Jackie Chan Speaks For Censorship "Chinese Need to be Controlled"

Jackie Chan isn't just punching faces now and doing his karate moves for Hollywood, he's facing mixed responses as he spoke about censorship in Chinese conference of business leaders- the Boao Economic Forum.

"I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not," the 55-year-old action superstar told delegates when pressed by fellow panel members to give his views on China's rigorous controls on the media and restrictions on film-makers.

"I'm really confused now. If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic.

"I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled," he continued. "If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."

Chinese high-profile personalities seem to have agreed with his statements but certain legislators have been outraged by his speech.

Guardian.UK reported that "He's insulted the Chinese people," Hong Kong legislator Leung Kwok-hung said. "Chinese people aren't pets."

"He himself has enjoyed freedom and democracy and has reaped the economic benefits of capitalism. But he has yet to grasp the true meaning of freedom and democracy," Taiwanese legislator Huang Wei-cher said.

The World's Richest Got Poorer By Forbes

Forbes just released the world's richest for the year 2009, and the big announcement is that they all got poorer (woohoo big surprise!) - only about 4% got richer over the period. A whopping third of them just bowed out of the list while 83% decreased in wealth.

If we're suffering so should they right? Nevertheless, as a result of the financial meltdown we've got two trillion floating around somewhere.

Okay as an overview Bill Gates and Warren Buffett swapped places. Warren used to be number one, but well he's not anymore - Bill Gates owns that spot now. Maybe the stint on tv helped him out a bit.

Mark Zuckerberg, once dubbed as one of the youngest billionaires in the world fell off that pedestal after losing big - approximately $600 million, he must have sunk a lot of investments

For more details, check out the source at Forbes.com

Subprime crisis for dummies

A really funny comic presentation about how we ended up having the financial crisis as a result of the sub-prime fiasco, care of Pinoy Money Talk

Warren Buffett Owns Up To Mistakes - Business Tips from Warren Buffett

What makes a man an even bigger man? A man who is accountable. Warren Buffett is that kind of a man. No wonder he's the world's most widely followed investor.

Being the respectable businessman that he is, Warren Buffett had this to say in his annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Warren Buffett's insurance and investment company

"During 2008 I did some dumb things in investments," he wrote, adding later, "I made some errors of omission, sucking my thumb when new facts came in that should have caused me to re-examine my thinking and promptly take action."

"The economy will be in shambles throughout 2009 -- and, for that matter, probably well beyond -- but that conclusion does not tell us whether the stock market will rise or fall."

"Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time," he said. "It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so. America's best days lie ahead.

Berkshire Hathaway went down by a significant percentage, overall the company ended the year with $25.54 billion of cash, down from $44.33 billion a year earlier. It said it made roughly $6 billion of acquisitions in 2008, and spent $14.5 billion on fixed-income securities from General Electric Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and chewing gum maker Wm Wrigley Jr Co. Buffett sold some stocks to fund the latter purchases.

For all of 2008, profit at Berkshire fell 62 percent to a six-year low of $4.99 billion, or $3,224 per share, from $13.21 billion, or $8,548. Revenue fell 9 percent to $107.8 billion.

Wow even the world's most-admired investors, and Forbes magazine's second-richest American had a bad year in 2008

Some tips, which indexes does Warren Buffett use?

• Standard & Poor's 500
• Britain's FTSE 100
• Europe's Euro Stoxx 50
• Nikkei 225 in Japan

Yahoo... What Happens Next?

Since my last post here just blatantly outlined how Yahoo let go of about 100 or so employees, I saw it fitting to post an update on how they're doing after the fact. Yahoo has a new CEO (who's apparently paid millions), and a new management structure.

Here's Business Week's Robert Hof's take on the rehabilitation of Yahoo

Just six weeks after taking over as chief executive of Yahoo! from co-founder Jerry Yang, Carol Bartz has now made it quite clear who's in charge and what demands she'll place on her executive team. On Feb. 26, Bartz announced an overhaul of the embattled company's management. The new, streamlined structure is intended to make the company "a lot faster on its feet," Bartz wrote in a post on Yahoo's official blog.



