Thursday, October 21, 2010
Business news
(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Market rebounds as dollar falls; Dow up 129NEW YORK (AP) _ A decline in the dollar helped fuel a market rebound on Wednesday that nearly erased a big-sell off the day before brought on by fears of a slowdown in China. Stocks had fallen more than 1 percent Tuesday after a surprise interest rate increase in China, the first time the country had raised rates in nearly three years. That made some traders concerned that slower growth in China might put a drag on the global economy.
AP IMPACT: Israeli settlers building 544 new homesKARMEI TZUR, West Bank (AP) _ Israeli settlers have begun building new homes at an extraordinary pace since the government lifted its moratorium on West Bank housing starts _ almost 550 in three weeks, more than four times faster than the last two years. And many homes are going up in areas that under practically any peace scenario would become part of a Palestinian state, a trend that could doom U.S.-brokered peace talks.
Fed survey points to uneven growth across USWASHINGTON (AP) _ The U.S. economy grew unevenly in early fall, with more than half the regions of the country expanding modestly while others struggled to grow. A survey by the Federal Reserve released Wednesday found that seven of the Fed's 12 regions reported moderate improvements in business activity. Three regions _ Philadelphia, Richmond and Cleveland _ described economic activity as mixed or steady. Only two regions _ Atlanta and Dallas _ suggested economic growth was slow.
Delta, AMR, US Airways post 3Q profitsDALLAS (AP) _ Airlines can't control the economy, but by limiting the number of seats for sale they are pushing up fares and earning their biggest profits in three years. Delta, US Airways and the parent of American Airlines all posted higher-than-expected earnings for the peak summer travel season. They were helped by rapid growth in international traffic and a budding recovery in corporate travel. Delta and US Airways gave upbeat outlooks for the upcoming holidays.
NY to hold lawyers accountable on foreclosuresNEW YORK (AP) _ The chief judge of New York's courts on Wednesday imposed a new rule requiring lawyers handling foreclosures to verify that all paperwork is accurate. The move comes amid an uproar over accusations that mortgage lenders nationwide cut corners on paperwork and legal procedure as they moved to seize millions of homes. It follows a slew of other state efforts to respond to the foreclosure-paperwork debacle.
Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione dies at 79DALLAS (AP) _ Bob Guccione, who founded Penthouse magazine and created an erotic corporate empire around it, only to see it crumble as his investments soured and the world of pornography turned toward video and the Internet, died Wednesday. He was 79. A statement issued by the Guccione family says he died at Plano Specialty Hospital in Plano. His wife, April Dawn Warren Guccione, had said he had battled lung cancer for several years.
Netflix customer growth eclipses 3Q earnings missSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Netflix Inc.'s video subscription service won another horde of new fans in the third quarter, overshadowing a rare earnings shortfall. The addition of 1.9 million subscribers seemed to matter far more to investors than an earnings figure that was a penny below analyst estimates. Netflix shares surged by more than 9 percent after the numbers came out.
Wells Fargo profit rises as loan defaults easeNEW YORK (AP) _ Wells Fargo & Co. reported a 19 percent increase in its third-quarter income Wednesday as losses from bad loans declined, a hopeful sign that American businesses and consumers are becoming more financially stable. The San Francisco-based bank earned $3.15 billion, or 60 cents per share, in the three months ending in September, beating analysts' expectations by 5 cents per share. The bank earned $2.64 billion, or 56 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
EBay 3Q profit rises 23 percentSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ EBay Inc. on Wednesday said its third-quarter profit climbed 23 percent, helped by its growing PayPal business. The online marketplace operator also predicted results for the current quarter that were better than analysts had been expecting, sending its shares up more than 7 percent in after-hours trading.
Apple looks to iPhone, iPad for Mac inspirationCUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) _ Apple's iPhone and iPads have been such hits that the company is now looking for ways to bring some of their cachet to its laptops and desktops. Apple Inc. offered glimpses on Wednesday of an updated Mac operating system, called Mac OS X Lion. The company highlighted features that borrow from the lighter-weight iOS that runs on its mobile gadgets.
