Another study has come out suggesting that certain cancer drugs may cause more trouble than they are worth - much more trouble. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this month, found patients using drugs that are considered erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, or... (Read More)

In another disappointing sign o’ the times, Sprint announced today that it would post a $29.5 billion loss – that’s right - $29.5 billion - most of it due to a write-down of its 2005 purchase of Nextel. The telecom kingpin is bleeding customers, left and right, and investors are worried how... (Read More)

I have to admit, when my brother Kevin told me he was an avid Netflix subscriber I looked at him like he was loonier than usual. Netflix? You mean the guys who send you DVD's in the mail, then you watch'em and return'em? Those guys? The business premise seemed arduous from a customer's... (Read More)

How stupid is the state of Maryland? No, not it's fine people, but it's short-sighted governor Marty O'Malley and its state legislature, which recently upped taxes state-wide in an effort to fund new programs and pay for additional government services. The tax hike has residents steaming and... (Read More)

It’s like the 1990’s again, with all of the big name merger and acquisition activity. We’ve read about Microsft and Yahoo in the last few weeks and now comes wind of a proposed $1.0 billion deal between video game titan Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive Software. EA is known for its... (Read More)

Anybody reading this blog knows that the media has been adamant about the U.S. economy tanking into recession, with reporters putting their notebooks and tape recorders down and waving pom-pom's in support of economic strife for millions of Americans. Why? Once again, who knows? Probably because... (Read More)

Nobody has ever accused Microsoft of not knowing how to play hardball. From its history of monopolistic practices, of elbowing competitors out of the marketplace (hello, Netscape!), or lifting ideas it likes from adversaries like Apple without shame, Microsoft is more than ready to throw the first... (Read More)

It's not exactly a great time for CEO's and other boardroom types to be squawking over executive pay - especially over the prickly topic of who decides how much cash & compensation corporate managers should take home with them. But even in a tough economic climate where shareholders are... (Read More)

Ugh . . . . Another lousy week for tech stocks. For the whole stock market, for that matter. But technology stocks bore the brunt of it. Let's look at some of the bigger players. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Company ... (Read More)

An update on the Microsoft & Yahoo merger comes today in the form of an email from a member of the Yahoo board of directors to shareholders. The email, which was published on Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog earlier this morning, gives a good inside account of why Yahoo shareholders may have reason to... (Read More)

It's cold up here in Bucks County, PA today - so cold that Al Gore's ego froze in the middle of a speech on global warming. Of course, the former vice-president blamed the deep freeze on - you guessed it - global warming. Thanks folks, I'm here all week. Don't forget to try the veal. I'm tempted... (Read More)

Even as U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson reassured us on Friday that the economy "would not go into recession" in 2008", some people, especially consumers, aren't buying it. This is exactly what I'm talking about when I vent over the power of perception and the media's glee in talking down... (Read More)

The most recent quarterly returns are in on U.S. cell phone sales, and Apple seems to have taken a big bite out of Windows' market share. And it has Research in Motion in its gun sights. For years, Windows Mobile and Research and Motion phones dominated the cellular marketplace. But that was then... (Read More)

It was supposed to be Christmas in May, with technology company executives harboring visions of wallet-waving consumers dancing in their heads. The reason? The proposed tax rebates coming from Washington that would put up to $1,500 in many Americans back pocket, and hopefully send them out to buy... (Read More)

Are technology companies getting a raw deal over a new international accounting rule? Plenty of tech company CFO's seem to think so. In a survey released this week by BDO Seidman, LLP, an accounting and consulting group, about half - 49% - of all chief financial officers at U.S. technology... (Read More)

Microsoft’s CEO has a message to Google: watch out. In a wide-ranging phone meeting with analysts and business journalists this morning, Steve Balmer, Bill Gates’ right-hand man and the chief executive officer at Microsoft says that the company’s recently-announced deal with Yahoo would... (Read More)

Lots to talk about today. You've probably already have read about Microsoft's $45 billion buyout of Yahoo. Obviously, Microsoft is giving up on its MSN web portal and throwing it's weight and capital behind Yahoo. For Yahoo, which has seen its stock slide precipitously in the last year, the deep... (Read More)

The Business Software Alliance has long been on the case of U.S. companies who use, inadvertently or not, unlicensed software for their business operations. Make no mistake, the BSA has aggressively gone after and imposed heavy fines on companies who are caught in the act using pirated software.... (Read More)

It didn't take long for the Federal Reserve to act after this morning's announcement that last quarter's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) number - the key index in measuring the health of the U.S. economy -- was a lousy one. For the quarter, GDP clocked in at a meager 0.6% - about one percent lower... (Read More)

Pundits and media types hoping and pleading for a recession will be disappointed today. Instead of more bad news they could use to help wave their recessionary pom-poms, the media got a sharp stick in the eye in the form of strong manufacturing numbers. According to the U.S. Commerce Department,... (Read More)

Let's all take a breather at the end of another topsy-turvy week on Wall Street, where things have calmed down as of mid-morning on Friday (the Dow Jones Industrial Average is off a mere four points at 11:30 AM EST, and is actually up for the week . . . but the media doesn't want you to know... (Read More)

New Stimulus Package . . . Tips on Travel Costs News from Washington this morning says that congressional leaders and Bush administration officials have reached a deal on an economic stimulus package that would send checks to most taxpayers in an effort to keep the economy from falling into... (Read More)

With the markets roiling today, although not as roughly as many economic pundits had predicted before the Federal Reserve announced a three-quarter percent cut in its prime lending rate (from 4.25% to 3.50%), maybe we can exhale and examine what lies in front of us, from an economic viewpoint. A... (Read More)

Oh boy, our domestic financial flu is spreading, and overseas financial markets are in a swoon as a result. That's the big news today even as the U.S. financial markets are closed for Martin Luther King Day. With U.S. banks and stock exchanges closed down in honor of the slain civil rights legend,... (Read More)

Keeping track of the economic news is getting nerve-racking - akin to watching a train wreck in slow motion. In the past 24 hours we've seen . . . - A Fortune magazine study showing that about 75% of Americans who think we're either already in a recession or are heading toward one (no surprise... (Read More)