In one of the biggest changes, Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen, who joined Yahoo in June 2007, will leave in the next few months after a new CFO is chosen. Jorgensen was a close ally of former Yahoo President Sue Decker, who left in January after being passed over for the top job. Jorgensen's departure follows those of mobile chief Marco Boerries earlier this week and news head Neeraj Khemlani, who's leaving for Hearst as vice-president and special assistant to the CEO for digital media.

The changes, though largely expected after recent reports in the blog BoomTown, are no less momentous for a company that for years has been hobbled by slow decision-making and ineffective execution on those decisions. As far back as 2006, one executive who has since left, Brad Garlinghouse, penned a now-famous "Peanut Butter Manifesto" that outlined those management problems. The new management organization has all major executives reporting directly to Bartz, who lamented in her blog post that there's "plenty that has bogged this company down." "It looks like she isn't afraid to go in with a chain saw," says Kevin Lee, CEO of search marketing firm Didit.

Divestitures of Businesses Expected

In the most important leadership picks, current Chief Technology Officer Aristotle "Ari" Balogh will be head of all products and Hilary Schneider, current chief of ad, publishing, and audience groups in the U.S., will head North American operations. A new chief of international operations, to be chosen soon, will oversee what had been three separate global regions.

Although Bartz has kept her specific plans for Yahoo close to the vest, her revamped organization may pave the way for underperforming operations to be jettisoned more quickly. "We expect more significant restructurings and divestitures of various businesses will occur in the future as the simpler org chart leads to more of a focus on the company's core businesses," UBS Securities (UBS) analyst Ben Schachter wrote in a report after the announcement.

The more centralized management structure doesn't guarantee Yahoo will find its footing. Indeed, some observers fret that centralizing too much can hobble innovation. "We tend not to like that much concentration in product development," says Sanford Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay, who would prefer a structure that focuses on key strategic products such as search ads.

Trying to Speed Decision-Making

Still, he and others note that the new organization is a vast improvement over the previous "matrix management" system that handed multiple executives oversight over many products and new projects. That led to slow decision-making and little accountability, Yahoo insiders say. "Carol's patience for the whole matrix management is limited," one insider says with evident understatement. Indeed, the plainspoken Bartz said in her blog post that "you'd be amazed at how complicated some things are here."

By most accounts, the swing to centralization is the right move for Yahoo after so many years of decentralized product groups around the world, each with their own engineering and other functions. Yahoo has an "inability to stop doing good things that don't fit with their strategy," says Robert Sutton, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University, where Yahoo was founded in the dorm room of Yang and co-founder David Filo.

Besides the internal changes, Bartz made it clear that she aims to get much more direct feedback from customers as the flatter organizational structure makes it clearer who's in charge of what. In addition, she has created a Customer Advocacy Group whose chief will be chosen soon. "After getting a lot of angry calls at my office from frustrated customers, I realized we could do a better job of listening to and supporting you," she told customers in her blog post.

Wall Street Likes the News

Bartz also aims to restore some luster and visibility to Yahoo's brand, which remains well-regarded by many consumers. "Look for this company to kick ass again," she wrote. Bartz created a new chief marketing post, which will be occupied by Elisa Steele, currently senior vice-president for corporate marketing at NetApp, a data storage company on whose board Bartz serves.

Investors apparently liked what they heard, as Yahoo's stock rose 4% to 12.98, even as the broader market slipped, though it was nothing Yahoo executives hadn't said before. Many analysts view a Microsoft-Yahoo pairing as one of the few ways the companies could mount a credible defense against Google, the leader in online advertising.

Bartz has been coy about whether she's interested in revisiting a pair-up with Microsoft. One former Yahoo executive noted that Microsoft is probably willing to do a deal that involves paying Yahoo nearly all the revenue it now gets from search while letting Yahoo cut nearly all its considerable spending on search. In exchange, Microsoft would gain much needed scale in the lucrative market for advertising related to Web-search queries. "Jerry's and Sue's egos got in the way of a deal," this person said.

