On Tuesday, Bank of America Corp surpassed Citigroup Inc to become the world’s largest bank based on market value.

Shares of Bank of America closed up at $54.27, giving the company a market capitalization of $243.71 billion based on reported shares outstanding as of Tuesday’s close.

From Reuters:

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America has benefited from acquisitions under Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis, including FleetBoston Financial Corp. in 2004 and credit card issuer MBNA Corp. in January.

Posted: 11/29/2006 9:16:48 AM

If you’re interested in finding new customers, you might want to start with the ones you already have. How many of your existing customers are repeat customers? Of the ones who are not, WHY NOT?

If you don’t know the answer, it’s probably time to find out. Most salespeople don’t like to follow-up after the sale, as many seem to think it’s akin to asking for problems. “No news is good news,” they reason. Of course, no news is really no news.

Following-up with your customers makes sense for a number of reasons:

• It’s an opportunity to fix any problems that might exist. This could potentially turn an unhappy customer into not just a happy customer, but a fiercely loyal one
• It’s a chance to get feedback on your product or service. This amounts to practically free market research. After all, there might be some critical opportunities for changes that will take your product from run-of-the-mill to extra-ordinary.
• There’s a good chance, of course, if you have a quality product or service, that your customer will have nothing but praise. And let’s face it-couldn’t we all use a few minutes of listening to positive feedback? Best of all, by following-up, you’ll have planted a seed that tells the customer you care.

Finally, you might just find a customer who’s willing to send you more customers. As Seth Godin suggests:

If you really want to generate those referrals, don’t ask for a referral, ask if everything was great. Offer to help. Do it in a gentle way, with no strings, no additional addons, no sales pitch. If you really and truly care, why not ask? Not a form, not a survey. Just one caring person, asking. Not that hard, actually.

Posted: 11/29/2006 8:15:43 AM

One week after receiving a $5.5 billion order for 25 aircraft from Korean Air, Boeing received a $5.7 billion order from German airline Air Berlin.

The company said it would purchase 60 of the 737-800 model, extending Boeing’s lead over Airbus, which has been having problems with design and production on its commercial jets as of late.

The aircraft are to be delivered by Boeing between 2007 and 2014.

Posted: 11/28/2006 7:48:39 AM

Popsci.com has an interesting article about how Ed Sutt, the son of an architect/contractor in suburban Connecticut, stumbled into an idea to redesign one of the most basic tools of construction: the nail.

Sutt, who now works for Stanley Bostitch, researched the problem of houses collapsing during hurricanes to help design a new nail, the HurriQuake.

Tests conducted by researchers at Florida International University and the International Code Council-the independent building-safety standards organization-confirmed that the HurriQuake has more than twice the "uplift capacity" of standard power-driven nails. Other independent tests showed that the HurriQuake can double a typical home's resistance to high winds and add up to 50 percent more resistance to earthquakes.

Posted: 11/28/2006 7:34:50 AM

Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly announced he will sue 15 companies that worked on the $15 billion “Big Dig” roadway project in Boston, alleging negligence that caused a ceiling panel to fall and crush a woman this past summer.

The civil suit claims project manager Bechtel/Parson Brinckerhoff was “grossly negligent” in building the tunnel, part of which collapsed less than four years after it was opened. The lawsuit also names the manufacturers and distributors of the epoxy used to hold bolts.

The family of Milena Del Valle, the 38-year-old woman killed on July 10th, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in August.

Posted: 11/28/2006 7:13:09 AM

As Seth Godin points out, “Every organization tells a story, want to or not.” And every member of every organization contributes to that story, want to or not.

The best advertising in the world will not be able to overcome members of your team who aren’t on the same page or are working against the message. For example, the bureaucrats at the TSA:

“No Cake!” the screener yells. “No pie either!” and they make the person traveling to her family throw out her home-baked cake.

We got up to the line. I had an ounce of gel left in a five ounce
bottle. They made me throw it out because the label said 5 ounces
(though it was clearly more than half empty).

The story?

• We don’t care. We don’t have to.
• We don’t make judgment calls. We’re not allowed to and we don’t care that management treats us this way.
• Don’t you dare say anything.
• Be afraid.
• Bothering everyone is smarter than hiring talented people to find the .0001% of the population that’s harmful.

No Cake!

What story are your people telling?

Posted: 11/27/2006 10:30:06 AM

Number two U.S. automaker Ford Motor Company said it plans to acquire approximately $18 billion in financing to help with near- and medium-term negative operating cash flow and with funding for its restructuring.

After the transactions, which Ford expects to close before the end of the calendar year, its “automotive liquidity” will be about $38 billion. The company lost $7 billion between January and September and has said it won’t return to profitability until 2009.

