Filed under: Press releases, Products and services, Apple Inc (AAPL), Starbucks (SBUX), Marketing and advertising

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX)’s Hear Music has signed another veteran artist into its ranks, reports Billboard this day. Carly Simon is joining the label to release new album This Kind of Love, her first of original material in eight years. Preceding artists to sign the label have been Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, and James Taylor, and Billboard notes that McCartney and Mitchell both scored hits with Hear Music in 2007.

The trade newspaper also notes that Hear Music “seems to be a natural fit for Simon, who has bounced around labels throughout her nearly 40-year career.” What kind of longevity with the label that leaves for Simon is questionable, but as Billboard noted, Hear Music fits for these artists and makes the new albums hits via in-store promotions and big marketing platforms.

That being said, virtually nothing has been revealed about Starbucks’ plans for any new artists that have not seen long careers or recorded for other labels in the past. There was some speak of an artist named Hillary McRae, but no update has been announced since Starbucks gave away free songs for Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) ’s iTunes last fall. In any case, news that another veteran artist has joined with Hear Music is in no way unsatisfactory. It’s clear that the label is marketing these artists in ways that attract new listeners where traditional labels failed. This Kind of Love is released April 29.

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Filed under: Rumors, Products and services, Consumer experience, Apple Inc (AAPL), Marketing and advertising, iPhone

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been on the rise today, as renewed enthusiasm over future iPhone sales has brought buyers into the stock, pushing shares up $7.67 to $130.63, or 6.2% .

The company has stated that its goal for overall iPhone sales by the end of 2008 was 10 million units, and according to Apple’s COO, Tim Cook, the company remains confident in hitting that hefty goal.

Since the highly anticipated release of the iPhone last year, there have been a couple of points that Apple has taken a bit of heat over, the first being that outside programmers were not granted to write programs for the iPhone, and the second being the company’s decision to allow individual carriers rights to sell their phones in their respective countries.

Both of these shortcomings might soon change according to Cook. Speaking to to a Goldman Sachs investor group in Las Vegas, Cook hinted that starting on March 6 the company would give programmers the tools that they need to begin creating outside programs for iPhones. This could open untold numbers of new applications for iPhone users, and will definitely spark even more interest in the $400 smartphone.

The second area that has brought criticism to the company is the individual carrier restriction that it chose to adopt. This restriction may be coming to an end sooner than later, as Cook acknowledged that the company was “not married to the single, exclusive-carrier model.”

Many iPhone users have already managed to get around the single carrier restriction, and it has been estimated by Bernstein Research that as many as 25% of all the iPhones in use out there are “unlocked” so that they can utilize non-approved networks. The problem for Apple is that for these users the company does not get its cut of carrier fees.

I don’t have an iPhone (although I have played with many of them) but I have to state that they really do impress me. Everyone that I have met who has an iPhone, has fallen immediately in love with the unit. I’ve to think then, that by allowing a wider selection of carriers along with a wider selection of programs, Apple will easily be able to hit its 2008 goal, and probably easily surpass it.

How about our BloggingStocks readers out there? How many of you own an iPhone, and what are your thoughts on the product? Will more of you purchase one if / when the company starts allowing outside programmers to write programs for the phones? And if so, what applications would you really like to see being offered for the phones?

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Filed under: Products and services, India, China, Harley-Davidson (HOG), Chasing Value

I don’t normally watch the stock of Harley Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG). Lately though, I’ve had a look at how it’s doing and things look pretty hideous right about now. Value investors might be tempted to buy in or to build on an existing position at this time, and that may be a good choice, but as far as a seasonal investment, this year HOG might be scheduled for intake to the slaughter house. In the face of a worsening economy and a kaleidoscope of consumer credit woes, that massive bike maker probably won’t be faring so well. It’s my view that domestically, Harley Davidson is going to become it’s own largest competitor, at least in the near term.

