The New Yorker Mocks The 1% With Its Occupy Wall Street Cover

Netflix's Wild Ride

Right when you think there's no more Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX  ) news to be had, another bombshell is dropped. In late September we published an infographic tracking Netflix's 50% fall in just two months. At that time, the company had just announced a plan to split off Qwikster.

Well, it's been less than a month since that infographic ran, and Qwikster is already dead. Oh, and Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN  ) unveiled its tablet featuring heavy integration with its own streaming service. Then there have also been the content deals: Netlflix is teaming up with DreamWorks Animation and just signed a billion-dollar licensing deal with Time Warner and CBS for CW streaming rights. The major news surrounding Netflix just never seems to end.

So, without further ado, here's an updated graphic showing Netflix's wild ride over the summer and early fall.

To stay updated on Netflix as it tries to move on from a summer full of PR fiascos, add the company to our free My Watchlist service. It'll deliver all the Fool's best news and analysis on the company in one central place. Add Netflix and get started today!

It's Almost Time to Buy ? A sudden correction and hyper volatility have spooked investors. This is fantastic news. A once-in-a-generation buying opportunity is at hand. Do you know exactly what to buy and how much? Here's a solution.

Follow along as a former hedge fund manager actively manages a $1 million stock portfolio in real time. This is the first and ONLY opportunity this year, by invitation only. Claim your no-obligation invitation ? plus a never-seen report revealing "5 Handpicked Stocks for the Coming Bull Market." It's free to individual investors for a limited time. Enter your email address in the box below and click the button now.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement

Source: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/10/16/netflixs-wild-ride.aspx

mercers debt michigan debt consolidation military debt consolidation moorcroft debt recovery

How Weddings Are Bankrupting Lowly Guests

I didn't know it at the time, but apparently, I got off easy. When my best friend from college got married last summer, I had to spend only $1,000 total for her bachelorette party in Las Vegas, my plane ticket from New York to Los Angeles, hotel room, bridesmaid's dress, shoes, hair styling and wedding gift.

"You have no idea!" my brother interjected when he heard me grumble. He was invited to five weddings this year -- three of which were out of town, including one in Jamaica with an all-inclusive price tag of $1,300. Then there was the four-day bachelor party in Cabo San Lucas, which cost $900, and the three-day boys' ski trip to Mammoth for $700. That didn't include the aggravation of blowing through his yearly vacation budget. "I've had to say no to a lot of these events," he says. "I'm sick of spending all my money on other people's weddings."

As the cost and scale of weddings continue to escalate, it's not just the bride and groom or their parents who are feeling pinched. The bridal beast is bankrupting the lowly wedding guest -- leaving many to quietly mutter "Oh, please don't invite me to your wedding" following those dreaded words, "We've got some news!"

For just one holy union, it's not uncommon to be invited to several engagement parties, showers or teas (where you have to bring gifts and are often expected to chip in for expenses). Some showers are "spa days," and the bride can't be expected to pay for her massage, facial, mud treatment and low-carb turkey wrap herself, can she? And if you're a bridesmaid, you not only have to pay for that cherished dress and shoes, but often you're on the hook for professional hair and make up, too. And we're not talking a few artful flicks of a curling iron. For my last few bridesmaid gigs, I was accessorized with little hair ornaments and sprayed into a laminated, bouffant-ed babe. Then came the lip liner...

If you're invited to a bachelor or bachelorette party, you can't just buy your pal a few shots during an all-night bender. No, you're looking at a weekend trip, where guests pay for the soon-to-be-betrothed's hotel, meals, mojitos, club covers, lap dances, taxis and morning cappuccinos. You can always claim you've got a big project at work and have to bail, but it's not so easy, especially if others have forked out for you. If you're in a circle of friends, the standards get set quickly, and everyone expects equal treatment, i.e.: "If we all went wine-tasting in Napa for Amanda's bachelorette party, we can't go to the Cheesecake Factory for Jen."

But nothing compares with the biggest resource suck of them all: destination weddings.

Betsey Jones, a wedding planner with King Street Events of Alexandria, Va. says she planned a week-long wedding on a dude ranch in Montana, where guests were expected to pay several thousand dollars for horseback rides and cowboy barbecues. A friend of mine declined an invitation to a week-long Mexican wedding cruise. And it seems like every week I hear of someone going to a wedding in the Caribbean. What's a wedding guest to do? And what if several friends get married during the same season? You want to share their joy and all, but frequent-flier miles and Mastercard can only go so far.

