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  • Too Much Autonomy at HP is Costly

    • November 20, 2012
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Financial Management, High-tech, Information Technology, Mergers and Acquisitions, News
    No Comments

    HP announced, today, that it would be taking an $8.8 billion charge resulting from accounting anomalies and improprieties discovered at Autonomy, a British Software maker that it bought last year. The announcement has caused HP shares to drop more than 13 percent. The autonomy acquisition was done under former CEO, Leo Apotheker’s watch. The acquisition

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  • Will that be paper or plastic? Neither!

    • October 18, 2012
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Innovation, Media, News
    No Comments

    Today, the editor of Newsweek, Tina Brown, announced the magazine will cease publication at the end of 2012. While this announcement does not represent the singular defining moment in the demise of the print industry, it is, certainly, emblematic of it. The tablet industry, popularized by the almost ubiquitous iPad, has been the catalyst of

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  • The New Price of Self Promotion in Social Media

    • October 5, 2012
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Advertising, News, Social Networking
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    Yesterday, Facebook announced that it now has one billion active users. This is a phenomenal accomplishment, as it means Facebook monthly users represent 44% of all internet users and 14% of the entire work population. Most significantly, the average age of a Facebook user (22 years to 23 years) is a desired demographic for advertisers.

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  • Still the Apple of my “i”

    • September 13, 2012
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: High-tech, Innovation, News, Stock Market, Telecommunications
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    Apple’s iPhone 5 announcement, yesterday, revealed nothing that hadn’t already been known about the product for some time. The ability to keep this product’s features a secret was relatively nonexistent. This said, Apple’s stock rose  more than 2% today to an all-time high of $682.98. Major securities analysts are predicting Apple shares will hit $,1000

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  • The New “Big Apple”

    • August 21, 2012
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Brand Revitalization, High-tech, Information Technology, Innovation, News, Stock Market
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    Yesterday, Apple Inc. became the most valuable company in history in terms of market capitalization at $623.52 billion, surpassing the record set by Microsoft in December of 1999. It is ironic that a company that was near bankruptcy when Steve Jobs rejoined the company in 1997, and which Michael Dell once told an audience that

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  • Is Facebook Headed for a Face-plant?

    • August 20, 2012
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: IPO, News, Social Networking, Stock Market
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    On August 16, 2012, upon the expiration of a lock-up agreement which covered about 271 million shares held by early employees and investors, Facebook shares dropped below $20 per share, or almost half of the IPO price of $38 per share. Today, it was announced that Facebook’s first institutional investor, Peter Thiel, exited his position

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  • A Chocolate Fountain of Youth?

    • August 14, 2012
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Food, Healthcare, News
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    A recent study, published in the journal, Hypertension, found a link between higher amounts of flavanols, ingested via a cocoa-based beverage, and improvements in cognitive function among older adults. The higher the amount of flavanols, the better the test subjects did on the tests, showing greater recall and being able to complete the tests more

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  • Banking Sector Diamonds (Dimons) Lose Their Luster

    • July 5, 2012
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Banking, Corruption, Ethics, News
    No Comments

    Barclay’s London-based CEO, Bob Diamond, was ousted this week as a result of an admitted manipulation of the London InterBank Offered Rate (LIBOR). LIBOR has long been one of the world’s most used financial indices. Manipulation of LIBOR by Barclay’s and other banks, directly impacts consumers and businesses. Barclay’s first manipulated the rate so as

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  • Disappearing Brands

    • June 26, 2012
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Brand Revitalization, Innovation, Lifecycle Cost Management, News, Strategic Planning and Management
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    Wall Street 24/7 is, again, predicting brands that will disappear this year. Their criteria are: – A rapid fall-off in sales and steep losses; – Disclosures by the parent of the brand that it might go out of business; – Rapidly rising costs that are extremely unlikely to be recouped through higher prices; – Companies

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  • It Looks Good On the “Surface,” But…

    • June 19, 2012
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: High-tech, Innovation, News
    No Comments

    Microsoft, on Monday, introduced its new Windows 8-based Surface PCs/tablets. The product was introduced to a select media audience. Features include a cover that doubles as a keyboard, A “kick stand” that allows the user to prop the device up for easier viewing. Also included is a USB 2.0 port and, of course, Microsoft’s Office

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