Dylan Ratigan explodes on air

This is simply terrific.  Dylan Ratigan lost it on air and by lost it, I do not mean that he freaked out and blurted out gibberish like many of his colleagues do, what I mean is that he lost it when the idiotic talking heads on his panel were spouting the Republican v. Democrat rhetoric.  It was horrible and he couldn’t take it any longer. The only bad part was when he apologized to the ladies that made his blood boil.  Totally unnecessary Mr. Ratigan. That was simply awesome.

You hit on the fact that the politicians are powerless to act lest they lose their power.  Sounds silly.  To put it simply, they have been bought by the Corporatocracy!  If they make a bold move, they will be dropped. No more money. No more power. No more career that lets them act like the Romans did.

I am so sick of the narcissistic politicians spewing their rhetoric. Would someone please stand up and act?  I don’t mean stand at the pulpit and deliver a performance, I mean try to really, really, get something done!!!

Once again, Dylan Ratigan, that was awesome!

To quote the late Chris Farley:

I swear I’ve seen a lot of stuff in my life, but…that…was…….AWESOME!

Follow Dylan Ratigan on Twitter @DylanRatigan or visit his web site: http://www.dylanratigan.com/

Guess which one of these folks will be your next AT&T lobbyist.

California Public Utilities Commission - CPUC - Commissioners

It is a sick thought that probably has a lot more truth to it than those who believe that our politicians and political appointees are in it for the greater good. Horse sh*t!

California’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has decided to review the AT&T / T-Mobile deal.  AT&T’s $39 Billion T-Mobile Bid May Be Reviewed by California State Agency.  As cynical as I am, I am sure that there is motive behind this challenge.

Flexing political muscle (via regulatory authorities) is the way the political machine enforces its power to receive something in return. Perhaps they receive concessions that actually benefit the consumer. Certainly they receive campaign donations from the parties involved. And, likely they find jobs for themselves, their friends, and/or their families.  It is the way that the game is played.  Sad, but true. Want to learn more about the political power game? Watch “Casino Jack and the United States of Money“.

The number of lobbyists, former FCC employees, and political staffers that were employed (or contracted) by Comcast during their recent acquisition of NBC is staggering.  Comcast is not the only company that employs these tactics.  Perhaps AT&T isn’t “supporting” the politicians in power the way that they would like, and seeing what happened with the Comcast/NBC deal, the California Public Service Commission decided that they needed to flex a little muscle with the AT&T/T-Mobile deal.

The Comcast NBC merger is one that probably wouldn’t have passed muster if not for the lengths that Comcast went to to ensure the approval.  The recent hire of an FCC commissioner as a highly paid lobbyist (Meredith Atwell Baker) with the company that she just had a hand in approving for a major acquisition is one of the most blatant “quid pro quo” cases seen in recent years.  The commissioner thumbed her nose at the critics and took a high paying lobbying post with Comcast.  She may not have broken any laws, but she certainly abused the spirit of the law.  She will not be able to directly lobby her former agency, but indirect influence is the way Washington works.  Comcast will get their money’s worth (probably has already).

Look for the future posts of the CPUC commissioners and/or their families.  My hunch is that they will be working for AT&T in the near future.  I’ll write the press line for AT&T right now. “There is no one who understands the needs of our customers in the great state of California than former commissioner ______________________________”.

What a world we live in. Excuse me while I go get sick!

At 500,000 square feet, Apple’s $1 billion data center in NC will be among the largest in the world.  Ever since construction began there has been speculation of what the intended purpose is going to be and Apple is not one to let you in on their plans.  Many in the tech community feel there has always been a grand plan and it now appears to be coming to light.  Most seem to think that this will be the cornerstone of Apples cloud drive effort.  We have gotten hints of such a setup with MobileMe and especially after Apple purchased cloud music company LaLa.  There is even evidence that Apple has purchased the domain name iCloud.com.  As is often the case, registration data is veiled via a number of intermediaries to hide the true owner until launch.