More Leverage in Microsoft Dealings

Others, however, note that Yahoo's profitable search operation has improved recently. It gained about a percentage point of market share in the past six months, after years of declines, and produced higher revenues per search query in the fourth quarter. Bernstein analyst Lindsay goes so far as to suggest that if Bartz manages to steady Yahoo, the company could turn the tables and propose a deal by which Microsoft would sell or outsource all of its own online operations to Yahoo.

Either way, Bartz's moves may give her some increased leverage in whatever deal might be struck. Any improvement in Yahoo's fortunes or stock price makes it look that much stronger than Microsoft, whose online operations have been struggling even more than Yahoo's. And as investors wait to see how the management overhaul works, they may give Bartz some time before getting vocal about a deal again. But to avoid a replay of Yahoo's lost year in 2008, when the failed Microsoft deal distracted many Yahoo managers from tasks at hand and led scores to leave the company, she will have to show progress sooner rather than later.

In a case like this though, Yahoo is so rock bottom there's nowhere to go but up

Yahoo's Very Public Lay-off

Last December 10, Yahoo laid off 10% of it's work force. This is equivalent to about 1,500 employees losing their jobs just a couple of weeks before Christmas. Affected departments include sales, marketing, content, administration, engineering, and acquisitions like Maven Networks and Right Media Exchange. Yahoo has been in trouble for a long time. Ever since the Microsoft billion dollar offer or probably even before that when they were so obviously lagging behind Google in advertising revenue.

This laying off was magnified because it became very public given that Yahoo is an advanced company plus everyone and their mother is online. The scenario was adjudged negative for Yahoo as a company but possibly redeeming for the newly unemployed.

"People in this business know the internet as their go-to place to express themselves," said managing director Don Leon, Stephen Bradford Search, to AdAge. "The benefits of […] getting your name out there and letting people know you're available outweigh the potential downside of being perceived as bitter."

Now care of Valleywag, here are some leaked power point slides that indicate how to lay-off people during this time. Apparently it is not to be called "firing" but "getting fit." Nevertheless it's still having people jobless and no matter what that is called, that still hurts

It's just sad when things like this have to happen. I have experienced having to lose a team of 12 before and compared to this the numbers are smaller ~ true. But that didn't make it any harder. I cried when the news was relayed. It's never easy, but it's management decision. Apparently cutting off some of the branches would make the tree grow better (or more financially stable - whichever turned you on)

For managers out there, this might be useful I think. I for one, am not good at following such orders and would have most likely lost my nerve and ended up getting fired myself. Here are the Yahoo "how to sack employees" slides

War of the Dolls: Barbie Vs. Bratz Translates To Mattel Vs. MGA - Bratz Dolls Infringed On Barbie Doll Copyright

Intellectual property rights are very important nowadays where mere ideas and concepts can be the capital to any successful business venture. It used to be that you had to create some tangible product and manufacture it to make your business empire. These days it can become much easier to create that business, but it can also be that easier to lose!

Bratz for instance, which looks weirdly like Barbie in most ways has recently been canned by federal court recently and will have to stop selling come next year.


“In the most dire scenario, MGA can’t sell Bratz at all and a humongous chunk of their business disappears,” said Needham & Co. analyst Sean McGowan. “But it’s likely they will work out a way for MGA to stay in business but Mattel to profit.”

Here's some more detail from MSNBC.

The federal judged banned MGA from making and selling all 40 dolls in the Bratz line, which it began selling in 2001, including the four originals — Yasmine, Chloe, Sasha and Jade. U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson also ordered MGA to reimburse its vendors and distributors for the cost of the dolls and all shipping charges for sending them back.

