What new at Hewlett Packard.....?

On October 4th I wrote the HP is a $5.00 stock and I want to thank the management in helping me with my prediction.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/h-p-takes-big-hit-on-accounting-improprieties-at-autonomy/

HP announced today that it has taken a $8.8B accounting charge to discount the value of a $9.7B investment of Autonomy last year.

The takeover was the brainchild of Léo Apotheker, H.P.’s chief executive at the time, and was criticized within Silicon Valley as a hugely expensive blunder.
“I’m both stunned and disappointed to learn of Autonomy’s alleged accounting improprieties,” Mr. Apotheker said in a statement. “The developments are a shock to the many who believed in the company, myself included. ”

HP is truly the laughingstock of Silicon Valley and Wall Street. I am highly confident that many many former employees screamed not to do this deal and were let go for not being team players.

The bottom line is that HP sucks....As a compnay, as a product and as a future. More to come, I am certain.

Twinkie Defense is Dead....(but who owns the Brand)

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/16/news/economy/hostess-jobs/

Hostess Brands was in bankruptcy.  The bakers union decided to strike. The owners shut the company down and liquidate.  18,000 people are out of work. Wow.........

First off: I would like to congratulate the management team for this very difficult decision.
Second off: Once again Unions are driving nails into the coffin. Striking a company that is in bankruptcy is just about a dumb as juggling a lite chainsaw while jumping on a pogo stick.
Third off, Who is going to swoop in and buy the assets and the brand?

Recently there was a strike by a local grocery store called Raley's. I hated shopping at Raley's before the strike because of the slow cashiers and the high prices.  During the strike, which lasted about 2 weeks, we only shopped there.  Now that the strike is over, we will go back to shopping at Walmart.

If I could point at the 2 most destructive forces on our economy, I would say unions and municipal pensions.

California Raises Taxes to Pay Wall Street

Condensed News Report:
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Prop-30-funds-for-UC-will-go-to-Wall-Street-4031472.php
Full Report:
http://publicsociology.berkeley.edu/publications/swapping/swapping.pdf

"In other words, the UC Regents forgot the first rule of casino gambling: The house always wins. Now the rest of us are paying the price.

It's hard to overstate the cost to students and taxpayers of UC management's financial strategies. In recent years, the Regents have overseen a threefold increase in in-state tuition, declining in-state enrollment, reduced course offerings and draconian cuts imposed on UC workers. They also have continued to increase the number of university executives making more than $200,000 annually.

Even with the passage of Proposition 30, the regents warn of more cuts and tuition increases in the near future."

City of Atherton, California Extorts $350K From Facebook

http://allfacebook.com/atherton-350k_b104146

Extortion and Bribery are alive and well in California.

According to The Bay Citizen, the one-time payment by Facebook was agreed upon as compensation for the increased traffic at the intersection of Marsh and Middlefield roads, located about five miles from the social network’s new headquarters, and the town is exploring ways to expand the intersection, such as removing a roadside drainage channel and adding an extra turn lane.

Mayor Bill Widmer told The Bay Citizen:

We’re not in a big hurry to spend the money.

How about spending the money on the %$&#& road you are so worried about jerk.

Lance Armstrong's Kindergarten Grades to be Reviewed

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/armstrongs-marathon-results-likely-erased-192013026--spt.html


Lance Armstrong's fall was faster than Facebook after the IPO and the lost valuation of his brand is huge.

Hewlett Packard is a $5.00 Stock.

Here is an interesting article on the recent timeline of Hewlett Packard.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505250_162-57525464/key-moments-in-hewlett-packards-recent-history/

It is interesting to note that the timeline starts with the announcement to purchase Compaq Computers in Sept of 2001 rather than the hire date of Carly Fiorina in July of 1999.

It should be noted that when a large portion of stakeholders are screaming, "NO".  It should be listened to.  The Compaq merger proxy vote gathered just a little over 50% support from HPQ.  That means just under 50% thought it was a bad idea.

Meg Whitman was recently quoted

 "I'm confident that 2013 will be the bottom of the turnaround and then you can look forward to good growth in 2014 and 2015 as those products kick in," she told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" program. "The investments we're making in things like (information technology) systems, in our sales organization, in training, those things will start to kick in and I really think 2014 is going to be quite a bright year for H-P."

There is no reason to believe any of this is more that a desperate attempt to find...IT.  I do not mean Information Technology but rather the next IT.  The next wave of technology that will keep moving forward.

The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/01/02/the-seven-habits-of-spectacularly-unsuccessful-executives/

I found this article the other day when I was checking the stock price of Yahoo. (No Joke)
 I thought it was very good even thought the...." 7 habits of.....(fill in the blanks)" is by now warn weary.

Re: Yahoo....I am not sure where all this internal leaking of detail regarding Mayer's tenure and decisions are coming from, but it can not be good for confidence levels to have this information in the news every week.
Also,  I think the stock market has voted on the likely success Yahoo will have under Mayer. I think it is probably too late for Mayer to review Habit #4 anyways.