British shopping institution Marks & Spencer lost 25% of its share value yesterday when its Executive Chairman Sir Stuart Rose announced that due to a lack of consumer confidence, same period store sales were down 5.3% and revenues for the full calendar year would fall by 20%. It must be really bad if people have […]

The BBC reported a Missouri, USA car dealership offered a promotion where if one buys a car or truck, they can get either $250 in petrol vouchers or a free handgun. UK laws forbidding gun ownership aside for the moment, if they were to change, could this be a marketing opportunity for businesses in the […]

Twitter, the microburst text message service that allows you to send messages to friends when not busily on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube or even here, to let them know what you are up to (I‘m in the shower, on the phone, walking the dog, etc.) just in case they forget, unplug and (gasp!) seek a life […]

LinkedIn is a social networking site where busy professionals meet to puff up resumes, brag and, in theory, exchange ideas whilst looking for new work. It just received $1 billion dollars in financing to upgrade/add features and looks another questionably valued high cost web 2.0 takeover or ipo candidate in the coming 12-18 months. Every so often they send […]

10. Wii Fit women leave $20 million dollar toll of destruction to living rooms
It was meant to get the nation back in shape in the comfort of our own homes - but women working out on the Nintendo Wii Fit video game have helped cause £20 million of damage to their living rooms. Flower pots, […]

Donald Trump is learning the hard way about UK real estate development and local Council governance. The Donald was grilled earlier this week by the local council near the site in Aberdeen, Scotland where he plans to build a $2 billion dollar golf resort along pristine coastal dunes. During his opening testimony he said the […]

The 2008 Cadillac Escalade EXT SUV weighs 7,200 pound (3.5 tons), has a 403 hp, 6.2 litre V-8 engine, gets less than 15 miles (4 miles per litre) to a gallon of petrol and the tank is 31 gallons or 119 litres. At today’s UK petrol price of £1.17 per litre it would cost £140 […]

Memorial Day weekend in the USA, a similar 3-day Bank Holiday weekend in the UK and a Pentecost holiday week across much of continental Western Europe meant this was the ideal weekend to launch the biggest blockbuster film of the 2008 summer season. After a long absence, Harrison Ford dusted off his Indiana Jones character […]

The fish at the end of the Pixar film “Finding Nemo” bob on the surface of Sydney Harbour in plastic bags unable to break through to the big ocean below them. The executive teams at Microsoft and Yahoo! seem in a similar situation and face much bigger hurdles whether or not they eventually merge.
Carl Icahn […]

You have vexed him. Don’t do that.
The letter Carl Icahn sent last week to Yahoo! Board of Directors announcing his plans to launch a proxy fight, should give CEO Jerry Yang reason to stock-up on poison pills. Jerry, you will earn a very good return and I’d get used to the idea that you will soon be sipping pina coladas […]