NHL season delay trickles down to retail losses – UPI.com

TORONTO, Nov. 15 (UPI) — The National Hockey League’s union/owners’ standoff is taking a major revenue toll on Canadian sports retailers, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

With all games through November already canceled, sports-reliant stores in Ontario and Quebec are reporting sales declines as high as 30 percent, the broadcaster said.

The frustration is shown in a YouTube video posted by Alan Pearson, who owns Raxan Collectibles in Kirkland, Quebec.

It’s entitled “The NHL Destroyed My Business.”

“I’ve run my business for more than 20 years,” he posted. “I’ve been paying royalties. And what do you guys do for the second time in eight years?”

The 2004 season was canceled entirely over league and union disputes.

via NHL season delay trickles down to retail losses – UPI.com.

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Facebook Celebrates 1 Billion Users With Truly Weird Commercial About Chairs – Forbes

To celebrate reaching the 1 billion users milestone, Facebook commissioned its first-ever brand commercial. It’s really strange.

The spot, directed by filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu and produced by the Portland-based ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, begins with the extremely quotidian — “Anyone can sit on a chair” — and winds up by reaching for the extremely profound. “The universe it is vast and dark and makes us wonder if we are alone,” says the voiceover. “So maybe the reason we make all these things [eg. chairs, doorbells, airplanes, etc.] is to remind ourselves that we are not.”

Uh, maybe. Watch and decide for yourself:

via Facebook Celebrates 1 Billion Users With Truly Weird Commercial About Chairs – Forbes.

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Calif. Considering Cutting School Year to Save Money | Video | Fox Business

Former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee discusses how the state can improve its education system.

Calif. Considering Cutting School Year to Save …, posted with vodpod

Strange Random School Quote:

“Those who get lost on the way to school will never find their way through life” – German Proverb

 

Asia’s richest man cleverly sidesteps possibility of family feud | Reuters

Reuters – Octogenarian Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing mapped out a succession plan for one of Asia‘s biggest family empires, ensuring a smoother transition for the Cheung Kong 0013.HK group than that of real estate rival Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016.HK).

Li told investors that while he had no plans to retire, elder son Victor would eventually take over at Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa (0001.HK), the real estate to telecoms empire founded by Asia’s richest man.

The 83-year-old, whose personal wealth of $25.5 billion ranked him ninth on the 2012 Forbes Billionaires List, also said he would bankroll younger son Richard’s acquisitions, helping him to expand a business centered on Hong Kong’s fixed line carrier PCCW Ltd (0008.HK).

“Victor will assume the stakes I hold in the listed firms, including the 40 percent stake in Cheung Kong and the 35 percent stake in Canada-listed Husky Energy (HSE.TO),” Li told reporters. “He will be responsible for Cheung Kong’s group business in the future.”

The current market value of Li’s 40 percent stake in Cheung Kong and his 35 percent stake in Canada-listed Husky Energy is around HK$140 billion ($18 billion).

Some of Asia’s largest listed companies are family run, and succession plans are tightly held secrets, often only revealed through wills at the death of their founders, leading to bitter internal feuds.

“It is a very good move as it is clear-cut who is having what, avoiding potential struggle for shareholding, and it is good for the long-term stability of the group,” said Conita Hung, head of equity research of Delta Asia Financial.

Sun Hung Kai Properties, Asia’s largest real estate developer, and India’s Reliance group of companies have both been embroiled in bitter family disputes over leadership.

via Asia’s richest man cleverly sidesteps possibility of family feud | Reuters.

Strange Random Family Business Quote:

“Ultimately, it’s a family business.” – Ivanka Trump

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Investors brace for Facebook debut on Wall Street | Reuters

Reuters – Investors are bracing for Facebook‘s Wall Street debut on Friday after the world’s No.1 online social network raised about $16 billion in one of the biggest initial public offerings in U.S. history.

Valued at $104 billion, Facebook is larger than Starbucks Corp and Hewlett-Packard combined, sparking intense speculation on how much higher its valuation will rise once shares start trading.

“A 15 to 20 percent pop is in the realm of possibility,” said Tim Loughran, a finance professor at the University of Notre Dame. “Given they already moved their IPO range up and increased the size, that’s bullish to begin with.”

Facebook priced its offering at $38 a share on Thursday, but the price could be higher when shares begin trading under the FB symbol on the Nasdaq at around 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

Some expect shares could rise 30 percent or more on Friday, despite ongoing concerns about Facebook’s long-term money-making potential. An average of Morningstar analyst estimates puts the closing price for Facebook shares tomorrow at $50.

The IPO, expected to mint more than a thousand paper millionaires at the company, has received wall-to-wall media coverage and sparked hopes of a boom in sales of everything from San Francisco Bay Area real estate to automobiles.

via Investors brace for Facebook debut on Wall Street | Reuters.

Video – How Facebook Makes Money:

Strange Random Wall Street Quote:

“Be patient – there’s the rarest thing on Wall Street.” – Jeff Saut

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