It was another uplifting day in the markets, especially for the airline sector. The Amex Airline Index (Index: $XAL) soared above the $100 mark for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, led by United Airlines' (NYSE:UAL) 20% gain. According to reports, recent earnings news and positive economic data are pointing to an industry recovery.
Perhaps U.S. productivity could be boosted even more if companies adopted the policy of Vechta, Germany, which promotes sleeping on the job. Apparently, just 20 minutes a day makes a difference in efficiency, perhaps turning disgruntled employees into gruntled ones.
The Motley Fool 50 displayed great gruntle today, moving up almost 2%. The S&P 500 and the Dow posted similar gains, while the Nasdaq edged them all out with a 3% gain.
In today's Motley Fool Take:
Oracle's Misfortunate Myopia
When is a penny for your thoughts more than one is willing to spare? When you are software giant Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), prepping analysts for the fact that you'll be a cent off their dime a share targets for the February quarter.
Priding itself on providing business software that enhances bottom line efficiency, Oracle has helped itself to its own cooking in the past. While the past year has been a rough one with corporate spending in check, Oracle had managed to meet or exceed estimates every time out. That won't be the case here as the company closes the books on its fiscal third period.
The company, whose market dominance in the software space is dwarfed only by Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), is blaming weakness in Asia for its quarterly miss. Oracle's outlook remains upbeat as it sees the stateside market eventually strengthening with the rest of the world following suit. For Oracle's sake, let's hope so. As this past quarter has shown, sometimes an oracle doesn't see it all.
Is Oracle's miss a sign of things to come? When will companies start spending again? Is CEO Larry Ellison an asset or a liability? All this and more -- in the Oracle Discussion Board. Only on Fool.com.
Jim Cramer, never a stranger to controversy, is under fire today as a tell-all book by a former employee hits the newsstands. Nicholas Maier's Trading With the Enemy details the five years he worked for Cramer's hedge fund, and paints TheStreet.com (Nasdaq: TSCM) co-founder as an unethical tyrant who manipulated the media for his own firm's gain.
According to a book review on Forbes.com, Maier tells of Cramer using CNBC reporters Maria Bartiromo and David Faber as unwitting accomplices to his schemes, and of being misleading while serving as a commentator on the network. "Jim would do the opposite of what he was saying on television," Maier told Forbes.
CNBC released a statement disavowing any knowledge of unethical behavior on Cramer's part, and said its own team "has the highest journalistic standards in the business." Cramer told CNBC the charges are "unfounded."
There's been some healthy debate on our discussion boards about Cramer recently, and more is sure to come. Feel free to jump in and participate.
"If you acknowledge you cannot pick stocks, what makes you think you can pick amongst people who pick stocks?" -- A Fool reader, in response to index fund critics
You'll Never Retire!
Abandon those dreams of a luxurious retirement -- lounging on the beach and drinking enormous Shirley Temples. The only way you're going to spend your golden years with sand between your toes is if you work as a lifeguard (mind your dentures when giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation).
At least that's what the recent Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) seems to indicate. According to the RCS -- which was released last week by the Employee Benefits Research Center, the American Savings Education Council, and Matthew Greenwald & Associates -- 70% of Americans are very or somewhat confident that they'll live a comfortable retirement. Yet, only a third of those surveyed have ever attempted to calculate how much they should be saving. Additionally, 47% of working Americans have saved less than $50,000, and 15% haven't saved anything.
Though $50,000 may sound like a lot, especially if you found it in the birthday card your grandmother sent you, it won't last long in retirement. That's because personal savings will have to provide the bulk of your retirement income. We all know we can't rely on Social Security; as it is now, the average benefit is around $10,000 a year. And that will most likely be reduced as the baby boomers retire. As for the traditional pension (more properly known as a defined-benefit plan), it's going the way of the dodo as employers shift the burden and risk of retirement savings onto their employees.
So, if you want a comfortable retirement, you'll have to rely on the yolk from your nest egg. How do you make sure it's big enough for an RV with a Jacuzzi, or whatever dreams you have for retirement? Follow these steps:
- Complete this retirement calculator to see where your current plan will put you.
