Articles

I bought an iphone last week, and had to swap it out today- for a weak battery. My impressions of the phone, and the customer service I received at the store

The global credit crunch has had perhaps the biggest impact on investment banks and hedge funds. Many investment banks are due to report earnings this week and the extend of the damage will become more clear. But as the stock chart for Goldman Sachs shows, the market has already hit investment banks. Bear Stearns is predicted to take the biggest hit since they had the largest exposure to sub-prime mortgages and mortgage backed securities.

Taking advantage of an old rule, and following it to the letter, Berkshire Hathaway sent its disclosure of the sale of $141 millions of shares it owned in Petro China by regular mail, taking 10 days to be received. Buffett unloaded other shares of Petro China a couple of months earlier in July, also disclosing the sale by regular mail and also taking days -- this time 14 -- to reach its destination. Pretty sleazy stuff for a multibillionaire.

Women have become one of the main targets of credit card marketing. Learn about three major types of female credit card users and how banks try to induce them with credit card deals for women.

Countrywide announced today it had received $12 billion in credit financing, helping it avert any kind of liquidity crunch. The market responded positively.

Starbucks has had a long tradition (and a formal policy) not to market to children. But, it is now reversing this decision, driven by bottom-line interests rather than by good business practice. In many ways, SBUX’s plan is much like a recent decision by Altria (MO) to assign priority emphasis to increasing sales abroad – and, thus, to increasing the incidence of lung cancer world wide. It is sad to see two major American corporations build out their business at the expense of the welfare of vulnerable children and adults. Investors are not likely to worry too much about the sale of cigarettes in other countries (actually many are likely to applaud MO’s decision), but they should be concerned about Starbuck’s plan to sell caffeine to kids.

Is Apple planning to bid for wireless spectrum at an upcoming auction?

Mr. Kasriel believes that the economy has been propped over the last 10 years and perhaps longer by the massive use of debt. Consumers have borrowed their way to wealth and the bill is now coming due. He has long predicted the type of event seen with the credit crunch and feels it will only get worse. In addition, he does not see many palatable ways of resolving the problem.

In the past, the kind of volatility we have seen over the last weeks signaled bottoms, crashes, reaction to war and terrorism, and the like. The frequency, speed, and psychology of the recent series of plunges are now getting much harder for all of us to interpret (and impossible for technicians). In fact, it has become a fool's folly to predict and interpret downticks and upticks in the market. Something else is going on.

Say what you will about Ben Stein (and some are not impressed all of the time), I think this guy is one of the few sane, mature voices out there in a sea of panicked children. He has a wisdom and perspective that are sobering at the same time as they are calming. And, he is right. Listening to him is like sitting on the lap of a wise old man -- he is realistic, he knows the lessons of history, and he is calming. Most importantly, he is not trite and he doesn't have his head in the sand. He is particularly refreshing because he speaks in Grown-up Speak -- someone who sees things with clarity and doesn't run around declaring that the sky is falling.