buyback, but the final result isn’t so clear. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 10:54

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Biz: Housing market: Would a correction help homeowners?

  • Housing needs to go back to reasonable levels. If we keep trying to stimulate the market, that’s the definition of insanity.
  • George Mason University real estate finance professor Anthony B. Sanders • Suggesting we let the housing market go to hell so it can correct itself. It’s a somewhat unique argument, but considering the way that overdevelopment and overbuilding has defined the real estate market of the last decade. So, the debate as it currently stands: Does the Obama administration keep trying to stimulate growth in the housing market, or does it focus less on devlopment and more on ensuring the value of the investments that millions of homeowners have already made? A tough answer, but we think the latter sounds like a good idea. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

04 Sep 2010 10:30

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Biz: General Motors’ IPO may not mean taxpayer payback at first

  • $70
    billion     the amount GM needs to make on its IPO to ensure the government gets all of its bailout money back
  • $50
    billion     the amount GM could make on the IPO at the low end; the cruddy economy may be a factor source
  • » Other considerations: The IPO is obviously only a starting point – the rest of the $43 billion the automaker still owes taxpayers could be made back later. But as a jumping-off point goes, it’d be nice to see the IPO on the high end, around $90 billion. (Edit: We’re dummies and we mistyped these earlier. Sorry.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Sep 2010 09:52

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Biz: Jobs grew, but the unemployment rate still rose

  • 9.6% the latest unemployment rate, which is an uptick source
  • Why the increase? Interesting reasons, actually; apparently, private-sector jobs actually increased. Unfortunately, government jobs continued to disappear.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

02 Sep 2010 10:48

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Biz: Burger King SOLD! Shareholders have it their way

  • $4 billion for a sale to a private equity firm, hold the pickles source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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