A look inside the new MacBook Air
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3d3wDYOYuC8/TMAnZnz6aYI/AAAAAAAAAAM/Dv44zKC-KjM/s320/macbook-air-13-3-october-10-small.jpg)
The new 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch MacBook Airs are not that groundbreaking on the processor front, though an internal revamp has yielded a much thinner design.
MacBook Air tapers to the front. Tapering is more pronounced compared to the original Air design.
(Credit: Apple)
Processors: Inside are anything-but-cutting-edge Intel Core 2 Duo processors running at 1.4GHz and 1.86GHz. There are also options for 2.13GHz and 1.6GHz processors. After almost three years, Apple has elected to go with Intel processor designs that have been available for a couple of years. For reasons not yet entirely clear--but likely having to do with heat and cost--the new Airs do not use Intel's newest Core i series processors, such as the power-efficient Core i7.
Fresh Air
At its "Back to the Mac" event, Apple unveiled a pair of new MacBook Airs. Interested?
Graphics: The Airs have been upgraded with Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics--the same graphics now used in MacBook Pros. And that is probably the single biggest logic chip departure from the original MacBook Air, which used older Nvida 9400M-based graphics.
Flash: This is what Apple CEO Steve Jobs focused on the most and is in keeping with his MacBook Air theme of "what if a MacBook met an iPad." Like the iPad, there is no hard disk drive per se. "We've gone to complete flash storage," Jobs said. What this means is that the flash memory is built right on the system board and is not in a larger solid-state drive enclosure, creating more space for the battery and other components.
Memory: The Air can now be configured with up to 4GB of memory, exceeding the 2GB limit on the original. But this will add $100 to the price.
Battery: "We're moving toward some more stringent tests that get us much closer to real-world results. Even using these more stringent tests, we're getting seven hours of wireless Web battery life. The previous MacBook Air, using the old, more liberal tests got only five (hours)," Jobs said.
Screen and connectors: The 13.3-inch model uses a high-resolution 1440-by-900 (native) display, higher than the original Air. The 11.6-inch model has a 1366-by-768 resolution screen. The 13.3-inch Air finally has an SD card slot--but not the the 11.6 inch model. There are two USB 2.0 connectors and a Mini DisplayPort.
No internal 3G: Yes, Apple stuck with Wi-Fi on the new Airs. In this respect, the MacBook has not met the iPad 3G (yet).
Flash memory is built directly on the system board, just like the iPad, not a separate solid-state drive enclosure.
(Credit: Apple)
New MacBook Air is more aggressively priced, starting at $999 for the 11.6-inch model.
(Credit: Apple)
The 13.3-inch Air weighs in at 2.9 pounds. The 11.6 is 2.3 pounds.
(Credit: Apple)
Brooke Crothers
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Bill Gates No Longer World's Richest Man
Riding surging prices of his various telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit America Movil ( AMX - news - people ), Mexican tycoon Carlo Slim Helu has beaten out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person on earth and nab the top spot on the 2010 Forbes list of the World's Billionaires.
Slim's fortune has swelled to an estimated $53.5 billion, up $18.5 billion in 12 months. Shares of America Movil, of which Slim owns a $23 billion stake, were up 35% in a year.
That massive hoard of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft ( MSFT - news - people ) cofounder Bill Gates, who had held the title of world's richest 14 of the past 15 years.
Gates, now worth $53 billion, is ranked second in the world. He is up $13 billion from a year ago as shares of Microsoft rose 50% in 12 months. Gates' holdings in his personal investment vehicle Cascade ( CAE - news - people ) also soared with the rest of the markets.
Buffett's fortune jumped $10 billion to $47 billion on rising shares of Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK - news - people ). He ranks third.
The Oracle of Omaha shrewdly invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs ( GS - news - people ) and $3 billion in General Electric ( GE - news - people ) amid the 2008 market collapse. He also recently acquired railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe ( BNI - news - people ) for $26 billion.
