Monday, October 30, 2006

KFC Gettin' R Done!

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Business/2006/10/31/2185655-sun.html

Good news for chicken lovers! KFC will be using other means to achieve their famous taste in chicken other than trans fat. Hopefully this will work out good for them. It is nice to see a company try to make their product better for you. I can appreciate it so much, that I might even eat there once this next year (I haven’t eaten there in over a year). That’s about all I got for you on this beautiful Monday afternoon. Good choice on cancelling class today, it’s about 70 degrees outside; the first its been warmer than 50 in about a month.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

DST: What's the Big Deal, Anyway?

So, we all get an extra hour of sleep tonight. DST is an interesting feature of our country. What is the big deal anyway? I don’t understand what the hype is about this stupid time change. If people really want to get up earlier during the summer, do it! We don’t need to change the time to make that happen. The argument I heard was that it is for the farmers. Well, great, what does the time of day matter to a farmer anyhow? I’m not mad or bitter, I just think it is a stupid idea. Indiana was one of the last states to fall trap to the time change too. I understand why we went to DST, because of the new legislation and their effort to increase business relations with bordering states. It is a good idea if it will help, but I’m still skeptic. Speaking of legislation, I am excited about having someone who wants to increase business in our state. Lately, it seems we have lost a lot with the outsourcing of steel mills to overseas providers. This is one main reason we only had some 1.3% increase in GDP instead of a projected 2.2%. Indiana is also now home to the poorest county in the U.S. (according to IPFWs’ economics professor Dr. David Dilts, who specializes in the research area of labor relations). I am quickly taking a liking to the economics department at IPFW, the field seems very interesting.

Our Singing Economy

What a day. What started out as a crappy day found its way of quickly turning itself around. Prying my eyes open this morning took a terrific effort, one that I thought would quickly prove not to be worth while. As I prepared for class by doing homework and online-quizzes, I wondered how I would make it through the rest of the day. Time was cut short by one teacher who we have come to call Heda. She is, for all of you who don’t know her, an econ and stats professor, a very compassionate one at that. She is roughly 53 years old, and cares greatly about her students. Wednesday, she invited my friend and me to an econ competition type thing. She insisted we come and check it out so that next year we can participate in it. This is where the idea for this blog entry came about, but we will get to that later.

After school, I headed home to change and go straight to work. Little did I know tonight would be one of the busiest nights of the year thus far at Pizza Hut. The crew handled it very well, but could have worked better as a team. Overall it was a good, productive night, one in which we blew our projections for net sales and labor percentage out of the water. So, here I am at 2:30 a.m. after closing up shop, leaving work no earlier than 1:30 tonight, slightly buzzing off what I call wave energy, in which your body is giving off the radioactive electricity gained from a successful night. The word I use to describe the way I feel is short for wave power, by definition a renewable source of energy (renewable by the high I get when running a shift at work.)

So, as you can all relate, I’m a little exhausted from a hard week, and a difficult end to it. Tonight I would like to bring attention to the issue of our plummeting housing market. I do not have a source for this, other than the economics department at IPFW, who were all debating this issue earlier in Friday’s gloomy afternoon. Our country was expected to experience a 10% drop in value of property, and Friday morning Bloomberg reported values to experience a 13% decrease, one in which it fell more than expected. This number is very significant, because it means that if you go to sell your house, it will not be worth as much due to low demand and other factors.

We hear a lot about the negative effects of this; let me take a minute to explain why. We are focused on raising this number because when it is low, you cannot get much out of your home. To an economist, this means less to spend in the market if you traded or sold your home. In this case, your property is like a stock, which lowers in value, and you cannot get as much per share when selling. Just like stocks, on the lighter side, it is a great time to buy. I am turning 21 in two days, and will be looking for a small house in the next couple of years. If this number stays low, it will benefit a buyer, or one who is looking to get into the market. I could get more house for my money, or pay less for a house than I would a year or two ago.

I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t get enough of the economical perspective of life. Thinking like an economist is easy in some situations, but could become a problem when applying it to something like school. I mean school is the one thing people pay for and want less of. Everyone tries to get the easy teachers and get pissed off when they get stuck with one who makes them do homework and actually learn something. This is a problem for me, because I don’t go to the car dealer and say “Here is the money for a new Z06 ‘Vette, but I’ll take the Cavalier instead.” So, to sum up, I don’t mind having hard classes; at least I feel that I am getting my money’s worth out of them.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Sony's Profits Down

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/business/27sonycnd.html?hp&ex=1161921600&en=ca7475750b1e3efe&ei=5094&partner=homepage