For the last 20 years, buying a Harley has been a purchase of status far more than an expenditure of need. As much as 85% of the Harley Davidson fleet has been purchased by pleasure riders rather than commuters or hard-core biker types. This reality puts those classy machines into the realm of consumer toys rather than consumer needs. Add to this the fact that Harley riders are getting older. They say: If you won’t be able to pick up your bike when you lay it down, it’s time to give up the ride.

My point here’s that more and more Harley Davidson motorcycles are entering the secondary phase of their life cycles. First phase owners are beginning to sell off their bikes. I noticed the increase of used Harleys for sale beginning two years ago, and last year I noticed the begin of a very slight decline in asking prices. This does spell good news if you’re in the market for one, and if that’s the case, I envy you. However, this signals tougher marketing domestically for that classic American icon, hence the Harley Davidson push into India and China.

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AIG posts largest quarterly loss ever
MSN MoneyCentral - Market Wire PrimeNewswire PRNewswire News by Topic Companies Stock Market Economy Industry Commentary This Week Index MSN Money Experts AIG, a multi-line carrier offering property, commercial and life insurance worldwide, said its adjusted fourth-quarter

Tennessee among few schools offering heart exams for all athletes
International Herald Tribune - Reveiz’s father, Fuad Reveiz, a former NFL kicker, said he’s heard the argument that it’s not worth the money to perform echocardiograms on athletes who don’t appear to need them. “I resent that. That means Shane’s life wouldn’t have counted,” he said

Wakilii Brown found guilty of 3 counts of capital murder
Daily Home Online - will then make a non-binding suggestion to Circuit Judge Bo Hollingsworth on whether Brown should be sentenced to life He also borrowed some more money from a family friend, saying his youngest child was in the hospital in Birmingham with an

How To Tap Lenders When Credit Is Tight
Forbes - receivable,” he states. “[Now] we’ve the freedom to buy when the time is right, but we manage the credit line very carefully.” (You can even more creative with collateral–I once pledged the cash value of a life insurance policy to raise money.

Out of the classroom, into the trenches
Globe and Mail - I think a lot of the education we get at law school is somewhat removed from real-life experience,” she states. showed me that it is possible to make a career out of poverty law in a profession that is so focused on making a lot of money

Japan experiments with robots as part of daily life
PR Inside - The logical next step is robots in each day life. At a hospital in Aizu Wakamatsu, 300 kilometers (190 miles) north of Tokyo Another roadblock is money. For all its research, Japan has yet to come up with a commercially successful consumer robot.

The Investment Column: From divine comedy to divine investment
The Independent - Take the National Express when you’re life’s in a mess ” The company has come a long way since then. jobs or family circumstances – are going to take the plunge and even then there’s no guarantee banks will lend the money.

Plans announced for $640M Mississippi River Bridge project
St. Louis Business Journal - 88 million to the project, with Illinois contributing $313 million and the remaining $239 million coming from federal money Growth Association estimate a $15 billion to $20 billion total economic output for the bi-state region during the life of the

Men complain most about rip-offs
News.com.au - While there are several variations on these scams, they all work by seducing victims with a promise of a better life, be it though love, money or status.

Financial Services Authority turns to insurers as it looks for the
Guardian Unlimited - News Sport Comment Culture Business Money Life & style Travel Environment Blogs Jobs A-Z The Financial Services Authority has turned the spotlight on the insurance industry as it tries to seek out the next

Evolution of a Revolution
Wall Street Journal - Our joke was, we will view ourselves as successful if John Adams ends up on the money, if he gets a bill of his own,” says on one song, “Run”), while her songwriting continues to address the rougher aspects of love and the quieter moments of life.

Flood claims fail to sink insurer Aviva as profits rise 1 per cent to
The Independent - People need to save money, and in many parts of the world they are. That’s why life insurance is a very attractive business to be in,” he stated.

