The Troubling Shortage Of Organ Donors In The U.S.
Posted: March 1st, 2011
In business-financial. Source:
There is a great shortage of organ donors in the U.S., especially when it comes to kidneys. Over 110,000 Americans are on the list for organs, and more than 87,000 of these patients need kidneys. But only about 17,000 Americans get kidneys each year, while more than 4,600 die waiting.
Dialysis is only a temporizing measure, and life threatening complications mount quickly.
So how do we get organs to those who need them the most? For hearts, lungs, and livers, these precious donor organs tend to go to the youngest and healthiest patients….
Read more
Book Profits On Overvalued Basic Material Stocks Now
Posted: March 1st, 2011
In business-financial. Source:
The Dow Industrial Average began to trade above its 21-day simple moving average back on December 1 and we have had a good run-up since then. But, this up trend ended on February 23 when the DJIA closed below the 21-day simple moving average–now at 12,147.
From a technical stand point, the December 18 high–at 12,391.29, could be the high for this cycle. We would then have just about a two-year rally from the lows of just March 5, 2009. While I cannot rule out slightly higher highs over the next week or so, I believe that should they occur they will still remain low 12,600. This week’s risky level is 12,461.
The market close on Friday, February 18 gave our ValuEngine Valuation Warning another boost and the ValuEngine.com Valuation Model calculated that 68.6% of our 5,000 stock universe was overvalued. We have seen a bit of a pullback here and last Friday we had a 63.2% overvaluation calculation….
Read more
Apple Plots Move To Expand iPhone’s Market Share
Posted: March 1st, 2011
In technology-science. Source:
Feb. 28 2011 – 9:48 am | 1 views | 0 recommendations | 0 commentsBy ERIC SAVITZ
Tim Cook: "The mother of all halos"
Apple (AAPL) continues to plot new moves in its campaign to conquer the world.
In a research note this morning, Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi reports on a meeting he had last week with Apple COO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and VP of Internet Services Eddy Cue….
Read more
Stocks: Jobs take center stage
Posted: March 1st, 2011
In business-financial. Source:
February’s jobs report is expected to carry more weight than January. Several economists dismissed that report as a statistical fluke because of the snowstorms that slammed much of the nation. In January, the economy added a paltry 36,000 jobs, falling far short of expectations.
Meanwhile, if Libya’s political crisis worsens or spreads, stocks could be in for a wild ride.
"Libya is the wildcard," said Zemsky. "If violence in oil producing countries continues it’s going to easily bring more fear into the stock and oil markets."
Oil prices spiked 9% last week, as the political revolt in Libya hit the nation’s oil exports.
Also out this week are two U.S. manufacturing reports….
Read more
Websites to Google: ‘You’re killing our business!’
Posted: March 1st, 2011
In technology-science. Source:
"Our goal is simple: to give users the most relevant answers to their queries as quickly as possible," said Gabriel Stricker, Google spokesman. "This requires constant tuning of our algorithms, as new content — both good and bad — comes online all the time. Recently we’ve heard from our users that they want to see fewer low quality sites in our results."
Typically, Google’s algorithm changes are so subtle that few people notice them….
Read more
Shutdown: What you need to know
Posted: March 1st, 2011
In business-financial. Source:
Either way, the prospect remains. And so do questions about what a government shutdown would mean.
Which services would stop? During the last major shutdown, the government closed 368 National Park Service sites, along with national museums and monuments.
In addition, 200,000 passport applications went unprocessed, and toxic waste cleanup work at 609 sites stopped. The National Institutes of Health stopped accepting new clinical research patients, and services for veterans, including health care, were curtailed.
Work on bankruptcy cases could slow….
Read more
7-Eleven: 40,000 stores and counting
Posted: March 1st, 2011
In business-financial. Source:
The Dallas-based convenience store chain announced its global domination by opening its 40,000 store this week.
"This is a significant milestone," said Joe DePinto, CEO of 7-Eleven.
"We’re opening a new store every three-and-a-half hours," he said, adding that the retailer isn’t done yet.
"We’re only in 16 countries," he said. "We’re not in India or Brazil….
Read more
Gas prices surge 17 cents in a week
Posted: March 1st, 2011
In business-financial. Source:
Gas prices were highest in Hawaii, where drivers paid $3.761 a gallon, on average. Wyoming had the lowest gas prices at roughly, $3.032 a gallon.
Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, said gas prices’ 6-cent jump reported Friday was the largest one-day increase since at least 2008.
"This will definitely be the most expensive February ever," he said, adding that gas prices are typically lower during the winter months.
How gas spikes 6 cents in a day
The jump in pump prices follows a surge in prices for crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline. Oil prices spiked 9% last week, a week that included a high of $103 a barrel — the highest since October 2008.
Analysts expect prices to continue rising over the next few days, since gas prices typically lag trends in the oil market….
Read more
How spending cuts hurt the economy — dueling estimates
Posted: March 1st, 2011
In business-financial. Source:
By the end of the year, Zandi said, those spending cuts could cost the economy between 400,000 and 500,000 jobs.
"I think it’s premature to engage in that kind of budget cutting," Zandi said. "We can’t do that, I don’t think, until the economy is off and running."
Zandi was speaking on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley.
But economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin said that cuts would have a much smaller impact on growth: 2 to 3-tenths of a percentage point. "It’s a rounding error," said Holtz-Eakin, who was a top economist in the George W. Bush White House and also served as director of the Congressional Budget Office.
Instead, said Holtz-Eakin, who was also on State of the Union, the budget cuts could ultimately have a positive impact by reducing the fear of increases in interest rates and taxes that deficits can cause.
The proposed spending cuts are "tiny," relative to the $15 trillion U.S….
Read more
SEC casts wide net in private stock trading probe
Posted: March 1st, 2011
In technology-science. Source:
The firms under the microscope include EB Exchange Funds, Felix Investments and GreenCrest Capital, which have created investment pools that aim to buy up shares of hot ventures. A graphic on the front page of GreenCrest Capital’s website hints at the kinds of investments it targets: Facebook. Twitter. Groupon. Zynga. Foursquare. Yelp.
Private investors have always been able to purchase equity in companies whose shares don’t trade publicly — that’s how venture capitalists and angel investors operate. Those negotiations happen quietly, among parties that federal regulators regard as sophisticated investors.
But over the past year, the transaction volume has soared on eBay-like platforms that connect private-stock buyers and sellers….