Of course, destination weddings aren't all bad. That Kinko's cardstock of an invitation can be a ticket to an instant dream vacation... and the bragging rights that go with it. (As in, my friends are so worldly that they're having their wedding in Fiji. And they think so highly of me, they feel their special day wouldn't be complete without me flying half way around the world to join them.) For example, I have a cousin who's getting married in Greece next summer, which gives me almost a year to boast: "Oh, sure, road tripping next August sounds fun. But you know, I'll be in Athens for a wedding!" And since I'll already be there, I might as well drink a little ouzo and check out a few islands. I suddenly have permission to spend money on a fancy vacation under the premise that I have to.

My friend, Sparrow, squealed with joy when she received an invitation to a friend's wedding weekend near Lake Como in Italy a couple years ago. "It was an excuse to go somewhere I hadn't been before," she says. She started fantasizing about side trips to Tuscany until she freaked out about how she was going to pay for it all. What made the difference, she says, was a thoughtful bride, who tried to make the trip work for everyone. She checked into charter flights, paired single guests in hotel rooms, researched public transportation options to and from the airport and asked guests not to bring gifts. The couple also covered most of the food for the three-day extravaganza. In the end, the trip cost Sparrow less than $700, which with a lot of notice, she was able to fit into her budget.

What irks wedding guests aren't the financial demands so much as the expectations behind them, stresses Jones. "There are a lot of people with unbelievable incomes. People who are older or are having a second wedding may assume everyone else has money," she says, referring to one outrageous wedding where the bride stunned her bridesmaids by choosing $1,000 dresses by Vera Wang that they were asked to pay for. It's all about finding a balance between a bride and groom's expensive tastes and everyone else's budget, she says. One couple covered the cost of renting a Tuscan villa (complete with a cook) and just asked guests to pay for their flights. If the bridal party can't pitch in for their guests, Jones suggests inviting a select group to that Caribbean island, then throwing a less-formal cocktail reception to include everyone else later on. Or if a bride and groom suggest cheaper rooms or discount flights, that shows sensitivity, too.

Since wedding scope creep doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon, invited guests are being forced to be more discriminating about which ones they attend. I suspect this may have the blessed effect of making weddings smaller and more meaningful -- shared with people who really want to be there. By the way, did I mention that I'm going to Greece next summer?

This post was originally published at Indiebride.com.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-elizabeth-richards/bankrupting-the-wedding-guest_b_995920.html

debt recovery solutions debt recovery uk debt reduction calculator debt reduction companies

Here's Rhapsody's Plan To Get Millions Of New Users Without Giving Away Free Music


Rhapsody president Jon Irwin mural

Thanks to the hype surrounding Spotify's U.S. launch this summer, the question on everyone's mind when they talk about signing up for one of the all you can eat music services out there is "How much free music can I get?"

So far, both MOG and Rdio have jumped on to the free music plan trend, offering "gas tanks" of music that deplete as you listen.

You can earn more music by doing things like sharing your listening activity with friends on Twitter or Facebook, but at the end of the day, you're stuck with a finite number of hours or tracks you can listen to.

But Rhapsody, the company that has been in the music streaming business for almost a decade, doesn't want to follow the rest of the pack. Instead, Rhapsody plans to see how the market reacts to the free plans and see if the conversion rate to paid packages are sustainable enough to try it too, says the company's president Jon Irwin.

We had a long interview with Irwin about Rhapsody's plans for gaining more users. For now, "free" isn't on the table, he says.

Instead, Irwin says Rhapsody plans to leverage its recent acquisition of Napster to start moving its business outside the United States. Napster has a very strong user base overseas that will help get things jump started.

Over the next few months, Napster users will start seeing their playlists, favorites, etc. migrate to Rhapsody. By the end of the year, Napster users will be added to Rhapsody's 800,000 user base. (Irwin wouldn't tell us how many Napster users Rhapsody is acquiring.)

Wireless Carrier And Cable Provider Partnerships

Aside from the Napster plans, Rhapsody has another interesting strategy we have yet to see competitors talk about. Irwin told us about a deal between Rhapsody and the budget wireless carrier Metro PCS that's already in place.

Right now, when a customer buys a $60 unlimited plan through Metro PCS along with an Android phone, they get automatic access to Rhapsody as part of their contract. In one swoop, Rhapsody now has the ability to tap into Metro PCS's 9 million customers.