In his annual shareholder letter Buffett wrote, "We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble."
Many plutocrats did just that. Indeed, last year's wealth wasteland has become a billionaire bonanza. Most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past year.
This year the World's Billionaires have an average net worth of $3.5 billion, up $500 million in 12 months. The world has 1,011 10-figure titans, up from 793 a year ago but still shy of the record 1,125 in 2008. Of those billionaires on last year's list, only 12% saw their fortunes decline.
U.S. billionaires still dominate the ranks--but their grip is slipping. Americans account for 40% of the world's billionaires, down from 45% a year ago.
The U.S. commands 38% of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world's richest, down from 44% a year ago.
Of the 97 new members of the list, only 16% are from the U.S. By contrast, Asia made big gains. The region added 104 moguls and now has just 14 fewer than Europe, thanks to several large public offerings and swelling stock markets.
The new billionaires include American Isaac Perlmutter, who flipped Marvel Entertainment ( MVL - news - people ) to Disney ( DIS - news - people ) for $4 billion last December. The Spider-Man mogul netted nearly $900 million in cash and 20 million shares of Disney in the transaction.
Also new to the ranking: 27 billionaires from China, including Li Shufu, whose automaker, Geely, announced plans to buy Swedish brand Volvo from Ford in December. The deal is expected to close in March 2010.
Finland and Pakistan both welcomed their first billionaires.
For the first time China (including Hong Kong) has the most billionaires outside the U.S. with 89.
Russia has 62 billionaires, 28 of them returnees who had fallen off last year's list amid a meltdown in commodities. Total returnees to the list this year: 164.
Eleven countries have at least double the number of billionaires they had a year ago, including China, India, Turkey and South Korea.
Thirty members of last year's list fell out of the billionaire's club. Moguls who couldn't make the cut: Iceland's Thor Bjorgolfsson, Russia's Boris Berezovsky and Saudi Arabia's Maan Al-Sanea.
Another 13 members of last year's list died. Among the deceased: real estate developer Melvin Simon and glass tycoon William Davidson.
Bill Gates No Longer World's Richest Man
Riding surging prices of his various telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit America Movil ( AMX - news - people ), Mexican tycoon Carlo Slim Helu has beaten out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person on earth and nab the top spot on the 2010 Forbes list of the World's Billionaires.
Slim's fortune has swelled to an estimated $53.5 billion, up $18.5 billion in 12 months. Shares of America Movil, of which Slim owns a $23 billion stake, were up 35% in a year.
That massive hoard of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft ( MSFT - news - people ) cofounder Bill Gates, who had held the title of world's richest 14 of the past 15 years.
Gates, now worth $53 billion, is ranked second in the world. He is up $13 billion from a year ago as shares of Microsoft rose 50% in 12 months. Gates' holdings in his personal investment vehicle Cascade ( CAE - news - people ) also soared with the rest of the markets.
Buffett's fortune jumped $10 billion to $47 billion on rising shares of Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK - news - people ). He ranks third.
The Oracle of Omaha shrewdly invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs ( GS - news - people ) and $3 billion in General Electric ( GE - news - people ) amid the 2008 market collapse. He also recently acquired railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe ( BNI - news - people ) for $26 billion.
In his annual shareholder letter Buffett wrote, "We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble."
Many plutocrats did just that. Indeed, last year's wealth wasteland has become a billionaire bonanza. Most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past year.
This year the World's Billionaires have an average net worth of $3.5 billion, up $500 million in 12 months. The world has 1,011 10-figure titans, up from 793 a year ago but still shy of the record 1,125 in 2008. Of those billionaires on last year's list, only 12% saw their fortunes decline.
U.S. billionaires still dominate the ranks--but their grip is slipping. Americans account for 40% of the world's billionaires, down from 45% a year ago.
The U.S. commands 38% of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world's richest, down from 44% a year ago.
