Coach SunglassesIt is Wall Street's job to throw money at new companies, a Wall Street economist explained to me during the dotcom boom of a decade ago, when the valuations of IPOs were being questioned. We can report today that the Street, despite the dotcom bust and the real estate bust and the financial meltdown, has not only retained its moneychucking prowess but amped it, if LinkedIn is any measure. The social network for the professional set had already marked up its IPO to $45, the top end of the range, before it opened for trading today. The stock rocketed about 125% before your second cup of coffee as investors once again rushed the doors to try to buy what may or may not be the next great internet company. It's tempting to lump LinkedIn with those featured dotbombs of an era ago, Pets.com being the most famous. But remember, most of those outfits were profitless promises of future growth. LinkedIn has a solid track record. Sales have doubled every year. It has 100 million registered members. And good golly, it actually earned money in a couple of quarters. coach handbags outletBut that means the company trades at a p/e north of crazy, upwards of 1,000. Google's p/e, by comparison, is closer to 21. Some things did remain the same. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, who became a dotcom jillionaire, said the requisite, I don't care about the stock price the way a basketball player talks about it was a team effort after he scores 50 points. hermes birkin C'mon, Jeff, how about a little whoopee, or even, Are those people nuts or what? That's the question, of course: just how much are the social networking companies that are due to hit the market, including Groupon, ultimately worth? Are we headed for Dotcom II? In important ways the world is different now. A decade ago, everyone was still trying to figure out where this new technology called the Internet would take us. Although it was clear that a huge disintermediation was taking place, particularly in retailing, the speed of consumer adaptation was relatively slow.nike sb shoes We were wary, for instance, of making credit card purchases. Nobody had a smart phone. Amazon struggled mightily. Pets.com and Webvanan early internet grocery delivery firmflamed out. Today, of course, there are plenty of grocery and pet sites operating. Social networking sites didn't have to wait for Internet penetration to reach a critical mass. We all have smart phones. So investors don't have to guess as much as to whether these firms will catch on and thrive. Key metrics registered users and page viewscan be known by the minute. So investors have a much deeper knowledge about web companies today. Coach- Poppy CollectionsIt's arguably more rational that they would want to get a piece of the action. What never changes is the herd mentality. Whether that's in hula hoops or real estate or planking or social network stocks, everyone wants to be in on the hot item. That's why we end up throwing too much money at some many things, just like Wall Street always does.
No. 1 with a Bullet: 'L.A. Noire' Lifts Parent Company's Stock Price
Coach JewelryTake a development cycle of six years, ambitious and expensive MotionScan technology and shared responsibilities between Rockstar and Team Bondi. What do you get? One gigantic, city-sized gamble, in the form of L.A. Noire. But if the share price of Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive is any indication, it's a gamble that's paying off. (More on TIME.com: Arresting Development: 'L.A. Noire' Review) Observers who followed the development of Rockstar's latest gamemyself includedknew that the interactive detective game presented a huge risk for the publisher and parent company. nike sb shoesRadically different game design than that seen in the Grand Theft Auto games and the new body language technology focused on making deduction possible meant that L.A. Noire was ripe for backlash. But reviews seem positive so far, with the game netting an average score of 90 on Metacritic. The positive reception apparently caused a jump in Take-Two's stock price, which started yesterday at $15.93/share and ended the day at $16.90/share. It hit a high of $17.24 yesterday, which is the highest it's been in the last six months. As someone who reviews games, it always strikes me as weird that aggregators like Metacritic hold sway over the financial fortunes of video game companies. hermes birkin bagThe last few months have shown negative stock price repercussions for Nintendo and THQ in the wake of the 3DS and Homefront launches, respectively. Over and over, you hear how compensation and shareholder sentiment swing in accordance with how well a game performs in the critical space. With the success of L.A. Noire, here's hoping that that Rockstarand other game-making entitieskeep taking creative risks. The results can be rewarding creativelyand financially, too.