C'mon Sony, hang in there. They got dealt an unfortunate hand with the stacks not in their favor. Having to recall laptop batteries would certainly erase profits, and maybe even drive some companies out of business. Good thing Sony is diversified. This is one of those times they are glad they make the many different products they do. This could hurt the company now and in the future, as far as computer sales go, but Sony will pull through. Personally, it would take some time before I could trust the company again in the area of computers. It would not, however, have any affect on whether I purchase Sony products. They make outstanding electronic devices from the Playstation to TVs to cell phones. Hopefully, they can get back on their feet next quarter and sell some laptops!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A Starbucks On Every Corner

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/News/AStarbucksOnEveryCorner.aspx

This news article was one of few that caught my eye tonight. As I finished a grueling Ethics test and a 3 hour Economics session, nothing seemed too impressive to me. I finally rolled up on this article, as my interest in America’s obesity problem called my name. I am a fan of Starbuck’s coffee. I think they have one of the best products around and charge a reasonable price. Furthermore, they treat their employees well with great benefits.

The down side to Starbucks: Americans. We know what we want, and usually get it when we want it. We are prone to give into our taste buds’ desires, and instead of doing something healthy for our bodies (like working out in the morning for a boost of energy) we resort to high amounts of caffeine and sugar. My only problem with Starbucks (and restaurants in general for that matter) is that they cater unhealthiness to people. My body works best after a short morning workout, and sometimes when I drink things with high amounts of sugar and caffeine, it has a negative effect on my body.

I don’t feel that we need a Starbucks on every corner. Not in Fort Wayne anyway. It would be great in a city like Chicago or New York, where we are all walking to work most days, but we don’t have a need for one on every corner. I can’t argue that there should be one on the way to work (or five minutes out of the way), but every corner is a little extreme.

Regardless of whether we need Starbucks on every corner, if it is profitable I say let it happen. We have the freedom of choice in this great nation, where we can choose what we eat. In addition, I think that there are other ways to stay in shape than completely refraining from drinking coffee. If I need an afternoon boost, and don’t have time to take a nap, I will grab a quick cup myself. My only problem is America’s view that they need that product. I do think Starbucks is a good idea, but it may have bad results for people as they build an addiction to the product.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

24 Year Sentence

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15390805/

24 years for that? Some may say this is harsh, but I beg to differ. There were a lot of people who had their retirement in Enron, to be let down by the top level management in the company. Years and years of hard work have gone into their savings and stock options. When people are tricked into thinking a plummeting company is doing good, there is something wrong with the picture. Some may say that the CEO should not be to blame, but why the heck not? His job is to oversee the CFO to ensure his job is being done right. Blind trust in a CFO is possible, but only an idiot would put that level of trust in one. Besides, to not know what was going on, the CEO would have to walk around the office blindfolded. So the question I pose is this: Should these much stricter rules and laws encompass the CEO? Or should one person (the CFO) be solely to blame? I agree with the law, that there should be a number of people held accountable.

In addition, I think external audits should be required by law. There will be much less fraudulent activity going on, and a fresh look at a company’s financial report by an unbiased outsider may be what a company needs to stay in shape legally. There is no way to fully prevent fraud, but we can take appropriate measures to ensure it happens as little as possible, and those whom decide to practice it will be put to justice. There are a lot of lives ruined by the Enron scandal because of a company that made their numbers look good.

Monday, October 23, 2006

So I Was Wrong ...

So, I was terribly wrong. No matter how much I search, stem cell research just cannot interest me. It is an important topic I am sure, but I just cannot get into it. I will be going back to my original blog idea, of Business news, and researching the latest in technology, trends, and decisions that most recently make the news. I think this will be better anyhow, because it is important to keep up with the latest of what is going on around us, especially being a business major. The topic interests me much more, and I feel much more compelled to write about an interesting topic. And i'm sure you can all relate to the feeling.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20632700-663,00.html
Here is an interesting article that is of international interest. I remember sometime in '99 there was a debate about whether or not we should sell the Panama Canal. All I really remember about it was that there was a debate. Anyhow, Panama plans to help boost their government's revenue by giving the Canal a huge overhaul, and feel they have set in place what is needed to move their country in the right direction. It is good that they decided to do something to help lift themselves out of poverty. However, there are many doubts that this huge plan can bankrupt a small country, but hopefully that will not happen.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Making an Industry of Nobel-Worthy Technology

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-10-02T154557Z_01_N02348972_RTRIDST_0_NOBEL-MEDICINE-RNA.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna

Stem Cell Research: Is it an ethical practice? Many may say this can and will lead to the attempt to alter human's genetics. As long as they steer clear of that field, and use it for good, I have no problem with what they are doing. Since the atomic bomb, America has been the leader in cutting-edge technology, and to remain on top, we must use science as best we know how. Up until this point, stem cell research has been a topic of debate for many interested people not including myself. I have sparked a recent interest in this field, and would like to know where exactly I stand on the issue. Therefore, from here out, I will be dedicated this blog to Nobel-worthy technology (aka stem cell research).