If they "want to succeed in Vietnam, they have to change the way they serve," one customer says of Starbucks' (SBUX) brewing methods at its Ho Chi Minh City flagship store. Of all the markets into which the Seattle coffee giant has ventured, Vietnam may prove the most challenging given the country's rich coffee culture which dates back at least a century. Predictably however, business is good, and Howard Schultz says sales are already exceeding expectations despite locals' penchant for what WSJ describes as a "thick, oily" domestic brew. (Also: SBUX goes to Myanmar) [View news story]
Perhaps take it with a grain of salt, but a surprising 44% of consumers responding to a survey on the impact of an online sales tax say they will buy less items online if the legislation is passed into law. The number rises to 75% for the 18-year to 25-year old demographic (ZUMZ, ANF, URBN, ARO, BKE, VRA). Though seemingly a bad development for Amazon (AMZN -0.6%) and eBay (EBAY), many retail analysts thinks those shopping habits are pretty hard to break. [View news story]
The New York City Employees' Retirement System becomes the third pension fund to sell its stake in gun makers Sturm Ruger (RGR -0.8%) and Smith & Wessen (SWHC -0.3%) following the nightmarish school shooting in Connecticut. CalSTRS and New York's Teacher's Retirement System sold their shares in January and February respectively. Comptroller John Liu says the company's products "tear apart families and shatter communities." ( Reuters ) [View news story]
New York City will become the first metropolis in the U.S. to ban cigarette displays if legislation proposed by Mayor Bloomberg passes. The measure would be a dramatic change from the high-profile positioning of tobacco products near checkout counters at retail outlets and would follow up on other aggressive anti-smoking laws in the Big Apple. [View news story]
The Big Apple has one big pain in the butt as its mayor.
Windows 8 (MSFT) only made up 2.67% of PC Web traffic in February, per Net Applications. That's up modestly from 2.36% in January, and is the latest datapoint suggesting a slow adoption rate for Microsoft's latest OS. Windows 7 and XP accounted for 83.5% of Web traffic between them. (previous) [View news story]
Running 5 computers with Windows 8, Windows 7, XP as well as Vista. Windows XP for me is the best operating system out of all. Vista is the worst of them all.
Nokia (NOK) and a slew of academic/business partners have received a 10-year, €1B ($1.36B) EU grant to research and commercialize graphene, an ultra-thin structure said to have "a breaking strength 300 times greater than steel," and which could potentially have a variety of electronics applications. A Nokia R&D exec compares graphene's importance to that of silicon and cheap iron. Hyperbole? We should have a better idea within a decade. [View news story]
A judge in the Hostess bankruptcy approves a $1.8M payment in bonuses for Hostess Brands executives. The bigger issue: After the formalities of the bankruptcy case peel away, a potential goldmine of well-known brands could spur a bidding war. The word from one of the company's bankers in courtroom testimony was that calls have been coming in "fast and furious" and a stalking horse bid could be in place by mid-January. [View news story]
A123 Systems (AONE) received a $946,830 grant payment from the government on the day it filed for Chapter 11 last month. The money, which was was part of $115.8M in funds that the electric-car battery producer has received, will add fuel to criticism about the government's support of green-energy programs. What won't help is that a court has approved bonuses of up to $4.2M for 10 employees who have stayed on while A123's assets are sold. [View news story]
A123 Systems (AONE) received a $946,830 grant payment from the government on the day it filed for Chapter 11 last month. The money, which was was part of $115.8M in funds that the electric-car battery producer has received, will add fuel to criticism about the government's support of green-energy programs. What won't help is that a court has approved bonuses of up to $4.2M for 10 employees who have stayed on while A123's assets are sold. [View news story]
The tax payer gets ripped off again, our government at work.
If they "want to succeed in Vietnam, they have to change the way they serve," one customer says of Starbucks' (SBUX) brewing methods at its Ho Chi Minh City flagship store. Of all the markets into which the Seattle coffee giant has ventured, Vietnam may prove the most challenging given the country's rich coffee culture which dates back at least a century. Predictably however, business is good, and Howard Schultz says sales are already exceeding expectations despite locals' penchant for what WSJ describes as a "thick, oily" domestic brew. (Also: SBUX goes to Myanmar) [View news story]
Perhaps take it with a grain of salt, but a surprising 44% of consumers responding to a survey on the impact of an online sales tax say they will buy less items online if the legislation is passed into law. The number rises to 75% for the 18-year to 25-year old demographic (ZUMZ, ANF, URBN, ARO, BKE, VRA). Though seemingly a bad development for Amazon (AMZN -0.6%) and eBay (EBAY), many retail analysts thinks those shopping habits are pretty hard to break. [View news story]
The New York City Employees' Retirement System becomes the third pension fund to sell its stake in gun makers Sturm Ruger (RGR -0.8%) and Smith & Wessen (SWHC -0.3%) following the nightmarish school shooting in Connecticut. CalSTRS and New York's Teacher's Retirement System sold their shares in January and February respectively. Comptroller John Liu says the company's products "tear apart families and shatter communities." ( Reuters ) [View news story]
Nokia Earnings: Lumia Emerging Market Sales In Focus [View article]
OCZ: Bankruptcy Within 6 Months? [View article]
4 Reasons Nokia Shares Will Stop Falling [View article]
New York City will become the first metropolis in the U.S. to ban cigarette displays if legislation proposed by Mayor Bloomberg passes. The measure would be a dramatic change from the high-profile positioning of tobacco products near checkout counters at retail outlets and would follow up on other aggressive anti-smoking laws in the Big Apple. [View news story]
Windows 8 (MSFT) only made up 2.67% of PC Web traffic in February, per Net Applications. That's up modestly from 2.36% in January, and is the latest datapoint suggesting a slow adoption rate for Microsoft's latest OS. Windows 7 and XP accounted for 83.5% of Web traffic between them. (previous) [View news story]
Vista is the worst of them all.
Nokia (NOK) and a slew of academic/business partners have received a 10-year, €1B ($1.36B) EU grant to research and commercialize graphene, an ultra-thin structure said to have "a breaking strength 300 times greater than steel," and which could potentially have a variety of electronics applications. A Nokia R&D exec compares graphene's importance to that of silicon and cheap iron. Hyperbole? We should have a better idea within a decade. [View news story]
Why Nokia Remains A Strong Buy Despite Different Analyst Opinions [View article]
A judge in the Hostess bankruptcy approves a $1.8M payment in bonuses for Hostess Brands executives. The bigger issue: After the formalities of the bankruptcy case peel away, a potential goldmine of well-known brands could spur a bidding war. The word from one of the company's bankers in courtroom testimony was that calls have been coming in "fast and furious" and a stalking horse bid could be in place by mid-January. [View news story]
A123 Systems (AONE) received a $946,830 grant payment from the government on the day it filed for Chapter 11 last month. The money, which was was part of $115.8M in funds that the electric-car battery producer has received, will add fuel to criticism about the government's support of green-energy programs. What won't help is that a court has approved bonuses of up to $4.2M for 10 employees who have stayed on while A123's assets are sold. [View news story]
A123 Systems (AONE) received a $946,830 grant payment from the government on the day it filed for Chapter 11 last month. The money, which was was part of $115.8M in funds that the electric-car battery producer has received, will add fuel to criticism about the government's support of green-energy programs. What won't help is that a court has approved bonuses of up to $4.2M for 10 employees who have stayed on while A123's assets are sold. [View news story]
Is Apple Delicious At $500? [View article]
Vivus Inc: This Hedge Fund Just Went Activist [View article]