Very cool map

Check out this map of hurricane frequency, via Accidental Verbosity.

Amazon search engine?

I'm not sure how I missed it, but I hadn't heard of Amazon's new search engine until today when I saw it at BusinessPundit. BusinessWeek has an article on it.

Two things I find particularly interesting:
1. Everyone is getting into search. Microsoft is planning their own google competitor, and the BW article suggests that Ebay is as well. Of course, Amazon is using Google's database as the basis for their search engine, but will probably apply it slightly different ways so that each gives you slightly different results.

Everyone is spending alot of money on search, when profits are only now beginning to be made.

2. A9.com will have one of the functions that is great about Amazon: it suggests new sites for you to visit based on your search history. Now, I find it a little creepy that amazon would keep track of my search results...I like my privacy. But I also like the idea of having new sites suggested to me.

Anti-spam?

I just tried to leave a comment at BusinessPundit, and it wouldn't let me. I assume this was an anti-spam measure...perhaps because I had a gmail.com email?

Strange.

The Benefactor

Mark Cuban hasn't blogged since the airing of the first episode of the Benefactor, a show where he gives $1 million to whomever he decides he likes the best.

Perhaps this is because the show has gotten nearly universally panned.

I didn't see the show, but critics were scathing in their reviews. And apparently ABC accidentally revealed the final four contestants right after the credits rolled. Kinda takes away the drama, doesn't it?

Being rich and having options

Kirk Kerkorian has bought and sold MGM three times.

Instead, Kerkorian has treated the famous studio as he has every other property he's owned -- as a business asset he buys low with the intention of building, but will sell high at the right price.

So Kerkorian put MGM on the market, and Sony snatched it for $2.9 billion. Kerkorian's team paid $1.3 billion for the studio in 1996; his cut alone from the Sony sale is worth more than $1.7 billion.

I also like details like this:

(His first marriage lasted 10 years; his second, to a Vegas showgirl, lasted 29 and produced two children, Tracy and Linda, whose names he combined to create his company name -- Tracinda. His charity is called the Lincy Foundation.)

Small biz stats

Small biz optimism:

U.S. small business optimism dipped slightly last month but remained near record levels, suggesting a strong outlook for growth, a survey released on Tuesday showed.

The National Federation of Independent Business said its monthly small business optimism index fell 3.0 points in August to 102.9, its 17th straight reading of 100 or more.

My own admittedly anecdotal experience is that many of my peers are also increasingly considering entrepreneurialism. Not exactly a direct correlation to small biz optimism.

Don't believe the hype

When I was young -- that is, younger than I am now, or 13ish -- I started getting into investing. I was investing the money I made mowing lawns, so it was paltry amounts.

One of the first things I learned was: don't believe the hype.

I saw this report today on Campbell's Soup:

Food conglomerate Campbell Soup Co. posted a 20 percent drop in fourth-quarter profits as the company began its latest restructuring effort. (emphasis mine)

Campbell's Soup was named Board of the Year by BusinessWeek in December 1996. Many of the business magazines at the time wrote glowing articles about the company and its management.

Don't believe the hype.

Around this time, Campbell's Soup board spun off Vlasic Pickles and some of their other poorly performing brands. Vlasic soon went into a very expensive bankruptcy, sold off its brands, paid lawyers, and then had a couple cents left over for shareholders (my memory is vague on the point).

In April 1998, Campbell's analyst consensus projections for fiscal year 98 sales were about $8 billion, with earnings at about 950 million, or $2.10 a share. The stock was selling in the mid 50s. These were enthusiastic numbers (the 97 numbers were $1.67 EPS), but they were the consensus.

The EPS has since stagnated and been restated a few times. The stock now sells at $25.

Never forget

September 11th changed everything. Freedom is expensive, and we must fight to keep it.

Selling wine samples

Via John Moore:

At Tuscany Market, a "gourmet market and eatery
located in north Austin, shoppers can sample one-ounce tasters of 32 red and white wines through the first computerized wine sampling system of its kind in the United States, reports Dale Rice in the Austin American Statesman (9/8/04). Tuscany co-owner Mike Sattler says, "There are a lot of times I would like to buy a bottle of wine that's a little more expensive, but I'm afraid to get it home and find I don't like it. This creates the ability for people to taste wine, experience it, learn, and go."

I may have to go check this out.

I'm not surprised at the success of the idea. There's definitely many young professionals who want to become more wine savvy. And the only way to acquire that savviness is to drink a wide selection of wine.

A great idea. I wonder if this would be possible to turn into a bar, rather than a super market. A nice upscale, romantic date spot/married couple spot.