We will take your money. In return, we will detain you and hold you hostage in a small, hot, uncomfortable area for long periods. We will starve you. You will not be given any water.

You will be TORMENTED!

And we have the courts on our side.

Court Overturns Air Passenger Rights Law

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has rejected a law requiring airlines to provide food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers trapped in a plane delayed on the ground.

By Kenneth Li
Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - NBC Universal has decided not to renew its contract to sell television shows on iTunes, becoming the second major media company to challenge Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) dominance in digital entertainment.

Apple said on Friday that NBC had demanded to more than double the wholesale rate for each show, which Apple said would have forced its iTunes online store to raise what it charged consumers to $4.99 per TV show episode from $1.99.

“We are disappointed to see NBC leave iTunes because we would not agree to their dramatic price increase,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes, said in a statement.

Apple has decided not to offer shows for download from NBC’s upcoming season beginning in September, including popular series such as “Heroes.”

A spokeswoman for NBC Universal confirmed it will not renew the iTunes contract and declined to elaborate.

By Michelle Kessler,
USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO - Dell (DELL) is winning over Wall Street again - but some of its customers remain unhappy with the beleaguered PC giant.

Dell on Thursday reported preliminary revenue of $14.8 billion for the quarter ended Aug. 3. That is up from $14.1 billion a year ago, topping analysts’ estimates - and a welcome change from several quarters of lackluster results.

The No. 2 PC maker also conceded that a shortage of laptop parts continues to prevent it from filling some orders.

Dell’s regularly scheduled earnings report was, for the fourth quarter in a row, light on details. The company is still tangled in an accounting investigation that began in August 2005, so it is not filing official numbers with the Securities and Exchange Commission or taking questions from equity analysts. Although Dell ended its internal inquiry this month, determining that a relatively minor restatement was necessary, an SEC investigation remains open.

Dell said it hopes to have all overdue documents filed with the SEC by early November. In the meantime, it reported preliminary net income of $733 million, or 32 cents a share, up from $502 million, or 22 cents a share, a year ago. Wall Street analysts on average had expected 30 cents a share. The results include a 5-cent-per’share charge related to the accounting probe.

read more HERE

United Press International

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) — The U.S. housing market likely will stay near its current level for the next few months, the latest National Association of Realtors forecast said Wednesday.

Sales of existing homes should experience a modest upturn toward the end of the year, Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said in a news release.

The new-home market is expected to improve by the middle of 2008, Yun said.

Existing-home sales are forecast at 6.04 million in 2007 and 6.38 million next year, below the 6.48 million recorded in 2006, NAR reported. New-home sales are expected to total 852,000 this year and 848,000 in 2008, down from 1.05 million in 2006.

Housing starts likely will total 1.43 million in 2007 and 1.4 million in 2008, again below the 1.8 million units started in 2006, the Washington association said.

“With the population growing, the demand for homes isn’t going away — it’s just being delayed,” Yun said. “More buyers, and cutbacks in new construction, will eventually draw down the inventory levels and support future price appreciation, but general gains will be modest next year.”

from various sources

Stocks rise on Cisco, financials

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks shot up on Wednesday on technology bellwether Cisco Systems Inc.’s (CSCO.O) stronger-than-expected profit while investors snapped up beaten down financial company shares.

The Nasdaq composite index (.IXIC) rose more than 2 percent, led by Cisco, the world’s largest maker of computer networking equipment. Nasdaq was on track for its biggest three-day percentage advance in a year.

Sprint profit beats Street

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) posted a quarterly profit on Wednesday that beat Wall Street forecasts, but its shares turned lower after the No. 3 U.S. mobile phone service said customer cancellations could hurt current quarter growth.

Shares of Sprint fell 35 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $19.87 on the New York Stock Exchange after rising as much as 3 percent earlier in the day. The stock has risen about 14 percent since January in anticipation of growth improvements.

Ford sees 2009 profit, deal with UAW

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. (F.N) Chief Executive Alan Mulally said on Wednesday the No. 2 U.S. automaker was on track to return to profitability in 2009 despite a forecast for weaker industrywide U.S. sales this year.

