Next month, shareholders will decide whether to support a proposal to strip Jamie Dimon of his chairmanship (I, II, III). Supporters of the plan to split the CEO and chairman roles will lobby major shareholders prior to May's JPMorgan (JPM) shareholder meeting, while Dimon's supporters have already engaged large JPM shareholders such as Blackrock, T. Rowe Price, and Vanguard. "I can't think of another company where independent board leadership would be a more useful correction for CEO hubris," says AFL-CIO's head of investment Brandon Rees.[View news story]
The union complaining about to much power in one man is laughable.
Italy approves plan to pay €40B to settle a giant outstanding balance with private companies. The debts became a source of distress for the country's corporate sector when bank credit to businesses dried up. The government hopes paying its bills will stimulate the economy, but says the decision to make good on its commitments wasn't easy: "We have to follow a path between helping our economy recover and maintaining budget discipline," Italy's Economic Minister notes. [View news story]
If got this right. Italy owes the money but acts like there doing private business a favor to pay it. sounds like the state of IL.
Fisker Automotive, the struggling government-backed hybrid sports car maker, terminates 75% of its staff in what sources said was a last-ditch effort to conserve cash and stave off a potential bankruptcy filing. The company, which raised $1.2B from investors and tapped nearly $200M in government loans, has only around $30M in cash remaining. About 160 workers were fired at a Friday morning meeting at its Anaheim, Calif., headquarters, and were told that the company couldn't afford to give them severance payments. [View news story]
Not His Money. You Can't convince anyone its their money not the governments. There is a huge disconnect.
Fisker Automotive, the struggling government-backed hybrid sports car maker, terminates 75% of its staff in what sources said was a last-ditch effort to conserve cash and stave off a potential bankruptcy filing. The company, which raised $1.2B from investors and tapped nearly $200M in government loans, has only around $30M in cash remaining. About 160 workers were fired at a Friday morning meeting at its Anaheim, Calif., headquarters, and were told that the company couldn't afford to give them severance payments. [View news story]
Wal-Mart's (WMT) problem of keeping store shelves stocked keeps drawing more attention with The New York Times and grocery store publications now highlighting the issue in detail. According to the freshest takes, the retail chain is losing the trust of customers and seeing grocery items sell more slowly due to the lower staffing levels. The key stat: Wal-Mart's average number of employees per store in the U.S. fell by 17% to 281 over the last five years. [View news story]
The national average price of gasoline fell in March for the first time in a decade, down $0.15/gal. for the first M/M decline since 2003 and down nearly $0.30/gal. Y/Y, AAA reports. Since peaking at $3.79 on Feb. 27, prices have dropped 29 out of 33 days. AAA thinks April prices should remain less expensive than in recent years because oil is cheaper and refinery production is rising. [View news story]
How is refining production Increasing? They have not built a new refinery in 20 years. All the rest I thought were running at 90 to 95 %.
Trying to gain a measure of independence from Facebook (FB), Zynga (ZNGA) will let users of Zynga.com create accounts that are separate from their Facebook accounts. All players can still connect via Facebook (chances are many will), but Zynga's move, which is made possible by its amended deal with Facebook, raises the possibility of virtual goods purchases that don't require a 30% cut be sent Facebook's way. Zynga has already launched the Facebook-independent Zynga with Friends network, and has added a handful of 3rd-party titles to Zynga.com. [View news story]
Having to sign in on facebook is a non starter for me and a lot of people I know.
Though Tesla Motors (TSLA -9.2%) CEO Elon Musk is taking the hardest loss today on the automaker's tumble in share price, Daimler (DDAIF.PK) is also suffering with its 4.7% stake in TSLA making it number two on the list while Toyota (TM -1.1%) also has a stake. Interestingly, Musk says he won't ask the big boys for more money but will fund Model X SUV production through profits. Look for issues of Tesla cash flow to be a major topic in 2013. (transcript) [View news story]
Reuters' Jack Shafer rails against the phrase "our crumbling infrastructure" and the press' all-too uncritical acceptance that hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars needs to be spent to repair it. The doom-mongering has been going on for decades, but as the Federal Highway Administration explains, bridges can be "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete" and still be perfectly safe. [View news story]
What happened to the trillion dollars he spent on shovel ready projects?