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coondoggie writes “NASA will this week demonstrate its lunar robot rover equipped with a drill designed to find water and oxygen-rich soil on the moon. NASA said the engineering challenge of building such as drilling system was daunting because a robot rover designed for prospecting within lunar craters has to operate in continual darkness at extremely cold temperatures with little power. The moon has one-sixth the gravity of Earth, so a lightweight rover will have a difficult job resisting drilling forces and remaining stable.The project is just one demonstration of the collaboration NASA is utilizing to bring together its next moon shot. For example, Carnegie Mellon was responsible for the robot’s design and testing, and the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology built the drilling system. NASA’s Glenn Research Center contributed the rover’s power management system. NASA’s Ames Research Center built a system that navigates the rover in the dark. The Canadian Space Bureau funded a Neptec camera that builds three-dimensional images of terrain using laser light, NASA stated.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Tjeerd writes “IBM scientists, in collaboration with the University of Regensburg in Germany, are the first ever to measure the force it takes to move individual atoms on a surface. This fundamental measurement provides important information for designing future atomic-scale devices: personal chips, miniaturized storage devices, and more.” I’ve attached a video if you’re interested.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Ian Blair makes Derek Conway case demand
Daily Telegraph - Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has intervened in the parliamentary row over Derek Conway, asking to know why the disgraced Tory MP’s misuse of public money had not been referred to Scotland Yard. Sir Ian’s unusual intervention

Dover Saddlery Announces New Store Opening in Alpharetta, Georgia
MSN MoneyCentral - Dover Saddlery Retail, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dover Saddlery (NASDAQ: DOVR), today announced plans to open a new store in Alpharetta, Georgia, in late summer 2008. The new 10,000 square foot facility located just three miles north of the

No pilots deadline in Northwest, Delta
MSN MoneyCentral - MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Northwest Airlines pilots are continuing to look for a solution to the stalled speaks with Delta pilots, and they’re not under a deadline to make a deal, a person with knowledge of the situation stated on Thursday. Pilots for

Canadian Natural Net More Than Doubles on Oil Price (Update4)
Bloomberg - The question is how the hell you put all of that money to work,” stated Molyneaux, who rates Canadian Natural shares a “buy More News

W.Va.: House OKs road deals
Forbes - Where are we going to get that money?’ he asked colleagues before Wednesday’s vote. Neither the Subscriber nor AFX News warrants the completeness or accuracy of the Service or the suitability of the Service

German shares close lower, tracking Wall Street, burdened by strong
CNN Money - (Updates with full closing report) FRANKFURT, Feb. 28, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) — German shares shut lower this day, after Wall Street opened in negative territory and as the euro’s record high of 1.5195 usd weighed on German

UniStar Nuclear Energy Congratulates AREVA on NRC’s Acceptance of
MSN MoneyCentral - Advanced Design Reactor is Basis for UniStar’s Planned U.S. Nuclear Fleet BALTIMORE, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — UniStar Nuclear Energy, LLC (UNE), a strategic joint venture between Constellation Energy CEG and EDF, today congratulated AREVA on

Fitz Bits: RIMM Gives the Sign
Street.Com - Cramer’s Blog Cramer’s Columns Mad Money TV Show Mad Money Recap Mad Money Lightning Round Mad Money Performance Stop Trading! More While I’m sure your favorite penny stock is the next undiscovered gem, I’m not in the business of breaking news stories

Bush finds out about $4 gas forecasts
CNN Money - NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — President Bush, saying he was unaware of predictions of $4-a-gallon gasoline in the coming months, told reporters Thursday that the best way to help Americans fend off high prices is for Congress to make his first-term tax

Treasurys rally on weak economic reports
MSN MoneyCentral - NEW YORK (AP) - Treasury prices rallied Thursday after new reports showed the economy barely moved forward at the end of last year and that jobless claims rose last week. The Commerce Department said gross domestic product, a gauge of economic growth

Fairfax’s Frivolous Lawsuit Dismissed by Court
MSN MoneyCentral - NEW YORK, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ — Institutional Credit Partners, LLC (”ICP”) and William F. Gahan announce the Honorable Judge Deanne Wilson’s dismissal of all claims brought against them by Fairfax Financial Holdings, Ltd (NYSE/TSX: FFH, “Fairfax

GSPI Presents Algae to Biodiesel Report at the Biofuel Symposium
MSN MoneyCentral - Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC:GSPI) announced this day that its president, Joseph LaStella, will be a keynote speaker at the Massive Sky Coalition Biofuel Symposium, presenting a cutting edge report titled “Algae to Biodiesel and Cellulosic Ethanol.” Mr

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Filed under: From the boards, Products and services, Competitive strategy, Ford Motor (F)

Ford Motor (NYSE: F) announced this day that it plans to produce fewer vehicles during the first quarter this year than it did last year.