Mulally, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference, also said he was “cautiously optimistic” about reaching a deal on wages and benefits with the United Auto Workers union.

Fed again leaves key rate unchanged

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve left a key short-term interest rate unchanged Tuesday at 5.25%, acknowledging tighter credit conditions and growing volatility in financial markets but reiterating that inflation is the main economic threat.

A statement by the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee gave little hint the central bank would budge on interest rates soon, despite mortgage, stock and bond market turmoil that has led to tougher credit terms. It acknowledged that “downside risks to growth have increased somewhat” but still predicted modest expansion.

By Roger Yu
USA TODAY

Hilton Hotels said late Tuesday that it agreed to be bought by The Blackstone Group, a private equity fund, for about $26 billion in cash.

Blackstone will buy all the outstanding common stock of Hilton for $47.50 per share, which is about 32% over Tuesday’s closing price. Hilton’s shares ended $2.18 higher on Tuesday, more than 6%, at $36.05.

“Our board of directors concluded that this transaction provides compelling value for our shareholders with a significant premium,” said Stephen Bollenbach, Hilton’s co-chairman and CEO, in a statement.

In a statement, Hilton said it expects the transaction will close during the fourth quarter of 2007, subject to the approval of Hilton’s shareholders.

Blackstone is well-versed in hotel deals. It currently owns more than 100,000 hotel rooms in the USA and Europe, ranging from limited service chains such as La Quinta Inns and Suites to LXR Luxury Resorts and Hotels that includes high-end properties like The Boulders Resort and Spa in Arizona and The El Conquistador Resort in Puerto Rico.

Other than its flag chain, Hilton Hotels also Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations and Homewood Suites by Hilton and The Waldorf Astoria Collection.

Beverly Hills-based Hilton owns 2,800 hotels - 480,000 rooms - worldwide.

Blackstone said it “intends to invest in the Hilton properties and brands globally to enhance and grow the business for the benefit of owners, franchisees and customers.”

Blackstone has invested about $1 billion in to renovate its LXR properties in the last three years. It has grown the La Quinta brand by about 45% since its acquisition in January 2006.

from Reuters
By Martinne Geller

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nine years ago, Seth Goldman walked into a Whole Foods Market Inc. store with an empty bottle bearing a mocked-up label and five thermoses of iced tea he brewed in his kitchen.

He walked out with a purchase order for 15,000 bottles, the first step of a journey that has transformed him from the marketing manager of a social investment fund to the chief executive of Honest Tea, a beverage company he said will have sales of nearly $25 million this year.

Honest Tea is one of many independent drink makers carving out space in the increasingly fragmented U.S. nonalcoholic drinks market, worth about $105 billion a year, to the detriment of established companies.

With hits including Glaceau’s vitaminwater, which comes in rainbow hues, and Red Bull’s energy drink, agile start-ups are gaining traction as consumers seek alternatives to the traditional soft drinks sold by the industry giants.

“Unfortunately, the consumer is not cooperating with big brands the way they have in the past,” said Charles Frenette, a former chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola Co. and Miller Brewing Co..

He was referring to consumers’ recognition that they have many options and that different drinks suit different occasions. “The consequence is they become more promiscuous — people are now drinking dozens of brands.”

Goldman Sachs analyst Judy Hong said the beverage industry is shifting from a small number of hit products toward a huge number of niche products, which often come from start-ups that rely on word-of-mouth or viral marketing, mediums that resonate better with young consumers than the television spots long favored by their deep-pocketed rivals.

read more at Reuters

A few business stories from Reuters

* notice one of the buyers of Home Depot. It’s in italics. - JS

Home Depot to buyback stock
By Michael Flaherty and Karen Jacobs

Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD - news) on Tuesday said it would repurchase $22.5 billion in stock and sell its supply division to three private equity firms for $10.3 billion as it refocuses on its core retail business.

The sale of HD Supply to Bain Capital Partners, Carlyle Group (CYL.UL) and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice unloads a business built up by the home improvement retailer’s former chief executive.

Shares of Home Depot rose 3.5 percent to $39.60 in after-hours trading on news the company
would repurchase $22.5 billion in stock, or nearly one-third its total market capitalization of $74.9 billion, “as soon as practical.”