Apple Data Center, NC

The most popular notion of what the data center’s intended use will be is a cloud music service from Apple. This seems to make sense.  As Sun (remember them) said many years ago (year 2000, I think), the Internet is the computer!  Why do we have to go to the trouble of downloading to listen to our music, or podcasts?  Can we have an internet (cloud) based drive that held all of our media (music,movies,podcasts,pictures)?  Sure we can.  The most difficult part comes from the bottleneck created by a lack of sufficient bandwidth.  Once there is sufficient bandwidth, there will be fewer reasons to have local storage.  Nothing will ever go wrong with my connection, right?  (Amazon EC2, PSN Network).

As of today, Apple has reportedly hammered out deals with three of the four major record labels.  This might have been a little more difficult had it not been for Amazon and Google paving the way with the Amazon Cloud Drive / Cloud Player and the Google Music Player

In any case, this data center is being viewed as another can’t wait to see event from Apple.  With deals in place between Apple and the major labels, I have to believe that they are about ready to announce the purpose.  Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) is happening June 6 through June 10 (2011) and this is generally a time when Apple rolls something fresh out.  There probably isn’t an iPhone 5 in the cards.  An iPhone 4s is more likely the case. A cloud initiative at the same event would make this another blockbuster.

AT&T and Verizon, are you ready??

I have spoken about Corning (GLW) enough to make you say, “enough already, we get it”.

GLW should be a core long term holding in your portfolio.  They had a little hiccup in share price about 6 weeks ago (down to the mid $14′s) but have moved up about 25% since that point.  It was kind of odd that they sold off, because Corning has made it a habit over the past few years to pre-announce in a way that essentially says that they are on track.  That is what they did on 10/22/2009.  After that announcement, they sold off about 7%-8% within a week.

I wish that I would have taken the opportunity to add to my current position.  Let me reiterate why GLW is a great long term buy.

A leader in the following core sectors:

• LCD
• Filtration Systems
• Fiber

Corning - GLW

Those three sectors alone are fantastic long term plays.  We haven’t even seen the real impact of climate regulation and the continued move toward larger and flatter TV’s, monitors, and devices will allow the LCD division to generate plenty of cash.  Let’s not forget about our constantly growing demand for bandwidth which ultimately leads to more fiber.

There are plenty of other markets that Corning is entering with plenty of R&D money.  This is a smart long term play.

Today, I spoke with a blue collar worker in his mid-thirties. He was asking about a small pet services business and wanted to know if he was getting a good deal. During our conversation, we realized the business owner is simply asking to much for the business. So, at one point, I asked him how much he had to invest. “8.8 million dollars,” he responded.

He is considering buying a business for about $3o0,000 and expects to cash flow about $65,000. That’s if he and his wife each put in 40 hours a week!

What would you do? I responded by asking if he knew how much 3% of 8.8 million was. He is a blue collar worker and probably earns about $40,000. He come upon 8.8 million in inheritance and wants to know what to do. Can you imagine? Anyway, I told him that 3% of 8.8 million dollars is $264,000. The reason I told him that is because if he puts his money in an annual interest bearing account and gets 3% interest, he can take $264,000 every year and NEVER touch the principal. In 400 years, he’d still have 8.8 million dollars. If he got 7% interest, the numbers get silly to the tune of $616,000 annually. If he takes only $250,000 and banks the rest of the $616,000, His 8.8 million turns into over $45,000,000 in 20 years. Remember, he is still taking home $250,000 annually!

For some of you, $250,000 isn’t enough to live on. For him, he’s in his mid 30′s and has gotten used to living on $40-$70K a year (wifes income added). At a minimum, it’s an almost 4x increase in annual income.

I advised him to sit on the money for awhile. I hope he doesn’t do anything hasty…like buying a 40 hour pain in the butt pet services company so he can add an extra $3-4K monthly to his $50 million he’ll have by the time he’s 55.

According to my commercial real estate broker, leasing commercial real estate involves giving free months of rent, allowing for a build-out or build-out allowance, and also paying for utilities?! My broker tells me that it is customary to offer several months free rent here in Middle Tennessee. I am going to call on a close personal friend to help me with the minimal build-out required and will probably trade some web services for his labor. I do remember reading something about “triple net” leases and how triple net refers to the payment of utilities by the real estate owner.  The extra stuff I was not aware of. I own an office condo and have an almost $1,400 monthly mortgage payment. The “rentable” square footage is 750 square feet.

