Business News and Information

Sunday, Mother's Day, is quickly approaching. Besides my usual reason for scrambling at the last minute to find a gift (it seems I forget it's Mother's Day or Father's Day every year, it alternates) I have the added stress this year of being absolutely, completely, 100% flat broke with no end in sight. So what's a cash-strapped but loving child to do for a great mother when a card just won't suffice?

Google (NYSE:GOOG) of course! A search for affordable Mother's Day Gifts turned up several helpful websites. ABC News featured "Mother's Day Gift Ideas That Won't Break the Bank," Living a Better Life, a money-saving ezine, suggested 18 great gifts, many of them free. About.com directed me to Frugal Living, a blog by Erin Huffstetler. Erin suggested 6 "super cheap" Mother's Day gifts that are "likely to make your mom swoon" without incurring a bill that'll make you swoon.

Here are my favorite gift ideas:

1. Personalized stamps - Frugal Living
2. A family portrait (using old photos) - Frugal Living
3. Personalized family cookbook (your photos, your recipes) from Kodak - ABC News.

Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) and Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) announced plans to merge their wireless broadband divisions. A post on CNNMoney.com reported the new company will be called Clearwire. The $14.55 billion venture will receive an investment of $3.2 billion from Intel Corp., Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Works. Clearwater has an estimated value of $20 per share, giving the companies 22% ownership. Sprint will have the majority, 51%, share. Check out this post on Tech Crunch for a breakdown of the contributions from each company.

Tech Crunch author Erick Shonfeld wrote about the impetus for the merger. WiMax, a telecommunications technology aimed as shaking up broadband access as we know it, is "promising" and still in its "early days," yet it's valuable enough for several different multi-billion dollar companies with very different aims (you know, besides making money) to contribute significant funds.

The 134th running of The Kentucky Derby, one of the most prestigious horseracing events in the world, will be held Saturday at Churchill Downs. An entry on Wikipedia said the race is first in a series comprising the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. The one and a quarter mile race, popular with gamblers, is known in the U.S. as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports."

Let me just say, I'm not a fan of horseracing; I pity the horses, the jockeys are troubled, and I find some of the traditions pompous. That said, I didn't realize the sport and specifically the Kentucky Derby, were so popular. There are websites devoted to all Kentucky Derby winners. We're talking fansites, not ESPN people.

Odds are 3-1 on a colt named Big Brown to win the Kentucky Derby. If that happens and all 20 horses race Big Brown and his owner's will win a purse of $1,451,800 [source].

Fortune Magazine, an offshoot of CNNMoney.com, featured a story about China's quickly approaching role as world's foremost economic superpower.  Geoff Colvin, senior editor at large, said  "a recent study by the economist Angus Maddison projects that China will become the world's dominant economic superpower much sooner than expected - not in 2050, but in 2015."

Entitled "You have seven years to learn Mandarin," Colvin posited China, king of cheap imports, will soon overtake the United States in "technology, brand building, [and] finance." Colvin said if the U.S. finally bows to China as world economic superpower it will end a "125-year run." Who was the world's No. 1 economy before the United States assumed the crown in 1890? China, of course.

CNNmoney.com featured a story on the front page about food prices. CNNMoney.com senior writer Parija B. Kavilanz reported experts expect food prices to continue to rise for at least another 2 years, though there will not be a food shortage. According to Kavilanz experts attribute the prices to worldwide increased food consumption and the diversion of crops likes "corn and soybeans for alternative fuel production."

Most experts agree the agricultural market is a five-year cycle. According to Chris Hurt, agricultural economist at Purdue University, prices increase in the first two to three years and level off by year four. 2007 was the first year of this cycle, which means supply should be begin to catch up with demand by 2010.

Brazilian beauty Gisele Bundchen earned first place, having earned an estimated $35 million. Bundchen's earnings more than double the income of second place media-mogul/supermodel Heidi Klum.

Most of the models on the list were high fashion rather than commercial. I wonder why Tyra Banks didn't make the list. I suppose she isn't technically a model anymore, but she must earn more than number 15 Liya Kedebe's estimated $2.5 million.

Psystar, a Mac computer clone company, has sold a machine to at least one customer. A story on Forbes.com noted A West Virginia man who will identify himself only as Patrick ordered a Psystar machine preloaded with Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) critically acclaimed operating system Mac OS X Leopard. He's posted photos and video of his new toy on Gizmodo.

Story author Brian Caulfield said the Mac doppelgangers are a fraction of the cost of a comparably equipped Mac. The idea that Mac's are expensive is a significant roadblock for consumers looking to make the jump off the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) bandwagon.

As the Forbes story noted, lots of companies build computers, Psystar is different because it will load almost any operating system you choose, including Apple's newest incarnation. This appears to break Apple's licensing terms, which say no Mac software on non-Mac hardware. What remains to be seen is whether Apple will file a lawsuit.

The Federal Reserve lowered it's rate by a quarter of a point today, a much smaller adjustment since the more massive cuts. MSNBC.com featured an AP story on its homepage about the move. This is the seventh consecutive cut and rates are at the lowest level (2%) since 2004. The small cut was expected and many Wall Street analysts think this may be the end unless the economy threatens to worsen more than expected.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the dollar is looking up. Economists David Hoffman and Bill Knapp expect the rate to hold at 2% for a few months creeping up in the later half of the year.

The story noted the central bank's "walking a tightrope, trying to jump-start economic growth while also confronting the risk that if it overdoes the credit easing it could make inflation worse down the road."

MSNBC.com featured a story from Reuters about Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) attempting a hostile takeover of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO). According to the article, Microsoft has earmarked $1.5 to retain Yahoo employees if the acquisition is successful.

The details of the unsolicited bid came were made known when a Yahoo lawyer "mentioned the amount in a March 24 hearing in a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court." According to Reuters, 2 Detroit pension funds have filed against Yahoo and the board of directors because the company didn't respond in kind to Microsoft’s takeover offer, failing shareholders.

Microsoft offered $31 per share cash-and-stock and gave Yahoo until Saturday to respond, Yahoo said the deal "substantially undervalues" the company.

Bloomberg.com featured a story of good cheer today, namely, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) has increased. Story writer Shobhana Chandra explained the GDP succinctly "the sum of all goods and services produced." The movement of the GDP is a fairly good indication of a nations economy.

Chandra quoted Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Corp. (NYSE:WB). Vitner said, "We think we're in recession, but I don't know that the GDP numbers are going to turn negative at all in 2008.''

Chandra reported the gain was more than forecast. Last quarter spending by households, "the biggest part of the economy" grew at the slowest pace since 2001. Could anything else have been expected in the face of fuel prices, the increasing cost of necessities, and depreciating home values?

More good news, companies are hiring again (tentatively). Chandra said companies have "added 10,000 workers in April, up from 3,000 in March."