Description: Microsoft agrees to buy Skype for $8.5 billion to gain a bigger presence on the Internet, where Bing and MSN have been losing money. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 05/11/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/05/10/mkts_skype0510.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Do you think this is a good fit for both companies? How can Microsoft leverage the value of… Read more »
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Cody Willard: Why Apple is going to $2,000
Description: Cody Willard makes his case for Apple at $2,000 and explains why it could be the first $2 trillion company in market cap. Source: Moneywatch.com – video report Date: 05/11/2011 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/cody-willard-why-apple-is-going-to-2000/4C6F5D5C-B4BC-4737-871C-E5DA3D667949 Questions for discussion: Summarize the reasons given by the analyst that support his belief in Apple stock rising to such extraordinary levels…. Read more »
OpenTable, broken stock? A lesson in the dangers of tech IPOs
Description: The company has done nearly everything right, but it’s dangerously overvalued, even for a tech company. Should Facebook, LinkedIn, and Groupon take heed? Source: Fortune.com Date: 05/13/2011 Link: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/05/13/opentable-broken-stock-a-lesson-in-the-dangers-of-tech-ipos/ Questions for discussion: Summarized the essence of the report with respect to the lessons that might be learned for other technology IPOs. Do you agree… Read more »
Health Insurers Making Record Profits as Many Postpone Care
Description: The nation’s major health insurers are barreling into a third year of record profits, enriched in recent months by a lingering recessionary mind-set among Americans who are postponing or forgoing medical care. Source: NYTimes.com Date: 05/13/2011 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/14/business/14health.html?ref=business Questions for discussion: Summarize the financial relationships between health insurers, providers, and clients? What is the… Read more »
Housing crash is getting worse: report
Description: If you thought the housing crisis was bad, think again. Source: Marketwatch.com Date: 05/09/2011 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing-crash-is-getting-worse-2011-05-09?siteid=nwtwk Questions for discussion: Summarize the issues raised in the report. What is your view about residential real estate prices and their influence on the economy? How would you approach this market, as an investor in builders?
BullHorn: Metal meltdown
Description: Silver has plunged, gold has taken a hit and the commodity bubble may be finally bursting. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 05/06/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/05/06/mkts_bullhorn0506.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the analysis presented in this report. Do you agree that the commodities bubble is bursting? What do you believe is the reason for the recent… Read more »
Preventing Future Flash Crashes all but Impossible
Description: MarketWatch columnist Mark Hulbert says research suggests massive stock slumps such as the “flash crash” can’t be prevented and remain a rare, but consistent feature of all stock markets. Source: Moneywatch.com – video report Date: 05/05/2011 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/preventing-future-flash-crashes-all-but-impossible/0E8C8C79-1A17-45AE-AA67-68B6722D0696 Questions for discussion: What does the research suggest about stock market behavior? How should investors respond… Read more »
Oil price collapse pays off for one speculator
Description: For the last several weeks, oil trader Stephen Schork has been betting that prices would fall. Instead, they kept rising. And every day they ticked higher, he lost money. Source: CNNMoney.com Date: 05/06/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/06/markets/oil_prices_speculators/index.htm Questions for discussion: How did Stephen Schork decide that the time was ripe for shorting oil? What contributed to… Read more »
Shouting into the unfunded abyss
Description: When the founder of an unheralded startup offered a cri de coeur about the inanities of the funding process, he heard hundreds of voices crying back. Source: Fortune.com Date: 05/06/2011 Link:Â http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/05/06/adam-neary-profitably-shouting-into-the-unfunded-abyss/ Questions for discussion: Summarized the essence of the report with respect to the difficulty of finding funding. Why do you think some… Read more »
The Class That Built Apps, and Fortunes
Description: ALL right, class, here’s your homework assignment: Devise an app. Get people to use it. Repeat. That was the task for some Stanford students in the fall of 2007, in what became known here as the “FacebookClass.†No one expected what happened next. The students ended up getting millions of users for free apps… Read more »