This is not how I pictured it would go. I figured I would lease the space for an amount OVER the monthly expenses and make a profit…even if it was $5 a month.  At the least, I thought I would break even. For those of you considering an investment in commercial real estate, make sure you take this into consideration. I realize it is one example but the commercial real estate environment is in tough shape.

I have a person interested in leasing the space for 3 years at between $20-$22.50 per square foot. If the deal goes down like my commercial real estate agent has advised me, then I will be losing money on this property every month. Welcome to the new world of commercial real estate. This is not a good deal. But, it is far better than paying all the expenses myself. I have had this property on the market for over a year and only one person has looked at the property. 2 people have looked at leasing it. Talk about no action. This should make you think long and hard about commercial real estate and the potential impact on our economy. Be very cautious.

I will update this post as things happen.

Recently, I’ve met with a couple business owners who had what they believed to be very solid buyers ready to purchase their businesses only to have each of the deals go sour. These weren’t “pie in the sky” buyers who just expressed interest. These were buyers who did all the due diligence and, in one case, even had check issued. The buyer actually showed the seller the cashiers check he had for the down payment. The documents were all in place. The work of the attorneys were done. The parties just had to close the deals. Then, in both cases, both deals fell apart.

The oldest saying in business sales goes something like this: “it’s never a deal/sale until you have the check.” Unfortunately, for business owners, its not that easy to just say, “oh well, we’ll get the next one” like salespeople can do.

Unfortunately, emotions run high and, once the buyer gets really serious, business owners start to mentally transition to the next chapter of life. Money is, in their minds at least, already being spent. Trips might be planned. The spouse may be really counting on this next chapter of life. Whatever the reasons, the emotional disconnect between the business owner and his/her business is really tough to reverse. Once the business owner has mentally “jumped ship” it’s really hard to get back on the boat. The seas of business can be rough. Business owners work hard to beat the odds and create businesses worth buying. The buyer is found and everything seems to be in place. Then, the business owner mentally jumps ship. The business still functions but the owner is floating away from it. The ships starts to sail away and the business owner begins to watch. There may be involvement, but it’s only by force of habit. The passion and emotion is going and there is little being done to stop it.

As a business owner, you’ll eventually be faced with this predicament. What will you do? Will you fight the urge to spend the proceeds from the sale of your business…before the sale is closed? Will you be “optimistic” and believe this IS the buyer who will purchase your business. Or, will you learn from the above deals gone wrong? Will you keep your head down and keep working until the day the business is closed? Will you stay emotionally and mentally involved?

Until you’re there, the questions are easy to answer. Once faced with the situation, however, it’s much harder. Percentages say there is an 80-90% chance the deal will close if agreements are finalized. Above are two painful reminders of why you need to stay connected to your business until the deal closes…and the check is in your hand (or better yet, is cleared in your bank account).

————————————————————————————

Scott Hill
Peer Business Group
“Helping our Peers Buy and Sell Small Businesses”
http://www.peerbusinessgroup.com

YouTube – Elizabeth Lambert of New Mexico,APOLOGISES FOR SOCCER FIGHT AND GETS SUSPENDED 6/11/09 FULL VIDEO.

Why is Paul Krebs, UNM Athletic Director, not suspending Women’s Soccer coach Kit Vela? She let it go. Watch the video. As a parent, if my child hits someone, and I witness it, I discipline m child…IMMEDIATELY.  Does Paul Krebs, the Athletic director of the University of New Mexico have kids? Is he the kind of parent that, if his kid misbehaves, he just lets it go on and does nothing.
Paul Krebs cannot be a parent. There is no way. That’s the only way to explain how he might not understand. So because he’s not a parent, I’ll fill him in. As a parent, I am RESPONSIBLE for my children. If they misbehave and are mean to others, I step in and teach them right from wrong. Otherwise, they are just left to freely act as they desire. If I don’t tell them something is wrong, then they must think it’s OK right? Yes, I miss things. Yes, my kids misbehave. It’s part of growing up. But, if I’m watching my kids, FOR 90 MINUTES, and they act inappropriately, I will step in. Kit Vela DID NOTHING! The refs are another story altogether. But I dare Kit Vela to say she didn’t notice what was happening.
Isn’t all this very similar to what a coach is supposed to do? Isn’t Kit Vela responsible for how University of New Mexico kids represent the University? I am sure responsible for how my kids represent MY FAMILY! It’s complete BS to say, because they suspended the player, everything is fine. FOCUS ON THE COACH NOW.

