Takeover or not this stock has been a great ride
Comments »Monthly Archives: August 2011
$10 billion; Now That is Beer Mate
They All Have Forked Tongues
Small Caps Get Picked Up
Always loved small caps; except for when the bears come out and rule the market.
Comments »Bull vs Bear Debate
Where is Your Handout ?
Bearshitters love to revisit the past…especially when it is still in the present. remember most of us are stuck in the middle somewhere.
Comments »An analysis of the Verizon strike
An excellent assessment of the situation. In a nutshell, while the company is making more money, the landline business where the strikes are localized in a failing business.
Comments »So the Communications Workers of America are out on strike against Verizon. The most remarkable thing is not the alleged acts of sabotage against land lines that serve hospitals , or the shocking willingness of an anonymous Verizon manager to threaten retaliation against the more pugnacious strikers when they go back to work (the NLRB rather frowns on that sort of thing). No, the really remarkable thing is this: who cares?
Maybe you’ve noticed if you live or work near a Verizon facility, or if you are the sort of journalist or wonk who follows these issues. But unless you fall into one of those two categories, chances are you weren’t really aware that it was happening. The workers who are striking are the ones who service land lines. And land lines are simply no longer central to American lives, or the economy.
Ultimately, that’s what’s at the heart of this strike. A lot of the stories on the strike have tended to present the classic management/union he-said-she-said:
Verizon said it was asking for changes to the contract because its wireline business has been declining as people switch to cell phones. Union officials, meanwhile, say the company has been making billions of dollars in profits in the last four years.
The problem is that both of these things are true. Verizon’s margins aren’t particularly fat right now, but the company is still making a comfortable profit. Unfortunately, the landline business–the division that these workers work for–is collapsing.Margins seem to be improving in the wireline business, thanks to FIOS; people will pay much more for a high-speed internet connection than they will for a telephone. But landline subscriptions continue to fall, and last I heard, the company had decided not to expand its FIOS network into new cities after it finishes the current rollout. Most of the profits the people on the picket line keep referring to come from the booming wireless business, which is a non-union joint venture.
In other words, while profits have recovered since 2008, the striking workers aren’t generating those profits. In fact, the legacy network of copper wires they service is rapidly turning into a cost center rather than a source of profits. They’re essentially asking that the firm divert money from the wireless business to beef up pay and benefits for the union workers even as the number of subscribers they have to service is falling. It’s not really surprising that management is saying no.
This situation is pretty much unprecedented as far as I can remember. Usually union workers are found in the core business of a company–when the company’s fortunes decline, so do the fortunes of the union. But in this case, the union workers are becoming less valuable every year, even as Verizon is worth more. No wonder this strike seems to be getting so ugly.
Early Lunch Break: On the Matter of Being Pigeonholed a Bearshitter
It has recently come to my attention, as it has many times in the past, that being a bearshitter or someone who looks at the glass half empty is too much for many people to handle.
A bearshitter can be one of the most positive people you know. The problem is how they may communicate in society and also how others will bring out that character in someone.
On the matter of news. Negative headlines and dire stories draw in readers. This is as old as man has been communicating.
Think of your evening news. There are seemingly more stories that are told simply for shock factor. It is this shock factor that keeps some repeat viewers glued and draws in new viewers. Then on the weekends barring any celebrity overdose or disaster the news suddenly lightens up and focuses on stories and events that are fun, light, happy, and loving.
One reason for this; on the weekend people want to forget the real world and focus on the glass half full stuffs that life has to offer.
Back to a bearshitter mentality. I proclaim that most, not all, but most bearshitters have a deeper appreciation for life. This appreciation causes one to look constantly to the future or horizon for a stormy event that might interrupt that satisfaction of life.
It is precisely why you should appreciate bearshitters. Without them we might not even be here.
In politics it is a bearshitter who realizes that he may have to reverse earlier decisions on lowering taxes.
It is a bearshitter in medicine who looks for the myriad of possibilities to save your life.
A world filled with people who had no care for bearshitter matters, allowed the theft of taxpayer funds, cut taxes, and went to war on a credit card is precisely why we are where we are today.
Furthermore, a politician or citizen who allowed corporate welfare, trade agreements that shipped jobs offshore, and the many other manipulations by their corporate masters is precisely why as a nation we are dead broke and not flush. It is partly why we lack in education, are fat, diabetic, and losing our edge as the greatest country in the history of man.
