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30 Sep 2011 16:52

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Biz: Stock market suckage: A crappy quarter, put to bed by a crappy day

  • bad Today was not a good day for the stock market in general, with all three major indexes down more than two percent amid negative economic data from China, which raised fears that another economic slowdown was coming.
  • worse This is the final day of the quarter on Wall Street, and the results aren’t very good. The S&P, for example, lost more than 14 percent this quarter. Fears of an economic slowdown weighed on investors’ minds after the 2008 crisis. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Aug 2011 10:31

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Biz: Warren Buffett invests a ton of cash in struggling Bank of America

  • $5 billion investment from Warren Buffett to Bank of America source
  • » Giving it to the needy: Our boy Warren Buffett, who recently took the U.S. government to task for not raising taxes on the rich, is giving a big cash infusion to a company that’s struggling build confidence in investors. It’s taken a hit on the stock market — its shares are down nearly 30 percent since the beginning of August and it just announced some huge job cuts — and it owns a couple of properties, Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, noted for their spectacular combustions during the financial crisis. Buffett’s deal is pretty sweet — a 6 percent annual dividend and a 5 percent premium if he buys back the stock — but he nonetheless sounds like he’s doing it out of respect for the company. “I am impressed with the profit-generating abilities of this franchise, and that they are acting aggressively to put their challenges behind them,” Buffett said in a statement. “Bank of America is focused on their customers and on serving them well. That’s what customers want, and that’s the company’s strategy.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Aug 2011 02:48

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Biz: Starbucks CEO to corporations: Get off your butt and hire some people!

  • Record levels of cash are piling up in corporate treasuries, idling. The only way to break this cycle of fear is to break it.
  • Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz • Following the lead of Warren Buffett and pushing for more responsibility from those that can afford it. While Buffett went after super-rich taxpayers; Schultz instead is going after corporations that are sitting on piles of cash, yet are staying on the sidelines and choosing not to hire more people — or worse, putting that money into political campaigns in hopes of putting business-friendly leadership in power in 2012. While Starbucks has had union issues and gay rights issues crop up recently, the company does have a reputation for treating its employees better than most corporations of its size. Kudos, Howard. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jun 2011 12:35

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Biz: Ralph Nader, activist investor? A consumer advocate’s Cisco grievance

  • If they can’t give shareholders value, then they have to give cash.
  • Ralph Nader • Playing activist investor in the wake of frustration with Cisco’s stock. Nader, an investor in the company (he has 18,000 shares), wrote a letter a while back complaining about the company’s low dividends, despite the fact that their stock performance has been week and they have tons of cash in the bank, and the “powerlessness of owner shareholders” that resulted from this. It’s pretty weird that the consumer advocate, of all people, is taking on this role, but hey, maybe he just thinks their shares are unsafe at any speed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2011 10:39

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Biz: Hey, insider trading fans: Keep an eye on this dude’s trial!

The trial of Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of the Galleon hedge fund, starts today. Raj reportedly made $45 million in illicit profits – the worst case of insider trading in a generation. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jun 2010 10:47

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Biz: Investors must be scared: Gold hits a record high value

  • $1,251 per ounce of pure, golden gold source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 May 2010 21:45

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Biz: Stock market: All the gains this year, gone, and then some

  • 7.4% the Dow’s decline from its peak this year
  • 8.7% the S&P 500’s decline from its April peak
  • 10.5% the Nasdaq’s decline; it’s in a correction source
  • » Today’s action: It wasn’t much better than yesterday, honestly. The market bounced back and forth all morning before staying firmly in the down column. The Dow lost 140 points today, or 1.3 percent of its value. Sucks to own stocks, doesn’t it? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink
 

25 Dec 2009 11:42

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Tech: Investors: What we really want for Christmas is an Apple Tablet

  • $209.04 the peak price that Apple’s stock hit yesterday, on rumors that an Apple Tablet was coming
  • 145% the increase in Apple’s stock price year-to-date, totally dusting off those recession blues source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Nov 2009 09:36

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Biz, World: Investors looking for an out from the mirage of Dubai

  • The question right now is is it just a Dubai issue or is the whole UAE in trouble, does Abu Dhabi still have enough cash to help Dubai?
  • Merrill Lynch sales manager in emerging markets equity Amr Aboushaban • Describing shaken investor confidence in the Middle East after Dubai said it couldn’t repay billions in loans. There are other areas in the region – most notably Abu Dhabi – that might be able to help the Middle East’s largest sign of unparalleled wealth, but investors are scrambling to keep their money safe in other regional financial havens as a result of the news. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Sep 2009 10:34

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Tech: Skype is still a valuable company, based on eBay’s sale of it

  • $1.9 billion amount eBay sold 65% of Skype for this morning – it went to private investors
  • $2.75 billion the value of the VoIP company, based on the deal – more than many expected source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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