• PetroChina Becomes the World’s First Trillion Dollar Company
    Posted by on November 5th, 2007 at 9:43 am

    Wow!

    PetroChina Co. almost tripled on its first day of trading in Shanghai, becoming the world’s first company to be valued at $1 trillion, more than Exxon Mobil Corp. and General Electric Co. combined.
    PetroChina shares rose to 43.96 yuan from the sale price of 16.7 yuan, giving the state-owned oil producer a greater market value than the entire Russian stock market.
    The rally makes PetroChina shares four times more expensive than those of Exxon, even though China’s biggest oil producer has a quarter of the revenue. China’s stock market was valued at less than $1.1 trillion before tripling this year and giving the communist nation five of the world’s 10 biggest companies.
    PetroChina’s valuation is “an indication of China coming of age and also of its stock market bubble,” said Hugh Young, who oversees $50 billion at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd. in Singapore.

    Everyone made a big deal in February when the Chinese market dropped 9% in one day. Well, the Shanghai Composite has doubled since then.
    Check out the stratospheric rise in Chinese search engine, Baidu.com (BIDU). The shares are going for 100 times next year’s earnings.
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  • Irish Boy Band
    Posted by on November 3rd, 2007 at 11:50 am

    This is U2’s first television appearance from March 1978. Bono is 17. Larry and The Edge are 16. Adam is the oldest, either 17 or 18.

  • Euler’s Constancy
    Posted by on November 3rd, 2007 at 11:42 am

    Here’s John Derbyshire on Leonhard Euler.

  • Jim Rogers Unplugged
    Posted by on November 2nd, 2007 at 1:16 pm

    Gotta love Jimmy. He calls Bernanke “a nut.”

  • Frontier Airlines Snubs Boston
    Posted by on November 2nd, 2007 at 11:30 am

    I’ve been long Frontier Airlines (FRNT) for longer than I can to remember. The investment hasn’t worked out well, but I was glad to see their team spirit.

    Frontier Airlines sent a kooky message to its passengers and the Colorado Rockies this week with a print advertisement reading, “Now you know why we don’t fly to Boston. Thanks for the best season ever.”
    The ad played on the fact that Boston is the largest U.S. market Frontier doesn’t fly to. It was also “a message to the Rockies – ‘We got your back,”‘ Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said. “It was a tough (World) Series, but we appreciate all you’ve done.”
    Frontier is the official airline of the Colorado Rockies and negotiated to air the World Series games in flight.

  • Headline of the Day
    Posted by on November 2nd, 2007 at 8:06 am

    From Forbes:

    Somehow Exxon Loses Money

    Forbes is using “loses” in the widest possible sense. In this case, it refers to a gain of $9.4 billion.

  • Best Stocks of the Past Decade
    Posted by on November 1st, 2007 at 10:41 am

    MarketWatch lists the best-performing stocks of the last decade.
    Company……………………Cumulative gain (%)
    Chico’s FAS (CHS)…………..3,790.889
    Apple (AAPL)………………….3,504.444
    Frontier Oil (FTO)…………….2,367.556
    Oshkosh Truck (OSK)……….2,153.455
    Clean Harbors (CLHB)………1,995.059
    Echostar (DISH)………………1,870.947
    Gilead Sciences (GILD)……..1,816.260
    American Eagle (AEO)………1,737.162
    Holly Corp. (HOC)…………….1,706.189
    XTO Energy (XTO)…………….1,629.161
    What would you have thought if someone told you to load up on Oshkosh Truck (OSK) ten years ago?

  • Sign of a Top?
    Posted by on November 1st, 2007 at 10:37 am

    Peking roast duck chain kicks off IPO
    Hmmm. I better buy it just in case it goes up.

  • Jimmy Cayne’s Priorities
    Posted by on November 1st, 2007 at 10:25 am

    Found buried within a WSJ article on Bear Stearns’ CEO Jimmy Cayne:

    Attendees say Mr. Cayne has sometimes smoked marijuana at the end of the day during bridge tournaments. He also has used pot in more private settings, according to people who say they witnessed him doing so or participated with him.

    C’mon Rupert. This stuff should lead.
    (Hat Tip: Joe Weisenthal)

  • Banking Industry On Hard Times
    Posted by on October 31st, 2007 at 2:31 pm

    The Onion:

    The banking industry is being hit hard by the subprime loan collapse. Bank of America laid off 3,000 workers and Merrill Lynch posted its first quarterly loss in six years. What are banks doing to make up the loses?
    Increasing ATM fees to $601.95
    Coffee temperature turned way down
    Launching paid subscription websites featuring hilarious and/or deadly bank robbery videos
    Limiting branch hours to noon until 12:15
    Taking anything valuable from safe deposit boxes that appear not to have been opened in a while
    For fee, will open cash vaults for money-bathing purposes
    Charging more for crisp bills
    So long as CEOs continuing to make shitloads, not too much