Does Paul Krebs, the athletic director, understand he has a responsibility to the community? The University of New Mexico has an obligation as an INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING. Does he understand what higher learning means? Does he think higher learning just means books?

Paul Krebs and Kit Vela have jobs they’d like to keep. So, UNM blames everything on the player and acts tough about a suspension so the problem with go away right? THE PROBLEM IS, it went on for 90 minutes and the coach DIDN’T DO ANYTHING. NOTHING. Mr. Krebs should suspend the coach to gain credibility because, this isn’t an isolated incident where the coach could not control the player.

Here’s the pathetic truth. If we didn’t make a stink about it, nothing would have been done. Someone rightly points it out and the University reacts and gives the canned apology. Absolutely pathetic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2008 at 8,776. As of noon today, the Dow, down 65 points, is at 9,719. That’s almost an 11% return for 2008. Granted the stock market was down from 14,093 in Oct 2007 and actually fell to 6,626 in March 2009.  But, however it got here…I’ll take 11%. The past is the past in terms of stock market losses. The question is how do we earn a reasonable rate of return going forward?

I think the market is catching its breath. There is no way it should be going significantly higher based on the number of unemployed.  It could take a long time to catch its breath. 11% for 2010 is 10,788. It’s not setting the world on fire but it’s enough to get rich…over time.

So, as the market seesaws back and forth, I am watching the above numbers. If we can end 2009 somewhere around 9,750…great. If we can end 2010 around 10,800…great!

I shorted IMGG a number of weeks back and turned a profit when it dropped after a big promotion.  The company might have some real tech, but their financial moves would lead me to believe that this is a lot of hype. Hype to sell shares in an offering (at a HUGE discount) and finance the company for another number of years.  Not sure how this isn’t illegal.  Call yourself a development stage company and all bets are off. Revenue, cash on hand, and other traditional metrics don’t matter.

When I wrote about IMGG a week and a half ago (IMGG cured something, NO!), I shorted some shares and made a few dollars from $0.67 down to $0.52.  In late September, the company issued press about their application that would be sent to the FDA on 9/30/2009.  It struck me as odd that they were referencing an event to prop their stock by naming a date that more detail would come out (9/30/2009) and believe it or not, it worked.  No one wanted to miss out. It was a brilliant move after their big promotion. It propped the stock for an entire week.

Shortly after this event (which, could honestly be a big one) they did an offering of shares at…. drum roll please….. $0.025.  That is right, when the shares were at around $0.70 they sold more than 100 million shares at $0.025!

On October 6, 2009, Imaging3, Inc. (the “Company”) completed a series of private placements of its common stock pursuant to which the Company sold a total of 107,059,027 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $0.025 per share raising total capital of $2,676,475.68. The private placements were made pursuant to Rue 506 of Regulation D promulgated under Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

IMGG quietly raised $2.7 million SELLING 107 MILLION SHARES AT 0.025 PER SHARE, A 95% DISCOUNT TO THEIR MARKET PRICE!

This is all very odd. Sketchy as Timothy Sykes would say.

I am currently short a few shares of IMGG and down on the position.  I shorted again after covering my initial trade and digging a little deeper into what appears to be an operation that promotes to pay.  Owners/insiders promote the shares and sell shares to cover their own salaries and expenses.   They are not doing things illegally.  However, they are creating artificial demand that is questionable.

The real kicker with stock is the unknown of how many shares are outstanding.  No one truly knows.  The SEC might just look into this one to find out.

IMGG