The intriguing story  that ExxonMobil has Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) in its sights will send shivers down the spines of Shell’s senior executives as they plan their strategy for 2009 and beyond. It may also give much food for though to those in the European Union who want to keep European hands on key energy […]

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The list of food contaminated by melamine that originated from China keeps getting longer. The New England Journal of Medicine calls the presence of melamine in food a major public health product, claiming that it resulted in 294,000 children hospitalized for health problems in China, and that it may have sickened children in other parts […]

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New Zealand’s Commerce Commission has filed proceedings in the High Court of New Zealand against 13 international airliners for alleged cartel  behaviour for more than seven years. Seven airline staff of a high level in their respective companies also face prosecution.
In a press release the Commerce Commission said, “Airlines throughout the world colluded to raise […]

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It all started in 1992 when Worrell Worcester, of the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington Maine, estimated he would not be able to sell all of his wreaths by Christmas. Rather than discard them, he decided to donate them to Arlington Cemetary to lay on the graves of the soldiers.
With plans underway, a number […]

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Here in the Philippines, we figure that all politicians are on the take.
Politicians visiting the Presidential palace get gift boxes containing thousands of dollars in pesos; fertilizer funds are funneled to politicians to distribute right before an election (and many, but not all, of the politicians made money off the deal, by buying the fertilizer […]

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I am aghast at the latest headline spin insisting that generic drugs are just as good as the more expensive brands.
Why? Because the study cited doesn’t “prove” that at all.
From the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) abstract (summary):
We identified 47 articles covering 9 subclasses of cardiovascular medications, of which 38 (81%) were randomized […]

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No matter how bad the times are there is always someone ready to make a fast buck out of those in trouble. Are there are fewer people in more trouble than those in debt, bereft of savings, on the minimum wage (or worse) and struggling to feed and clothe their families. And very often these […]

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Of the 350 companies in the FTSE350 index I suspect that Royal Dutch Shell probably spends more on corporate advertising than most. Over the past few years there was been a steady stream of advertising messages which seek to persuade, in particular,  that Shell is driven to a large extent by its commitment to Corporate […]

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Don’t look now, but the new hotmail S****. No, grandmom doesn’t usually use such language, but there is no other word for it.
Once upon a time, Grandmom had AOL, which made it nice and easy for her to get her email. But the Windows monopoly made her get an email address on hotmail if I […]

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The Killer Eggplants are coming…they should arrive in 2009.
I’m joking, of course.
But Science Daily News reports that scientists have developed a newer genetically modified eggplant, which is now in the testing phase and so far it has tested safe and nutritious.
If it passes the test, the new variety would allow farmers to grown eggplant without […]

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We continue to be deluged with corporate advertising claiming that the multinational oil companies are in the vanguard in promoting the benefits of renewable energy. The latest ads from BP, the “beyond petroleum” company, are a case in point. They say that a combination of Oil+Gas+Wind+Solar+Biofuels will give the world a “dependable energy future”. True […]

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It has been reported recently in telegraph UK that a large scale fraud has been discovered in UK where the Credit Card swiping devices supplied by China were found to have been tampered with in such a manner that the swiped card data was being sent to China and Pakistan for cloning.
The incident reveals a […]

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The principle that self-regulation and competition can be substitutes for direct public control of key sectors of the economy has been dealt a near fatal blow by the failures in the banking sector around the world.  For some of us the idea that business could be trusted to apply Corporate Social Responsibility was always a […]

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The recent report that USPTO has sent a notice to US legal firms that they need to obtain “Export License” before outsourcing Patent drafting work to India has raised doubts whether this could be a deathknell for the fledgling LPO industry in India. The industry which is estimated to be worth around US $640 million  […]

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By John Donovan
7 October 2008
Shell employees will need to be even more on their guard when communicating by email or using instant messaging systems. Shell Global Security managed by Ian Forbes McCredie OBE, a former senior officer of the British Secret Service, will now have access to an archive of all such communications.
The new security […]

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Perhaps it says a lot when we hear that Congress is putting “pork” in the huge bailout bill. So what else is new?
The press is not much help, since they go out of their way to interview congressmen who have taken money from the two quasi government programs that started the mess, i.e. Fannie Mae […]

