International Online Business

Monday, November 16, 2009

The World's Most Powerful People

Power has been called many things. The ultimate aphrodisiac. An absolute corrupter. A mistress. A musical instrument. But its true nature remains elusive. After all, a head of state wields a very different sort of power than a religious figure. Can one really compare the influence of a journalist with that of a terrorist? And is power unexercised power at all?

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/11/worlds-most-powerful-leadership-power-09-people_land.html

Thursday, February 26, 2009

10 Large U.S. Companies That Won't Cut Jobs

1. Cisco in the midst of a very rapid expansion into the server & data center business. That will require extra personnel and may involve acquisitions. Cisco is in several businesses which are nearly recession-proof and should continue to do well, including video conferencing which may actually grow as business people cut back on travel.

2. VISA is lucky. It does not offer consumers credit. It acts as an agent to transfer funds between buyers and merchants. Visa also handles transaction clearing and settlement services. Unlike large banks, when a customer defaults, Visa’s balance sheet is not at risk.

Apple

3. Apple will not lay people off because Steve Jobs would have to admit he had made a bad decision and the company would appear not to be perfect.

4. Apollo is a large education company almost no one has heard of.

5. Altria is doing well because people addicted to cigarettes smoke even during a recession.

6. Google fired a very small number of people last year. If the company wants to control personnel costs, it can simply stop hiring. Google has been adding employees at a dizzying rate for four years. Google, like Apple, has a tremendous interest in keeping its R&D, marketing, product development, and engineering projects going forward as rivals like Microsoft and Yahoo! falter. Google has a chance to pick up market share from both companies and improve its competitive position against Microsoft in the PC application business.

7. Colgate has “side-stepped the global slowdown” as MarketWatch recently wrote. In the most recent quarter the company’s profits were up 20%. It would be hard to pick a better time to sell toothpaste, pet food, and shampoo. Even in a bad economy, most of these are products will have stable sales.

8. Verizon is not growing as fast as it was a year ago. Cellular sales are not quite as good due to market saturation and the economy. But, the use of wireless devices for sending items like data and video over wireless networks is improving margins in the company’s cellular operations. Verizon has also made a major gamble that it can take home broadband and television services away from the cable companies. It will need to continue to market, service, and build the infrastructure out for that to get a return on its multi-billion capital investment.

9. Amgen is still growing rapidly unlike most Big Pharma companies. Its biotech business is producing novel medical treatments that have kept its' sales solid.

10. Corinthian College is another highly successful company in the education field which should benefit from the need of people out of work to develop new skills.

http://money.aol.com/investing/companies-that-wont-cut-jobs

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The World's Most Powerful Billionaires

1. Michael Bloomberg : Mayor, New York City; Bloomberg LP
New York City's chief executive. Former Salomon Brothers trader founded financial information and services firm Innovative Market Systems; renamed Bloomberg LP in 1987. Firm now has news service, cable TV stations, radio and magazine. Today, he owns 88% of company after buying cash-strapped Merrill Lynch's 20% stake last summer. Spent $74 million becoming New York City mayor in 2001 and $85 million in 2005. Law passed in October letting Bloomberg run for third term.

2. Silvio Berlusconi : Prime minister, Italy; Fininvest
Currently serving his third term as prime minister of Italy. Leads a nation of 58 million people, an industrial economy with a GDP of $2.4 trillion and a military budget of roughly $43 billion. As prime minister, he lords over Italy's public TV; his diversified conglomerate Fininvest dominates Italy's private TV channels.

3. Lakshmi Mittal : ArcelorMittal
Controls world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal; company accounts for 10% of crude steel production. Born in India but lives in London, where his political clout often incites controversy. In 2002, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair reportedly wrote a letter to the Romanian prime minister hinting a sale of the country's steel company to Mittal would facilitate its entrance into the European Union.

4. Warren Buffett : Berkshire Hathaway
Even the faintest hint of interest from Buffett can send a stock soaring. When Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway injected billions into Goldman Sachs in September, the investment bank's shares jumped by nearly 6%. Backed Barack Obama with advice and money during last year's campaign; Obama often touted the endorsement in a campaign where the economy eventually took center stage.