The ruling, issued in a California federal court, followed a jury’s finding that Bratz designer Carter Bryant developed the concept for the dolls while working for Mattel. The same jury later awarded Mattel $10 million for copyright infringement and up to $90 million for breach of contract after a lengthy trial stemming from Mattel’s 2004 lawsuit ended in August.

The post-trial dispute that prompted Wednesday’s ruling centered on whether the jury found that only the first generation of Bratz dolls infringed on Mattel’s copyright or whether all the dolls in the line were in violation.

The jury verdict form asked panelists only to find whether there was infringement and assign a dollar reward, but did not ask them to specify which dolls violated the law.

If you're asking, what led to this scuffle? The Bratz range of dolls were the first serious competition given Mattel's fashion doll queen, Barbie. In 2004, sales figures showed that Bratz dolls were outselling Barbie dolls in the United Kingdom, although Mattel maintained that in terms of the number of dolls, clothes and accessories sold, Barbie remained the leading brand. In 2005, figures showed that sales of Barbie dolls had fallen by 30% in the United States, and by 18% worldwide, with much of the drop being attributed to the popularity of Bratz dolls.

In April 2005, MGA Entertainment filed a lawsuit against Mattel, claiming that the "My Scene" line of Barbie dolls had copied the doe-eyed look of Bratz dolls. The lawsuit is currently pending in the court system of California.[13]

Mattel sued MGA Entertainment for $500 million alleging that Bratz creator Carter Bryant was working for Mattel when he developed the idea for Bratz. And so here we are now, Barbie wins over Bratz

What Happens When A Company Veers Away From Its Brand Color? Starbucks Goes Red This Holiday Season

Starbucks goes red? When a company intentionally veers from its traditional brand color, there better be a darned good reason. Starbucks for instance has joined the Product (red) brigade, spearheaded by U2's Bono to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

It's marketing for a cause and it's a beautiful thing. When companies make themselves productive beyond the scope of their own profitability, it is just a blessing not only to the organization but to the world



Seeing a company that contributes to the world's sustainability is impressive. Companies in the private sector do not operate in a vacuum, but in a world where at some point everyone is interconnected.

Every time you buy coffee at Starbucks, five cents will be contributed to Africa. It's not a lot but it can save lives. It's a good start. When company brands as big as Starbucks start to take notice, I certainly do hope others will follow. This is a great way to blend holiday marketing as well.

Holiday Sales versus Holiday Discounts: Are You Giving Too Much For The Same Revenue?

Holiday shopping is still in full swing even with the economic slowdown. Black Friday has shown no signs of a decrease in consumer spending as thousands flocked to their favorite retail destinations to get the best deal for their money.

The National Retail Federation, adding up sales Thursday through Saturday and projected sales for Sunday, said that each shopper spent about 7 percent more this year than last year. Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 Friday though Sunday, according to the federation, a trade group.

Strength of online sales can even be seen via this reuters article that said, PayPal, an online payments service owned by eBay, saw almost 34 percent more transactions this Black Friday than a year earlier.

PayPal saw sales rise 26 percent on Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday that traditionally kicks off the U.S. holiday shopping season. PayPal said its sales numbers reflected 12 percent of all U.S. e-commerce.

Black Friday is best known as the day consumers crowd shopping malls, while greater online traffic is expected three days later on "Cyber Monday," when consumers use faster Internet connections at the office to make purchases.

Overall Web sales during the U.S. holiday season are expected to be flat at about $29 billion this year, according to tracking firm comScore.

Amazon.com said Apple Inc's iPod touch was the top-selling electronics item on Friday morning, followed by a Canon Inc PowerShot camera. Wii Fit and the Wii console were the top-selling items in the video game category, while the LeapFrog Tag Reading System was the best-selling toy.

But are we giving too much away? Analysts said the discounts that drew in shoppers over the weekend were so steep that many ailing chains might be no better off in the long run.

“You’re looking at discounts of 50 to 70 percent off,” said Matthew Katz, managing director in the retail practice of Alix Partners, an advisory and restructuring firm. “You have to sell two to three times as much to break even.”

