Matt_dk writes “Scientists have detected an organic sugar molecule that’s directly linked to the origin of life in a region of our galaxy where habitable planets could exist. The international team of researchers used the IRAM radio telescope in France to detect the molecule in a huge star forming region of space, some 26,000 light years from Earth.”

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Filed under: Products and services, Apple Inc (AAPL), Ideal Purchase (BBY)

When Best Purchase, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) starts discounting the normally un-discountable Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) MacBook laptop computer, we know it’s a tough selling season. That’s just what the largest consumer electronics retailer has done, though, as the cheapest MacBook being sold right now comes in at under $900. Until now, that’s an unheard of price from any retailer.

Apple’s grip on the MAP (minimum advertised price) for all retailers is strong. It’s not known for heavy discounts — or any discounts at all, actually. Apple’s pricing arrogance, though, is part of what makes it so desirable. Talk to any salesperson who sells premium-priced products for a lecture on this if you’d like. Even so, Apple has had to cool its jets just this week on pricing at its own retail stores.

Then again, this is no normal retail landscape. Holiday retail sales are expected to be very bad and sales will be necessary to keep inventory turns up and product flowing. Sometimes they’ve to be made at any cost. The older Apple MacBook, which is still being sold although newer models were just announced and released in October, is now being sold for $899. That’s a full $100 under Apple’s recommended list price. While it doesn’t sound like a large discount, it is for an Apple system.

You’ll notice that usually you don’t see iPods or iPhones being discounted more than a dollar or two off Apple’s list price. There’s a reason for that, but it makes this $100 cut even more interesting. And some of the more pricier MacBooks being sold at Best Purchase saw $100 and even $150 price cuts as well. Even Apple can’t maintain its pricing smugness in this economy and keep sell-through where it needs it to be. Yes, there are market and purchasing conditions that can even pinch Apple, folks.

Ideal Buy (BBY) discounts Apple (AAPL) MacBooks in rare move originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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gaijinsr writes “The damage done in what CERN calls the ‘S34 Incident’ (and what other people call a major explosion in the cryogenics system) is much more serious than originally admitted: The earliest possible restart date is late summer next year, but with some proposed improvements to avoid repetitions of the incident, it looks more like 2010. They kept this pretty quiet up to now, not the kind of information policy I would anticipate from CERN.”

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Filed under: Products and services, Scandals, Amer Intl Group (AIG)

When longtime AOL executive Ted Leonsis got a holiday gift from his insurance company, American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG), of a Tiffany box with two champagne glasses, he got angry.

“Arrgghhh! Are you kidding me?” wrote the owner of the Washington Capitals hockey team on his blog. “Please! Save the money and keep some people employed. Give the money to charity. Take less money from the taxpayers. Why do I need two more champagne glasses? Dumbest thing I’ve seen this week.”

Leonsis is, of course, right. The last thing AIG needs to be caught doing is wasting money on stupid crap like corporate junkets or buying rich people stuff they do not need. By the way, the most pricey Tiffany champagne glass I saw retails for $55. This underscores that the insurance company’s management team does not get it.

When a company gets a multi-billion bailout from the federal government, it means things went horribly wrong. The same thinking that got them into this mess can’t get them out of it. Limiting executive pay is a good first step, but more needs to be done.

Let us know if you got an pricey gift from a failed bank.

AIG continues to spend money on stupid stuff originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CEP News and MSN Sympatico Announce Partnership in French Finance … - MarketWatch

CEP News and MSN Sympatico Announce Partnership in French Finance … MarketWatch Share This Share This No Comments » 29 11 2008 Cramer on BloggingStocks: Current moves finally address housing Posted by: in Housing Filed under: Exxon Mobil (XOM), Market matters, Citigroup Inc. (C), Centex Corp (CTX), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), D.R.Horton (DHI), KB HOME (KBH), Lennar Corp’A’ (LEN), Toll Brothers (TOL), Economic data, Housing, Cramer on BloggingStocks From TheStreet.com Network What The Fed? Credit Card Con Banks May Burn Through TARP Quickly: Analyst TheStreet.com’s Jim Cramer states you just can’t be as negative as you were before the latest actions. It’s been right to be more than the average bear for months now. But if you believe that housing played some role in the downturn, then you have to believe that the latest moves are very meaningful for that trashed market. We’ve had two major problems in housing: affordability and the ease and cost of mortgage money. We got news this week that ameliorated both difficulties, and we cannot sniff at them as much as it has paid to sniff at everything else that has been done. First, the government’s buy of GSE paper revives a moribund market and ends a lot of federal indecision. If you recall when the government confiscated the Fannie (NYSE: FNM) (Cramer’s Take) and Freddie (NYSE: FRE) (Cramer’s Take) preferreds and therefore made FNM paper more perilous, the government at the same time said that it would make mortgage rates come down, presumably by buying a ton of Fannie/Freddie paper. Instead it made a half-hearted effort by buying about $25 billion in paper and then disappeared! Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Recent moves finally address housing Cramer on BloggingStocks: Recent moves finally address housing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Share This Share This No Comments » 29 11 2008 Evolving Rocks Posted by: in Life and Science SpaceAdmiral notes a new study making the claim that rocks have been evolving throughout Earth’s history. “‘Mineral evolution is obviously different from Darwinian evolution — minerals don’t mutate, reproduce or compete like living organisms,’ said Hazen in a statement announcing the study’s findings. ‘But we found both the variety and relative abundances of minerals have changed dramatically over more than 4.5 billion years of Earth’s history. For at least 2.5 billion years, and possibly since the emergence of life, Earth’s mineralogy has evolved in parallel with biology,’ Hazen added. ‘One implication of this finding is that remote observations of the mineralogy of other moons and planets might provide crucial evidence for biological influences beyond Earth.’” Read more of this story at Slashdot. Share This Share This No Comments » « Previous Entries

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