The deal is in its infancy, but if it catches on, Irwin says he'd like to work out similar deals with the larger carriers like Verizon and AT&T.

There's also talk of partnering with cable providers to tie Rhapsody into your cable service. Say goodbye to those ~100 Music Choice channels. Instead, Irwin envisions one channel that has all the music you want on demand. Irwin says there aren't any deals in place with cable or satellite providers, but he's working to lock something down. To make thing even better, music labels love the idea.

Don't Give Up On Free Music Just Yet

Despite Rhapsody's alternative strategy of partnering with cable providers and wireless carriers, Irwin says he hasn't ruled out offering a free plan similar to the ones on Spotify, MOG, and Rdio.

In fact, Rhapsody already has agreements set with the big music labels that would allow a free streaming plan. Irwin even hints the deal could allow more free music than Rhapsody's competitors since the company has a longer relationship with the labels.

But Rhapsody plans to watch how free plans work with other services. If the competition sees success in converting free users to paid users, Irwin says he just needs to "flip the switch" on Rhapsody's free plan.

For now, the company will stick with its standard 30-day free trial to suck users in.

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/kzL0FtzjHDs/rhapsody-president-jon-irwin-interview-2011-10

debt recovery solutions debt recovery uk debt reduction calculator debt reduction companies

This One-Handed Touchdown Grab Is An Early Contender For The Best Catch Of The NFL Season


The Indianapolis Colts' woes continued today with a 27-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The lone bright spot came in the fourth quarter, when tight end Dallas Clark made an absurd one-handed catch on an overthrown ball in the back of the endzone.

Clark also had the presence of mind to get both feet in bounds while making the catch.

Here's the video (via Big Lead Sports):

Please follow Sports Page on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/fuPh4obYo7U/colts-clark-catch-bengals-2011-10

credit debt solutions debt advice uk debt advisor debt arbitration

Bear Sells Big Block Of Juniper Call Options Ahead Of Tuesday?s Earnings

Juniper releases third-quarter earnings after the final bell on Tuesday, and one doubting Thomas is betting the report will do little to rocket-launch the shares to the upside. It looks like the investor sold a block of 13,000 calls at the Oct. $24 strike to pocket premium of $0.13 per contract. The trader keeps the full amount of premium as long as JNPR's shares fail to rally above $24 at expiration next week.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2011/10/14/bear-sells-big-block-of-juniper-call-options-ahead-of-tuesdays-earnings/

credit card debt collection credit card debt death credit card debt forgiveness credit card debt in america

Will Ford Find Success in South Korea?

Don't let it get away!

Keep track of the stocks that matter to you.

Help yourself with the Fool's FREE and easy new watchlist service today.

Here's an intriguing role reversal for you: Thanks to a new trade agreement, Ford (NYSE: F  ) is gearing up to start exporting more U.S.-made cars and trucks to South Korea.

The U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement, approved by Congress on Wednesday, will roll back South Korea's longtime import barriers on U.S. cars over the next several years, while lowering the United States' tariffs on South Korean vehicles. This is something Ford has wanted for a long time, so much so that it ran newspaper ads in 2009 decrying an earlier version of the agreement that didn't eliminate South Korea's import restrictions.

Ford has a small sales presence in South Korea, but right now it's a drop in the Blue Oval's global sales bucket. That's something that Ford would dearly love to change -- because an old rival has already become a key player in South Korea.

A new arena for a very old rivalry
Pop quiz: What is South Korea's third-largest automaker? No. 1 is rising giant Hyundai (OTC: HYMTF.PK), of course, and second is Hyundai's corporate cousin Kia (OTC: KIMTF.PK), which shares some engineering with Hyundai but operates as a separate entity. Most Americans are familiar with both companies' products by now, as both have made significant sales inroads here.

But what company is next on the list?

Believe it or not, it's General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) . GM had a decades-long relationship with the automaking arm of Daewoo, the South Korean industrial giant, and bought it outright in 2001. Since then, GM Korea (as it's now known) has become a prominent force in the South Korean market, as well as GM's global center of small-car engineering. The acclaimed Cruze, new Sonic subcompact, and Spark minicar were all born in South Korea, though they're produced and sold all over the world.

