Lawmakers investigating the spectacular collapse of MF Global hit a brick wall Wednesday when none of the company executives called to testify appeared to know anything about what went wrong at the firm, or the whereabouts of …
Is Cable’s Long, Glorious Ratings Run Finally Over?
For more than three decades, cable TV programmers enjoyed steady ratings gains—mostly at the expense of broadcasters. Inspired efforts like AMC’s Mad Men and FX’s Sons of Anarchy notwithstanding, those steady ratings …
Nike Sues Reebok Over Tim Tebow NY Jets Gear
Tim Tebow has only been a New York Jet for one week, but he’s already the subject of a legal battle between two of the most powerful names in the sports business world. Nike filed a lawsuit against Reebok on Tuesday accusing its …
Why Hotel Rates Spiked in February
All of a sudden, hotel rates aren’t as cheap as they used to be. Last month, rates increased 7% in the largest year-on-year jump ever recorded.
How to Get a Photo with Newt Gingrich for Free
This week, the increasingly desperate-looking presidential candidate Newt Gingrich began charging $50 a pop to anyone wishing to have a photograph taken with him. Starting on Monday in Delaware, supporters who wanted to pose with …
The Fall of Bo Xilai and the Future of Chinese Growth
The fall of Bo Xilai, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party in the sprawling mid-Western city of Chongqing, is the stuff of movies. A member of the party elite and supposed corruption fighter who was seen to have …
Are We Paying Our CEOs Enough?
Pity the poor CEOs of America. Last year, America’s biggest companies increased their revenues –and their profits – by substantial amounts, yet the CEOs leading these companies saw only a meager increase in their …
Summer Jobs: Students in Demand Again, But They’d Better Start Now
For the first time in five years students will be competing more against other students than out-of-work adults for summer work, a poll says. Hiring is up, but you need to get started now.
Full Real Estate Recovery Not Coming Until 2015
First, the good news: The real estate market has clawed its way back from the brink and is about a third of the way to a normal, pre-bubble market. The bad news: It’s going to take until the end of 2015 to get us the rest of the …
Light Beer, Suffering From Watered-Down Sales, Tries to Regain the Spotlight
Retail sales of craft beers grew 15% last year. Liquor also had a good 2011, with a 4% increase in sales, while wine has soared in popularity among Baby Boomers and women in general. Everywhere you look, there’s a hip new vodka …
Stick Shift Extinction? The Battle to Save the Manual Transmission
Manual-transmission cars cost less than automatics. They also tend to get better gas mileage, and they’re more fun to drive. Even so, cars with manual transmissions now account for less than 10% of vehicles sold, and considering …