Zipcar Earnings Today Could Put Stock On Road To $27

We expect Zipcar to continue with its strong growth momentum with membership growth over 25% and will be looking for improvement in operating margins and key cost-performance metrics like average daily revenue per vehicle. We have a price estimate of $27 for Zipcar, about 60% ahead of the market price.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2011/11/02/zipcar-earnings-today-could-put-stock-on-road-to-27/

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This Must Be A Joke: Microsoft Says That Google Is Too Unpredictable (MSFT)


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In what has to be one of the boldest displays of marketing ever, Microsoft's Office 365 director Tom Rizzo wrote a post on Monday accusing Google of "spooking customers" by canceling products too quickly and not offering to support them for long after their cancelation.

He says that that Google "does not have a product roadmap and clear vision for productivity for their business customers."

He might be right. But it's rich criticism coming from Microsoft.

Microsoft cancels, discontinues, and makes drastic changes to business products all the time.

Most recently -- and ironically -- Office 365 replaced a previous set of services called the BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite), which first rolled out commercially in 2008.

Office 365 required newer software (it doesn't work with Outlook 2003), used a different pricing model, required mid-size companies to use multitenant (shared servers) instead of dedicated version of the service, and was generally different enough that Microsoft devoted an entire Web site to the upgrade process.

In other words, Microsoft totally redesigned its online services for businesses after less than three years on the market.

That's not the first time either. Long-time Microsoft watchers might remember:

  • bCentral. This set of hosted services for small and mid-size businesses included some pretty critical business functions like online accounting. It lasted from about 1999 through 2003.
  • Office Live. This was another effort to deliver online collaboration services and apps, including things like project management. It kicked off in 2007 and lasted for about two years before being split apart -- some functions went to Windows Live and SkyDrive, some to Office 365, and some just disappeared completely.
  • OneCare and Equipt. OneCare was a hosted security and management service for individuals, but Microsoft also sold a small business edition bundled with a subscription-based version of Office. It lasted less than a year, in 2009.

Any business who relied on any of these services had to find a replacement when Microsoft canceled it.

That doesn't even get into software and development platforms that have fallen under the knife thanks to Microsoft's strategy shifts. Remember HailStorm, the plan to build consumer Web services that made personal data accessible anywhere from any device? Or the PerformancePoint business intelligence server? What about Office Accounting? Or Project Green, the plan to unify a bunch of different ERP products on a single codebase?

All dead.

Microsoft must think its customers -- and potential Google customers -- have very short memories.

 

 

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Credit Cards for Bad Credit - How Banks Are Making Money From People With Bad Credit

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Credit card debt is one of the most difficult debts to get rid of. It is greatly emphasized by many debt consolidation experts as one of the key debts to be consolidated as soon as possible. Not only are there usage fees, but over limit fees, interest charges, and late payment fees, not to mention payments are not always paid in the order that most people assume, but are paid in such a way that your highest interest debts are cleared the last, while low interest payments are cleared first, while many customers unknowingly assume any payments made to their card is applied to their overall balance.

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LeBron James Struck Fear In His Coach And Dictated The Cleveland Cavaliers' Every Move


Lebron James Scott Raab

We haven’t quite reached the point in Scott Raab’s, The Whore of Akron, when LeBron James decides to spurn Cleveland fans and, in effect, become “The Whore of Akron.”

But we have read Raab’s observations that LeBron ruled the Cleveland Cavaliers' throne like a rightful king.

Decisions went through him. Everyone knew it. Including his fearful owner.

Let’s begin with the team’s general manager, Danny Ferry. After listening to a Ferry press conference about the team’s acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal, Raab observed this:

"Truth 1: The Cavs are essentially owned by LeBron. The beat writers who cover the team clearly believe this – and they are a vastly more accurate gauge of reality than anything Ferry’s likely to say."

"Truth 2: Danny Ferry is so resentful of Truth 1 that he’d prefer not to acknowledge it."

Ferry wasn’t the only one acting in deference to the team diva. Raab sat down with the team’s owner, Dan Gilbert, to share his feelings on a worrisome pattern he'd noticed in Cavaliers coach Mike Brown. To which Gilbert agreed.

"I’m worried about Mike Brown,” Raab said to Gilbert. “I’m tired of hearing him say how honored he is to coach LeBron. Gilbert winces, ‘I don’t like hearing that either,’ [Gilbert] says.” 

The idea that LeBron didn’t listen to his coach or care for what Brown had to say has only been amplified by Shaquille O’Neal’s upcoming book. An excerpt from Shaq Uncut notes that Brown often failed to call out his star player when the tape proved otherwise. 

Which led to teammate Delonte West telling Brown to stop “pussyfooting around” and that “everyone has to be accountable.”

The information trickling out shouldn’t really shock anyone. Wherever LeBron goes, he’s treated like a mythical being. What made you think Cleveland would be any different?

But these revelations beg more questions. One, has Pat Riley found a way to curb LeBron's actions? And, two, how could Mike Brown’s career with the Los Angeles Lakers possibly fare well with a dominant personality like Kobe Bryant?

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Don't Fall Into This Blank Trap

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"The blank of blank" is usually a recipe for disaster.

Quepasa (AMEX: QPSA  ) was "the Facebook of Latin America" when the stock was hitting new highs earlier this year.

Renren (NYSE: RENN  ) was "the Facebook of China" as it was going public earlier this year.

