Biz bits
By wire services
Published July 10, 2005
SHARES OF THE WORLD'S most popular Internet search engine have tripled to more than $300 in 10 months, creating a company valued at more than $80-billion, passing Time Warner. How does Google do it? Nobody knows for sure, the Economist says, because the company makes a fetish of secrecy while weaving a winning mystique. One Google technique is to camouflage itself with "color." On a recent press tour, for example, reporters were told that in an average month Google's engineers consume 2,300 pounds of chicken, 1,600 pounds of coffee beans and 500 pounds of pasta. At a briefing for stock analysts, Google introduced its CFO - its chef, or "chief food officer" - who talked about his grilled pork tenderloin. The chief financial officer also was present, but didn't give a presentation.
INVESTORS SHOULD BUY a stock with the intention of holding it indefinitely, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute tells Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Investors typically sell shares for one of two contradictory reasons, James K. Glassman writes: when the price falls, to cut losses, or when it rises, to make a profit. But share movement is no reason to sell, he says. Still, he says there may come a time to unload a stock: "Sell if something has gone wrong - not with the economy or the markets, but with the business itself."
PRICEY OIL is taking a toll on consumer finances, and it's also affecting corporations, according to a survey of finance chiefs. Almost three quarters of those surveyed said they expect the high price of oil to weaken their company's financial performance, and 44 percent said their company is likely to raise prices or fees in response. Two of three foresee higher energy prices helping fuel inflation over the next six months, according to 101 chief financial officers who responded to a poll by accounting firm Grant Thornton.
PARADISE APPARENTLY ISN'T in the United States, at least for retirees. Fortune says it has found "five idyllic places - from Patagonia to Phuket - where you can still live like a king on what you've saved." You can dream on in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Boquete, Panama; Merida, Mexico; and Phuket, Thailand.
THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE in the labor pool, but outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas says fewer may possess the skills needed to fill certain positions. Ninety percent of 150 human resource executives said their companies are performing at or above expectations, and more than half plan to add staff. Yet 44 percent said a lack of candidates kept them from meeting their hiring goals in the first six months of the year. Among the hardest-hit areas: specialty manufacturers, information technology companies, accounting firms and health care employers.
Compiled from Times wires and Web sites.