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Posted
Sep 03 2009, 12:56 PM
by
InvestorPlace
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 This article was written by InvestorPlace's Nick Atkeson and Andrew Houghton.
The adage "Sell in May and go away" certainly did not apply this summer. MarketWatch reports that since 1950, the two worst months in which to invest are August and September.
Well, so far, 2009 has proved to be an exception as we smashed through August with one of the best performances on record. And September may very well disprove the historical data and reward stockholders with another round of hefty gains.
Bing: Is the Halloween Indicator legit?
So, to make your Labor Day labor-free, we've compiled three of the best trades for you here.
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Posted
Jul 06 2009, 11:16 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Really, how hard is it to find a job? Was June's horrid numbers, in which 467,000 people lost their jobs compared to 345,000 in May, a one-time fluke? Or does it mean that all those Wall Street economists who believe the economic recovery is starting are dead wrong?
Not to scare you, but the situation is actually worse than it seems. Over the years, the government has changed the way it counts the unemployed. An example of this is the criticized Birth-Death Model which was added in 2000. The model is designed to account for the birth and death of businesses and the resultant lag in survey data. Unfortunately, the model doesn't work that well during economic contractions (like we have now) and consistently overstates the number of jobs being created each month.
John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics specializes in removing these questionable tweaks to the government's statistical data to better align current numbers with the methodology used to gather historical data. After reviewing the data, Williams believes that "the June jobs loss likely exceeded 700,000." David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff notes that the fall in the number of hours worked in June (to a record low of 33 per week) is equivalent to a loss of more than 800,000 jobs.
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Posted
Oct 02 2008, 12:27 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
On the wall of the lobby of the Baltimore Sun is a quote, reprinted in large type, from its great columnist H.L. Mencken. It reads:
"As I look back over a misspent life, I find myself more and more convinced that I had more fun doing news reporting than in any other enterprise. It is really the life of kings."
The quote is nostalgic and romantic, and I’m reminded of it every time I read another death notice for newspapers: Indeed, they're in bad shape, knocked flat on the canvas and in danger of staying down for the count.
While Mencken and the reporters of past generations dreamed of being newspapemen, the idea is anathema to younger generations -- they either read the news online, or not at all. The shift has been calamitous: Newspapers have as yet been unable to monetize their online operations.
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Posted
Mar 12 2008, 12:17 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
I've been spending way too much time on Hulu, the new video joint venture from News Corp. and General Electric's NBC Universal that opened to the public today. Now before you gag on word of yet another video site, I dare you to visit Hulu and not get sucked in. It's that easy, and it has set the standard for watching television shows and movies online. Hulu has full-length streaming episodes from around 250 television series, including "Arrested Development" and "Prison Break." So far, it has 100 films. That's not enough content to make it the be all and end all of video sites, but it's a good start. What makes Hulu stand out in a crowded field is its design and ease of use. No wonder the site has been getting so many raves. Shares of News Corp. and General Electric rose slightly more than a percentage point today.
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Posted
Jan 17 2008, 12:32 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Talk about bad timing. Apple just announced it will offer downloaded movie rentals (including high-def) over the Internet. Netflix is working on a set-top box to do the same thing, and Microsoft has been ramping up its downloadable movie offerings over Xbox Live.
Now, one cable company is starting to push back at excessive bandwidth usage caused mainly by video downloading. After an internal memo was leaked, Time Warner Cable confirmed it's planning a trial in Beaumont, Tex., in which it will charge Internet subscribers based on usage. (Time Warner's shares closed down 22 cents to $22.35 Friday.)
It's a tricky situation for Time Warner and other cable companies. Customers generally pay a flat rate for Internet (about $50 a month in my case), but a small minority are basically torrenting HD movies like crazy and sucking up a bunch of bandwidth. According to the leaked memo, 5% of subscribers were using up half of the total bandwidth.
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