What will the Holiday Season be like for Online Retailers?

More than half of online retailers (56.1%) expect their holiday sales to increase at least 15% over last year - although last year's survey had found that three-fourths (77.5%) expected their sales to grow more than 15%.



Overall results show that “Retailers will be heavily promotional to attract shoppers on a budget, but have also invested in new site features to improve the online buying experience," according to executive director of Shop.org - retailers will suffer from the economic slowdown but nevertheless they are believed to be resilient.

What are retailers doing to manage the economic slowdown this holiday season? What online strategies will be applicable this year?

1. Majority of retailers (78%) plan to offer free shipping with conditions* at some point during the holiday season, consistent with last year’s levels.
2. Compensating for increased shipping costs by renegotiating terms with shipping providers (40.4%), closely managing company headcount (33.3%), and reducing other promotions (15.8%).
3. One-fifth (21.3%) of retailers will require a higher purchase amount for customers to be eligible for free shipping, and one in ten (10.6%) will cut back on usage of free shipping with no conditions.
4. 42.9% of retailers added or improved their website since last holiday season, to help customers navigate sites more easily.
5. Websites now provide product video (42.6%) and customer reviews (32.7%) can give shoppers more information to make buying decisions.
6. Website enhancements in clearance-sale pages (27.1%) and featured-sale pages (31.3%).
7. Nearly one-fourth (25.0%) of online retailers added a Facebook page this year

What are buyer behaviors (consumer patterns) this holiday season?

1. Consumers acknowledge that 24-hour shopping convenience is one of the main reasons they choose to buy online (58.6% this year vs. 58.5% last year).
2. Shoppers’ other top reasons for buying online instead of in stores include not wanting to fight crowds (41.1%), easy price comparisons (36.4%), and free shipping (33.3%).
3. Nearly one in four shoppers (23.1%) says they are spending more online due to high gas prices, more than double the number which said the same last year (9.0%).
4. One in five shoppers (20.1%) say they simply have less money to spend this year for the holidays, while 10.6% cited a poor economy as a factor.
5. One in ten (11.0%) plans to spend less online this year due to high shipping charges.

Findings shown here are from the eHoliday Study conducted by BizRate Research, a Shopzilla company, for Shop.org, surveyed 2,040 online buyers (defined as anyone who has made an online purchase in the last 12 months) from September 29 to October 3, 2008, as well as 60 online retailers from October 1-20, 2008.

If You Were PaperMaster What Would You Do?

Okay you're a genius engineer, considered one of the premier chip designers with IBM. You're so good in fact that you became vice president of microprocessor technology development in IBM. But you happen to have so much more potential, so Apple across the street offer you a position as well. Steve Jobs' company offers you a vice president position for device hardware engineering.



Possibly there was a lot of fine print here not mentioned in the news but one thing led to another and you take the position with Apple - probably more money.

But when you start your first day, you get the shock of your life - you get sued! IBM claims that you have violated prior employment agreement by accepting a position at a competitor and may divulge IBM's trade secrets to Apple.

This is what happened to Mark Papermaster. He has reportedly has authored several papers on PowerPC chip development and is considered a "top expert in Power architecture and technology." Papermaster's expertise in system design--putting together the entire package of processor, chipset, and the rest of the guts that form a computer--could serve him well at a company that prides itself on soup-to-nuts design.

It's such a shame as Steve Jobs had such high praises for this guy. “Mark is a seasoned leader and is going to be an excellent addition to our senior management team,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.

So now he's in big trouble. Wonder if he gets paid? That's like being in between a rock and hard place. Management sure is a difficult spot to be in. It's not like you're just an engineer, but being in a position like that allows you permission to privy information/ sensitive information that makes it complicated in what may otherwise be such simple terms as work transition

Yahoo CEOs Daughter Tells Guard To Google Her

Now it's rather ironic when Yahoo CEOs daughter says "Google me, you dumb f**k!" Not just because it's very rude and unkind, it's also promoting the competition. It's unfortunate that Courtenay Temel had to be in the drunken state to have blurted out those words. Ending up in this rather messy lawsuit.