Already at an 11-year low, housing inventory fell another 5.6% M/M in January and 16.5% from a year ago, according to Realtor.com. Housing demand is clearly up, but also cutting inventory - foreclosures are down. A separate report from RealtyTrac had new ones falling 11% in January to 28% below a year ago. XHB +10% YTD. [View news story]
CA passed new laws slowing down the foreclosures. Foreclosures will just drag out longer.
More on General Motors' Q4: A weak performance in Europe and a rash of one-time accounting charges drove profits down from their levels of a year ago. A solid quarter in both South America and U.S. couldn't offset Europe. The automaker says 49K U.S. workers will receive profit-sharing checks of up to $6,750. GM -0.7% premarket. (PR) [View news story]
Good for the UAW workers. They get a bonus check. What about the stock owners? Oh Yea they are a stock owner. Did the Government/taxpayer get a check?
The NYT's John Broder takes Tesla's (TSLA) Model S up and down the East Coast from Washington on Interstate 95, where the company has installed Supercharger stations 200 miles apart. Things start dandily enough, but then the weather cools, and Broder has to endure freezing feet and white knuckles because he has to turn the heating off to preserve power. Eventually, he needs a tow truck to pick him up because the car runs out of juice. [View news story]
The shame is they are wasting my Money on this folly.
"Apple absolutely has to make an iPhone with a bigger screen," iPhone 5 owner Henry Blodget declares. While Apple (AAPL +0.1%) insists on using relatively small display sizes to guarantee effective one-handed iPhone use, devices such as Samsung's Galaxy S III (4.8" display) make the iPhone 5 look "puny and sad in comparison." The iPhone 5's display size doesn't seem to be affecting its U.S. position much, as Strategy Analytics' numbers demonstrate, but international markets appear to be a different story. [View news story]
How is Henry saying anything. I thought he was banned.
Next month, shareholders will decide whether to support a proposal to strip Jamie Dimon of his chairmanship (I, II, III). Supporters of the plan to split the CEO and chairman roles will lobby major shareholders prior to May's JPMorgan (JPM) shareholder meeting, while Dimon's supporters have already engaged large JPM shareholders such as Blackrock, T. Rowe Price, and Vanguard. "I can't think of another company where independent board leadership would be a more useful correction for CEO hubris," says AFL-CIO's head of investment Brandon Rees. [View news story]
Italy approves plan to pay €40B to settle a giant outstanding balance with private companies. The debts became a source of distress for the country's corporate sector when bank credit to businesses dried up. The government hopes paying its bills will stimulate the economy, but says the decision to make good on its commitments wasn't easy: "We have to follow a path between helping our economy recover and maintaining budget discipline," Italy's Economic Minister notes. [View news story]
Fisker Automotive, the struggling government-backed hybrid sports car maker, terminates 75% of its staff in what sources said was a last-ditch effort to conserve cash and stave off a potential bankruptcy filing. The company, which raised $1.2B from investors and tapped nearly $200M in government loans, has only around $30M in cash remaining. About 160 workers were fired at a Friday morning meeting at its Anaheim, Calif., headquarters, and were told that the company couldn't afford to give them severance payments. [View news story]
Fisker Automotive, the struggling government-backed hybrid sports car maker, terminates 75% of its staff in what sources said was a last-ditch effort to conserve cash and stave off a potential bankruptcy filing. The company, which raised $1.2B from investors and tapped nearly $200M in government loans, has only around $30M in cash remaining. About 160 workers were fired at a Friday morning meeting at its Anaheim, Calif., headquarters, and were told that the company couldn't afford to give them severance payments. [View news story]