Coach BootsEven in the best of times, Pakistans nuclear-weapons program warrants alarm. But these are perilous days. At a moment of unprecedented misgiving between Washington and Islamabad, new evidence suggests that Pakistans nuclear program is barreling ahead at a furious clip. According to new commercial-satellite imagery obtained exclusively by NEWSWEEK, Pakistan is aggressively accelerating construction at the Khushab nuclear site, about 140 miles south of Islamabad. The images, analysts say, prove Pakistan will soon have a fourth operational reactor, greatly expanding plutonium production for its nuclear-weapons program. The buildup is remarkable, says Paul Brannan of the Institute for Science and International Security. And that nobody in the U.S. or in the Pakistani government says anything about thisespecially in this day and ageis perplexing. Unlike Iran, which has yet to produce highly enriched uranium, or North Korea, which has produced plutonium but still lacks any real weapons capability, Pakistan is significantly ramping up its nuclear-weapons program. luxury coachEric Edelman, undersecretary of defense in the George W. Bush administration, puts it bluntly: Youre talking about Pakistan even potentially passing France at some point. Thats extraordinary. Pakistani officials say the buildup is a response to the threat from India, which is spending $50 billion over the next five years on its military. But to say its just an issue between just India and Pakistan is divorced from reality, says former senator Sam Nunn, who co-chairs the Nuclear Threat Initiative. The U.S. and Soviet Union went through 40 years of the Cold War and came out every time from dangerous situations with lessons learned. Pakistan and India have gone through some dangerous times, and they have learned some lessons. But not all of them. Today, deterrence has fundamentally changed. The whole globe has a stake in this. hermes birkin handbagsIts extremely dangerous. Its dangerous because Pakistan is also stockpiling fissile material, or bomb fuel. Since Islamabad can mine uranium on its own territory and has decades of enrichment know-howbeginning with the work of nuclear scientist A. Q. Khanthe potential for production is significant. Although the White House declined to comment, a senior U.S. congressional official who works on nuclear issues told NEWSWEEK that intelligence estimates suggest Pakistan has already developed enough fissile material to produce more than 100 warheads and manufacture between eight and 20 weapons a year. Theres no question, the official says, its the fastest-growing program in the world. What has leaders around the world especially worried is whats popularly known as loose nukesnuclear weapons or fissile material falling into the wrong hands. Theres no transparency in how the fissile material is handled or transported, says Mansoor Ijaz, who has played an active role in back-channel diplomacy between Islamabad and New Delhi. Coach Belts And the amountthey have significant quantitiesis whats so alarming.
coach factory outletWhen House Speaker John Boehner calls for trillions of dollars of spending cuts, the message is clear. Any deal to raise the federal debt ceiling must include significant savings in Social Security and Medicare benefits. Subsidizing the elderly is the biggest piece of federal spending (more than two-fifths of the total), but trimming benefits for well-off seniors isnt just budget arithmetic. Its also the right thing to do. I have been urging higher eligibility ages and more means-testing for Social Security and Medicare for so long that I forget that many Americans still accept the outdated and propagandistic notion that old age automatically impoverishes people. Asks one reader: Who are these well-off elderly you keep writing about? The suggestion is that they are figments of my imagination, invented to justify harsh cutbacks in Social Security and Medicare on the needy. Just the opposite. Nike outletWe see every day that many people in their 60s and older live comfortably and still would if they received a little less in Social Security and paid a little more for Medicare. The trouble is that whats intuitively obvious becomes lost in the political debate; its overwhelmed by selective and self-serving statistics that cast almost everyone over 65 as being on the edge of insolvency. The result: Government over-subsidizes the affluent elderly. It transfers resources from the struggling young to the secure old. To correct the stereotype, consult a government publication called Older Americans 2010, Key Indicators of Well-Being. It reminds us that Americans live longer and have gotten healthier. luxury coachIn 1930, life expectancy was 59.2 years at birth and 12.2 years at 65; in 2006, those figures were 77.7 and 18.5. Since 1981, death rates for heart disease and stroke have fallen by half for those 65 and over. In this population, about three-quarters rate their own health as good or excellent. hermes birkinMost older people are enjoying greater prosperity than any previous generation, the report says. Consider: l From 1959 to 2007, the proportion of the 65-plus population with incomes under the governments poverty line ($12,968 for a couple in 2009) dropped from 35.2 percent to 9.7 percent, which was half the poverty rate for children under 18 (18 percent). l The proportion of elderly living in the high income group defined as four times the poverty line, or almost $52,000 for a couple in 2009 rose from 18.4 percent in 1980 to 30.6 percent in 2007. l In 2007, the median net worth (that is, assets minus debts) of 65-plus households was $237,000, about twice the amount for households aged 45 to 54. Among 65-plus married couples, median net worth was $385,000. Coach BeltsIndeed, half the nations wealth is owned by people 55 and older (a third of the adult population), report Eugene Steuerle and Stephanie Rennane of the Urban Institute. The old feel more secure. The National Opinion Research Center regularly surveys Americans about their financial satisfaction. In 2010, 82 percent of those 65 and over said they were satisfied or more or less satisfied. For those under 65, the comparable figure was 66 percent.