Isn't Yahoo already in enough trouble as it is? Last October 30, Jaroslaw Jarczok claims he was working security last August at 4 in the morning at PureNightclub when Courtenay was "quite intoxicated due to alcohol and/or chemical or other substances."

Apparently it got out of hand because Terry Semel's daughter was eventually handcuffed to which she said, "Do you even know who I am, f**king idiot?...Google me, you dumb f**k."

And that will go down in history as one of the worst things she could have said, ruining not only herself but her dad as well. Haven't heard about Semel as Yahoo's CEO in business terms, it's such a shame his name is dragged in mud as a result of his daughter's drunken escapade.

Why start bgC3? Bill Gates' New Company

Bill Gates officially retired from Microsoft mid-year 2008, but then jumped ahead to build another one - bgC3 a.k.a. "Bill Gates Catalyst 3", earlier named Carillon Holdings. BgC3 is supposedly described as a "think tank," which includes "scientific and technological services", "industrial analysis and research", and "design and development of computer hardware and software". Others say it's a way of coordinating Gates's business and philanthropic work.


I think Bill Gates wants to focus on less grind work and more broad strokes, Nobel-worthy activity. I've met CEOs who dream of just thinking about what the company could be or could be doing in the next 3-5 or even 10 years without having to worry about the limitations of now, or the current problems (Vista) faced by the company's current image and processes.


No doubt, he wants to be free from actually worrying about how Microsoft runs while still being able to contribute to its success. It's always nice to be in the planning stage and not have to worry about the details. I guess that's the privilege of being a retired CEO

What Will Happen To Marketing In The Time Of Economic Crisis?

That question must be in the minds of a number of marketing professionals these days. What do we do with marketing now in times of economic crisis? Given the economic conditions brought about by the US recession, it's imperative we ask:

1. Do we shut down marketing?
   
2. Do we slowdown on marketing?

The answer to #1 is of course NO. Do not stop marketing. Research shows that retention is strengthened in consumers particularly when marketing is done during economic lows. Why is that? Because your company emanates an image of strength and tenacity during a time when everybody else seems weak and vulnerable.

I'm inclined to respond "no" to the 2nd question too, but of course there will have to be a consideration as to the company's budget and goals. I am not averse to cost cutting when it is done prudently. However, marketing is a very complicated thing - because you spend money to make money. You spend a dollar to get a hundred or maybe even more.

Although cutting marketing cost may end up having to be an option when the bottom line becomes thin, it is nevertheless not a wise move specially if your marketing campaigns are timely and targeted. Because even if the economy is down, your market may still be nudged into the right direction. Even if you decide to lower the marketing budget, always bear in mind the opportunity cost of returns that may not be gained.

One thing about marketing is that, if people are really not interested (or if your marketing campaign does not echo the right message) they will not respond to your advertising.

Bear in mind that marketing is an activity of resonance. Prospects will respond to your message if your marketing campaign is successful - meaningful and well-targeted. Regardless of the signs of the times, people will still spend for essential commodities like food and clothing. Although they might tighten their belts in terms of non-basic expenditure such as vacations, hobbies and maybe extra services that they can still live without at the moment, they might still part with their money if they perceive the value to be much higher than the actual money they shell out.

So capitalize on your products value, if consumers see the value and/ or quality of your product then for sure your marketing will be well worth the allocated budget.

Predictions on How the Philippine Economy will Suffer along with the rest of the World

It's a good thing the Philippines wasn't so advanced in the first place in terms of investment because if we had been, then the Philippines would also be in a pretty bad shape now.

The only reason the Philippine economy is still afloat is because the Philippines was too poor to invest its finances in the riskier financial institutions. Unfortunately the smarter more advanced economies thought that taking smaller more secure investments and reinvesting them into riskier investments made them a lot more money. Unfortunately, that didn't work out the way they planned it.

