The recent economic turmoil has been a popular topic of discussion the past month. I’m personally impressed at the incredibly high level of volatility of the world stock markets. As investors react to new information, the U.S. market has taken some wild swings. Down 7, up 5, down 6, down 8, up 11 (as measured by the [...]
“We regret to inform you that your credit card information may have been compromised.” That’s how the letter started (or something to that effect). Nice that they didn’t wait until paragraph 2 for the punchline, so I didn’t need to read on. This is the second time that I have received a letter like this. The other [...]
I had a post in late August on the importance of Efficient Capital. Written before the current banking/credit/stock market/recession/etc. crisis, the focus was on the sensibility of MVaaS for store operators. Well, I noticed the appearance of the term “capital efficiency” today on the blogosphere. I noticed it first on Feld Thoughts, and it was linked and commented from another [...]
I follow major league baseball only casually, so I’m no expert on the subject. However, it is my understanding that a couple of teams (Cubs and Brewers) have just been eliminated from post-season play. I mention this because one of my colleagues, Jeff Gannon, had a marvelously penned post from earlier this season about the Cubs’ fortunes. Oh to [...]
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ GS:JAVA) President and CEO Jonathan Schwartz posted to his blog an e-mail that he shared with Sun leaders. The e-mail was written in response to frequent questions that Mr. Schwartz has received regarding the current banking crisis in the U.S., and how this might impact Sun. Mr. Schwartz turns the question around. It is [...]
In a tough economic environment, Walgreen posted an impressive 12% increase in Q4 profits. Congratulations Walgreen! Given the roller-coaster stock market, the cynic in us may attribute this to a surge in the sale of pain relievers and antidepressants. But while revenues did increase, Walgreen executives attribute a portion of their improved results to cost-cutting. We’ve [...]
Andy Kessler, a former hedge fund manager and author of “How We Got Here” (Collins, 2005), wrote an interesting opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal’s on-line version about the current “bail out” bill being debated in Congress. The amount ($700 Billion) is staggering, but Mr. Kessler rightly notes that the government is getting something for [...]
The demise of Lehman and sale of Merrill Lynch have been the talk near the water cooler in our office. For those who are interested I found a very simple and quick description of what happened. What does it mean for the rest of us? Wall Street may seem like a long way from Main Street (or in [...]
I recommend that you check out this post at IPVideoMarket.info. The post seeks feedback on an idea to establish a marketplace where buyers of video solutions can find experts to help them with their purchase. Given the rate of change in the marketplace, including the impact of new solutions like MVaaS, I’m certain that buyers would welcome assistance in narrowing [...]
I watched with mild amusement as our CEO’s heart missed a beat. “How do you measure inventory shrinkage?” I asked innocently. After the palpitation subsided, his return comment was “Ah, we would fire them.” “No, no, not with us. How do our customers measure their shrink. When they provide us with a shrink percentage, is there an industry standard for [...]