5. Vagit Alekperov : Lukoil
Former Caspian Sea oil rig worker, now president of Lukoil, Russia's largest independent energy company. The firm's reserves are second only to ExxonMobil. Alekperov owns more than 19% of the company. Friend of Vladimir Putin who lobbies Kremlin for tax breaks for Russian oil companies.

6. Carlos Slim Helu : America Movil, Telefonos de Mexico
Son of Lebanese immigrant was world's second richest man in 2008. His Telmex controls 90% of telephone landlines in Mexico; cellphone operator America Movil has more than 173 million customers in Latin America. Baseball fan and art collector also invests in construction, retail, banking, railroads, mining and media; bought 6.9% stake in The New York Times last year and loaned the newspaper $250 million in January.

7. Mukesh Ambani : Reliance Industries
Heads petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries, Indian's largest company by market cap. Produces oil, gas, petrochemicals and textiles. Personally funding construction of a 27-story home in Mumbai that could cost $2 billion. With brother Anil, inherited their fortune from their late father, renowned industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani. But they couldn't get along, and in 2005, their mother brokered a peace settlement breaking up the family's assets.

8. Charles and David Koch : Koch Industries
MIT-trained brothers turned family oil refining firm into America's second largest private company. Koch Industries has stakes in pipelines, refineries, fertilizer, fibers and polymers, forest and consumer products, chemical technology. Sales in 2008: $110 billion. Brothers each own 42% of company. Employs 80,000 people and operates in 60 countries. Charles co-founder of conservative think tank Cato Institute. David gave $100 million to alma mater for cancer research in 2007. Pledged another $100 million to New York's Lincoln Center last July.

9. Bill Gates : Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft
World's richest man founded software giant Microsoft in 1975. Stepped down from day-to-day duties at Microsoft last year to devote his talents and riches to philanthropy. The $36 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donates to causes such as fighting hunger in developing countries, improving education in America's high schools and developing vaccines against malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS.

10. Edward and Abigail Johnson : Fidelity
Father and daughter run Fidelity Investments, America's largest mutual fund company. Family owns 49% of the company, which managed $1.2 trillion in assets at the end of 2008. "Ned" serves as chairman; "Abby" runs Personal & Workplace Investing division.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/12/most-powerful-people-business-billionaires_0212_rich.html

Sunday, February 1, 2009

America's Best Colleges 2009

No. 25: UCLA
Los Angeles, Calif.
U.S. News Overall Score: 73
2007 Total Enrollment: 38,896
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees:
In-state - $7,034; Out-of-state - $26,102
Application Deadline: 11/30

No. 23: Univ. of Virginia (TIE)
Charlottesville, Va.
U.S. News Overall Score: 74
2007 Total Enrollment: 24,257
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees:
In-state - $9,300; Out-of-state - $26,900
Application Deadline: 1/2

No. 23: Georgetown Univ. (TIE)
Washington, D.C.
U.S. News Overall Score: 74
2007 Total Enrollment: 14,826
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $38,122
Application Deadline: 1/10

No. 22: Carnegie Mellon Univ.
Pittsburgh,Pa.
U.S. News Overall Score: 75
2007 Total Enrollment: 10,493
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $38,844
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adb92f-002c7-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 21: Univ. of Calif., Berkeley
Berkeley, Calif.
U.S. News Overall Score: 77
2007 Total Enrollment: 34,953
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees:
In-state - $8,932; Out-of-state - $29,540
Application Deadline: 11/30

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adb930-00209-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 18: Vanderbilt Univ. (TIE)
Nashville, Tenn.
U.S. News Overall Score: 79
2007 Total Enrollment: 11,847
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,005
Application Deadline: 1/3

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adb931-001ef-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 18: Univ. of Notre Dame (TIE)
Notre Dame, Ind.
U.S. News Overall Score: 79
2007 Total Enrollment: 11,733
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $36,847
Application Deadline: 12/31

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adb932-00163-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 18: Emory Univ. (TIE)
Atlanta, Ga.
U.S. News Overall Score: 79
2007 Total Enrollment: 12,570
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $36,336
Application Deadline: 1/15

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbb74-00234-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 17: Rice University
Houston, Texas
U.S. News Overall Score: 80
2007 Total Enrollment: 5,243
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $28,996
Application Deadline: 1/2