Rediff.com (Nasdaq: REDF  ) was "the Google of India" when it was trading in the double digits for the first time in more than three years back in April.

All of those syrupy claims have come undone, taking the three speculative hype-busters into the single digits.

Lackluster revenue and crummy user engagement exposed Quepasa's shortcomings. Facebook is the Facebook of Latin America. Duh! You don't get to 800 million active users if you limit yourself to the 300 million people in your home country. A Spanish version of Facebook has been available since early 2008. Even if there was no Facebook, Telefonica's Tuenti and Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG  ) Orkut are far more ubiquitous than Quepasa through Latin America.  

Renren is the top dog in social networking in China, but that's a tenuous distinction. We don't know how social the Chinese government will let social networks become in the world's most populous nation. Either way, it was preposterous to think that Renren could get away with going public commanding a $5.6 billion market cap. That's not the right price for a profitless company with a mere $76.5 million in revenue last year.

Then there's Rediff.

Getting more Bangalore for your buck
Rediff investors would like to think that they're getting in at the bottom. India is the world's second most populous nation, and the country realizes that it needs to beef up its connectivity efforts to get more of the country online.

Who can resist the Google of India?

Well, a lot of people can pass on Rediff, especially once they catch a glimpse of its numbers.

Rediff posted another uninspiring quarterly report on Friday. Revenue climbed a mere 1% to $5.1 million during the third quarter. You know things are bad when the company's bottom line isn't addressed once in the eight descriptive paragraphs of the press release. The income statement at the bottom reveals that Rediff's quarterly deficit has widened from $1.6 million to $2.6 million.

Rediff is always good at spinning yarn. Its press release plays up recent initiatives including a new micro-blogging website, hopping on the Groupon bandwagon with daily deals, and a push into local television advertising.

Strip away all of the noise and you have the same company that investors have had for a couple of years: Rediff is a profitless company generating an average of less than $2 million a month in revenue.

Rediff isn't the Google of India. Google is the Google of India.

According to traffic tracker Alexa.com, Rediff is the 10th most popular website in India, lagging sites including Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Show me the rupees
Rediff's lack of monetization is a bigger problem than the portal's market-share position. India travel specialist MakeMyTrip (Nasdaq: MMYT  ) is the only other Indian dot-com pure play trading in this country.

Revenue climbed 54% to $52 million in its latest quarter. Anyone claiming that Rediff needs India's Draft National Telecom Policy to kick in before the country begins seeing material cyberspace growth should be asking why a travel portal is generating 10 times the revenue as the fledgling Rediff portal. A better question may be why Rediff was generating more revenue three years ago.

Clearly there is a widening gap between the perceived potential of this story stock and the reality that meanders on the other side.

Fill in the blanks
There are exceptions to the "blank of blank" trap. Marketplace maven Mercadolibre (Nasdaq: MELI  ) really is the eBay of Latin America. Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU  ) has been "the Google of China" since going public six years ago. It has been on the market's biggest winners in that time.

The key in separating the hype from the storybook endings rests in authenticity. Baidu really is the top dog in China when it comes to search. Mercadolibre really is a powerhouse of e-commerce through most of Latin America.

This doesn't mean you have to be the gold medalist to make money. India's market will have room for more than a single winner as broadband connectivity improves. However, until Rediff shows signs of dramatically growing its revenue or rounding the corner of profitability there's no point in reading any further into this story stock.

If you want to follow India's Internet companies, consider tracking Rediff.com and MakeMyTrip through My Watchlist.

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College Financial Aid A Closer Look At The Myths

When you enter college, it’s a big deal monetarily and emotionally. The education that they deserve is what everyone should have the opportunity to get so try looking for a financial aid to help in that process. This is money that is provided to you in one or another fashion so that you can get [...]

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2011/11/02/college-financial-aid-a-closer-look-at-the-myths/

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How 9 Things That Happened To You As A Child Affects You As An Adult


Big Daddy

Ever wonder why some adults are serious while others can't stop acting like five-year-olds?

It could be the result of a childhood which means that adulthood is only an extension of your experiences as a child.

If you're extremely sneaky or suffer from obesity, it's probably an issue you can trace back to your younger days.

It might be frightening to uncover where all your behavioral traits come from, but we've compiled 9 childhood experiences that made you who you are today.

You weren't allowed to choose your own clothes: You become codependent

If you had a Type A "Super parent" who didn't allow you to dress yourself, choose your own playmates or food, you'll end up as a codependent adult.

As you get older, this means that you'll seek out relationships where your partner has all the power and control.

Source: Psychology Today

You had controlling parents: You become a stubborn adult

Stubbornness is a defense mechanism that children adopt in order to escape their controlling parents' will. The children will also likely grow up to inherit this trait.

Source: 2knowmyself.com

You were allowed to watch TV as a baby: You have suppressed communication skills

After observing mothers and children in a study, researchers found that TV reduces parent-child communication which is untrue if the child was being read to. Even when there was speaking involved, the parent's comments were typically unrelated to what their children said.

The result is that it created an "unproductive exchange that could hinder children's opportunity for learning" and hinder their communication skills later on down the road.

Source: Psychology Today

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Debt Management Companies Can Help You in Negotiating Your Debts

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A professional debt management company has years of hands on experience in dealing with the creditors and the debt collection services. Mostly an intervention by a debt management company is seen positively by your creditors or debt collection services as they will understand that you are acknowledging your debt problems and are seeking professional help to resolve them.

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