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

23 Nov 2011 14:15

tags

Biz: Phone-hacking scandal: James Murdoch (partially) resigns

  • Down goes Murdoch (sort of): News broke this morning that James Murdoch, the son of media magnate Rupert and the most prominent News Corp figure embroiled in the phone hacking scandal, would resign as director of the board of News International’s UK newspapers. He is not, however, entirely out in the cold. He’s still the deputy COO of the entire News Corp empire, which begs the question — when you have to start resigning jobs due to legal trouble and popular outrage, don’t most normal people lose the highest profile one first? Murdoch ascended to the deputy COO position earlier this year, and was thought to be the looming successor to his father atop the News Corp empire. That certainly can’t happen now, can it? (Photo by Eirik Solheim) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Nov 2011 15:29

tags

Biz: McDonald’s drops egg supplier after gruesome video release

  • This is a warning that there is a systemic problem, not just at one barn or one location.
  • Former FDA food safety chief David Acheson • Discussing the situation at Sparboe Farms, the main producer of McDonald’s eggs — well, until now. See, thanks in large part to an undercover video shot by animal rights organization Mercy for Animals (which will air on ABC News’ “20/20” and “World News Tonight” Friday night), the company dropped the egg supplier. According to the company, “the behavior on tape is disturbing and completely unacceptable.” If you have the stomach for it, you can see the video over here, but it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s as bad as you’d expect, considering the buildup. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2011 14:38

tags

Biz: MF Global announces layoffs as gracefully as it handled bankruptcy

  • 1,066 MF Global employees getting the boot source
  • » Some found out via media reports: You know what sucks more than getting laid off from your job because your boss (Jon Corzine, who stepped down from the troubled company last week) made a stupid bet on the Euro zone debt crisis and lost, badly? Finding out that you’re getting laid off via news story, rather than through your own company. “We were well into the process of notifying employees and were attempting to personally reach as many employees as possible when the release went out,” noted Kent Jarrell, a spokesperson for James Giddens, the trustee charged with liquidating the company. A number of MF Global employees — none speaking publicly — reported finding out this way.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Nov 2011 14:54

tags

Biz: Dr. Always Low Prices? Wal-Mart wants to be your physician

  • Wal-Mart expanding into medical care: Beloved by some for their low, low prices and reviled by others for suspect workplace practices and their debilitating effect on local economies, Wal-Mart is moving a new direction that figures to stoke similar passions — the health care industry. Their thinking seems to be that with a huge surge in insured citizens on the horizon, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, there will be a shortage of general practitioners and medical clinics to accommodate them. These in-store medical clinics would, according to NPR, be equipped to handle such critical things as HIV and diabetes management. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Nov 2011 08:14

tags

Biz: BREAKING: Jon Corzine resigns from troubled, bankrupt MF Global

  • He will pass on a $12 million severance package, AP reports. The former New Jersey governor, who has been the target of much scrutiny as a result of shady business practices (it appears he bet the business on the Euro debt crisis using investor money, and lost, meaning that the investor money is gone), quit his job early Friday. “I feel great sadness for what has transpired at MF Global and the impact it has had on the firm’s clients, employees and many others,” he said in a statement. “I intend to continue to assist the company and its board in their efforts to respond to regulatory inquiries and issues related to the disposition of the firm’s assets.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Nov 2011 21:57

tags

Biz: Study: Many corporations pay low tax rates; some pay none

  • 35% the corporate tax rate set by the U.S. government
  • 18.5% the average “real” tax rate paid by 280 Fortune 500 companies source
  • » And some companies don’t even pay: Two notably large companies that don’t pay any taxes … and in fact owe less than nothing somehow? General Electric and Pepco. (On a side note: DC residents looooooove Pepco, because the power goes out all the time around here.) Both companies defend their businesses practices.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Nov 2011 21:38

tags

Biz: Groupon’s IPO downsizes, then upsizes again (just a little bit)

  • $13.3 billion Groupon valuation ahead of their IPO
  • $20 the cost of Groupon’s shares during its upcoming IPO
  • 35M the number of shares the company plans to sell, up from 30 million
  • $700M the amount of money the company plans to raise with the IPO source
  • » It was supposed to be way higher than this: Back when Groupon first floated the idea of their IPO, the expected valuation was $15 to $20 billion, a number which threw investors off and led to allegations that 1) they were overhyped, 2) Groupon was an elaborate ponzi scheme and 3) their IPO is a sign that a fresh tech bubble is on the way. They backed off some of the higher valuations, but then set the price at $20 per share, instead of the expected $16-18. When it finally hits, it’s going to be an interesting ride, to say the least.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Nov 2011 14:30

tags

Biz: Bank of America terminates their debit card fee plan

  • $5 Bank of America debit fee to end over consumer outrage source
  • » Nickel and diming: You may remember that last month, Bank of America indicated they were going to start charging a $5/month fee for all their banking customers with debit cards. The ostensible justification for this was new regulation imposed by the Dodd/Frank financial reform bill, which some banks warned would result in hidden fees moving out into the open. This upset a great deal of people, though (the massive profits BofA continues to reap in a bad economy does make it seem questionable whether these are fees of necessity), and now the fee plan has been eliminated. Other banks considered following suit, then backed down, leaving BofA out in the cold.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Nov 2011 11:30

tags

Biz: MF Global mixes its customers’ assets with its own sucky balance sheet

  • Reports of short falls of client money … if true would be a disaster for all the smaller brokers and banks as nobody will trust them anymore.
  • A trader based out of London • Discussing the situation with MF Global, a financial firm hard hit by the Euro debt crisis, which apparently failed to keep customer money separate from the firm’s own accounts. The company, led by former Goldman Sachs leader and ex-New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (great combination), is raising the spectre of some if the 2008 financial crisis gunk — remember Lehmann Bros.? Let’s hope they can get this settled and — most importantly — customers can get their money out. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Oct 2011 12:57

tags

Biz: Et tu, Redbox? Netflix isn’t alone in raising its rental prices

  • $1.20 to rent a Redbox DVD — a 20¢ increase source
  • » And its stock is struggling, too: Coinstar, the parent company of the suddenly-hot DVD-rental kiosk brand, is struggling to keep prices at a level to compensate for operating expenses. Not exactly a good time for Redbox to do this, though — because, you know, Netflix is feeling the heat. And while 20 cents doesn’t sound like much, if you rent DVDs on the regular from the kiosks, that adds up quickly. On the other hand, it probably looks worse than it actually is due to the timing. So let’s look at the silver lining: Blu-ray will stay roughly the same price — $1.50 to $2.00.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>