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbb75-001be-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 16: Brown University
Providence, R.I.
U.S. News Overall Score: 84
2007 Total Enrollment: 8,167
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,718
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbb76-001fb-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 15: Johns Hopkins Univ.
Baltimore, Md.
U.S. News Overall Score: 85
2007 Total Enrollment: 19,737
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,700
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbb77-001c4-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 14: Cornell University
Ithaca, N.Y.
U.S. News Overall Score: 86
2007 Total Enrollment: 19,800
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $36,504
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbb78-000e2-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 12: Washington Univ. (TIE)
St. Louis, Mo.
U.S. News Overall Score: 87
2007 Total Enrollment: 13,382
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,248
Application Deadline: 1/15

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbb79-000eb-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 12: Northwestern Univ. (TIE)
Evanston, Ill.
U.S. News Overall Score: 87
2007 Total Enrollment: 18,028
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,125
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd8c-00191-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 11: Dartmouth College
Hanover, N.H.
U.S. News Overall Score: 89
2007 Total Enrollment: 5,849
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $36,915
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd8d-00153-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 8: Univ. of Chicago (TIE)
Chicago, Ill.
U.S. News Overall Score: 90
2007 Total Enrollment: 12,336
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,632
Application Deadline: 1/2

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd8e-000ea-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 8: Duke Univ. (TIE)
Durham, N.C.
U.S. News Overall Score: 90
2007 Total Enrollment: 13,598
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,525
Application Deadline: 1/2

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd8f-00082-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 8: Columbia Univ. (TIE)
New York, N.Y.
U.S. News Overall Score: 90
2007 Total Enrollment: 22,655
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $39,326
Application Deadline: 1/2

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd90-00071-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 6: Univ. of Pennsylvania (TIE)
Philadelphia, P.A.
U.S. News Overall Score: 93
2007 Total Enrollment: 18,916
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,526
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd91-00007-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 6: Calif. Institute of Technology (TIE)
Pasadena, Calif.
U.S. News Overall Score: 93
2007 Total Enrollment: 2,133
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $34,437
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd91-00394-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 4: Stanford Univ. (TIE)
Stanford, Calif.
U.S. News Overall Score: 94
2007 Total Enrollment: 19,782
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $36,030
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd92-002de-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 4: Mass. Institute of Tech. (TIE)
Cambridge, Mass.
U.S. News Overall Score: 94
2007 Total Enrollment: 10,220
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $36,390
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd93-002f2-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 3: Yale University
New Haven, Conn.
U.S. News Overall Score: 98
2007 Total Enrollment: 11,454
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $35,300
Application Deadline: 12/31

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd94-002a0-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 2: Princeton Univ.
Princeton, N.J.
U.S. News Overall Score: 99
2007 Total Enrollment: 7,334
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $34,290
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/04/48adbd95-00283-00ff8-400cb8e1
No. 1: Harvard Univ.
Cambridge, Mass.
U.S. News Overall Score: 100
2007 Total Enrollment: 19,257
2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $36,173
Application Deadline: 1/1

http://www.walletpop.com/college-finance/americas-best-colleges

Friday, January 30, 2009

The Web Celeb 25

1. Perez Hilton (Mario Lavandeira) Age: 30
What: Celebrity gossip blogger - http://perezhilton.com/
Hollywood stars fear the wrath of Perez Hilton, a controversial gossip blogger with a poison pen. Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, styles himself as "The Queen of Mean" and has earned a rabid following, thanks to his sense of humor, snarky voice and irreverent habits--like doodling rude captions on paparazzi photos. Perez bolsters his Web presence with frequent TV gigs, including guest-hosting The View, and hosting a series of specials, What Perez Sez, on VH1. He recently published his first book, Red Carpet Suicide: A Survival Guide on Keeping Up With the Hiltons.

2. Michael Arrington - Age: 38
What: Tech blogger - http://www.techcrunch.com/
Who do savvy investors and tech-business cognoscenti turn to for help finding the next big thing? Michael Arrington, corporate attorney, entrepreneur and editor of the influential blog TechCrunch. The site obsessively profiles and reviews Internet entrepreneurs, products and services--and a mere mention of a company on its pages can make or break a start-up. Arrington's fame and influence has become so great that he's begun to experience a backlash from entrepreneurs who feel disrespected or ignored; he's received death threats, and at a conference in Germany this month, an unidentified assailant spit in his face. Arrington subsequently announced he would take a month off from blogging to "get a better perspective on what I'm spending my life doing."

