No amount of muscle — political or otherwise — was able to bring about passage of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s health reform plan, which California’s Senate Health Committee rejected Monday in a 7-1 vote. The bill, which had made it through the state’s Assembly late last …
Archive for January, 2008
Watching the Super Bowl on digital TV/HDTV
by Jeff Dorsch, January 30, 2008, 12:00 pmSales of digital TV sets and HDTV equipment traditionally spike in the month before the Super Bowl, and during the year-end holidays. If you’re going to watch the big game on a big-screen TV at home, at a party, or at a sports bar, here’s …
Retailers sack fans’ wallets during Super Bowl fever
by Linnea Kirgan, January 30, 2008, 6:16 amI don’t know who’s more excited for the Super Bowl next Sunday between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants — the fans or the retailers.
While you send out your Evites and place those final …
Musical chairs in semiconductor capital equipment
by Jeff Dorsch, January 29, 2008, 6:49 amThe old saying in the business is that when the electronics industry catches a cold, the semiconductor industry gets the flu, and the semiconductor capital equipment industry comes down with pneumonia.
While the stock market had conniptions about the outlooks presented by Apple and Intel — …
Yucca Mountain — where nuclear waste is a terrible thing to mind
by Stuart Hampton, January 28, 2008, 6:43 amYucca Mountain was a hot topic for politicians running for president in the recent Nevada Caucus. But what is it about Yucca Mountain that raises the ire of so many of Nevada’s citizens and gets Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and …
The ghost in the machine — fraud, Barings, and Société Générale
by Patrice Sarath, January 25, 2008, 11:07 amMove over Nick Leeson — there’s a new rogue trader in town.
A French banker whom some have identified as Jérôme Kerviel has been accused of fraudulent trades at Société Générale, France’s most …
Sears’s double whammy
by Alexandra Biesada, January 25, 2008, 6:09 amSears Holdings, the underwhelming retail force created by the combination of Kmart and ailing Sears, Roebuck in 2005, is on the skids. Following an impressive post-merger run up, Sears’s shares have slid from a 52-week high of $195-plus-change to less than $85 last week. How’s …
Is Bank of America getting too big for its britches?
by Ryan Caione, January 24, 2008, 6:06 amBank of America has the most bank branches in the US, handles the most deposits, and is jousting with Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase to be the largest financial services firm in the country based on assets and market capitalization. Since 2004 the …
Trouble in Botox-land?
by Anne Law, January 23, 2008, 6:08 amPharmaceuticals firm Allergan is not a maker of allergy medicines, as its name might imply. It’s a company catering to those who want to look, see, and feel better. What started off as an eye and skin-care treatment maker now gets …
Irish eyes are smiling: The Celtic Tiger makes good
by Patrice Sarath, January 22, 2008, 7:00 amMaybe this should be titled, “How it should be done.” Take a poor country with a majority of the population under 30, throw in free education, tax breaks, and business incentives, have it join a free trade bloc, and watch the …
