Merchant Talk

post thumbnail

Microsoft To Take A Bite Out Of Apple?

Microsoft (NASDAQ MSFT) continues to play catch up with Apple. (NASDAQ AAPL) While its Windows Vista program can best be described as a bust, they are now rushing Windows 7 to market as quickly as possible.
In fact, the number of people “downgrading” to Windows XP continues to grow. (This user, among them.) The Vista system, [...]

21May2009 | George Stevens | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

The Government: Putting the ‘G’ in GMAC

It wasn’t too long ago that if you purchased a new car, you often found yourself financing that purchase with a financial arm of the manufacturer. For example, if you bought a General Motors (NYSE GM) product, you financed it through their financing arm, GMAC (NYSE GMA). Same with a Ford (NYSE F) or a [...]

18May2009 | George Stevens | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

What’s in General Motors’ Fortune Cookie?

With almost everybody in the business community expecting General Motors (NYSE GM) to be forced into bankruptcy, let’s review some of the reasons why this icon of American industry has fallen on hard times:
Too many marquees. Currently, GM has at least 7 different brands under their banner (depending on what you count as a brand.) [...]

11May2009 | George Stevens | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Barney’s Kiss of Death

In the sports world, when a coach or player receives the thumbs up from management, it often bodes poorly for that person. For some reason, the management types feel a need to hide behind “unfailing support” for the person, when in fact they are on their way out.
No one does this better than Al Davis, [...]

6May2009 | George Stevens | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Bank of America’s Latest Magic Trick

Alright, help me out here. For some, my earlier confessions of being a financial klutz remains true. I have no comprehension of figures like one billion dollars, much less one trillion dollars. I am slipping even further into the abyss with the release of the quarterly report of Bank of America. (NYSE BAC)
Apparently, famed magician [...]

4May2009 | George Stevens | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

The Starbuck Stops Here

Come on gang, we’re not doing our part to help salvage those companies experiencing a financial downturn. Case in point, there was a time, (and not too long ago) when I’d drop a quick twenty bucks buying a round of Starbuck’s (NASDAQ SBUX) coffee for the gang at the office.
There was a certain feeling, having [...]

30Apr2009 | George Stevens | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Another Day, Another Bonus

We all remember the furor over the bonuses at AIG (NYSE AIG), Merrill Lynch (NYSE MER), and others, don’t we? How absurd it seemed that millions upon millions of dollars lined the pockets of select employees, all this in light of billion dollar corporate losses.
Many of us were justifiably angry. Here we are, facing a [...]

28Apr2009 | George Stevens | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Leaning Tower of…. Chrysler?

We’re all familiar with spaghetti westerns, spaghetti straps, and spaghetti Alfredo. Today, this designation may be ready to be applied to the rumored head of an American automobile manufacturer: Spaghetti Chrysler.
Chrysler is truly an international traveler, having its ownership moved from the United States, to Germany with Daimler-Benz (NYSE DAI), back to America, and now [...]

17Apr2009 | George Stevens | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Bank of Irony or Bank of Lies?

Our world is full of ironies. However, often, these “ironies” are revealed to be lies. Let’s take a look at the Bank of America (NYSE BAC) which today stands at a crossroad. This behemoth of the financial world absorbed both Countrywide Mortgage and Merrill Lynch. All this, in the midst of its own internal failures. [...]

14Apr2009 | George Stevens | 1 comment | Continued
post thumbnail

The Big Bonus Smokescreen

The smokescreen is an often used tactic of police, SWAT teams, and the military. Let’s say you want to approach an enemy without them knowing what you’re doing. So, what do you do? You set off smoke bombs that cloud the vision of the suspects, thus allowing the other side to move closer to them, [...]

8Apr2009 | George Stevens | 0 comments | Continued
Older Entries

 Subscribe in a reader or Subscribe by Email