Breaking Even

(Image courtesy of Businessweek)

As the Detroit automaker, GM, starts to prepare its IPO (Initial public offering) for next month, our government is hoping to come close to "breaking even on its 2009 bailout of the carmaker"(WSJ). The government paid $40 billion for its 60.8% stake in the company and is hoping to make back at least $6 to $8 billion through the IPO (no guarantees there because if the government releases too many shares at once the price will fall) making the IPO about $10 to $12 billion with other sellers included. Analysts are having a hard time agreeing on the exact implied market value of the company, but have agreed GM will be valued anywhere from $50 to $82 billion (this does not necessarily mean the government will break even because $50 to $80 billion is what the entire company is valued, and the Government only owns 60.8% of it). I wish the best of luck to the automaker on the road show, beginning next week, because a lot of people are now in your hands. 

Hasten

(Image courtesy of the Most Expensive Journal)

Feeling tired? Who isn't? A Swedish company, Hastens, founded in 1852 has the answer. Hastens has been creating the finest mattresses money can buy for over 100 years. Some have said the experience is comparable to "sleeping on a cloud, " but who the hell knows what sleeping on a cloud is like? Nevertheless I get the point, it's damn comfortable. The company's top of the line mattress pictured above, the "Vividus", sells for just over $50,000. The good news is you might end up crawling into bed with the likes of Tom Cruise (which would really suck, but he has one) or Angelina Jolie (ummm....yeah). These mattresses take 120-140 hours to make and are done completely by hand "using only the finest materials money can buy" (Hastens). So next time you're in Sweden and looking for something to do, my suggestion would be to sleep. It will be your best option if the right equipment is holding you up. 

Aston Martin One-77

(Image courtesy of gmotors.ie)

For those of you who are car enthusiasts like myself, the Aston Martin One-77 (pictured above) will not disappoint. This exotic super-car will burst your ass from 0-60 mph in a mere 3.5 seconds, and top you out at 220 mph. The One-77 is powered by a 7.3 litre V12 engine with 750 bhp and is the British automakers fastest and finest car to date (only 77 will ever be produced). Ladies and Gentlemen this is no toy, and if you don't believe me just take a look at the price tag; it reads $1,700,000. I hope all of you have a great journey saving up for this fine exotic machine because I know I sure as hell will. 

Built Ford Tough

( Image courtesy of Topnews.in)

Ford motor company, America's Company, posted an outrageous jump in profit for the third quarter; 70% outrageous ($1.6 billion in profit for the quarter or a rise of 43 cents /share). The American car manufacture, who was the only US car company not to file for bankruptcy last year, has been on the rise for the last 6 quarters with 2010 earnings totaling $6.3 billion thus far ( Now that is "Built Ford Tough").  I am genuinely happy the company has been able to thrive during these tough economic times and know most of the credit, for the turnaround, lies in the hands of Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford. Mr. Mulally is one CEO whom might be worth half of what he earns (made $17.9 million last year). 

Wal-Mart

(Image courtesy of Gomonew.com)

Wal-Mart is at it again. The giant retailer is in its' 5th week of conducting due diligence on a company called Massmart. Massmart is basically the Wal-Mart of Sub-Saharan Africa. Massmart, "Operates warehouse-sized stores that sell goods ranging from food and liquor to clothing, gym equipment and home furnishings,"(WSJ).  So there you have it, the same damn thing, but I would bet the food might have a little different flare to it if you know what I mean. Anyway, Wal-Mart is planning on making a $4.63 billion dollar bid on the company (FYI: any Walton could buy it with the money in his/her back pocket) to give themselves a head start on tapping into the Sub-Saharan market. Good luck Walton's; we all know you could use the extra spending money (i.e. a fleet of G5's).  P.s. I do think that if the numbers come out right Wal-Mart is making a good business decision, but forget the motto "Save money. Live better." It should be something like: Spend Money. Live better than Everyone. 

Monetary Stimulus

( Image courtesy of TopNews.in)

Just finished up reading the front page article of the WSJ and it turns out we (United States of America) still are trying to figure out a way to get the 9.6% unemployment rate down (who knew?) along with getting inflation above 2% ( we are just a little over 1% right now).  The proposed way the Federal Reserve is planning to fix these major economical problems? Buying several hundred billion dollars worth of bonds over the next few months. Best case scenario: the price of long-term bonds goes up and in turn pushes down the long-term interest rate, hopefully allowing for more investment and spending, which leads to a successful economy. Chairman of the Fed, Mr. Ben Bernanke (pictured above), is the one making the push to restart the bond-buying program in hopes of helping our wonderful free market economy find its way out of the gutter. I love the fact someone is at least trying to give our economy a big kick in the ass to jump-start, but Mr. Bernanke's plan is catching some criticism. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Thomas Hoenig, said Monday, "That more expansive monetary policy was a bargain with the devil." Three other presidents of regional Fed banks have "expressed skepticism," as well, but forgot to offer any alternative ideas (WSJ).  Lets pray Mr. Bernanke knows what the hell he is doing and makes all his doubters look like idiots. 

