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Posted
Oct 12 2009, 10:20 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This article is written by Minyanville's Carol Kopp
There’s a truism among investors that you should invest in what you know, understand, and like. It’s a commonsense strategy: You spot something new. It’s special. It’s useful or innovative. It’s cool and affordable. Let me buy some of that!
The response to that can be summed up in just two words: Krispy Kreme (KKD).
Krispy Kreme had been a popular doughnut chain in the South since 1937, but remained unknown to the rest of us until about 1996. That’s when the first Krispy Kreme popped up in New York City, on West 23rd Street.
Believe it or not, the town went nuts.
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Posted
Apr 16 2009, 10:20 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Forget stocks and bonds, the real money's in guns.
The Wall Street Journal reports artillery enthusiasts are stocking up on guns and ammo, not necessarily ahead of widespread civil unrest resulting from our ongoing economic swoon, but as an investment. These trigger-happy speculators are betting President Obama will institute a ban on assault rifles, which would crimp supply and send prices, well, shooting up.
For it's part, the Obama administration says it has no plans to enact such legislation and supports the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
During the federal ban on semiautomatic weapons from 1994-2004, prices soared. Recent buying has reached almost a frenzied pitch, creating backlogs for popular models and enabling resellers to list certain guns well above suggested retail prices. AK-47s doubled in price between September 2008 and the end of last year.
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Posted
Nov 13 2008, 10:05 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
So much for one president at a time.
Bloomberg reports President-Elect Obama is urging lawmakers to rush through a $50 billion bailout for the struggling U.S. automakers. With no formal executive power until January, Obama is asking Democratic friends in the House and Senate to get their Republican counterparts behind a rescue plan. Any plan would also require the support of President Bush, according to Bloomberg.
Also at issue is whether the money would come from TARP -- essentially depleting the first $350 billion installment of bailout funds -- or from fresh legislation.
General Motors' situation is particularly dire, as many analysts believe that the once-largest carmaker in the world won't survive throug
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Posted
Sep 11 2009, 08:36 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This story was taken from Todd Harrison's, "Memoirs of a Minyan." “Crippled but free. I was blind by the time I was learning to see.” --Grateful Dead It was a beautiful, crisp September morning as I looked up from my Wall Street Journal to watch the sunrise over the East River. It was a peaceful moment, a pause to reflect on the beauty of the landscape and my place in life. That was the first thing I remember about 9/11, how sharp the horizon was as dawn illuminated lower Manhattan. I was president of a $400 million hedge fund and while bearish on the macro landscape, we were positioned for a counter-trend rally heading into that fateful day. As my driver navigated the FDR and I soaked in the scene, none of it mattered for a few, short seconds. As we settled into our turrets and downed our second cup of coffee, Nokia (NOK) pre-announced a negative quarter and the stock shot 5% higher. The first boom shook our office walls. I scanned my trading desk and asked my team, “What the hell was that?”
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Posted
Dec 11 2008, 12:56 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Starbucks employees driving to the corporate headquarters in Seattle are greeted with a billboard proclaiming, "4 bucks is dumb."
It's part of the campaign for McDonalds' latest offering: Espresso - and the hamburger chain plans to slug it out with Starbucks on price. That looks like a smart move in the current economy.
Other billboards in western Washington State, including some near Starbucks, declare "large is the new grande" as McDonalds launches class warfare against what it sees as a hopelessly snobby competitor.
So far, Starbucks has remained blissfully above the fray. The bet: Its customers would never go to McDonalds for a small, medium or large anything.
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Posted
May 06 2009, 10:36 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Do words have meaning?
In March, American International Group (AIG) said it paid approximately $120 million in bonuses to about 6,000 workers. The company now says it paid close to $454 million. That's 278.3% more than it initially disclosed.
But AIG tells Politico, a Web site covering Washington, that it responded accurately to the questions as asked.
A pettifogger’s delight? Or sloppy reporting?
Nick Ashooh, AIG spokesman, says the $454 million total “reflects all types of variable compensation across all our businesses.” The $120 million figure included only bonuses paid to top executives at corporate headquarters and others in its major businesses around the world. He says the higher total includes the previously disclosed $120 million.
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Posted
Jul 13 2009, 02:51 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
A criminal defendant jumping bail can expect to be tracked down by a bail bondsman and dragged into court. There’s a financial incentive at work: The defendant puts up a small portion of the bail -- typically 10% -- and the bondsman is on the hook for the balance if the alleged bad guy fails to appear in court. The bounty hunter often helps the cops by rounding up fugitives -- or “absconds,” as they’re often called at the courthouse. Can the same technique be used for delinquent taxpayers? The US Treasury estimates that about $150 billion in tax revenue is lost each year. Because the Internal Revenue Service doesn’t have the staff to collect the money, it launched the Private Debt Collection Program (or PDC) in 2006 and expanded it in 2008. Under the program, private collectors received as much as $0.25 on each dollar collected, plus $100 for each account closed.
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Posted
Jun 10 2009, 02:29 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
In early 2006, when subprime powerhouse New Century went bust, vulture investors began to salivate at the opportunities a collapsing mortgage market would offer up like manna from the trading gods. They started raising money. And lots of it.
Billions were poured into so-called "mortgage opportunity funds," which planned to pick through the wreckage of the once-high-flying housing market. Some investors aimed to focus on mortgage-backed securities, hoping to buy in at pennies on the dollar so just a few bond payments would reap sizable returns. Others, however, delved into the realm of whole loans, buying troubled mortgages from floundering banks.
As noted in the Wall Street Journal this morning, an investment strategy that seemed like a slam dunk on paper -- buying distressed mortgages on the cheap, and working out equitable arrangements with borrowers -- has proven extremely difficult to execute.
The prevailing wisdom was that, as delinquencies rose, and banks amassed a seemingly limitless portfolio of troubled loans, the likes of JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) would be forced to unload assets at firesale prices. Because they were buying at super-low prices, investors expected to have the necessary cushion to forgive principal, lower interest rates, or otherwise get borrowers back on track. They would, of course, earn a hefty profit for the effort.
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Posted
Jul 29 2009, 07:58 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Minyanville presents 10 promotional stunts that horribly backfired.
What can a corporation do to generate some increased revenue and public awareness? While buckling down and delivering a sensational product is one tried-and-true method, the far quicker and easier route is a promotional stunt.
A straight-forward ad inside People Magazine or a witty banner on the side of a city bus doesn't seem to cut it any longer. What really generates word of mouth is a flashy and often explosive spectacle.
Take, for example, some of the most successful publicity stunts of all time.
Would Artisan Entertainment's (LGF) "Blair Witch Project" have generated all that buzz if it wasn't billed as a tragic, true-life documentary? A Web site featuring photos of the "missing" actors was set up as a makeshift memorial to the three young students. Missing-person fliers were distributed and fake local news reports were produced to amplify the ruse. Once IMDb.com listed the actors as "deceased," the movie had reached a level of epic publicity and led to a highly lucrative box office -- all thanks to a creative marketing team.
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Posted
Jul 20 2009, 05:17 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Take a look at Minyanville's collection of eight lifestyles of the rich and incompetent...
A couple of years ago, a study called "Where Are the Shareholders’ Estates?" by Arizona State University professor Crocker Liu and New York University professor David Yermack, asserted: “Future company performance deteriorates when CEOs acquire extremely large or costly mansions and estates."
The researchers' sources of information included property deeds, tax records, online databases such as Zillow.com and Reply.com, Google searches, employment contracts and voter registration data.
Their findings certainly show a privileged class:
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