Ford leads the way into China
7 Jan 2011 [0 Comments | 197 views]
As you know, China doesn’t buy Western goods. For that matter, Western companies wishing to set up in China have to deal with a sea of red tape making it nigh on impossible for them. It’s all a part of China’s refusal to play fair. And yet, if that is so, explain why it is [...]
LinkedIn flotation could be on the cards for this quarter
7 Jan 2011 [0 Comments | 561 views]
Mad. Banks were mad when they bought into subprime. Economists were mad when they insisted the economy would avoid recession in 2008. Gordon Brown was mad when he sold gold when it was around a quarter of the current price. And then there was dotcom madness. Well, forget all that. Now, madness has hit a [...]
What next for book retailing, as HMV and Waterstone’s struggle?
6 Jan 2011 [1 Comment | 426 views]
It was with trepidation that we took a peek at the latest trading update from HMV. Sure, we knew it would be bad, but what about its subsidiary, Waterstone’s, the last stalwart of national book retailing in the UK? How did that do, and does it have a future? Like-for-like sales in the five weeks [...]
Facebook valuation: is it madness?
5 Jan 2011 [2 Comments | 496 views]
And so Goldman Sachs and the Russian investor Digital Sky Technologies pump $500m into Facebook for a mere 1 per cent. So that means Facebook is worth around $50bn. Speculation that a flotation is imminent is rife. Others say it’s downright ridiculous, and wonder how a company with such modest revenues can be worth so [...]
Social media: profits begin to flow to companies that Twitter, blog or Facebook
17 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 3,462 views]
So where do you stand on social media? How often do you Twitter? What’s your Facebook profile like? Are you LinkedIn, on YouTube, or do you blog like crazy? Or are you a cynic, and fail to see how social media can help the bottom line? New research from McKinsey suggests that social media is [...]
Court ruling gives pension trustees priorities over banks
13 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 263 views]
If a company goes bust, which creditors get priority? If you have ever been a bankrupt company’s creditor, you will know you are a long way down the list. Normally the banks will swoop in, taking the first pickings and leaving the rest with little more than scraps. But a new court ruling may give [...]
The end of free content?
6 Dec 2010 [0 Comments | 273 views]
It seems the Telegraph is set to join the ranks of media companies which charge for their content. Is the era of free content on the Internet drawing to an end? At this stage it is just a rumour. But talk is the Telegraph is not planning to go the Murdoch route of charging for [...]
iPad takes a bite out of PC market
30 Nov 2010 [0 Comments | 439 views]
Is the dominance of the PC finally coming to an end? Gartner has revised its estimate for PC sales for this year, down from 363.5m, to 352m. Earlier in the year it had expected sales to top 366m. You don’t need to look far for the explanation. The PC’s loss has been the iPad’s gain. [...]
BHP bid for Potash gets stuck in the mire
4 Nov 2010 [0 Comments | 265 views]
Will it be third time lucky for Marius Kloppers, the CEO of the world’s largest mining company? It seems luck is the one thing he is short of. BHP Billiton has got a lot of cash, and in part at least due to Kloppers’ leadership, the company came through the global downturn and out the other [...]
Apple profits defy prophets of doom
19 Oct 2010 [1 Comment | 358 views]
“Investors and analysts could be forgiven for using words like golden and delicious yesterday, when describing the latest set of results from Apple … sales at Apple ‘soared’ but…The problem with meteoric growth is that it has to stop eventually, and when it does, there can be a nasty shock.” All those words are perfectly [...]
