News Cut: December 16, 2008 Archive

Who do you trust?

Posted at 8:12 AM on December 16, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Tech

Of all the people and firms you do business with, who do you trust the most?

Nationwide, American Express tops the survey (again), followed by eBay (really?), IBM, Amazon, and Johnson & Johnson.

Google has dropped off the list entirely because of concerns that all of the personal information you willingly -- or not -- give to the data giant isn't secured properly.

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Can Best Buy survive?

Posted at 8:20 AM on December 16, 2008 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Economy

Just a few years ago, they were practically printing money at the Richfield headquarters of Best Buy.

Despite lower sales, MPR's Marty Moylan reports, Best Buy is poised to become even more dominant in the electronics field. Still, 4,000 employees at the company headquarters in Minnesota are being offered deals to become unemployed.

The Wall Street analysts generally love misery of working people, fairly gushing this morning that the company is "right-sizing." And the stock opened higher after the firm reported its earnings, prompting a wave of "half empty" vs "half full" news coverage.

"Best Buy tops profit forecasts" said CNN Money. "Best Buy 3Q Net Plunges 77%, To Slash New-Store Openings," the same Web site reported 10 minutes later. The bottom line? Best Buy made a profit; just not a big profit -- only $52 million.

So it was surprising to hear CNBC tease an interview with an analyst this morning by asking, "Can Best Buy survive?" A company makes $52 million in three months and it's on death's doorstep? It is, indeed, a "new" economy.

That analyst, Stacey Widlitz of Pali Research, said the good news is "it wasn't a total disaster." She also described the cuts in employees as "good news." Best Buy's problem, she said, is electronics are 10-percent cheaper at WalMart, a company analysts seemed to be burying a year ago.

The CNBC hosts tried mightily to do the same to Best Buy this morning, but Widlitz wasn't biting. "No, I'm not worried about their viability," she said. "With cost cutting in the organization... they have plenty of time before there's a real issue here."

The soon-to-be unemployed may not be able to say the same.

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Exports are one of few economic bright spots in Minn.

Posted at 10:37 AM on December 16, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Economy

Perhaps a little good news won't kill us. Says a news release from the Department of Employment and Economic Development:

Manufactured exports set another record in the third quarter of 2008, growing 8.6 percent from the same period a year ago to $4.5 billion. It was the second straight quarter that state manufacturers broke the record for export sales.

So far this year, Minnesota exports have grown 9.5 percent to $13.1 billion. The state is on pace to break last year's export record of $16.2 billion

Computers and electronics are the #1 export. Canada is the state's biggest trade partner.

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The first face transplant

Posted at 11:41 AM on December 16, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Health

This one takes some thinking. In Cleveland, it was announced today, doctors have performed the country's first near total face transplant

Reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow replaced nearly all of the woman's face - 80 percent - with that of a dead female donor in an operation a couple weeks ago.

The patient's name and age were not released. The hospital plans a news conference Wednesday and would not give details until then.

My question if I get to ask it on Wednesday: Does the recipient look exactly like the donor? If so, isn't that kind of strange for the donor family?

The Discovery Health Web site has a slideshow of some face transplants (partial, I presume). Some may consider these graphic.

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Live-blogging the Canvassing Board

Posted at 12:00 PM on December 16, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

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