In closing, a person who does not take advantage of good times, a person who shuns the better things in life for want of security, safety, etc is a true bearshitter and negative to the point that they should live in a cave.
Remember what mama said “always prepare for a rainy day.”
A favorite saying that may not get out often enough is that it is always best to hope and prod for the best outcome, but be absolutely prepared and mindful for the worse case scenario.
To all those who say that this or that can not be kept in check is precisely the type of person who shits on a bearshitter and has no real answer other than going with status quo. That mentality allows for the behaviors and occurrences to exist…..ones that should not exist. For we are smart enough to be at least close to sentient.
As a last note; most bearshitters can see all that is good, positive, and lovely. But it is a bearshitter who knows it can be better if we unite together to “make it so.”
This bearshitter has afforded himself a morning of swim and play with the beloved dog and will now take an early lunch break. Perhaps a little golf later on this fine sunny day.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3OZz-vgAjY&feature=related 450 300] [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGHyutNq-S4 450 300] Comments »
Trump on Obama: “He Takes More Vacations Than Any Human Being I’ve Ever Seen”
Apophis Asteroid trial run: Scientists plan mission to destroy asteroid headed for Earth
Scientists plan mission, “The aim is to assess whether it would be possible to save Earth using this method, should we discover that an asteroid is on a collision course with our planet. One potential target is a 1600ft-wide asteroid called 99942 Apophis, which experts say does have a minute chance – around one in 250,000 – of hitting Earth in 2036, so it would be useful target practice.”
However ,according to the Plejaren ET, Ptaah, from Nov 26, 2008 ( Billy Meier Contact #475 ), blowing it up is NOT the best course of action.
Billy: “To my knowledge various models exist for this purpose, but the scientists cannot come to a mutual agreement on this. You are saying that the fellow shall be pushed from its orbit, and I gather from it that blowing it up is out of question. Therefore, only a reaction principle could be applied, like e.g. an extremely strong nuclear reaction unit, sun sail principles, or atomic explosions near the meteor.”
Ptaah: “Whereby atomic explosions near the meteor should be considered, because they are very efficient and produce a strong drift(ing) effect. However, the explosions may not occur too close to the meteor in order to avoid breaking it up, from which an even greater danger would result. Such a project must be executed early and not at that time when the real danger is starting to threaten, because otherwise it would be too late for a success. Therefore working towards it must be started today. ”
Comic strip about the danger of Apophis, aka \"The Red Meteor\"
Comments »Your Tax Dollars at Work
Upgrades and Downgrades This Morning
Upgrades
TW – Towers Watson upgraded to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus
PAAS – Pan Am Silver upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity
HS – Healthspring initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo
HAIN – Hain Celestial upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital
LPSN – LivePerson initiated with a Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann
ECA – EnCana upgraded to Neutral at Ticonderoga
ROVI – Rovi initiated with a Buy at Merriman
VRTX – Vertex Pharm upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair
AA – Alcoa initiated with a Buy at CRT Capital
HSP – Hospira upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup
BKD – Brookdale Senior Living downgraded to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus
TIVO – TiVo initiated with a Buy at Merriman
DKS – Dick’s Sporting Goods upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Sterne Agee
EXXI – Energy XXI initiated with a Strong Buy at Raymond James
Downgrades
FSLR – First Solar removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman
BCSI – Blue Coat downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Sterne Agee
HPQ – Hewlett-Packard downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital
AIXG – Aixtron downgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank
TXN – Texas Instruments downgraded to Hold from Buy at ThinkEquity
KOS – Kosmos Energy initiated with an Outperform at RBC Capital
CRM – Salesforce.com initiated with an Underperform at Bernstein
AGU – Agrium downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan
MSG – Madison Square Garden downgraded to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus
Comments »Gapping Up and Down This Morning
Gapping up
EK +6.5%, SVNT +5.7%, IRE +5.7%, MKTX +26.8%, JMBA +4.5%, SYMX +4.3%, STO +3%,RCL +1.4%, NVS +1.3%, SNY +3%, SUG +2.7%, TOT +1.4%,ANF +1.2%, RIG +1.1%,
Gapping down
SKUL -5.6%, DELL -7.1%, BCS -2%, BCSI -22.2%,
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