Wal-Mart's (WMT) problem of keeping store shelves stocked keeps drawing more attention with The New York Times and grocery store publications now highlighting the issue in detail. According to the freshest takes, the retail chain is losing the trust of customers and seeing grocery items sell more slowly due to the lower staffing levels. The key stat: Wal-Mart's average number of employees per store in the U.S. fell by 17% to 281 over the last five years. [View news story]
The national average price of gasoline fell in March for the first time in a decade, down $0.15/gal. for the first M/M decline since 2003 and down nearly $0.30/gal. Y/Y, AAA reports. Since peaking at $3.79 on Feb. 27, prices have dropped 29 out of 33 days. AAA thinks April prices should remain less expensive than in recent years because oil is cheaper and refinery production is rising. [View news story]
Trying to gain a measure of independence from Facebook (FB), Zynga (ZNGA) will let users of Zynga.com create accounts that are separate from their Facebook accounts. All players can still connect via Facebook (chances are many will), but Zynga's move, which is made possible by its amended deal with Facebook, raises the possibility of virtual goods purchases that don't require a 30% cut be sent Facebook's way. Zynga has already launched the Facebook-independent Zynga with Friends network, and has added a handful of 3rd-party titles to Zynga.com. [View news story]
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died, according to the country's VP Nicolas Maduro. [View news story]
Groupon (GRPN): Q4 GAAP EPS of -$0.12 misses by $0.15. Revenue of $638.3M (+30% Y/Y) in-line. Gross billings +24% Y/Y to $1.52B. Expects Q1 revenue of $560M-$610M, below $650.3M consensus. Expects Q1 operating income of -$10M to $10M. Shares -25.8% AH. (PR) [View news story]
Though Tesla Motors (TSLA -9.2%) CEO Elon Musk is taking the hardest loss today on the automaker's tumble in share price, Daimler (DDAIF.PK) is also suffering with its 4.7% stake in TSLA making it number two on the list while Toyota (TM -1.1%) also has a stake. Interestingly, Musk says he won't ask the big boys for more money but will fund Model X SUV production through profits. Look for issues of Tesla cash flow to be a major topic in 2013. (transcript) [View news story]
Reuters' Jack Shafer rails against the phrase "our crumbling infrastructure" and the press' all-too uncritical acceptance that hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars needs to be spent to repair it. The doom-mongering has been going on for decades, but as the Federal Highway Administration explains, bridges can be "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete" and still be perfectly safe. [View news story]
Already at an 11-year low, housing inventory fell another 5.6% M/M in January and 16.5% from a year ago, according to Realtor.com. Housing demand is clearly up, but also cutting inventory - foreclosures are down. A separate report from RealtyTrac had new ones falling 11% in January to 28% below a year ago. XHB +10% YTD. [View news story]
More on General Motors' Q4: A weak performance in Europe and a rash of one-time accounting charges drove profits down from their levels of a year ago. A solid quarter in both South America and U.S. couldn't offset Europe. The automaker says 49K U.S. workers will receive profit-sharing checks of up to $6,750. GM -0.7% premarket. (PR) [View news story]
The NYT's John Broder takes Tesla's (TSLA) Model S up and down the East Coast from Washington on Interstate 95, where the company has installed Supercharger stations 200 miles apart. Things start dandily enough, but then the weather cools, and Broder has to endure freezing feet and white knuckles because he has to turn the heating off to preserve power. Eventually, he needs a tow truck to pick him up because the car runs out of juice. [View news story]
"Apple absolutely has to make an iPhone with a bigger screen," iPhone 5 owner Henry Blodget declares. While Apple (AAPL +0.1%) insists on using relatively small display sizes to guarantee effective one-handed iPhone use, devices such as Samsung's Galaxy S III (4.8" display) make the iPhone 5 look "puny and sad in comparison." The iPhone 5's display size doesn't seem to be affecting its U.S. position much, as Strategy Analytics' numbers demonstrate, but international markets appear to be a different story. [View news story]