Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

06 Dec 2011 21:53

tags

Biz: Drunken RIM flight disruptors pay the price

  • 2 RIM executives fired for drunken airplane disruption source
  • » The perils of airborne inebriation: As reported recently, two executives with RIM (the company behind the BlackBerry), George Campbell and Paul Wilson, were en route from Canada to China last week, whereupon they became aggressively drunk. Ultimately, passengers and crew members had to restrain them with plastic handcuffs, and the plane turned around near the North Pole and returned to Canada to offload the troublemakers. Both plead guilty and had to pay over $30,000 apiece, as well as being put on probation for a year. Today, the other shoe dropped; RIM has fired the pair.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Dec 2011 15:02

tags

Biz: MF Global: Jon Corzine’s got a packed Congressional hearing schedule

Corzine, the former New Jersey governor who resigned as MF Global CEO last month, has to face three congressional panels in the next couple of weeks. Corzine oversaw the business moves that led to the company’s bankruptcy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Dec 2011 12:39

tags

Biz: Rosy, but not too rosy: Today’s jobs numbers show modest upswing

  • 8.6% jobless rate in November, the lowest since early ’09
  • positive The economy added many more private-sector jobs in November than in prior months — 120,000 new non-farm payrolls, to be exact. A sign of recovery?
  • positive On top of this, the revised jobs numbers from September and October show that things were rosier than first estimated, meaning it’s a more substantial upswing.
  • negative However, the drop in unemployment partly came from an overall shrinking of the labor force. In other words, fewer people are seeking jobs. Bummer. source
  • » Political ramifications: The jobs numbers aren’t at a point where people have reason to be dancing in the streets, but cautious optimism is the name of the game. The GOP’s election platform could waver if the numbers get any better. Hence this response from House speaker John Boehner: “Any job creation is welcome news, but the jobless rate in this country is still unacceptable.” What do you all think?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2011 14:36

tags

Biz: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley moves on foreclosures

  • 5 major banks sued by Massachusetts over unlawful home foreclosures source
  • » The deluge of home foreclosures that the U.S. has suffered since the financial crisis has been a crippling blow to the general economy, land value rates in high-foreclosure areas, and most of all the families who’ve found themselves unceremoniously cast out. A notable amount of these foreclosures appear to have been fraudulently engineered, rife with examples of flat-out false documentation, as well as “robo-signing,” a practice in which foreclosure documents are fast-tracked with (in some cases) fraudulent signatures and without the signee ever having read them. This was the impetus for Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filing suit against five major banks — BofA, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, and Ally Financial.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2011 10:17

tags

Biz: McDonald’s, Burger King turn on a dime to beat Happy Meal law

  • problem In San Francisco, it’s now illegal to include free toys in fast-food meals that don’t meet certain standards for nutrition. This is a problem for McDonald’s, which sells a lot of Happy Meals for this reason.
  • workaround So … rather than just get rid of the toys altogether, at least two fast-food outlets — McDonald’s and Burger King — plan to simply charge a tiny nominal fee for the toys. One dime. Boom. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2011 11:03

tags

Biz: American Airlines parent files for bankruptcy: Will keep normal schedule

  • They were the only major airline to avoid bankruptcy in the past decade: In 2003, American Airlines parent AMR, which also operates the American Eagle airline, managed to stave off bankruptcy by scoring an agreement from its unions. The country’s third-largest airline, however, wasn’t able to get past it this time around. With the company’s stocks in freefall (down 45 percent since September) and a recent wave of pilot retirements playing harbinger, it seemed like signs were pointing towards bankruptcy. Here’s what their financials look like, according to their Chapter 11 filing, which they submitted to a New York court today:
  • $24.7B the amount in assets American Airlines parent AMR has on hand
  • $29.6B the amount in liabilities the company owes to creditors
  • $4.1B the amount of cash the company has on hand source
  • » What this means for consumers: The company says it plans to honor its reservations, keep its normal schedules, continue its frequent-flyer program, maintain its Admirals Club lounges and pay employees their normal wages and health benefits. So outwardly, there should be no obvious signs that the company is trying to reorganize itself. (photo by Clara S. on Flickr)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Nov 2011 23:59

tags

Biz: Don’t look down: Ratings agency says they could downgrade U.S. too

  • The negative outlook indicates a slightly greater than 50 percent chance of a downgrade over a two-year horizon.
  • Credit ratings agency Fitch • Explaining the negative outlook they gave the U.S.’ AAA credit rating. Why the lower outlook? Well, they say there’s “considerable uncertainty surrounding the economy’s potential output.” Well, there won’t be as long as we can figure out a way to turn riots over $2 waffle irons into a sustainable moneymaking endeavor for the U.S. economy at large. We’re sure we can make it happen. Fitch’s downgraded outlook follows S&P’s straight-up downgrade a few months back. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Nov 2011 11:28

tags

Biz: Bloomberg: Banks scored sneaky profits on emergency loans

  • $13 billion earned by banks via roundabout loans source
  • » How they worked: These banks took advantage of a set of emergency loans from the Federal Reserve distributed between August 2007 and April 2010. Bloomberg Markets magazine did the math on the numbers and figured out that, by looking at the companies’ net interest margin, you could see how the companies took advantage of the below-market rates they got on the loans to earn a profit. The companies that scored the biggest paydays? Citigroup, which earned $1.8 billion, and Bank of America, which earned $1.5 billion.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Nov 2011 20:34

tags

Biz: How much did people spend over Black Friday weekend?

  • $52.4 billion spent on Black Friday weekend (whoa)
  • $45B the amount spent during Black Friday weekend last year; that’s a 16 percent jump, for those playing at home
  • 226M number of shoppers over Black Friday weekend; that’s also a huge leap from 2010, and a record number
  • $398 the amount spent per customer on Black Friday weekend — a jump of more than $40 from 2010 source
  • » A big win for retail, but for humanity … eh. The heavy spending this year came with a number of downsides, most notably in the form of a series of customers-acting-crazy moments. We covered a few of these over the weekend, including an overzealous pepper sprayer and a riot over $2 waffle irons. Sure, the economy needs a serious kick in the pants, but we hope we can get said kick in the pants while being nice to our fellow human beings. Fortunately, tomorrow is Cyber Monday, where the problems with physical shopping don’t exist. Unless you know a way to shut off your neighbor’s internet. In which case you’re evil and we don’t like you anymore.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Nov 2011 11:38

tags

Biz, U.S.: Off the table (for now): The AT&T merger with T-Mobile

  • what After a long back-and-forth with the government over the implications of the merger, AT&T said Thursday (that’s right, on Thanksgiving!) that they would not pursue FCC approval of a merger with T-Mobile.
  • why It looked very unlikely to get through regulators’ clutches. The merger would have effectively marginalized Sprint in the market, leading the FCC to call a hearing on the merger, and the DOJ to file an antitrust suit.
  • however Both AT&T and T-Mobile have much to lose from the stunted deal — AT&T in penalty fees (reaching into the billions) and lost infrastructure, T-Mobile in declining business. They will probably try again soon. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>