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September 21st 2009 19:53
Earlier today Dell Computer announced the purchase of Perot Systems for $3.9 Billion in cash. The move is seen an indicator that Dell will be moving into more lucrative business consulting services as PCs become an increasingly commodity-priced low-margin product.
Perot Systems was started by H. Ross Perot after he sold EDS to General Motors. Perot Systems specializes in the health care industry (48 percent of revenue) and government (25 percent of revenue). While both companies are based in Texas, about one-third of Perot Systems' employees are based in India.
Additional analysis and links to announcements available at CNET News.
September 16th 2009 04:54
The Washington Post reports that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke commented after a speech on Tuesday that the recession is "very likely over". However, he continued by adding that the job market will remain weak.
The question Bernanke doesn't address, but should be on the minds of every American taxpayer is this: If the recession is over, can we cancel the rest of the "stimulus" plan which is scheduled to be spent in the next 18 months? After all, that $700 BILLION is much better taken off the spending list than to incur the additional debt.
September 15th 2009 18:27
A report from Ernst & Young on the Russell 2000 small cap compaines shows that they have been slammed by the receission.
Companies with a market cap (stock price plus number of outstanding shares) as low as $78 million are now on the list. In 2008, the minimum market cap was $167 million, Ernst & Young says. That is the lowest valuation since 1993.
The average market cap dropped 38% to $432 million, and the median market cap declined 41% to $515 million in 2008, according to Ernst & Young’s analysis.
“The lower threshold is truly a sign of the damage inflicted on companies and the overall market through the end of May of 2009,” said Maria Pinelli, Americas director of Strategic Growth Markets for Ernst & Young. “It also has created an opportunity for smaller companies to gain enormously valuable exposure before a new, larger investor base. The key now will be to impress investors by delivering sustainable growth, outperforming their peers and creating a growth trajectory that is aligned with or exceeds the overall market trajectory.”
Since small companies are in many ways the engines of new job growth, this is a bad indicator of what is to come in the economy.
The Wall Street Journal reports that "Windmills Are Killing Our Birds" throughout the country.
On Aug. 13, ExxonMobil pleaded guilty in federal court to killing 85 birds that had come into contact with crude oil or other pollutants in uncovered tanks or waste-water facilities on its properties. The birds were protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which dates back to 1918. The company agreed to pay $600,000 in fines and fees.
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Who would have expected labor unions to hold up development of environmentally positive projects? Well, as IBD Editorials report, that's exactly what's happening in California.
The New York Times [no link], for all its problems, can still do good reporting, one example being its coverage of unions using environmental regulations in California to try to pressure developers into signing "agreements pledging to use union labor."
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Recently President Obama has blamed much of what lead to the economic meltdown to "greed" by various parties: Investors, bankers, mortgage companies, insurance companies, overpaid executives, etc. The media and the public lap this up, since we all disapprove of "greed". But what is greed and how bad is it? Of course, no one ever points into the mirror and accuses himself of being greedy - it's always the other guy. And what does those greedy persons do that is so bad? Aren't we supposed to be making as much money as possible - didn't Vice President Biden recently point out that it is patriotic to pay taxes? But the public clamours for laws that control what some might label as greed, and the legislative class (and the executive class as well, if Obama is a good example) are willing to pass all the expected regulations.
George F. Will, in his column of May 17th, gives a wonderful overview of just how greed works in an unregulated market
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Reporting today in the Orange County (California) Register, columnist Jan Norman discloses that the Better Business Bureau (BBB) gives higher rating scores to businesses that are members of the BBB than to those that are not members.
Despite the BBB website claiming that "not being a BBB member (which it calls “not accredited”) does not disparage the company in any way", the recently updated scoring system does award 4 points for membership in the organization. That means the only way a company can get the top A rating is if they are members
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Anyone watching these early days of the Obama Administration has to wonder what the message is. Candidate Obama promised to exit Iraq immediately - President Obama is calling for a phased withdrawal with thousands of troops remaining in Iraq. Candidate Obama discussed attacking Pakistan - President Obama has added 21,000 US personnel to Afghanistan. Candidate Obama called for an end to earmarks - President Obama signs legislation with more earmarks than anything prior. Candidate Obama called for the closing of the detention facility at Gitmo - President Obama signed an executive order, but cannot find any facility to move the prisoners to.
Now President Obama says he doesn't want to run General Motors - but forces the CEO of GM to resign
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The Dow Jones 30 Industrails Average, one of the premier benchmarks of stock market performance, has fallen below the 7,000 point mark for the first time since 1997, the New York Times reports.
Businesses and investors alike generally prefer stability to surprises, and that's what they have been getting from the Obama administration for weeks. There were promises of no lobbyists and high ethics, followed by exceptions and withdrawal of nominees due to ethical lapses. There were promises of transparency and public discussion of legislation, followed by 1,000 page bills passed by one-party force, no hearings, no public discussion and not even public disclosure of the content until after the bill had passed. There were promises of no pork projects or earmarks, followed by legislation jam packed full of both. And with record borrowing and record spending already in the pipeline, the government has in effect nationalized the auto industry, a huge insurance company (AIG) and at least one major bank (Citigroup
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Fox News is reporting that
American International Group (AIG: 0.4299, -0.0721, -14.36%) and the federal government will announce a major restructuring of the insurance giant’s government bailout Monday morning that will commit the Treasury Department to invest up to $30 billion in new equity in the company if it needs it, a person familiar with the negotiations told FOX Business.
AIG has gone from being the largest insurance company in the world to the largest sink hole. At what point does the taxpayers' responsibility to "bail out" a company whose management is completely in the dark end
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Comments (1)
Comment by Opher Banarie
on Is This a Good Economy to go Job Hunting?
I didn't know about this until I heard it on the Money Girl podcast:
Good luck!