Posted: 11/27/2006 8:45:08 AM

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold announced it will pay $126.46 per share in cash and stock to purchase Phelps Dodge, creating the world’s largest publicly-traded copper company.

From Reuters:

“This kind of big merger could raise the company’s ability to take advantage in price negotiations, therefore this should be positive for copper prices,” said Naohiro Niimura, director at Barclays Capital Japan.

“In the current bearish trend, the market is not too sensitive about buying copper actively, but in the medium- and long-term it should be positive.”

Phelps Dodge has mines in North America, South America and Africa, while Freeport-McMoRan operates the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, said in terms of reserves to be the world’s largest copper and gold mine.

Posted: 11/21/2006 10:33:36 AM

Profit at Deere & Co., the world’s largest farm equipment manufacturer, will fall below analysts’ estimates in 2007, according to the company.

Total net income of $150 million to $175 million for the first quarter was the company’s prediction, resulting in 65 cents to 76 cents per share. Analysts on average were expecting 97 cents per share.

Chief Executive Officer Robert Lane is limiting production to prevent excess inventory due to higher fuel and fertilizer costs which the company expects will hurt farm budgets.

Posted: 11/21/2006 7:57:17 AM

Free samples? Free service? Volunteering? It will most likely make you feel great. And it might just earn you some new customers, as Seth Godin points out via a note from one of his visitors:

Rick writes:

Our little tire shop repaired her tire and had her on her way in a few minutes. Now, we’ve just moved to this small Texas town, and though we’ve lived in Texas for years, what happened next still took me a bit by surprise. My wife inquired about payment, and they wouldn’t hear of it- she needed help and they gave it to her. Well, she decided it was time for some new tires and told them she’d be back in the morning for two.

Maybe it’s something about helping folks with a flat, but what a great example of how easy it is to build a brand when you help someone in need.

Helping someone when they really need you is just icing on the cake. Give some thought to giving something back or at the very least, giving something away. If not for altruistic reasons, at least do it to gain some new (and fiercely loyal) customers.

Posted: 11/20/2006 9:46:44 AM

For the first time in years, paychecks in the U.S. rose faster than the cost of living. The pay increase amounts to four percent over the past twelve months, a gain that hasn’t been seen since 1997.

From Christian Science Monitor:

“The striking feature of this expansion has been that … real wages for the typical worker haven’t risen that much,” says Richard Berner, US economist at the investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York. But with real incomes rising, he says, “you get a picture of an economy that can weather this housing storm.”

The risk of recession hasn’t disappeared, he and other economists say. But with a fairly tight job market and low unemployment, many expect that paychecks will keep rising solidly in 2007.

Add fewer layoffs this year and the economy might just have something to be thankful about this Thursday.

Posted: 11/20/2006 9:33:36 AM

According to BusinessWeek, a federal judge has ruled that Michael and Lucille Catchot can sue their Nationwide Insurance agent, Michael Felsher, for negligence after he allegedly let their flood insurance policy lapse a few short days before Hurricane Katrina caused severe damage to their home.

The couple claims they paid their flood insurance premium two or three days before it was set to lapse, by dropping a check through the mail slot in Felsher’s office. Nationwide claims they missed the deadline for renewal by one day and has denied the Catchots’ $79,000 claim.

Nationwide attorney F. Hall Bailey argued on behalf of Felsher, claiming he isn’t liable for the company’s “coverage determination” and, therefore, should not be a defendant in the lawsuit. U.S. District Court Judge L. T. Senter, Jr. rejected the argument, however, saying the negligence claim can proceed.

Posted: 11/17/2006 7:35:19 AM

Federated Department Stores has agreed to sell its Bridal Group to two separate transactions for a total of $850 million.

Leonard Green & Partners LP, a private equity firm, will purchase the David’s Bridal chain and the Priscilla of Boston chain, totaling 279 stores for $750 million.

In a separate transaction, Men’s Wearhouse Inc. will acquire After Hours Formalwear, the nation’s largest tuxedo rental chain, for $100 million.

Both transactions are expected to close in the first quarter of 2007.

Posted: 11/17/2006 6:23:11 AM

October starts of new homes plunged a whopping 14.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.486 million, the lowest since July, 2000, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

Building permits also took a hit and were down 6.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.535 million, the lowest in nine years and the largest percentage drop in seven years.

The retreat by home builders led many experts to abandon hopes of a quick recovery in the housing market.

From MarketWatch:

But Stephen Stanley, chief economist for RBS Greenwich Capital, saw a silver lining in the October data.

“We see this as an unambiguously good thing,” he wrote. “The faster builders address their bloated inventories and bring the pace of home construction down, the quicker the housing correction will play out and the economy can return to a more normal footing.”

