Amazon (AMZN -0.4%) brings Amazon Coins to the Kindle Fire and says it will add $5 worth of free coins that can be spent on apps and games to the accounts of all Kindle Fire owners. The company appears to be pushing its virtual currency hard than ever, offering discounts to users who buy the e-coins in bulk. [View news story]
General Motors Vs. Ford: Automakers On The Global Stage [View article]
One should consider what portion of the old pre-2070 GM management remains in power. After all, everybody at the helm and nearby, beginning in the 1970s drove that company and its shareholders into the ground like a steel tent peg.
Alaska Air Group's Management Presents at JPMorgan Aviation, Transportation and Defense Conference (Transcript) [View article]
This has been a fabulous, fabulous investment for me. After about 18 months I own it at half the present price. I remember when Jimmy Carter decontrolled the airlines about 50 years ago and knew that at some point the field of competitors would shrink to the point where successful competition would reassert itself. For strong franchises in the industry that point has arrived.
Buy Ford: I Am Raising My Price Target [View article]
Ford is a $20 stock -- and soon. It's the best car company around and has the best management around -- remember? no government bail out and unlike GM, no crappy management still around. It's a jewel.
eBay Is Finally Set To Take On Amazon Head-To-Head [View article]
I agree -- but worse, the Ebay prices in general seem to me to offer no advantage to the buyer and are very often higher than generally available retail prices I find via Google or Amazon. Add on free shipping I get via Amazon and -- KaPow -- I haven't used Ebay in a year or more!
I've never been a seller on Ebay and so cannot speak to that. Were I to start selling stuff I think I would opt for the local Craig's List.
I do think, however, that PayPal is great and, where it is accepted by retailers on-line, is vastly preferable to exposing one's credit card details.
The flap over fuel economy claims by automakers brings up an interesting point. While EPA testing is done at just below highway speed limits, drivers in the spacious Midwest are likely to topple that average quite a bit. Edmunds.com editor John O'Dell notes cities drivers have a much larger economic incentive to drive an electric vehicle than a rural drivers based on that notion of non-efficiency. Perhaps doubly so after factoring in the trick of finding a charging station in the middle of Nebraska. [View news story]
" While EPA testing is done at just below highway speed limits, drivers in the spacious Midwest are likely to topple that average quite a bit."
What does this sentence mean? That driving faster reduces mpg? Not my experience. Or does it mean that the wide open spaces themselves are bad for mpg? I am SO tired of crappy writing!
And, anyway, who cares? All the EPA ratings are way high.
Raymond James is out with a couple of upgrades in the airline sector, moving Alaska Air (ALK) to Outperform from Market Perform and Allegiant Travel (ALGT) to Strong Buy from Outperform. The common theme on the ratings boosts is that current share price doesn't reflect the assumption that fuel prices will stay at lower levels. Premarket: ALK +0.8%, ALGT inactive. [View news story]
Finally, since Jimmy Carter devastated the airline industry with "decontrol" a sufficient number [most] of factors have gone under that the remaining companies can make money and attract investors with confidence. ALK, at 6.3x forward earnings, excellent load factor and routes is one of those that investors should not ignore. HA is another.
Ford: Berkshire Hathaway Likes 'Government Motors,' We Like Ford Instead [View article]
GM has been a dog -- and a money spigot for management -- for decades, ever since the first VW came off the boats and Japanese automakers started producing cars that actually lasted. GM management kept their eyes firmly and deliberately closed while enriching themselves and driving the company into the ground like a tent peg. Without making absolutely certain that all of those old management felons were gone, I would be terrified to even consider GM. Maybe Mr. Buffett knows better . . . but he makes mistakes, too.
Amazon And Printing Books On Demand [View article]
Print-on-demand is an intermediate step for the ever-diminishing, aging luddite crowd that can't cut the cord with physical reading material. Good luck, boys and girls. As for the "Publishers (who) worry that a widespread shift to print on demand could, like the advent of e-books, disrupt their century-old business model", it's going to take more than good luck. They're done. They cannot learn the lesson of the RIAA and the music biz and are going under.
I admire the Ford management and company and how they managed a government-free recovery, I own quite a bit of the stock and intend to keep it. I would not own GM. Since the first VWs started coming to the U.S. the GM management has ignored their obligations to shareholders, effectively looted the company and driven the shares into the ground like tent pegs -- and then came to D.C. pleading in part the plight of their employees, and then having gotten into the public purse ignored said employees. I will never own a share of thge enterprise of those liars and bandits. I know, I know, don't hold back....
Amazon (AMZN -0.4%) brings Amazon Coins to the Kindle Fire and says it will add $5 worth of free coins that can be spent on apps and games to the accounts of all Kindle Fire owners. The company appears to be pushing its virtual currency hard than ever, offering discounts to users who buy the e-coins in bulk. [View news story]
Examining The Future Of Ford [View article]
General Motors Vs. Ford: Automakers On The Global Stage [View article]
Alaska Air Group's Management Presents at JPMorgan Aviation, Transportation and Defense Conference (Transcript) [View article]
Buy Ford: I Am Raising My Price Target [View article]
eBay Is Finally Set To Take On Amazon Head-To-Head [View article]
I've never been a seller on Ebay and so cannot speak to that. Were I to start selling stuff I think I would opt for the local Craig's List.
I do think, however, that PayPal is great and, where it is accepted by retailers on-line, is vastly preferable to exposing one's credit card details.
I Put Borders Out Of Business, Target Is Next [View article]
The flap over fuel economy claims by automakers brings up an interesting point. While EPA testing is done at just below highway speed limits, drivers in the spacious Midwest are likely to topple that average quite a bit. Edmunds.com editor John O'Dell notes cities drivers have a much larger economic incentive to drive an electric vehicle than a rural drivers based on that notion of non-efficiency. Perhaps doubly so after factoring in the trick of finding a charging station in the middle of Nebraska. [View news story]
What does this sentence mean? That driving faster reduces mpg? Not my experience. Or does it mean that the wide open spaces themselves are bad for mpg? I am SO tired of crappy writing!
And, anyway, who cares? All the EPA ratings are way high.
Does Share Dilution Warrant Concern For Ford Investors? [View article]
Raymond James is out with a couple of upgrades in the airline sector, moving Alaska Air (ALK) to Outperform from Market Perform and Allegiant Travel (ALGT) to Strong Buy from Outperform. The common theme on the ratings boosts is that current share price doesn't reflect the assumption that fuel prices will stay at lower levels. Premarket: ALK +0.8%, ALGT inactive. [View news story]
Ford: Berkshire Hathaway Likes 'Government Motors,' We Like Ford Instead [View article]
Amazon And Printing Books On Demand [View article]
There Is A Ford In Our Future [View article]
Value Investors: Wal-Mart Is A Bargain At $58 [View article]
All Eyes Should Be On Financing For Telefonica's Q1 Results [View article]