Wilson Audio

(Image courtesy of Highendloudspeakers.com)

Wilson Audio is considered to be one of the best loudspeaker manufacturers in the world. The founder, Dave Wilson, has made it his life's goal to create the most flawless sounding speakers money can buy, or should I say, a ton of money can buy.  The highest end speaker Wilson Audio offers is pictured above; the Alexandria 2. These speakers are said to be life changing for a music enthusiast (which means life changing for everyone, who the hell doesn't like music?), and they better be, because a pair of these is going to set you back a cool $135,000 to $158,000. So for now enjoy looking at the picture of the speakers you will probably never own, but, hell, dream big. 

XeroX

(Image courtesy of fastforward.blogs.fortune.cnn.com)

I have been doing a case study in one of my classes on the company Xerox. I do realize the company is not all that exciting and I am not going to bore one with shitty details, but I do want to hit the high point of the case study and that lies solely on the shoulders of Ursula M. Burns, 51, CEO of Xerox. Burns had been with Xerox for three decades before she was named CEO (talk about some employee loyalty) and the first interesting fact is she is the first female Fortune 500 CEO to succeed another female chief executive (Xerox likes a powerful women in charge). The 2nd interesting fact is Ms. Burns is the first African American woman to ever become a chief executive of a 500 company. Congrats Ms. Burns you are one Hell of a Woman. Just a side note: she could buy and sell anyone who reads this post. 11.2 million annually.

Goldman Sachs

(Image courtesy of Wall Street Pit, Walter Burns)

Another article from the WSJ caught my eye. The article is about a former co-head of Golden Sachs, Pierre-Henri Flamand, 40, branching off from to start his own hedge fund. This may not seem like big news because, as we all know, many huge names in the financial world have worked for Goldman at some point in his/her career. This, however, is completely different because Mr. Flamand is due to raise more than $1 billion from investors; making this the largest hedge fund launch in the world this year. He obviously was a badass at Goldman and the company probably regrets losing him, but he is on to bigger and brighter endeavors. Lucky for us Mr. Flamand did go on to say he left Goldman because he felt his job had become managing people and that he wanted to get back into investing (hell I would too if I knew people were going to give me a billion dollars to invest right off the bat). We all wish you the very best Mr. Flamand and will enjoy waiting for your appearance on next years Forbes. 

Samsung 9000 LED HDTV

      

(Image courtesy of Crutchfield.com)

The Samsung 9000 is one hell of a good looking HDTV. The actual screen is 0.31" thin and the stand is removable if the buyer has the urge to hang it. Other badass features the 9000 offers are cinema quality 3D, real 240Hz refresh rate, coolest stock remote I have ever seen, and a 6,000,000 to 1 dynamic contrast ratio. Basically if one is under the influence of a substance this HDTV would make Finding Nemo everyone's favorite movie. 

WSJ Article

(Personal Photo)

Front page of the WSJ, Oct. 26th 2010,  talks about how Mr. Warren Buffett (Smartest Man on Earth) has decided to pick a successor to help run a portion of $100 Billion Birkshire Hathaway. The lottery winner's name is Mr. Todd Combs, 39, "manager of a small hedge fund from Connecticut," whose fund has $400 million "in assets and primarily invested in the shares of financial-services companies" (WSJ). The article goes on to say that Mr. Buffett does not plan for Mr. Combs to take over the entire company as long as he is around because it looks like that job is going to be saved for Mr. David Sokol, 53. Right now Mr. Sokol is the chairman of Bershire MidAmerica EnergyHoldings AND the CEO of NetJets (Forget Mr. Combs I want this guy's job). Going back to the point of why Mr. Buffett picked Mr. Combs to run a portion of his mega company is something I do not know what to think about. NEED HELP, so please feel free to post comments below. 

Greubel Forsey

(Image courtesy of Businessweek) 

For those of you few bastards out there looking to invest in hard assets besides real estate, and have the time and MONEY to wait about 20 years for a return on your investment, Greubel Forsey (Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey)  watches might be something to look at. This Swiss company is known for producing some of the finest two and four tourbillion watches in the world with exceedingly high price tags (more than most houses). This particular one pictured above has a retail price of $690,000 and includes "531 parts to create two separate double tourbillons."(Businessweek). Greubel Forsey is said to make only 150 pieces annually, but all of them are extremely unique.