The Philippines will feel the ripple effect of the US economic slowdown. The impact will be felt first of course in the stock market as well as direct exposure. The latter is minimal while the stock market will hurt PSE among other things. And then in terms of incoming investments. The export industry will suffer - particularly those that service the US and Europe. Yes Europe is also in trouble as a result of the sub prime catastrophe. Iceland has already declared bankruptcy and I'm pretty sure that country was much better off than the Philippines. Both the US and the UK have put in place bailouts as sponsored by their governments. Let's hope they make it through this as well. Because we are all interconnected financially, the Philippines owing money to other countries, make it susceptible to these changes although not on our shores.

Nevertheless the living conditions won't be as bad as it has always been - prices will continue to be high, gasoline prices have at least has gone down because there is less demand for oil now as a result. Business that are dependent on tourism and incoming remuneration from abroad will be hit specifically.

If OFWs abroad will have a difficult time, the Philippine economy will be hit pretty bad although I doubt the the extent to which overseas Filipino income will be threatened any worse than an American or European.

The newspapers these days are just peppered with images of the stock market and how it has just crashed amidst the US economic trouble. The bail-out will take a few months or even years to take effect - as the primary issues now are that people are no longer comfortable with spending money, banks are no longer free to give as much credit as they used to. There is a lack of predictability as to what might happen to the stock market, everything being red now.

Some people are buying stocks while their dirt cheap while most are just unloading what seems like lost causes.

The world will be a lot wiser after this economic slum... if it will survive it

Will The US Bail-out Work?

I have been too busy at work to notice recent international news - particularly about the US economy, given that I've just moved to a new office and am still trying to learn the ropes of the business so to speak. I thought that now that I no longer work for a foreign company, I could get away with not knowing what was going on there.

But the Lehman Brothers bit me in the a*s. A global perspective was required in order to complete a Board of Directors' presentation. I went along with it because it was the right thing to do. Of course there will be local and global impact to what will happen to the US economy.

So now I'm forced to pay attention. Here's what happened for the hapless such as myself.

The subprime crisis already began years ago. The US decided to buy bad assets from developing nations and provide a lending service to not exactly "credit worthy" applicants. This was not a suicidal effort, but in fact at that time a seemingly brilliant initiative.

The idea was even if these financial institutions lent money to people who can only repay a small portion up front; considering that the working conditions will improve in the next 3 years and their assets will appreciate, these firms "ballooned" the repayment over a delayed period (about 3 years or so). That way the lenders will pay a little up front but then have enough money later on to pay for an increase repayment after several years. I bet at the time it seemed like a win-win situation.

This was of course until mid-2007 when the interest rates on housing started to rise and investors were getting shaky. As a result people were forced to sell their investments, impacting the stock market and further damaging the financial institutions that lent money because people were now unable to pay them back when their repayment figures were significantly higher.

So the complex web of financial transactions occur until here we are in a state where "everyone owes everyone." Companies like Bearns Stearns, Meryll Lynch & Lehman Brothers who capitalize on these investments felt the blunt first.

And so Bearns Stearns and to be rescued by the US government while Lehman Brothers ended up filing for bankruptcy last Sept-15. Right now the US government needs to implement their $700 billion bailout plan (if that's what it's going to be or something better up their sleeves really quick) or it will hurt not only for America but for the rest of the world as well as the domino effect will just spread throughout the world.

Now to answer the question: Will the US bailout work? According to Forbes it's too big to fail as it brings together Republicans & Democrats to the table as Congress tries to digest Bush's initiative. They say it's no good but there's not better choice right now. It is a rather dire situation - do or die.

If the rescue plan fails, the economy fails. The rest of the world can only watch and wait.

Delta Air Lines Will Take The Wifi Route To Beat Competition

The airline industry is quite robust and very competitive. Everyone competes to be the best airline around. They offer sodas and snacks as well as in-seat entertainment systems that aims to make the passenger experience a lot better than the other airline.

