Air Liquide Fiscal-year Net Profit Up 9%
Czech Economy Grows By 1% in Fourth Quarter of 2008
Cognizant Technology Fourth-quarter Profit Rises 17%
Nordic American Tanker Profit Climbs On 'sound' Market
Pernod-Ricard Half-year Net Profit Up 5%, Confirms Guidance
Foreclosures Fall from December to January
Strayer Revenue Up as Enrollment Rises
Smith & Nephew Profit Steady
Better-than-expected Results Lift CB Richard Ellis Shares
Genzyme's Profit Rises in Fourth Quarter
GE to Sell Saudia Arabia Nearly $1 Billion in Gas Turbines
Dean Foods Quarterly Profit More Than Doubles
3M Lifts Quarterly Dividend 2% to 51 Cents a Share
Macerich Profit Climbs 58%
Genesee & Wyoming Profit up 81%
DaVita 4th-quarter Net Up 15% on 7.8% Higher Revenue
Vestas Wind Systems 4th Quarter Revenue Gains 31%
Daily Mail Operating Profit Ahead of Group Expectation
Danone Quarterly Sales up 10%
Reckitt Benckiser Quarterly Net Income Up 36%
Computer Sciences Posts Profit
ProLogis Shares Rise on Earnings, Outlook
Intel Plans Two-year, $7 Billion Investment in U.S. Plants
Expeditors Posts Higher Fourth-quarter Profit
DirecTV Earnings per Share up 6.7% in Quarter
Genesee & Wyoming Carloads Up 12.2% in January
Patriot Coal Swings to Profit as Sales Jump
McDonald's January Global Comparable Sales Up 7.1%
Kirin Holdings Fiscal Year Net Income Up 28% to $878 Million
Elan Corp Swings to Quarterly Net Profit
Lorillard Earnings per Share Up 24%
U.K. Comparable Retail Sales Up 1.1% in January
Monday, February 16, 2009
32 More Positive News Items
Thursday, February 12, 2009
15 Positive News Items
There is too much negativity going on right now. So to remedy that, here is some positivity to consider.
There is too much negativity going on right now. So to remedy that, here is some positivity to consider.
Embarq Fourth-quarter Profit Rises To $1.34 a Share
McAfee Profit Rises On 19% Revenue Gain
Mortgages Rates Fall After Last Week's Increase
T. Rowe Price Raises Quarterly Dividend To 25 Cents
Weekly Jobless Claims Drop 8,000 to 623,000
Freddie Mac: 30-year Fixed-rate Mortgage Average Falls
Coca-Cola Profit Tops View, Shares Rise
Netflix Passes 10 Million-subscriber Mark
Retail Sales Jump 1% in January
Progress Energy Net Income Rises 4%
Teradata Earnings Per Share 4.7% Higher In Quarter
NRG Energy Net Income Nearly Triples
Northwest Natural Gas' Fourth-quarter Profit Rose 12%
Stifel Financial Generates 5% Quarterly Revenue Growth
Diageo: 6-month Net Profit Up 16%
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Random Thought of the Day
I wonder if one could go about their business dressed like a pirate. While it would be odd, there's no law that says you can't go around wearing a costume all day, is there?
When you think about it, people in uniform are wearing a costume all the time, so why not the rest of us?
I wonder if one could go about their business dressed like a pirate. While it would be odd, there's no law that says you can't go around wearing a costume all day, is there?
When you think about it, people in uniform are wearing a costume all the time, so why not the rest of us?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Dan's Plan
Look it, I've got this plan. I realize this may not be a new idea. If so, point me to the original and I'll promote whoever thought of it first.
You see there is a strong moral hazard that we have to deal with right now before it is too late. The problem is failing to pay our debts.
Currently, if someone does not pay their bills, the worse that will happen to them is that they will ruin their credit. While this is bad, it isn't the end of the world. They can still continue with life, but with a financial weight hanging around their neck.
Now this can get really bad if they don't pay their mortgage. If that happens, they will lose their house. So that has a major serious consequence. I'd like to believe that no one wants to lose thier house. Same goes to not paying their car note. No one wants to lose their car. So above all other debt, I would think that people will always pay their house and car before their pay any other debt.
Expenses are a different matter. After the house and car are paid, people will spend money for food, electricity, utilities, etc. before they'll pay their unsecured debt.
So the problem is with unsecured debt. How do we make people pay their debts. Well, short of putting a draw on their account, I think the financial industry needs to be a little creative. Why not offer an incentive to pay your bills?
If someone has bad credit, their are faced with punitive interest rates on their credit cards, plus they need to usually put down a deposit before they are issued a card.
What if the bank said that if you paid your debts on time, then at the end of the year, the bank would rebate some of the interest that was paid?? Wouldn't that encourage people to pay their debts? Granted, the banks would need to be a little less greedy, but at least they wouldn't need to write off as much as they have.
A creative wrinkle to this is if someone is late on one payment in 12 months, they could still get a rebate, but it would be less.
And further, at the end of the year, the customer would have an option to use the rebate to pay down their debt instead of being issued a check. Plus the good thing about getting a rebate at the end of the year is that it can help you with your Christmas gift giving.
What do you think? Good idea?? Look, I know the Discover card did this, but I don't think it was enough of an incentive. Didn't it pay like 1%? Why not make it 5%?
If you agree, say so. If you don't, tell me what you would do different?
Should people be thrown in prison for not paying their debts? Should they be forced into indentured servitude?
Look it, I've got this plan. I realize this may not be a new idea. If so, point me to the original and I'll promote whoever thought of it first.
You see there is a strong moral hazard that we have to deal with right now before it is too late. The problem is failing to pay our debts.
Currently, if someone does not pay their bills, the worse that will happen to them is that they will ruin their credit. While this is bad, it isn't the end of the world. They can still continue with life, but with a financial weight hanging around their neck.
Now this can get really bad if they don't pay their mortgage. If that happens, they will lose their house. So that has a major serious consequence. I'd like to believe that no one wants to lose thier house. Same goes to not paying their car note. No one wants to lose their car. So above all other debt, I would think that people will always pay their house and car before their pay any other debt.
Expenses are a different matter. After the house and car are paid, people will spend money for food, electricity, utilities, etc. before they'll pay their unsecured debt.
So the problem is with unsecured debt. How do we make people pay their debts. Well, short of putting a draw on their account, I think the financial industry needs to be a little creative. Why not offer an incentive to pay your bills?
If someone has bad credit, their are faced with punitive interest rates on their credit cards, plus they need to usually put down a deposit before they are issued a card.
What if the bank said that if you paid your debts on time, then at the end of the year, the bank would rebate some of the interest that was paid?? Wouldn't that encourage people to pay their debts? Granted, the banks would need to be a little less greedy, but at least they wouldn't need to write off as much as they have.
A creative wrinkle to this is if someone is late on one payment in 12 months, they could still get a rebate, but it would be less.
And further, at the end of the year, the customer would have an option to use the rebate to pay down their debt instead of being issued a check. Plus the good thing about getting a rebate at the end of the year is that it can help you with your Christmas gift giving.
What do you think? Good idea?? Look, I know the Discover card did this, but I don't think it was enough of an incentive. Didn't it pay like 1%? Why not make it 5%?
If you agree, say so. If you don't, tell me what you would do different?
Should people be thrown in prison for not paying their debts? Should they be forced into indentured servitude?
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