Posted: 11/17/2006 6:00:07 AM

Despite lackluster sales in the residential arena, nonresidential construction spending has risen for 15th consecutive month, leading to an overall construction spending increase of 6.6 percent in the first 9 months of 2006 over the same period last year.

From Architectural Record via BusinessWeek:

Hotels and resort-related construction spending saw a 48 percent gain over the first nine months of last year; retail stores, shopping centers and malls were up 37 percent; hospital spending grew 25 percent; and manufacturing increased by 23 percent. Multifamily construction, meanwhile, was up 18 percent year-to-date, as a surge in rental facilities is offsetting a dip in condominium building.

Highway and street construction, meanwhile, rose 16 percent year-to-date over 2005, while educational construction increased by 7 percent. Other positive growth areas include sewage and waste disposal and transportation facilities. Nearly all of these categories are expected to grow in 2007, due to a fundamentally strong economy.

Posted: 11/16/2006 10:20:19 AM

Retailers frustrated with Sony’s tiny allotments of PlayStation 3 consoles are beginning to fight back.

Abt Electronics has chosen to completely ignore Friday’s launch instead of disappointing customers, staying open late and dealing with near-riots.

From TWICE magazine:

"We looked into buying truckloads through a distributor," said president Mike Abt, who ultimately decided to pre-sell his limited allotment in July and pull any mention of PlayStation from ads. "We're very disappointed in the allocations," he said. "We're not taking orders and we're not talking about it"- an ironic twist, given that Sony's largest-ever in-store shop will open within Abt's showroom on the day PS3 debuts.

Circuit City is holding midnight launch events at six stores in some of the major markets, including giveaways and radio coverage. Best Buy, who appears to have the largest inventory of the consoles, will also keep select stores open until 1:00 am for the launch.

Posted: 11/16/2006 7:11:25 AM

Residential micro-combined-heat-and-power (micro-CHP) units are making their way into the U.S. according to this article.

Used for years in industrial applications with much larger units, the technology has finally gotten small and quiet enough for serious consideration in residential settings and is already available in Europe and Japan. Combining an internal-combustion engine generator with high-efficiency home furnaces, the unit heats a home while outputting one to four kilowatts of electricity-that’s $600 to $3,200 worth each year.

Slowly gaining ground, the trend is “not at all pie in the sky,” says Cheryl Harrington of the Regulatory Assistance Project, a nonprofit that helps states and nations develop energy policy. “The question is how to get electric utilities to actively support this kind of generation when it is on the customer’s side of the meter.”

Micro-CHP doesn’t come cheap - just with a long-term discount. Basic systems cost from $13,000 to $20,000, installed. Even at the lower range, that’s at least $6,000 more than a new high-efficiency hot-air furnace, even after a gas company rebate. Result: The payback period on the initial investment is three to seven years, depending on the cost of electricity, say officials at Climate Energy. The company expects to install about 200 systems next year, mostly in New England.

Posted: 11/15/2006 8:51:27 AM

US Airways Group has made an offer of $8 billion in cash and stock for Delta Airlines, Inc. The deal would create one of the world’s largest airlines and provide Delta’s unsecured creditors with $4 billion in cash and over 78 million shares of US Airways stock.

If the deal goes through (though Delta has said it intends to emerge from bankruptcy as an independent airline), the airline would operate under the Delta name, with some 85,000 employees and more than 350 destinations across five continents.

Posted: 11/15/2006 6:15:38 AM

Just before beginning the search for my first home, many well-meaning friends advised me that with interest rates so low (hovering around 5 percent at the time), “Now is the time to buy.” After about the tenth time I heard this, and having been frustrated by the soaring prices of the houses in my area of interest, I began to reply, “No….five years ago was the time to buy. Now is the time to refinance.”

Of course, that didn’t stop me from buying a home. Unfortunately, it stops many of us from accomplishing other things-projects, goals and even simple to-do items.

Seth Godin touches on this very point with a list of the best time to start, which finishes with this simple truth:

Actually, as you’ve probably guessed, the best time to start was last year. The second best time to start is right now.

Don’t wait. Start now!

Posted: 11/14/2006 9:59:16 AM

Wal-Mart showed a better-than-expected quarterly profit of 11.5 percent and gave a fourth quarter profit forecast that was close to Wall Street expectations.

The world’s largest retailer said price cuts on toys and electronics are already drawing customers and expects them to drive better holiday (or should we say “Christmas”) sales.

From Reuters:

Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott said third-quarter U.S. sales were softer than planned, but holiday season price cuts should boost fourth-quarter demand.

“This season, no one will doubt Wal-Mart’s leadership on price and value,” he said.

On a recorded message detailing third-quarter results and fourth-quarter plans, Scott said specials such as a $398 laptop computer sold out quickly, and he vowed the “most aggressive pricing strategy ever” for the holiday season.

Posted: 11/14/2006 7:36:38 AM