The company announced yesterday that it now anticipates to build 685,000 automobiles in North America during the quarter, a drop of 55,000 from the same period last year. That works out to a 7.4% decline.

Ford plans to improve its North American sales results in 2008, but still plans on seeing losses again this year. The company is in the middle of a turn-around plan that it thinks will take it back into profitability next year.

It has definitely been a tough run for the struggling automaker, and it is now predicting that it will have a 14 to 15% market share in the U.S. with its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands during the year.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor’s Observer.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Products and services, Management, Wal-Mart (WMT), Sears Holdings (SHLD)

Shares of department store retailer Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) have moved higher this morning, despite the fact that the company posted a 47.5% decline in fourth-quarter profit, hurt by increased markdowns and weak sales of its products.

The retailer announced that its quarterly profit dropped to $426 million, or $3.17 a share on declining margins as sales at its Kmart and Sears stores slipped due to the weak U.S. economy and increased competition. These numbers are down from $811 million, or $5.27 per share reported in the same period a year ago.

Included in the company’s earnings numbers was a one-time gain related to the sale of some assets. Excluding that, Sears earnings numbers would have come at $3.04 per share. Analyst estimates (which typically exclude one time items) was for $3.10 per share in the quarter.

Looking at revenue, Sears Holdings saw a drop of 6.8% to $15.1 billion, down from $16.18 billion a year earlier. The retailer had to face continued economic worries such as higher gasoline prices and declining housing markets that put a curb on consumer spending. Analysts forecast revenues of $15.26 billion for the quarter, according to Thomson Financial.

Looking at same stores sales (sales at stores open at least 12 months), the quarter saw a decline of 4.5%. Weak demand for apparel and home appliances resulted in declines of 4% at U.S. Sears stores and 5.2% at Kmart. Sears Holdings blamed not only the weak economy but also increased competition for its disappointing results as rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) or J.C. Penney Inc. (NYSE: JCP) benefited from the company’s lost lost traffic and sales.

Continued fears over a possible recession made the department store retailer face a pretty difficult 2007. The weak housing market and credit crush brought a slowdown in consumer spending whose effects are reflected in the company’s earnings.

Despite the disappointing quarter, traders seem to be betting that the worst is over the company, and have pushed shares of the stock up 2.5% to $104.40, up $2.80. Earlier in the session the stock had traded down as low as $98.07 before reversing course and moving higher.

Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the online investment advisory service Investor’s Observer.

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Filed under: Economic data, Housing, Recession

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson isn’t normally the first person I’d look to for cogent, well-reasoned analysis, but I have to say his comments on mortgage bailouts are right on.

Talking to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Paulson referred to many of the aid proposals making the rounds in Washington as “bailouts” for reckless lenders and borrowers: “I don’t think I’ve seen any scenario where the American taxpayer needs to be stepping in with more taxpayer dollars.”

He added that “I’m seeing a series of ideas recommended involving major government intervention in the housing market, and these things are usually presented or sold as a way of helping homeowners stay in their homes. Then when you look at them more carefully what they really amount to is a bailout for financial institutions or Wall Street.”

Mr. Paulson believes that urging the lenders to cut borrowers some slack is the role the government should play, and I concur. Knock yourself out: if you can speak to the bankers and convince them to play nice, I’m all in favor of it. But don’t spend our money bailing out lenders and borrowers, while artificially propping up the housing market.

And I’m still dying for an answer to my lingering question: Why is it bad if someone with no equity in their home loses the home? Is someone who “owns” a home but doesn’t have any equity really a home owner?

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