An established local player
GM Korea's domestic products, long badged as Daewoos, are now mostly being rebranded as Chevrolets, in line with GM's global plan to streamline its product and brand portfolios. With the new trade agreement, expect GM to expand its offerings with imported Buicks, and possibly Cadillacs as well.

But meanwhile, GM already has a significant presence in South Korea, with a lineup of locally made cars that includes several models Americans would instantly recognize -- and a few we don't even have yet. The Chevy Spark, due here in 2012, is already on sale in South Korea. And the next-generation Chevy Malibu sedan won't debut here until next year, but locally produced examples will hit South Korean Chevy showrooms in just a few weeks.

Ford, on the other hand, lacks a significant presence in South Korea. With the Blue Oval conscious of GM's large presence in China and eager to expand its global reach to compete, populous, wealthy South Korea is an inviting market. The new trade agreement makes it more accessible to Ford than ever. But will South Korean consumers be interested?

How big an opportunity for Ford?
Ford CEO Alan Mulally issued a statement on Thursday hailing the trade agreement, saying that it will provide "new opportunities for Ford to reach even more Korean customers by selling them more American-made Focuses, Tauruses, Mustangs, Escapes, and Explorers, among other cars and trucks." United Auto Workers President Bob King also praised the deal, though other labor leaders were opposed, and both Mulally and King were seated at the head table at a White House dinner honoring the South Korean president earlier this week.

The agreement still faces one more hurdle: Approval by South Korea's legislature. While South Korean electronics giants such as Samsung (OTC: SSNLF.PK) are supporting the deal, hoping to get a leg up on Japanese rivals such as Sony (NYSE: SNE  ) and Panasonic (NYSE: PC  ) in the lucrative U.S. market, other business leaders have been less supportive, and the agreement may be in for a battle.

But assuming it passes, how much will the deal really matter to Ford's bottom line? The company's sales in South Korea have so far been tiny, but it's unclear whether that's due to tariff-inflated prices or to South Koreans' preference for domestically made cars. Ford's cars compete well with Hyundais and Kias in other global markets, so the cars South Koreans see will be worth a look. But whether they'll buy remains to be seen.

GM's experiment in attaching a very American brand to a lineup of mostly South Korean-made cars is looking like a success so far. Will very American Ford have similar success with a lineup of imports? We'll find out.

Worried about the effect of higher energy prices? You're not alone, but here's the good news: It's not too late to profit. In the new special report,"3 Stocks for $100 Oil," expert Motley Fool analysts name three outstanding companies that should benefit handsomely from rising oil prices. The report is available free of charge for Fool readers -- and here's your chance to get instant access.

It's Almost Time to Buy ? A sudden correction and hyper volatility have spooked investors. This is fantastic news. A once-in-a-generation buying opportunity is at hand. Do you know exactly what to buy and how much? Here's a solution.

Follow along as a former hedge fund manager actively manages a $1 million stock portfolio in real time. This is the first and ONLY opportunity this year, by invitation only. Claim your no-obligation invitation ? plus a never-seen report revealing "5 Handpicked Stocks for the Coming Bull Market." It's free to individual investors for a limited time. Enter your email address in the box below and click the button now.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement

Source: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/10/15/will-ford-find-success-in-south-korea.aspx

consumer debt advocate consumer debt collection consumer debt relief consumer debt settlement

Credit Card Debt Relief Solutions ? How to legally not pay off the credit debt in full

At present, you will rarely find a credit card holder who pays their actual contributions. The overall financial situation is pretty bad and people are reducing their purchases at the rate of survival. This includes persons both employed and unemployed. Most residents have eliminated all their extra cost and focus solely on the basis necessities. [...]

Source: http://www.legaldebthelponline.com/2011/10/15/credit-card-debt-relief-solutions-how-to-legally-not-pay-off-the-credit-debt-in-full/

credit debt solutions debt advice uk debt advisor debt arbitration

This One-Handed Touchdown Grab Is An Early Contender For The Best Catch Of The NFL Season


The Indianapolis Colts' woes continued today with a 27-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The lone bright spot came in the fourth quarter, when tight end Dallas Clark made an absurd one-handed catch on an overthrown ball in the back of the endzone.

Clark also had the presence of mind to get both feet in bounds while making the catch.

Here's the video (via Big Lead Sports):

Please follow Sports Page on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/fuPh4obYo7U/colts-clark-catch-bengals-2011-10

debt advisor debt arbitration debt clearance debt collection agencies uk