406
Image: CEOWorld Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney sealed a $2.75 billion joint venture today, creating the biggest team of financial advisors in the US. Bloomberg reports: Morgan Stanley is paying $214.2 million for Citigroup’s managed futures business, subject to government and other approvals, according to a regulatory filing today. Citigroup, which received $45 billion of […]
Vending machines have been around since the first century AD. By today’s accounts, even the first vending machine, which dispensed holy water to temple visitors, was weird. The tradition continues. This month alone, Germans released a 24K gold bar vending machine, and an Italian entrepreneur exhibited a machine that makes pizza from scratch. These machines […]
Michigan-based auto parts supplier Visteon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. The Wall Street Journal reports: Visteon is by far Ford’s largest parts supplier, and the auto maker accounts for one-third of Visteon’s $9 billion of annual sales. Korean-based auto maker Hyundai Motor Co. is the next biggest customer, with 30% of Visteon’s sales. Whether […]
Toys “R” Us purchased FAO Schwarz today for an undisclosed amount. Bloomberg has more: Toys “R” Us plans to continue operating FAO Schwarz’s two retail stores in New York and Las Vegas under the same name, along with the company’s Web site and catalog businesses, Toys “R” Us said late yesterday in a statement. The […]
Escapist fluff should make a big comeback this summer. In a world of bad economic news, who wants to read about business? Odd as it may sound, however, now is an especially good time to pick up business books. A delicate economy and stiff competition beg you to hone your skills, not ignore them. The […]
Like many freelancers, I find myself trying to pack more into a 24-hour day than is humanly possible. It’s not just us lone business people who do this. I know plenty of professional, executives, and full time parents who do the same thing. And what do we do when we simply run out of time? […]
The Highland Park, Chicago home featured in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986) is being listed by Sotheby’s for $2.3 million. The Chicago Sun-Times has more: The Ben Rose Home, set for Cameron Frye’s house and the infamous Ferrari scene in the movie staring Matthew Broderick, is comprised of two buildings of steel and glass construction, […]
As I scoured the Web for business news this morning, I found that this first informal week of summer is anything but hungover. News outlets are finally reporting interesting product trends beyond government bailouts and coupon-clipping websites. I’m talking miniature cows, bacon-flavored vodka, and (gulp) a wearable towel. I decided to assess the potential success […]
Source: Shore.com Microsoft may be getting ready to unveil Kumo, its new search engine, at next week’s All Things D conference in California. PC World reports: (Leaked Kumo screenshots)…show a three-column search results page featuring useful tools like related searches, a single-session search history for quick backtracking, and a set of search categories that relate […]
Daimler today bought an almost 10% stake in US electric car company Tesla Motors. The LA Times has more: In January, Daimler selected Tesla to provide batteries and chargers for the German company’s Smart EV electric car. The investment in Tesla “enables the partners to collaborate even more closely on the development of battery systems, […]
Starbucks recently launched “the biggest marketing effort it has undertaken,” according to the New York Times. The coffee company is displaying posters in major cities, then challenging people to be the first to find and tweet pictures of the the posters. The NYT has more: The idea for the Starbucks photo contest came from watching […]
