What Caught My Eye Today

Fred's Note: Yeah, yeah. It's been 3 months. It's not like I get paid for doing this.

So let's see here. The Arab Spring (you have to love that euphemism) is still going strong. Japan isn't quite glowing in the dark, but it is still spewing radiation all over the place. President Obama is pissing off both sides of the political spectrum (which must mean he's doing something right). And Sarah Palin is still finding ways to make the headlines (seriously, doesn't the press have anything better to report on?)

President Obama (Part I) - President Barack Obama announced his plan for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan. An initial drawdown of 10,000 troops is expected to take place in two phases, with 5,000 troops coming home this summer and 5,000 more by the end of the year. An additional 20,000-plus are to follow by September 2012. That still would leave about 70,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, with many to come home gradually over two more years. Congressional Democrats argue that his timeline for bringing 33,000 home by next summer is too slow. Republicans worry that the drawdown will be too fast. Atta boy, Mr. President. If you are going to ruffle up some feathers, you might as well rile up the whole flock.

President Obama (Part II) - Any then there is the sagging U.S. economy. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said that Democratic demands that some tax increases be paired with the spending cuts have brought budget negotiations led by Vice President Joe Biden to an impasse. Cantor said that it's time for President Barack Obama to weigh in directly on the budget because Democrats insist on negotiating some tax increases. Same old story. The veep gets no respect. Step aside, Mr. Biden. Time to bring in the big guns. Nevermind the fact that he will probably say the same things that Biden has for the past several weeks.He also said that plenty of progress has been made in identifying trillions of dollars in potential spending cuts to accompany legislation to raise the $14.3 trillion cap on the government's ability to borrow money. Okay I'm confused. I thought the negotiations had reached an impasse. How can you make progress when you've hit an impasse? Passage of the legislation this summer is necessary to meet the government's obligations to holders of U.S. Treasuries. The alternative is a market-shaking, first-ever default on U.S. obligations. Pish posh. It wouldn't be the first time someone has "bounced a check". Oh sure, it is on a slightly larger scale, but basically its the same thing. You get hit with a service fee and move on. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to the fee for bouncing a $14.3 trillion check?

Sarah Palin - Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said she was pausing her "One Nation" bus tour to answer the call of jury duty and denied media reports her much hyped multi-state jaunt had been cut short. Many have viewed her bus tour as a possible campaign warm-up should Palin ever declare herself a White House candidate. Palin's did not say when her jury service might start or when she had been summoned to serve. I'll make this short and sweet. First, does anyone have a clue what this bus tour is all about? Second, please, for the love of God, let Palin run for president. The campaign will be so much more entertaining with her in it (who wouldn't want a front row seat to see Palin trade quips with Obama in a public debate?). And third, just how long does jury duty in Alaska last. I've been summoned for jury duty for almost 20 years, and have never lost more than a few days to fulfilling my civic duty.

Brand Names - Each year, 24/7 Wall St. regularly compiles a list of brands that are going to disappear in the near-term. Brands that have stood the test of time for decades are falling by the wayside at an alarming rate. Brands on this year's list are predicted to be gone within 18 months.

• Sony Pictures - Sony has a studio production arm which has nothing to do with its core businesses of consumer electronics and gaming. Sony bought what was Columbia Tri-Star Picture in 1989 for $3.4 billion. This entertainment operation has done poorly recently. Sony Entertainment will disappear with the sale of its assets. Hard to believe this is the studio that released "The Social Network" this past December.


• A&W - A&W Restaurants does not have the ability to market itself against larger chains and does not have the size to efficiently handle food purchases, logistics, and transportation costs compared to competitors many times as large. That said, they make the best rootbeer float...ever.


• Saab - with a potential of global sales below 50,000 a year based on manufacturing and marketing operations, and demand, Saab is no longer a financially viable brand. Really? They still sell that many?


• American Apparel - It is a small, under-funded player in a market with very large competitors with healthy balance sheets. It does not help matters that the company's founder and CEO has been a defendant in several lawsuits filed by former employees alleging sexual harassment. Well damn. How am I supposed to fill my closet now?


• Sears - The parent of Sears and Kmart is in a lot of trouble. Sears Holdings was created by a merger of the parents of the two chains in 2005. The operation has been a disaster ever since. Truth be told, I haven't been to a Sears store since I last bought a washer and dryer...7 years ago.


• Sony Ericsson - In a period when smartphone sales worldwide are rising in the double digits and sales of the iPhone double year over year, Sony Ericsson's unit sales dropped from 97 million in 2008 to 43 million last year. Geeze. Sony is having a tough year isn't it?


• Kellogg's Corn Pops - The cereal business is not what is used to be, at least for products that are not considered healthy. Corn Pops contain mono- and diglycerides, used to bind saturated fat, and BHT for freshness, which is also used in embalming fluid. The reference to embalming fluid sealed the deal for me.


• MySpace - MySpace, once the world's largest social network, died a long time ago. It held the top spot among social networks based on visitors from mid-2006 until mid-2008. Hmm. I wonder what happened? Let me ask you this. Which social networking site did you put your profile on, MySpace or Facebook


• Soap Opera Digest - The magazine's future has been ruined by two trends. The first is the number of cancellations of soap operas. The other insurmountable challenge is the wide availability of details on soap operas online. It's been awhile since I was in school, but I'm pretty sure one of the things I learned was that it is difficult to produce media on a given subject if there is not content to back it up.


• Nokia - Nokia is dead. Shareholders are just waiting for an undertaker. The world's largest handset company has one asset. Ouch. That's a pretty harsh assessment. True, but still harsh. For the record, I still have my Nokia. Perhaps I'm becoming a bit of a fuddy-duddy, but I sort of like the idea of my phone actually being just a phone.