Posts tagged as Business
More About Funerals
Max Rivlin-Nadler, who recently wrote for us about the National Funeral Directors Conference, talks to New Hampshire Public Radio about the way we are laid to rest now.
What Remains: Conversations With America's Funeral Directors
Walking into McCormick Place, Chicago’s half-hangar, half-labyrinth convention center, I looked at the schedule to find that I had just missed “Canadians Do Cremation Right.” The 130th National Funeral Directors Conference, was underway; held each year in a different city, the conference brings together funeral directors from across the country for three days of presentations, trade talk, awards and camaraderie. After shaking off my initial disappointment at having missed the Canadian talk, I scanned the remaining workshops. After passing on “Marketing Your Cemetery: Connecting With Your Community” and “Managing Mass Fatality Situations,” I circled “The Difference Is In The Details,” an embalming workshop. READ MORE
Goldman Sachs on AOL-HuffPo: This Means Nothing for '11
For those of you who don't, somehow, do your private banking with Goldman Sachs, you won't see their just-issued report on the AOL purchase of the Huffington Post. For starters, they expect "retention compensation" to offset the Huffington Post's earnings—that the introduction of the Huffington Post will have no impact whatsoever on AOL's projected 2011 earnings. Although: "We view this acquisition as further solidifying AOL’s stance as an owner of valuable focused content channels, similar to cable networks...." Here comes the bonus: trashing Yahoo! "We consider this acquisition strategically valuable from the perspective of (1) brand building; (2) mobile distribution; and (3) differentiated content as it distinguishes AOL’s focused approach from Yahoo!’s 'everything to all people' strategy." Yow! GS remains neutral on AOL. (Also the company "expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services in the next 3 months" from AOL.)
Cheery News For American Business!
"THE first time the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 12,000, in October 2006, presenters on CNBC, a business channel, almost caught fire with excitement. When it reached that milestone again on February 1st the reaction was more muted, though the recovery from a low of 6,547 less than two years ago is remarkable, and soaring share prices reflect a corporate America that is leaner and stronger than it was back in 2006. The current profit-reporting season is shaping up to be one of the best ever. For non-financial firms in the S&P 500, earnings per share are now higher than they have been for at least a decade. With over half of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported, profits in 2010 were up by 17% compared with 2009. (The year-on-year increase is far greater if financial firms are included, since they plunged in 2009 and then rebounded spectacularly.)"
How Tom Ford Keeps His Company's Equity (With Cash!)
Fellow Tom Ford enthusiasts will of course need to read the Vogue piece regarding his latest women's collection. But they should be warned, of course, that the story of How Tom Ford Keeps His Equity is a ludicrous one. (Spoiler: he expanded his stores recently by selling a Warhol. Why didn't I think of that?) It's a delightful read but it's also just bad business journalism. The word "Zegna" does not crop up (Ford did a huge licensing deal with them) and neither does "Marcolin" (Ford recently extended his licensed sunglasses to them for another five years). That's where the big money is. But at least they do talk about his Botox! READ MORE
Online Advertising Now Nearly 1/3rd of 'New York Times' Revenue
An impressive and scary percentage of the New York Times Company's revenue is from online advertising-27%. Looking back at our New York Times costs v. revenue chart since 2005, excerpted above, which shows from year to year how tight the margin has become between income and expenses, we now see an even further closing-in. Total revenues in the third quarter of this year: $554.3 million. Operating costs: $522.9 million. Here's one thing that's always upsetting: "Newsprint expense increased 19.6 percent, with 25.8 percent from higher pricing offset in part by 6.2 percent from lower consumption." Translated: paper is always costing more, always being bought less. And to be fair, the paper's News Media Group-that's the Times and the like-had operating profit of $2 million each month of the last quarter, even though revenues-print advertising and circulation-were down from last year, and the increase in online revenues only "mostly" offset the downturn. (Our disclosure as always: don't get us wrong! Any media company should be happy to have $2 million a month to play with! And all the big Times debt doesn't get hairy until 2015 anyway.)
Small Businesses Now More Worried About Poor Sales Than Taxes
That's unsurprising! The number of small business owners who cite "poor sales" as their "number one problem" has tripled in the last four years. Poor sales now beats "taxes" on the complaint list. When will Obama and those fatcats in Washington stop making people not buy things, etc.?
Real America: The CEO of Target and Institutions of the Anti-Gay Christian Right
When Target's CEO said he was "sorry" last week for his company's donation to anti-gay causes, AP, CBS, TPM, AOL and a number of other acronyms declared that Target had apologized for its political donations. Yet, anyone who had ever had an intense fight with a spouse or lover knew the "I'm sorry it made you feel that way" nopology when they heard it. A deeper look at Target's Gregg Steinhafel, his political team, and his engagement with anti-gay Christian organizations may explain why the CEO's actions and statements on supporting gay equality don't mesh-and why they probably won't anytime soon. READ MORE
A Handy Guide to Which Black People Gossip Sells White People Ads and Pageviews
"Gossip, like everything else in the media, is a business.... The reason why Page 6 doesn't care about Mashonda or Swizz Beatz's past is because Page 6 has no real clue who the hell those people are. Or if they do know who they are, they do not care because they know that Swizz Beatz and Mashonda don't sell ads." (via)
Types Of Hummus Exist That You May Have Wished You Didn't Know About
"In 2000, Holy Land introduced hummus flecked with jalapeño. More recently, the company, which makes about 100,000 plastic tubs of hummus each month for the Midwest market, rolled out guacamole-flavored hummus. By August, its blend of hummus and peanut butter will hit the shelves. 'That one is for my daughter, Noor,' Mr. Wadi said. 'She didn't think she liked hummus. Then we stirred in peanut butter.' Other companies are also taking liberties with hummus. In Somersworth, N.H., the Crazy Camel company makes six varieties of dessert hummus, including a blend of chickpeas and cocoa it calls chocolate mousse hummus. In North Carolina, Good Health Natural Foods of Greensboro makes Humbles baked hummus chips in four flavors, including one with feta." READ MORE