Best Buy profit disappoints on TV sales
By Franklin Paul and Karen Jacobs

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE:BBY - news) reported quarterly earnings on Tuesday that missed analyst estimates by a wide margin and gave a disappointing full-year forecast as television sales cooled.

The results and a weak earnings forecast sent the shares of the top U.S. consumer electronics retailer down 6 percent. It also cast new doubts on consumer spending trends, weighing on the shares of rivals and the U.S. stock market as a whole.

Yahoo investors see CEO switch as more of the same
By Yinka Adegoke

Investors in Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) abandoned on Tuesday their initial excitement over a management switch at the Internet media company, sending its shares lower on expectations that little real change was in the works.

Yahoo shares dropped 1.5 percent on Tuesday, partly retracing gains of more than 6 percent in extended trading on Monday after the company said co-founder Jerry Yang would take over the chief executive role from Terry Semel.

Some shareholders had bet that Yang’s taking the helm signaled more drastic changes, such as extensive partnerships with technology and media players, or even a potential merger.

By ELLEN SIMON, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK - A new Associated Press calculation shows that compensation for America’s top CEOs has skyrocketed into the stratospheric heights of pro athletes and movie stars: Half make more than $8.3 million a year, and some make much, much more.

CEOs of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 that filed proxy information in the first half of this year received a combined $4.16 billion in 2006, according to AP’s formula.

The high cost of chief executive pay has drawn criticism in recent years as salaries rose, stock options paid off like lottery jackpots, and perks like chauffeured cars and private jets spread. Still, there are few signs of any investor backlash.

Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news)’s Terry Semel, whose Internet company has lagged behind Google Inc. in profit growth and stock performance, led the pack with total compensation last year of $71.7 million, according to the AP formula used to analyze those filings.

That’s more than 2 1/2 times the $27 million in total compensation this year for the New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez, baseball’s highest-paid player, and higher than the typical pay A-list stars like Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio earn for a movie - $20 million, plus 20 percent of the gross box office take.

Semel was followed on the AP list by two energy industry CEOs, Bob Simpson of XTO Energy Inc. at $59.5 million and Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s Ray R. Irani at $52.8 million. Investment banks and energy companies were the sectors with the highest-paid leaders.

The top 10 earners were in disparate industries, but they all had one thing in common: They were paid at least $30 million each in 2006.

The Securities and Exchange Commission required companies starting this year to more completely disclose what they’re paying their top executives. But the SEC’s approach has been criticized for failing to provide useful figures for investors; the AP, in consultation with leading experts, came up with its own formula designed specifically to isolate the value of all compensation awarded to CEOs in the previous year.

read more at YAHOO! NEWS

By MARK LANDLER and MICHELINE MAYNARD
from The New York Times

DaimlerChrysler announced today that it will sell a controlling interest in its struggling Chrysler Group to Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm that specializes in restructuring

The deal unwinds a 1998 merger that was meant to create a trans-Atlantic automotive powerhouse.

“We obviously overestimated the potential of synergies,” Dieter Zetsche, the chief executive of DaimlerChrysler, said at a news conference here. “I don-t know if any amount of due diligence could have given us a better estimation in that regard.”

The agreement will leave DaimlerChrysler, based in Stuttgart, with a 19.9 percent stake in Chrysler but will free it of a great amount of pension and health care liabilities. Cerberus will take an 80.1 percent stake in the new company, to be known as Chrysler Holding.

With the deal, Chrysler becomes the first of the big Detroit automakers to be privately owned. The prospect of private ownership had alarmed Chrysler’s labor unions, which had come out strongly against the sale of the company, fearful that an investor might try to break up the company or seek deep cuts in wages and benefits.

But Ron Gettelfinger, the president of the United Automobile Workers union, said today that the deal “was in the best interests of our U.A.W. members, the Chrysler Group and Daimler.”

Of the $7.4 billion, Cerberus agreed to invest $5 billion in the new Chrysler and $1.05 billion in Chrysler’s financial arm. The remaining $1.35 billion will go to DaimlerChrysler.

read more at THE NEW YORK TIMES