The Business » Public companies

Mad Money’s Jim Cramer coming to OU

business — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:30:12 +0000

Jim Cramer, money maven of the rolled-up shirt sleeves and sound effects, will visit the University of Oklahoma next month. Cramer, host of CNBC’s “Mad Money,” will tape an episode of the show before a live audience of OU students on Oct. 30. He also will be the keynote speaker at a dinner for OU business students and alumni on Oct. 29.

OU President David L. Boren said Michael Price, the former Wall Street money manager who the OU business college is named for, arranged Cramer’s visit.

“Jim Cramer’s visit will give OU students an excellent opportunity to hear one of the most prominent personalities on Wall Street,” Boren said.

Anyone have any questions they would like to ask Mr. Cramer? Submit them in the comments.

Don Mecoy
Business Writer

The $300,000 clunker

business — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:57:11 +0000

The Detroit Free Press ferrets out some fascinating details from government data about the recently concluded Cash for Clunkers program. Someone traded in a 1997 Bentley Continental R, which had an original price of more than $300,000, in exchange for no more than $4,500 credit toward a new car.

Some enthusiasts would have paid many thousands of dollars for the rare 1987 Buick GNX destroyed under the program; only 547 were built. The nation’s supply of used Chevrolet Corvettes was thinned by 131, including 34 convertibles, and the program also liberated 22 Americans from the burden of owning a Peugeot.

And this

And 37 people decided to clunk models that were less than a year old.

Don Mecoy
Business Writer

Take back your personal data

business — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:12:48 +0000

Google has established a site called Data Liberation Front (a riff on the Judean People’s Front from Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”), designed to walk you through the steps to transfer your personal data into and out of its plethora of online services. The site also seeks input from users about ways the company can live up to its “Don’t be evil” creed.

we always encourage people to ask these three questions before starting to use a product that will store their data:

Can I get my data out at all?
How much is it going to cost to get my data out?
How much of my time is it going to take to get my data out?

The ideal answers to these questions are:

Yes.
Nothing more than I’m already paying.
As little as possible.

Don Mecoy
Business Writer

Disney-Marvel team-up spawns new rivalries

business — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:01:59 +0000

The folks over at Woot (and a few thousand others online) are already mapping out the possibilities of Disney’s $4 billion purchase of Marvel. My favorite: Colossus vs. Pinnochio.

Mary Poppins vs. Dr. Strange: The Cloak of the Vishanti vs. A Spoonful of Sugar! The Faltine dimension vs. the racetrack full of penguins! “Abracadabra” vs. “Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious”!

Spider-Man vs. Jiminy Cricket: Seized by arachnid instinct, the way-out web-slinger craves cricket meat! Will an enchanted umbrella be enough to shock him back to his spider-senses?

Hercules vs Hercules: The battle the public domain laws demanded! Not a dream! Not a hoax! Not covered under the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act!

Colossus vs. Pinocchio: The building materials who walk like men! Who will triumph: Italian wood… or Russian steel? There’s no flesh in this supersaga – but plenty of blood!

Wolverine vs. Tramp: One is a scruffy loner with heroic instincts and a heart of gold! The other has giant adamantium claws! Who will win the good girl’s heart?

Bambi’s Mother vs Uncle Ben: “With great power comes great responsibility” – or, “If you’d just been a better kid, I’d still be alive.” The neuroses of tomorrow begin here!

More here.

Don Mecoy
Business Writer

Investors pricing stocks for earnings growth

business — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:17:43 +0000

Based on this chart of price-to-earnings ratio among S&P 500 stocks, which has surged since the early March bottom, stock buyers are anticipating that corporate earnings are going to grow. The latest spike shows a 50 percent rise in the index while earnings have declined.

Bespoke Investment Group, which produced the chart, notes: “Obviously if the current bull is going to have any sustainability at all, earnings will have to start growing again. But for now, as evidenced by the skyrocketing P/E ratio, investors are paying up on the hopes of future earnings growth.”

That reflects a surprising level of optimism. (via Felix Salmon)

Don Mecoy
Business News

Stock market circuit breakers

business — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:18:15 +0000

The New York Stock Exchange has announced the third-quarter “circuit breaker” points at which trading will be halted for single-day declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Let’s hope this is the last time we think about these in the next three months.

In third-quarter 2009, the 10, 20 and 30-percent decline levels, respectively, in the DJIA will be as follows:

Level 1 Halt
A 850-point drop in the DJIA before 2 p.m. will halt trading for one hour; for 30 minutes if between 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.; and have no effect if at 2:30 p.m. or later unless there is a level 2 halt.

Level 2 Halt
A 1,700-point drop in the DJIA before 1:00 p.m. will halt trading for two hours; for one hour if between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.; and for the remainder of the day if at 2:00 p.m. or later.

Level 3 Halt
A 2,600-point drop will halt trading for the remainder of the day regardless of when the decline occurs.

Don Mecoy
Business Writer

Larry Nichols on CNBC

business — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Devon Energy CEO Larry Nichols appeared on CNBC’s Kudlow Report on Tuesday to talk about the cap-and-trade legislation. Nichols is adept at these kind of spots, but Kudlow’s questions could have been written by Devon’s corporate communications department.


Don Mecoy

Business Writer



So long, Kodachrome
business — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:25:30 +0000
We waited up nights to open those golden boxes--like young children surprised with glee and knowing we could drift asleep again and that all was right with the world, and that there was still Kodachrome, and almost nothing else mattered.\


After 74 years, Kodak is retiring Kodachrome film. While some of the world’s best photographers have used it to produce some spectacular images, Kodachrome has been pushed to the fringes of photography.
From the AP (which couldn’t resist the bad Paul Simon joke in the hedline and the lede)
It enjoyed its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s but in recent years has nudged closer to obscurity: Sales of Kodachrome are now just a fraction of 1 percent of the company’s total sales of still-picture films, and only one commercial lab in the world still processes it.
See a slide show of iconic images shot on Kodachrome film. 
Don Mecoy

Business Writer 



A company with a heart
business — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:42:55 +0000
If you didn’t know it from watching its movies, Pixar is all heart. The California animation company granted a terminally ill’s girl last wish to see “Up.”  From the Orange County Register
The company flew an employee with a DVD of “Up,” which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie. 
Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.
Don Mecoy

Business Writer



Graphic succeeds at reflecting business failures
business — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:44:24 +0000


GOOD magazine offers a great graphic comparing the largest bankruptcies. Click image for much larger version.
Don Mecoy

Business Writer