Showing results for: “price gouging”
Whisper Numbers
A “whisper number� once meant the consensus Wall Street unofficial and unpublished earnings-per-share forecast for a public company. Wall Street analysts historically derived a whisper number by ferreting out non-public information from company personnel. The number was then shared with top clients. Studies indicated that trading on whisper numbers could result in abnormal returns (see ... Whisper Numbers
Buy-Out Prices in Nose Bleed Territory
According to this FT article, Stephen Schwarzman, the head of the buy-out firm Blackstone (a firm that will soon close on a record $13.5 billion buy-out fund), warned that prices being paid in buy-outs are in “nose bleed territory� and that “seeds of excess� are being sown. As Schwarzman put it: “[W]hen it ends, it ... Buy-Out Prices in Nose Bleed Territory
Burger King Files for IPO
Burger King Holdings, Inc. filed a registration statement with the SEC today for the sale of $400 million of common stock (click here). While the prospectus does not include a price range or specify how many shares will be sold by BK vs. existing shareholders, it does contain a number of tidbits, including the following: ... Burger King Files for IPO
Trouble at XM
A week ago XM inked a three-year, $55 million deal with Oprah for a new channel called “Oprah And Friends.” XM shares rose 4.75% on the day the signing was announced, closing at $25.78 (article). Today, XM announced that its net loss widened to $286.3 million in the fourth quarter from $188.2 million for the ... Trouble at XM
Market Correction
Market Correction has become one of my favorite blogs. Don Boudreaux (George Mason and Cafe Hayek) and Andrew Morriss (Case Western Reserve University) post letters to the editors that they have written to editors at newspapers and magazines correcting instances of economic illiteracy. Here is a taste from a recent letter from Boudreaux in response ... Market Correction
New MovieBeam Home Video System
MovieBeam, Inc. is rolling out a new home video system today in 29 U.S. cities. Customers buy a TV set-top box for $199.99 (after $50 rebate) that comes loaded with 100 films. Each week, up to 10 new movies are beamed to the box through the airwaves. The new movies automatically replace older titles so ... New MovieBeam Home Video System
Grimes on the KFTC's Microsoft Decision
Warren Grimes of the American Antitrust Institute (and Southwestern Law School) defends the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s recent Microsoft decision holding that Microsoft abused its dominant position by bundling Instant Messenger and Windows Media Player technologies to its operating system, and its order that Microsoft must sell unbundled versions. Grimes central point is that not ... Grimes on the KFTC's Microsoft Decision
Making markets seem thicker
The Internet (read: inexpensive information dissemination) comes to the notoriously informationally-challenged housing market. The WSJ reports on a new website, zillow.com, which, as the WSJ says, uses data such as tax records, sales history and the actual prices of “comparables” — homes in your area that are similar to yours — to come up with ... Making markets seem thicker
Oakland’s Fast-Food Tax — Madness or Genius?
From the good folks who brought us Ebonics as a second language (wait, make that first language) comes another creative policy proposal. On Tuesday night, the Oakland City Council decided to deal with its local trash problem by taxing fast-food restaurants up to $3,815 per year to pay for street clean-up. (Reports here and here.) ... Oakland’s Fast-Food Tax — Madness or Genius?
Vonage IPO and VoIP
Vonage, a provider of broadband telephone services, filed an IPO registration statement with the SEC today for the sale of $250 million of common stock. Basically, Vonage offers a cheap alternative to traditional phone service. For about $25 per month, you get unlimited calls to anywhere in the U.S. and Canada with all the bells ... Vonage IPO and VoIP
IPO Marketing Practices During the Waiting Period
The make or break time for an IPO from the underwriter’s perspective is the waiting period (the period of time beginning when the IPO registration statement is filed with the SEC and ending when the SEC declares the registration statement effective). This is when the underwriting syndicate is bookbuilding, i.e. actively marketing the deal and ... IPO Marketing Practices During the Waiting Period
Accurately Disclosing Oil Reserves
Yesterday’s W$J reported on an effort by oil companies to change the way reserves are reported in securities filings. SEC rules, it seems, mandate that reserves be measured in a manner that understates the actual amount of available oil. For example, the rules (available here) require that only proven reserves (those for which there is ... Accurately Disclosing Oil Reserves