3. Kevin Rose - Age: 31
What: Digg founder, videoblogger
http://www.digg.com/
In 2004, geek icon Kevin Rose founded Digg, a social bookmarking site that allows users to share and vote on their favorite news stories. The site has become a focal point of the tech community, with more than 35 million members and about 6.8 million unique visitors in the U.S. during December 2008, according to comScore. Rose is also well known as a producer and host for online tech channel Revision3; his weekly video podcast Diggnation, co-hosted with Alex Albrecht, is a must-catch for the tech crowd.

4. Frank Warren - Age: 44
What: Online artist - http://postsecret.blogspot.com/
Got a secret? Write it on a homemade postcard and send it to PostSecret, Frank Warren's ongoing community art project. Since its inception in 2005, the project has collected and displayed upward of 250,000 original pieces of art on its blog. Audiences have fallen for the formula: A 2008 survey by market research firm Youth Trends showed it was the 10th most popular site on the Internet among female college students. Four books of collected confessions have been published to date, most recently, A Lifetime of Secrets. As for Warren, he's hardly been keeping quiet: He's appeared on Today, 20/20, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, Fox News and more.

5. Cory Doctorow - Age: 37
What: Author and blogger
http://www.craphound.com/
Cory Doctorow is a prominent activist for digital rights, and serves as a fellow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He's one of the editors of Boing Boing, a hugely influential and popular blog about technology, culture and politics. And he's also a science fiction novelist, particularly famous on the Web, where he gives away his novels for free (For more, see his essay, "Giving It Away." In 2008, Doctorow published his first young adult novel, Little Brother, "a fictionalized manual for how to build an underground resistance to an evil government."

6. Pete Cashmore - Age: 23
What: Tech blogger
http://mashable.com/
Tech media wunderkind Pete Cashmore started working as a Web technology consultant when he was a teenager, and founded the Web site Mashable from his home in Scotland when he was just 19. Now based in Silicon Valley, it's a must-read for the tech cognoscenti, and Cashmore is widely regarded as an expert on how to use, consume and profit from social media.

7. Beppe Grillo
8. Heather Armstrong
9. Guy Kawasaki
10. Jason Calacanis
11. Robert Scoble
12. Will Leitch
13. Jeff Jarvis
14. Wil Wheaton
15. Nate Silver
16. Om Malik
17. Matt Drudge
18. Owen Thomas
19. Dave Winer
20. Seth Godin
21. Brian Lam
22. Mark Frauenfelder
23. Steve Rubel
24. John C. Dvorak
25. Leo Laporte

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

World's Gloomiest Countries

No. 1 - JAPAN > Grade: minus-85
No. 2 - SPAIN > Grade: minus-65
No. 3 - THAILAND > Grade: minus-63
No. 4 - FRANCE > Grade: minus-60
No. 5 - BELGIUM > Grade: minus-58
No. 6 - ARGENTINA > Grade: minus-57
No. 7 - TAIWAN > Grade: minus-50
No. 8 - IRELAND > Grade: minus-50
No. 9 - HONG KONG > Grade: minus-49
No. 10 - BRITAIN > Grade: minus-47
No. 11 - ITALY > Grade: minus-45
No. 12 - SWEDEN > Grade: minus-40
No. 13 - FINLAND > Grade: minus-40
No. 14 - NETHERLANDS > Grade: minus-37
No. 15 - U.S. > Grade: minus-34
No. 16 - Greece > Grade: minus-34
No. 17 - DENMARK > Grade: minus-34
No. 18 - TURKEY > Grade: minus-24
No. 19 - CHILE > Grade: minus-24
No. 20 - NEW ZEALAND > Grade: minus-15

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/01/0126_business_expectations/index.htm

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

15 Hottest Products of 2008

1. The Acai Berry - Americans have always loved their miracle cures. Little wonder the Acai berry (pronounced Ah-Sigh-EE), from Brazil's tropical rainforests, has become the "it" food of 2008. (Sorry, pomegranates!) If the snake-oil salesmen are to be believed, that $7 Acai drink you're about to quaff will restore your youth AND do your laundry.

