Soon-to-be-married papermakers Abitibi and Bowater received shareholder approval for their merger last week, despite a modicum of dissent earlier on. …
Archive for July, 2007
Can $1 buy customer loyalty? Netflix hopes so.
by Linnea Kirgan, July 31, 2007, 6:45 amOnline movie rental company Netflix is locked in what is turning into an epic battle with arch rival Blockbuster and has made its latest move — lowering prices by $1 last week on its most popular plans. This is the latest in the price wars; Blockbuster …
Health plan mergers coast-to-coast
by Kristi Park, July 30, 2007, 3:31 pmNevada regulators wrapped up a public-comments session Friday over UnitedHealth’s proposed $2.6 billion acquisition of Sierra Health Services. Those fighting against the merger fear the creation of a health insurance monopoly in the state that would hurt small businesses, raise premiums, and lower …
UAW gives Detroit Three the Gettelfinger
by James Bryant, July 30, 2007, 6:45 amNegotiations between the Detroit Three and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union are officially underway, and the stakes are pretty darn high. UAW president Ron Gettelfinger …
The Gap recruits help from up North
by Alexandra Biesada, July 27, 2007, 9:43 amWhat can a Canadian drugstore executive bring to ailing American retail icon The Gap? Investors and shoppers will soon find out now that Gap has named 45-year-old Glenn Murphy its new chairman and CEO. After the disastrous tenure of former chief executive Paul …
Pepsi hopes to score big with Diet Gatorade
by Patrice Sarath, July 27, 2007, 7:02 amMy daughter had to undergo withdrawal last week while at the AAU Junior Olympic Inline Hockey Games in Taylor, Mich.
No Gatorade.
Well, there was Powerade, an apparently inferior drink made by Coke. (Note to Coke: please take notice …
Na-na-a-bo-bo, Viacom likes to sue-sue
by Daysha Taylor, July 26, 2007, 12:54 pmAfter months of semi-calm cooperation with Viacom after the media giant filed a $1 billion lawsuit over copyright infringement, Google CEO Eric Schmidt defends YouTube by taking a jab at one of Viacom’s revenue streams — the lawsuit. Schmidt …
Bubble? What Bubble?
by Ryan Caione, July 26, 2007, 6:21 amThere has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth over the much-publicized droop in the residential real estate market. Existing home sales are down. Unsold new homes sit empty. In 2006 builders of manufactured homes delivered their fewest …
It’s all about the iPhone
by Jeff Dorsch, July 25, 2007, 12:47 pmWe interrupt our continuing coverage of the tragic deaths in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to pause for news on another, earlier consumer mania: sales of the iPhone. Apple reported its 3Q07 results this afternoon. The figures include only two days of …
Hospitals face off with the tax man
by Kristi Park, July 25, 2007, 6:41 amBen Franklin maintained that death and taxes are life’s only certainties, but he’d have to revise that thesis to take not-for-profit hospitals into account. They’ve rather successfully avoided half of the axiom for years, escaping federal and state taxes in return for reinvestment in their communities, often in …