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China is in the midst of a major scandal of contaminated milk. And it may be hitting the Philippines and other countries.
Someone has been watering down their milk and adding the chemical Melamine to the milk. Melamine tests similar to protein, so the watered milk tests as full strength milk. Multiply this by a […]

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In what almost seems to be a demonstration of her frustration at certain governments’ traditional opposition to stronger government regulation in national and international  economic matters (but what really is the difference between national and international these days?), German Chancellor Angela Merkel will openly go head-on with the European Commission in Brussels and continue to […]

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The Reserve Bank of India has opened up a new challenge to technologists in India by releasing its guidelines on Mobile Banking.
Though at present the transaction value would be limited to RS 2500/- per transaction and Rs 5000/- per day, the potential for organized salami attacks and Cyber Terrorism using the service is a distinct […]

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Phishing is emerging in India as a major concern for the Banking industry. The recent revelation from a security agency that security in 88 Indian Banks have been compromised at one time or the other in recent days places an alarming question on the security of the Indian Banking systems.
While Banks are shortchanging their customers […]

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In this article exclusive to BNN former Shell executive Paddy Briggs  explains the background to the oil company’s predilection for “Greenwash
Greenwash is in the news again as the oil companies are pilloried for the disingenuous corporate advertising they propagate in a naïve effort to boost their reputations. Shell has been twice criticised by the Advertising […]

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By Lawrence MeyersYou can read the pre-earnings analysis of Ashford here, along with an interview with its CEO:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6Ashford’s second quarter earnings were released last week.  Despite the state of the economy and concerns over travel, they posted impressive numbers.  Yes, they reported a  net loss, but investors should remember that for […]

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In Part 6 of his series, Lawrence Meyers and Monty Bennett discuss Ashford’s REIT structure and how to read their balance sheet.
By: Lawrence Meyers
L:  Let’s talk about hotel REITs and how they work, and specifically, how Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) works.
M:  REITS are not allowed to operate their own hotels.  They can own them, […]

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Wally Olins, one of the most knowledgeable writers and thinkers on brand management in modern times, wrote back in 1989 in his seminal book on “Corporate Identity”, that “…oil companies are poor retailers.” The irony was that then, as now, the brand identities of Shell, BP or Esso were amongst the most ubiquitous in the […]

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In Part 4 of his series, Lawrence Meyers and Monty Bennett discuss Ashford’s unique methods to profit from hotel down cycles.
By: Lawrence Meyers
L:  Let’s examine what happens with Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) during the hotel industry’s down cycle, which is occurring now. You’ve said during those times you’re much more likely to invest in loans and […]

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In Part 3 of his series, Lawrence Meyers and Monty Bennett discuss Ashford’s strategy of taking advantage of hotel cycles.
By: Lawrence Meyers
L:  Okay, last time we discussed how your management experience helps you decide the right times to buy and sell hotels for Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT). But how do you really know when […]

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In Part 2 of his series, Lawrence Meyers discusses Ashford CEO Monty Bennett’s management experience, a key asset in Ashford’s strategy of taking advantage of hotel cycles.
By: Lawrence Meyers
L: The entire theory behind Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) is the ability to take advantage of both the up and down cycles in the […]

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In Part 1 of his series, Lawrence Meyers and Monty Bennett discuss how to evaluate the hotel industry.
By:
Lawrence Meyers
L:  I’d like to begin by educating investors on both the hotel business and the Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) REIT operation. So, let’s start with hotels and learn how to evaluate them.
M: Hotels are really a […]

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By Lawrence Meyers
I’m a value investor.  I love it when the market unfairly marks a stock down to ridiculous prices.  Such a thing is happening right now to hotel REIT Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT).  The market has been selling anything that has to do with real estate, mortgages, financials, and travel.  Lucky for me, […]

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Earlier this week it was announced that corporate Linux distributor Xandros had acquired upstart San Diego based Linux distributor Linspire. For those of you not familiar with Linspire, they are the company that irked Microsoft by announcing a Linux product called Lindows. It was aimed at the low end PC market as a direct replacement […]

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