Of the 97 new members of the list, only 16% are from the U.S. By contrast, Asia made big gains. The region added 104 moguls and now has just 14 fewer than Europe, thanks to several large public offerings and swelling stock markets.
The new billionaires include American Isaac Perlmutter, who flipped Marvel Entertainment ( MVL - news - people ) to Disney ( DIS - news - people ) for $4 billion last December. The Spider-Man mogul netted nearly $900 million in cash and 20 million shares of Disney in the transaction.
Also new to the ranking: 27 billionaires from China, including Li Shufu, whose automaker, Geely, announced plans to buy Swedish brand Volvo from Ford in December. The deal is expected to close in March 2010.
Finland and Pakistan both welcomed their first billionaires.
For the first time China (including Hong Kong) has the most billionaires outside the U.S. with 89.
Russia has 62 billionaires, 28 of them returnees who had fallen off last year's list amid a meltdown in commodities. Total returnees to the list this year: 164.
Eleven countries have at least double the number of billionaires they had a year ago, including China, India, Turkey and South Korea.
Thirty members of last year's list fell out of the billionaire's club. Moguls who couldn't make the cut: Iceland's Thor Bjorgolfsson, Russia's Boris Berezovsky and Saudi Arabia's Maan Al-Sanea.
Another 13 members of last year's list died. Among the deceased: real estate developer Melvin Simon and glass tycoon William Davidson.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Western Governors University Earns Top 10 Ranking
Undergraduate tuition for Western Governors University's College of Business programs is $2,890 per six-month term, or $23,120 for four years. However, because WGU uses a competency-based academic model that requires students to demonstrate competency in degree subjects in order to advance, students with prior education or experience or those who can commit additional time to study can often accelerate their programs, completing their degrees in less than four years, saving both time and money. Unlike most colleges, WGU does not charge tuition based on semesters or credit hours -- it is charged for six-month terms that can begin on the first day of any month.
According to Vicky Philips, GetEducated's founder, who began rating online colleges 20 years ago, students should compare cost and other benefits carefully before enrolling in online education. "Western Governor's is a fairly new university, so many may not know the name. Trust me, this will soon change. One of the best online educational values in these hard economic comes from this little known university. Here is a university that has been engineered from the ground up to serve a new generation of learners."
With more than 12,000 degrees now being offered online, potential students are asking what's different about all these schools? Why choose one online business school over the other? "That question," says Phillips, "can be easily answered for WGU. First, non-profit WGU shatters the mold for private online schools by being super affordable. Average cost nationwide for a regionally-accredited, online business bachelor's degree is $43,241. Choosing WGU can save online students an average of about $20,000."
By comparison, the nation's largest for-profit online business school charges over $64,000 for its Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. The most expensive online business degree can cost as much as $103,500.
Cost however, is not the only thing that differentiates Western Governors University. "WGU is a competency-based university," explains Phillips. "The university does not award degrees based solely on course attendance. A student's progress is determined instead by his or her ability to pass rigorous assessments that measure actual skills acquired as the student move through their online degree program. This type of system helps ensure competent college graduates. Traditional universities have a great deal to learn from WGU."
Western Governors University's distance learning Masters in Business Administration previously earned a top ranking on GetEducated's list of the Top Ranked Values in Online MBAs -- Regionally Accredited.
Friday, July 17, 2009
The most trusted man in America and the journalist
The person once known as the “most trusted man in America and the journalist who guided America through the Vietnam War and US president John F. Kennedy’s assassination, former CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite, who many referred to as “Uncle Walt,” has passed away, CBS News reports. He was 92 years old.
He was the biggest name in television news, the king of the anchormen; in fact, he was the reporter for whom the term “anchorman” was coined. He gave up that role 28 years ago, but never lost the weight and respect it accorded him, living the rest of his life as the industry’s distinguished elder statesman.
CBS vice president Linda Mason says Cronkite passed away on Friday evening, surrounded by family in his New York home. His cause of death was cerebral vascular disease, his former chief of staff Marlene Adler tells the Associated Press.