Archive for March, 2010

Just think, the other day Harry Reid said more job loss was a big day in America. I wonder if the people back home are happy with that statement of his?

The jobless rate in the Las Vegas area jumped to 13.8 percent in January, the 13th consecutive month of double-digit unemployment.

Hardest hit was the construction industry, where employment fell from 63,000 in December 2009 to 51,700 in January. But there was a rebound in gaming employment in January with 151,200 on the job, compared to 146,200 in December.

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported today that statewide, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 13 percent with an estimated 187,700 people out of work. The 13 percent compares to the national average of 9.7 percent for January.

Thirteen percent!!! Something’s not working.

Sex.com, often touted as one of the most valuable Internet domain names, is due to head to the auction block next week.

DOM Partners LLC, a New Jersey lender that backed a 2006 purchase of the domain name for a reported $14 million, is foreclosing on the Internet property, and is due to auction it on March 18 at New York law firm Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf LLP, according to legal notices.

Bidding for the Internet property, the tumultuous past of which includes several lawsuits and two books, is due to start at $1 million.

Face it, sex sells but it doesn’t always pay the bills.

Sounds great doesn’t it?

Orders to U.S. factories posted the biggest increase in four months in January, led by a surge in demand for commercial aircraft. The increase was another sign that manufacturing is helping to support the economic recovery.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that factory orders rose 1.7 percent in January, slightly below the 1.8 percent gain economists had expected. It was the best showing since a 1.8 percent advance in September.

Oh wait. There was a 118% gain in orders for commercial airplanes. It’s all making sense now.

Ford Motor Co. outsold General Motors Co. in February for the first time in more than a decade.

Ford sold 334 more cars than GM in the U.S. It was the first time since August 1998 that Ford outsold GM.

If people are like me, they’ll be buying Ford cars and trucks instead of Government Motors cars and trucks in the future as well.

The post office is renewing its drive to drop Saturday delivery — and plans a rate increase — in an effort to fend off a projected $7 billion loss this year.

Without drastic action the agency could face a cumulative loss of $238 billion over 10 years, Postmaster General John Potter said in releasing a series of consultant reports on agency operations and its outlook.

We don’t see our mail carrier on Saturday’s that much anyway, I thought they had already cancelled Saturday delivery.

Google has acquired Picnik, whose Web-based application lets people import and edit photos in a browser.

“We’re not announcing any significant changes to Picnik today, though we’ll be working hard on integration and new features,” wrote Brian Axe, a Google product management director, in an official blog on Monday.

I wonder if this is one of those acquisitions where they let the product die as they incorporate the technology into something else, or is this going to be one of those rare exceptions?

Crossposted at The Alligator Pit.

An awesome day for the state of Georgia. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.

Gov. Sonny Perdue joined Korean and American dignitaries in celebrating the opening of Kia’s first North American manufacturing facility in west Georgia Friday.

“This is a momentous day for Georgia as Kia Motors has brought thousands of new jobs to this area and is truly delivering as tremendous corporate citizen,” Perdue said at an opening event attended by Sen. Saxby Chambliss and other dignitaries who heard a keynote speech from Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group chairman and CEO Chung Mong Koo.

Perdue and Chung announced that Kia would come to Georgia four years ago.

Another U.S. based firm bites the dust.

Germany’s Merck KGaA said Sunday that it will pay $6 billion in cash to buy U.S. biotech equipment maker Millipore Corp. in a move to expand its presence beyond drugs and chemicals and into the life science sector.

The deal ends more than a week of speculation over Millipore’s future.

Shares of the Billerica, Mass., company soared last week after reports said lab instrument maker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. had made a $6 billion offer. Millipore, which supplies tests and equipment to the biotechnology industry, then confirmed that it was evaluating strategic alternatives — including a possible sale. The company hired advisers Goldman Sachs and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP to help it consider its options.

\

Sure, they didn’t go out of business, but pretty soon every food manufacturer, drug manufacturer, clothing manufacturer, and auto manufacturer will be based outside our borders. Then what? That’s right, we bite the dust!