- Make sure you're contributing to the right accounts. If your employer matches contributions, put your money there first. If your employer doesn't provide a match -- or you're already contributing enough to get full benefit of the match -- then open an IRA. (You still have time to contribute for 2001.)
- Consider taking our Roadmap to Retirement online seminar.
- Take life-guarding lessons, just in case.
Shameless Plug Dept: Fight the Taxman
The Taxman is coming, the Taxman is coming! But you can fight him off with The Motley Fool Tax Guide 2002. Now, there's no need to really get belligerent, but your money is your money, and you're entitled to keep as much of it as you can. Legally. We can help.
Positive economic reports out on Friday spurred the U.S. stock market higher and also contributed to international markets advancing, as well, through today. Stocks in Tokyo popped up a whopping six percent, for example.
It's been a busy weekend in other ways, too. Satellite and missile defense system maker TRW (NYSE: TRW) spurned an advance from military contractor Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), only to have Northrop attempt a hostile takeover, bidding $5.9 billion for TRW's outstanding shares. (That's $5.9 billion for all of them, not each of them. Sorry, TRW shareholders.)
Gores Technology Group, a Los Angeles investment company, has expressed interest in buying beleaguered telecom carrier Global Crossing (OTCBB: GBLXQ) and is expected to give creditors a better deal than they'd get with a $750 million offer from Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Singapore Technologies Pte Ltd. (Notice how the talk is all about creditors? That's because their interests come long before those of common stock shareholders, who are usually last in line in bankruptcies and often get nothing.) Other firms, such as AT&T (NYSE: T) and SBC Communications (NYSE: SBC) are also reported to be interested in some pieces of Global Crossing.
A major development in the hotly contested proposed merger between Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HWP) and Compaq (NYSE: CPQ) is around the corner. After the stock market closes tomorrow, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a firm that advises institutional investors on how to vote, will release its recommendation on the issue. Hundreds of big investors (mutual funds, pension funds, etc.) subscribe to ISS, including holders of 23% of H-P stock.
President Bush's economic advisors are putting together a plan to aid the U.S. steel industry, using quotas and tariffs to try and serve both steel makers and steel consumers. Steel makers, for example, want steep tariffs on imported steel, to protect their interests. But automakers want low tariffs, so that they can get steel at good prices. No solution is likely to please all sides. Read more if you're interested.
A Washington Post articletoday offers some interesting thoughts on Wall Street analysts, saying: "After watching Wall Street securities analysts testify about their work on Enron Corp. last week, it's hard to imagine why any Washington investor would ever pay attention to an analysts' report again."
In the nearly-four-year-old Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) antitrust case, the company is now planning to argue against proposed sanctions against it, saying that if they come to pass, Microsoft will have to yank its latest operating systems off the market and won't be able to develop new ones.
As Enron Turns: In today's episode, it's being reported that while Enron (OTCBB: ENRNQ) was filling politicians' pockets, it was also lobbying hard (but unsuccessfully) to postpone some of its tax payments on international profits. It also pushed, along with the Bush administration and many Republican and some Democratic congress people, for the repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax, which would have lined Enron coffers with $254 million in savings.... Meanwhile, Arthur Andersen has become a major whipping boy due to its role in the Enron debacle. But we wonder whether other accounting giants would have behaved much differently in the same situation. According to The Wall Street Journal today, the accounting industry would like us to believe so, as it has been distancing itself from Andersen in an attempt to preserve its lobbying power and avoid reforms it would rather not live with.
And Finally...
Today on Fool.com: Tom Jacobs says the buy-to-hold strategy is far from dead.... Is insider selling a red flag? Find the answer in our daily Fool's School Q&A.... Share your money-saving tips and win some free Fool Gear.
Contributors:
Brian Bauer, Bob Bobala, Robert Brokamp, Jeff Fischer, Tom Jacobs, Bill Mann, Selena Maranjian, Rex Moore, Rick Munarriz, Dayana Yochim
RSS Headlines
Fool UK