Alaina Giordano, Mom with Stage 4 Cancer, Speaks Out About Losing Her Kids
nike dunk shoesDivorce is often nasty but once in a while, the details of a particular breakup grab ahold of the soul and won't let go. One such case involves Alaina Giordano, a mother of two who is battling Stage 4 breast cancer. On April 25 Giordano lost custody of her children, when a judge ruled that they would need to relocate from their Durham, N.C., to live with their father in Chicago by June 17 because, essentially, the judge said, a healthy dad is better than a sick mom. Giordano was stunned. She had expected an open-and-shut case. Quickly, an elementary-school friend leaped into action, slapping up a Facebook page that he hoped would spread the word and help Giordano attract a pro bono lawyer who could challenge Judge Nancy Gordon's ruling. She's seeking an altruistic attorney because Giordano doesn't earn an income she's a stay-at-home mom (SAHM, natch), the toughest of jobs a fact that was used against her in the custody battle, igniting a wave of support from fellow SAHMers. (More on TIME.com: Should a Mother Lose Custody of Her Kids Because She Has Cancer?) Concern over Giordano's health was also a primary issue in the custody battle.coach factory outlet Her cancer was diagnosed in 2007, about six months before she moved with her family to Durham so that her husband, Kane Snyder, could study for his M.B.A. at Duke University. The cancer has since metastasized to her bones, which is hardly a good thing. But her treatment regimen is keeping the disease at bay; she says it is not actively spreading. And it's anyone's guess how long she'll live. In the meantime, she says she's able to parent and, if her recent media schedule is any gauge, rival the stamina of a triathlete. On Wednesday, Giordano was in New York City for a publicity blitz. She awoke at 5 a.m. to arrive at the Today show set with her kids, 11-year-old Sofia and 5-year-old Bud. She did her interview; her kids met Matt Lauer. luxury coachAfterward, she knocked out another few interviews, including The Gayle King Show and CNN, where they ran into Michelle Obama's brother and Anderson Cooper. Then there was lunch with Giordano's cousin and dinner with the kids at the Hard Rock Cafe (the haunted Jekyll and Hyde Club having proved too spooky for Bud). They gallivanted through Central Park and finished the day in the audience of "The Addams Family," a Broadway musical. "I'm totally functional," says Giordano. (More on TIME.com: What We Can Learn from the Schwarzenegger-Shriver Split) As she waited with her kids for her return flight to North Carolina, Giordano spoke with Healthland about fighting for her life, but mostly for her children. (Kane Snyder was also asked to comment for this post, but he did not return emails or phone calls.) Healthland: How much do your children know about what's going on? Giordano: They know there was a court case and I had to tell them the judge said they have to move. I told them the night of the ruling. I was still in shock at that point. I tried to be matter-of-fact. cheap hermes birkinI did say I wanted them to stay with me, but the judge ruled otherwise. My daughter can be a bit stoic, like me, but when it was just me and her, she started screaming, crying. She didn't get out of bed, didn't want to leave the apartment. My son has been very anxious. He doesn't want to let me out of his sight. He sleeps with me. They know that when someone forces you to do something, that's not love. Healthland: What kind of relationship do your children have with their father? Giordano: He's their dad, and I do my best to be honest with them but also be protective of their relationship with him. They love their dad. When my son says, "Daddy hates you and you hate Daddy," I say, "I don't hate your dad, but I'm not happy with his behavior." Healthland: Does he visit frequently? Giordano: I can't really say how often. He came to visit for one night in February, one night in March, and the judge ordered [the kids] go there for spring break, so they did. There were about eight weeks in the fall when he didn't come to see them. Healthland: What did you do before your kids were born? Giordano: I worked as a paralegal in Philadelphia. Coach Earrings [Snyder] was a waiter. I took the LSAT but when I had kids I stayed home, and he was finishing his undergraduate degree and working. In Aug. 2005, he became a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers so he was away a lot. ... I went on every [school] field trip. I was the room mother. My kids always came first. Healthland: It seems like there must be something else going on in addition to your illness to warrant a custody decision like this. There are allegations of cheating and abuse. What's going on there? Giordano: I admitted my cheating. He won't admit his. In North Carolina, if there is an affair you don't get alimony so he has really gone after me on that. ... It's always been an abusive relationship. There is documentation. I had a witness testify that she saw him physically assault me in front of my son. Coach Jewelry The judge heard that, then wrote there was no domestic violence that qualified under whatever statute it was.