2. Twitter - Twitter allows users to write and send, via SMS or online, short (140 characters max) messages to a network of fellow Twitters, usually off-the-cuff updates describing what they are doing at the moment. Facebook offered $500 million in October for the service, but Twitter's CEO and co-founder Evan Williams turned him down.

3. Music Video Games - In 2008, gamers everywhere cranked the volume up to 11, rocking out to Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2. When this blogger's dad sat down at the drums and played through Gimme Shelter for the first time, he knew that music games had arrived.

4. Bud Light Lime - Earlier this year, Budweiser introduced Bud Light Lime, a citrus-flavored concoction, to compete with Miller Chill, a lime-flavored beer introduced by Bud's major competitor in 2007. Accompanying the release of this new beverage, Bud launched a $35 million ad campaign, a strategy that paid off with a 2% rise in sales in the first three quarters of 2008.

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/03/493d68a4-003b5-03c49-400cb8e1
5. BlackBerry Smart Phones - Swimming in the wake of the Apple iPhone is BlackBerry, with its army of addicted executives eager for the sexy features of touchscreen technology but unwilling to give up the workhorse dependability of RIM's network. This year it unveiled two new phones, the Bold and the Storm, to slake that thirst.

6. Speedo LZR Razor Swimsuit - Speedo spent three years and untold millions researching and designing a super swimsuit. It tested 100 different fabrics and suit designs, and conducted body scans of probably every top-level swimmer in the world (more than 400, the company claims) to come up with the Speedo LZR, the ultimate suit for hydro-propulsion.

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/03/493d68a8-000a5-03c49-400cb8e1
7. Smart Cars - The smart fortwo started selling in Europe in 1998, but a recent redesign has made it a hot commodity in America in 2008: 20,000 smart cars have been sold in America this year so far; worldwide, around 140,000. Americans eager for the mileage and attention that comes with the smart will have to be patient, however; waiting lists are long.

8. Amazon Kindle - Amazon's Kindle is the first electronic reader to give print media a run for its money. The Kindle's cutting-edge electronic paper technology provides crisp, clean print in any light conditions. The device is thin and light enough to carry anywhere, and can store hundreds of books at your fingertips. Another reason it's so hot? Oprah loves it and gave it a ringing endorsement, calling it her "new favorite thing."

9. Vibrating Mascara - Both Estee Lauder's TurboLash and Lancome's Oscillation debuted in 2008, with celebrity trendsetters test-driving the products and touting their benefits. At one point, Lancome's waiting list numbered 21,000 and NPD says it was the number one mascara in dollar sales in department stores and Sephora combined.

10. Wii Fit - Playing video games used to be a fun excuse for sitting on the couch, relaxing and doing much of nothing. Then came along the Nintendo Wii, and its healthy counterpart, the Wii Fit, and video games were sedentary no more.

11. 3-Ply Toilet Paper - In September, 2008, Georgia-Pacific took toilet paper further than it has ever gone before. With the introduction of Quilted Northern Ultra Plush, the world's first premium three-ply toilet paper, it not only broke tissue boundaries, but may have changed the "face" of America's bathrooms forever.

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/03/493d73cb-000be-03c49-400cb8e1
12. Flip Mino - The Flip Mino, pronounced Minnow, weighing only 3 oz., is smaller than an iPhone and only slightly taller than a deck of playing cards, yet can capture an hour's worth of VGA quality video on the 2GB of internal memory.

13. Aloft & Element Hotels - Aloft, named because the rooms are like "a loft," have nine-foot ceilings, oversized windows and the wonderful beds for which Starwood is known. Aloft rooms also have high-tech office and entertainment areas with free wireless Internet access, one-stop "connectivity solution" for multiple electronic gadgets -- all linked to a 42-inch flat-panel, HDTV-ready TV.

http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/0d/03/493d73cd-001d7-03c49-400cb8e1
14. iPod Touch - In the beginning, there was the Apple iPhone, and users named it good. So good, in fact, that Apple quickly transformed its iPod into the same form, the iPod Touch, and it too has been deemed good. Very good, if sales are any indication.

http://www.walletpop.com/specials/hottest-products