Delta Air lines has taken this competitiveness to a whole new level by making their airplanes virtual wireless internet (WiFi) hotspots. Delta is the first large U.S. airline to commit its main fleet of jets to a technology that lets passengers surf the Net while flying. The service will be available for a $9.95 flat fee on flights of three hours or less, and $12.95 on longer flights.

Beating out JetBlue that offers a limited online solution composed only of e-mail, messaging and shopping on Amazon.com.

Now why did Delta choose this service as compared to other unique service points? Here are a few reasons

• It's cheap. Delta though would term that cost-effective instead. They don't have to shell out a dime for additional manpower in the airplanes and or additional infrastructure. All they had to do was partner up with a service provider - in this case it was Row 44
• Quick and easy to deploy. Again because of the minimal need for additional manpower and infrastructure to support such an additional service in the part of Delta, it is indeed the wise choice. It's not only cheap but easy to set up.
• Does not require a lot of maintenance. Since the service provider handles the efficiency part of the bargain, all Delta really has to do is sit back and watch the money roll in

Like any option for an additional service, the above criteria should be checked. It is imperative that if the company decides to provide an additional service, it should be well worth the effort. Meaning it is appealing to the customer and it is cost effective as well as easy to deploy.

Particularly as prices of consumer products and services continue to rise, it is very important that companies let people see the value of each and every purchase. This goes the same for commercial flights.

This will ensure a win-win situation.

Mirror Mirror on the wall, who's the biggest ad spender of them all?

The biggest ad spender for Q1 of 2008 goes to the Healthcare sector and with good reason! As the world gets more polluted, more and more people are putting a premium to health and insurance with Nielsen Global Consumer Concerns report, May 2008 noting health as the global consumer's biggest concern. This makes a lot of sense. There are so many kinds of diseases going around, people are so busy now making sure they're insured for their family or that they stay healthy enough to go on working.

Basically the growth in advertising spend per sector looks like this

• Healthcare - 10%
  
• FCMG or Fast moving consumer goods - 6.7%
  
• Clothing and accessories - 5.5%

With regards to advertising medium, television has seen much growth too in the last quarter, followed by radio and newspaper

Will Starbucks Say Goodbye Soon?

Starbucks has been going on a downward spiral with an initial job cut and then a lawsuit over "free" wifi. Starbucks is finally closing the doors of 600 outlets! That's a lot I tell you. That's approximately 10% of their total store chain since they have 6,800 US stores. And 600 stores have the equivalent of 12,000 employees losing their jobs. That's really sad.

So what happened you ask? Let's take our answer from Boston.com's Alex Beam - he has laid down in the best and simplest possible terms the answer

What went wrong at Starbucks? To invoke the venerable business cliche, they didn't stick to their knitting. Their core business was overcharging consumers for coffee, and a very lucrative business it was. Then they started selling dreamy CDs, and the company even helped produce a movie, "Akilah and the Bee," that bombed at the box office. Schultz bought a basketball team and started hanging out with Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney, the usual recipe for business disaster.

Google Getting Sued Again! This Time By Viacom Bec Of Piracy Issues On Youtube

There have been just articles upon articles on privacy issues for online use. And I agree that is imperative that people be able to retain online privacy at some point. Companies like Google though make a living out of collecting personal information from users. This allows them to profile clients, enhance advertising and improve the user experience online.

But in cases like this when Viacom sues them, that information also becomes a threat. After illegally posted clips of "The Colbert Report' was posted on Youtube, Viacom cried foul and demanded to know who was doing this.

This then started the avalanche of online piracy and online privacy nightmares for everyone concerned. The judge just ruled that Google would have to turn over user information for Youtube, and although I don't think it's really a big deal as long as they find the culprit and put the case to rest just so we can all go on with our lives, it's still sensitive that this amount of powerful data can fall indeed be transferred and can indeed fall into the wrong hands.

At this point though, Google and Viacom have come out publicly to say that they will do everything they can to retain people's anonymity. Yeah right!