"An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today." -- Laurence J. Peter

BREAKFAST WITH THE FOOL
Iomega CEO Zips Away

	Email this page Format for printing Become a Fool! Reuse/Reprint

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz (TMF Edible)
May 22, 2001

Zip -- off with your head. Clashing with the board of directors over the company's long-term direction, Iomega (NYSE: IOM) CEO and President Bruce Albertson has decided to walk away. Iomega's stock, once the toast of Fooldom, has seen better days. Over the past few years the shares have given up 88% of their value. 

One would think that a data storage specialist would find a way to keep its CEOs. While Kim Edwards brought the company back from the brink of obsolescence with the introduction of the Zip just over six years ago, he was ushered out in 1998. Since then, Bruce was the third to wear the crown. Spinal Tap drummers have nothing on the top spot at Iomega.

Next?

With more disposable heads than a two-bit razor collection, Iomega has appeared almost rudderless in its attempt to shake off its tag as a one-hit wonder. The Zip disc may have once revolutionized the portable data storage industry, but now Iomega is losing the war. And, for now at least, the search is on for the next general.

News to Go

Ford (NYSE: F) toughed? After ending its 100-year relationship with Firestone, the automaker appears ready to announce a wider tire recall today. After calling back 6.5 million tires last August as fatal blowout claims stacked up, the new plan may encompass as many as 13 million more Explorer-hugging tires. While Ford makes up just 5% of Firestone's revenue, both brands are suffering far more damage from the reputation fallout. In Japan, shares of Firestone parent Bridgestone fell sharply this morning.

You can call off the staple remover. Office supply giant Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) reported first-quarter earnings of $0.09 a share, in-line with estimates. However, the company had to give earnings the water-cooler treatment, hosing down second-quarter expectations. Staples will also be scaling back on new store openings. Cautious outlook? Yeah, we got that.

And then there was Too (NYSE: TOO). The pre-teen specialty retailer reported earnings in-line with estimates on sales and earnings growth of 15% and 20%, respectively. The Limited (NYSE: LTD) spin-off also announced a new concept: Mish Mash. Too will open seven locations in the fall. The new stores will target Too graduates: teenaged girls.   

Un-chartered. Chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (Nasdaq: CHRT) warned of a soft second quarter. Revenues will dip 48% sequentially as the Singapore-based company copes with the sector's sluggish demand. The quarterly loss will clock in at $0.76 to $0.78 a share. That is a quarter lower than analysts had projected.

Rick Aristotle Munarriz believes that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So eat up! His breakfast suggestion for today is a rollup: Cajun-spiced scrambled eggs, sweet chicken sausage pieces, seared onions, and red pepper slivers covered in a honey-hollandaise sauce and rolled up in a flour tortilla. Rick's stock holdings can be viewed online, as can the Fool's disclosure policy.

Editors' Pick

Worried that Social Security won't be around when you retire? Fool retirement guru Dave Braze says not to fret.