Burns

Kodak Swings to Profit on Strong Digital Sales, Gross Margin

The Directors are to be commended for the job they did here www.newsvisual.com/new... . Just a few years ago people were writing off this company as obsolete. If rumors of a supposed Kodak-HP merger ever happen, this company will once again be one of the premier companies in the world.

When Will Citi Get it Right?

It's not just Mr. Prince my patience is wearing thin on, it is also the BOD ( www.newsvisual.com/new... ). I am waiting for them to step in and say "enough is enough, we need to regain shareholder confidence and protect investors" but I haven't seen that yet. In fact, I haven't seen or heard anything from them lately.

Exxon Gaps Down on Earnings: Further Losses Expected

So as it turns out, high oil prices can also hurt oil companies. This is Exxon's 2nd straight quarterly loss. Their Directors are going to have to get creative if they want to avoid 3 straight losses www.newsvisual.com/new...

Credit Suisse Net Falls 31% on 2.2B Franc Writedown

Well, at least the European banks are not as hard hit by the subprime crisis as a lot of the US investment banks. Give their Directors credit for having forsight ( www.newsvisual.com/new... ). As for Credit Suisse, I think they (and the rest of the European banks) will probably bounce back sooner than most of the US banks, maybe not next quarter but probably fairly soon.

Sprint's Q3 Net Tumbles on More Subscriber Losses

Problems at Sprint: 1) negative aspects from horrible Nextel merger 2) CEO recently let go because of poor performance 3) abysmal customer service 4) because of customer service, losing customers to AT&T and Verizon.
Solution: Sprint needs a serious shot in the arm. They should do everything in their power to get the service provider deal with Google for the new GPhone (see article here www.newsvisual.com/new... ). Verizon and T-Mobile are also in the running, but this could be a make or break scenario for Sprint.

Citigroup May Have to Lower Dividend - Analyst

Amazing. What is going on over at Citigroup? At first many people wanted to blame Chuck Prince, but I think we should start asking the the Directors are ( www.newsvisual.com/new... ), and what are they doing? We have practically neither seen nor heard anything from them recently. They seem to blindly support Prince, but it is obvious that the stock and shareholder confidence is falling. They need to do their duty and do what is best for the investor.

Johnson & Johnson: Strong Earnings, Revenue and Dividend Trends

The article forgot to mention that the corporate experience exhibited by the Board of Directors at J&J is one of its most impressive aspects www.newsvisual.com/new...

Icahn To Board: "BEA Belongs To Its Shareholders, Not To You"

Well, BEA better pray that Oracle will put the deal back on the table. Carl Icahn's law suit isn't the only one they have to worry about, hundreds (if not thousands) of other investors are probably planning similar action as we speak. You can bet the BEA Board will be scrambling to contact Oracle in the near future www.newsvisual.com/new...

BEA to Icahn: We'll Sell, But Not for $17/Share

If BEA had another interested party, then why haven't they made their interest known yet? This way, BEA could hope to start a bidding war between Oracle and Company X and hopefully come out way ahead. I don't think BEA has another interested buyer, and in a few days after Icahn's lawsuit (not to mention the law suits from angry investors) BEA will be running back to Oracle to ask them if the offer is still on the table www.newsvisual.com/new...

Sirius Satellite Radio: Expecting Extreme Profitability

The Sirius-XM deal should go through, too much time and energy has been spent on it www.newsvisual.com/new... . If Sirius and XM want to increase sales, they need to enter into contracts with the more luxurious brands of autos and also with the airlines. People with money don't generally buy American cars anymore. Imagine having Sirius on a 15 hour flight, as opposed to the usually awful movies or radio stations that the airline provides. If Sirius can do this, they will make it.

Merrill CEO Discussed Merger with Wachovia, Angering Board - NY Times

If O'Neal discussed a possible merger without the Board's approval then he should be let go. But I still don't understand why he did this in the first place. He was already in plenty of hot water of the $8 billion in losses. If Merrill is interested in a merger with Wachovia then they have plenty of backchannels they can go through www.newsvisual.com/new... . Does O'Neal want to get fired?

Countrywide Surges on Expected Return to Profitability in Q4

Sorry, but I don't think Countrywide can turn itself around in just 1 quarter. Whereas other financial firms were partially involved in subprime loans, Countrywide's entire business plan seemed to be subprime loans. Some changes need to be made, first and foremost Mozilo must go. Second, clear up that SEC investigation ASAP. After that, in a couple of years Countrywide should be fine, assuming the Directors ( www.newsvisual.com/new... ) learned something.

AT&T Up 1.2% After In-Line Q3

Man, amazing past few days. First Google, then Apple, then Amazon, now AT&T posts earnings up 40%. Just goes to show that hardware, software, and wireless are finally all starting to come together. As for AT&T, not really surprised they posted numbers this big. After purchasing BellSouth and with the success of the iPhone AT&T was bound to show some pretty good numbers. Of course, without competent management none of this would be possible www.newsvisual.com/new...

Apple's Earnings Shine - Clears Mac, iPhone Shipment Hurdles

Once again Apple has proven its skills at being able to sell products. The amazing thing about Apple is that they either design a product they know you want, or they create a product and then convince you that you need/want it. Few tech companies can sell like Apple, looks like some of that retail experience on their board may be paying off www.newsvisual.com/new... . With the holidays just around the corner Apple should have a very merry quarter.

Apple Up 7% on Earnings Beat, Strong Guidance

Like Google last week, Apple didn't just beat expectations, they slaughtered them. Credit the Apple management for having the ability to sell a product like the iPhone www.newsvisual.com/new... . While no one doubted that Apple loyalists would grab up the phone as soon as it came on the market, its $600 price and the fact that it exclusively used AT&T (not the most popular service) had many thinking that the iPhone would just be an expensive toy for a few. Well, we were wrong. Apple has proven once again that they know what you want, and if they don't know then they create something and convince you that you want/need it. So, with all the recent tech success lately, we have to start asking, is tech back?