Yahoo Looking Forward to a Brighter Future

New CEO for Yahoo- NYT

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Marissa Mayer took over the reigns as CEO of Yahoo in July 2012 and is making waves.  The article credits Ms. Mayer with doing more for the company in her first 6 months than the past 5 CEO’s could accomplish in the last 5 years.  Ms. Mayer’s focus is on “people and products” she says and her focus seems is paying off as evidenced by Yahoo’s Q4 results.  Following news of the 4th quarter earnings, Yahoo's stock price (YHOO) climbed to a four-year high.

While Wall Street seems enamored by the new CEO at the moment, time will tell if the apparent turnaround is here to stay.  One area where Yahoo has a lot of growth potential is in the mobile realm.  Per the article, Yahoo lacks mobile hardware and does not have a browser or a mobile operating platform of its own.  Tech giants like Google, Apple and Amazon continue to outspend Yahoo in research and development- this will have to change if Yahoo is going to make a sustained comeback.

Is the internet running artists out of the music business?

Music Streaming & Royalties- NYT

I remember when I bought my first cassette tape...Mariah Carey's ‘Emotions’… I remember when I bought my first CD- it was the Cranberries.  I don’t remember the last time that I set foot in an FYE or other music store with a physical location.  These days, my entire music collection is on my macbook and a portion of it is on my iPhone.  Some of the music is from my CD collection but for approximately the last 7 or 8 years, the entirety of my music comes from iTunes downloads.

Needless to say, the way we are consuming music is evolving rapidly.  The only thing I miss from ‘the old days’ is poring over the liner notes that accompanied each CD purchase- seeing who the artist was thanking, who collaborated with the artist, and reading and memorizing the lyrics that were at my fingertips.  As a whole, I am very happy with the current accessibility of music.

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Were I an artist, however, I think I would have a very different opinion.  The New York Times article linked above paints a picture of the effect that the evolving music industry has had on artists.  While top 40 artists who regularly go on tour are not having to pinch pennies, the evolution has effected many artists who haven’t yet ‘hit the big time.’  Royalties from streaming music plays are counted in pennies and take quite a while to add up to any significant amount of income.  With that said, however, the article points out that royalties from CD’s started out very small and today are quite significant- although today CD’s are going the way of cassette tapes.  Time will tell if streaming music royalties will rise as this becomes the preferred way to listen to music.

A New Kind of Degree?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323301104578255992379228564.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories

Having experienced nearly all of my education thus far in the most traditional of settings, I am only slowly warming up to the idea of online classes.  I have taken a handful of online classes in my pursuit of higher education and while I find that you can certainly have a great professor and have interesting material presented to you, I myself do not learn to the best of my ability in an online setting.  I feel there is a lot to be said, especially in an MBA program, for a traditional classroom setting where you can chat with your peers face to face prior to class, essentially networking in an informal manner.

The idea that online classes could go to a whole new level and become just a virtual testing arena seems a bit absurd to me under most scenarios.  I think that it does make sense when you are considering someone who has a lot of hands-on knowledge in their day-to-day life but never formalized it in a degree.  But for someone who took most of the required psychology classes or biology classes in college but didn't quite complete their degree... and then decides to use the MOOC (massive open online courses) setting to finish their degree?  I know that I personally wouldn't stand a chance unless I had been actively using the knowledge I'd learned in those classes on a regular basis.

iPhone- What's all the Fuss?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324539304578262360860151882.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories

Will people really be saying "what's the fuss about?" when it comes to the iPhone in a few years?  I find this very hard to believe.  Apple just seems to have a way to create more hype than most any other company in the marketplace today.  The article points out that Q4 2012, more than half of the iPhones purchased were older models- being sold at deep discounts.  Is appetite for the iPhone waning or are people not interested in spending money on the latest & greatest when the latest doesn't quite have enough to distinguish it from the previous latest & greatest?  

Apple has done such a good job building their brand reputation so that it truly stands out from all of its competitors.  One of the contributing factors is the price of goods.  For better or worse, Apple products are expensive for most consumers and opting for the iPhone over another smartphone may not be worth it to some.  

It will certainly be interesting to see in which direction Apple takes the iPhone next.

What's a Mortgage Mulligan?

BOFA's mortgage mulligan- WSJ

How could I resist an article with a title like this?

Google defines 'mulligan' as an informal golf term- 'an extra stroke allowed after a poor shot, not counted on the scorecard.'  So what is Bank of America up to?

When BOFA bought Countrywide in 2008, it became the top home lender in the US... But this was short-lived.  Once the housing market crashed and many people found themselves in homes with mortgages that were under water, Bank of America, like many banks faced very tough times.

The article points out that Bank of America pulled out of the mortgage business at precisely the wrong time.  With record low interest rates pulling in hordes of refinance business, Bank of America could possibly have made up some of its massive losses.  Now the bank is trying to get back into the lending business.  Interest rates can only stay so low for so long and I wonder if BOFA is jumping back into the game too late.

Another point of interest is the article's take on BOFA's customer service levels.  Coming from a position where I am constantly hearing how long the underwriting process takes and how long the entire mortgage loan process takes, it's very nice to hear that it isn't just the bank that I work for!

Hoping to make the most of my MBA...

WSJ- is an MBA really worth it?

Degrees today certainly aren't what they were 10 years ago.  Or even 5 years ago.  The linked article from the Wall Street Journal, was disheartening at best and crushing at worst.  I am certainly hoping to make the most of my MBA but am also concerned that while I am working on my degree, so too is a large percentage of the workforce.

It used to be that a college degree was the ticket to a decent job and the beginning of a (hopefully) illustrious career.  And then a graduate degree became the golden ticket to a better, higher paying job.  Since 2008, however, so many people have gone back to school- some with great ambition of moving up the ladder but many with the idea that they would work on furthering their education while they waited for the economy to turn around.

As I am nearing the halfway point of my pursuit of an MBA, I worry that it will not take me where I want to go.  I think for this reason it is especially important to pin point your niche in the business world, something that I am still trying to figure out.  If nothing else, I would hope that higher education will help me find that niche that I'm looking for and hopefully, set me at least a half a notch higher than other interviewees when it comes time to seek my fortune in the job market.