By: Rob Black - Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:38:44 -0800
Winner: Pending Sales of U.S. Homes Spike Higher Winner: Disney’s 'The Avengers' Just Passed Another HUGE Earnings Winner: Google To Unveil New TabletWinner: Supreme Court Obamacare Ruling Tomorrow Winner: America Sets a New Record for Old CarsWinner: Apple Wins Injunction Against Samsung TabletLoser: Stockton to File for Bankruptcy Protection
Winner: Pending Sales of U.S. Homes Spike Higher
Winner: Google To Unveil New Tablet
Google plans to unveil a $199 tablet taking direct aim at Apple ‘s iPad and Amazons Kindle.
The 7-inch tablet will run Android mobile software. The latest version of the software is named Jellybean. The tablet market will almost double this year to 118.9 million units. Though Android has grabbed more than half of the smartphone market, tablets with the software have won less than half the iPad’s share.
The processor in the new tablet will be provided by Nvidia.
Winner: Disney 'The Avengers' Just Passed Another HUGE Earnings
After just 54 days , "The Avengers" has broken into James Cameron's $600 million club, becoming only the third film to gross more than that amount domestically.The movie joins "Avatar" and "Titanic," both of which were directed by Cameron.The Josh Whedon-directed blockbuster has grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide and is still climbing. "Titanic's" second place spot should be safe thanks to an April re-release, which boosted its total to $659 million, though a possible theatrical release for Whedon’s Avengers” directors cut, could push it past the former record holder. "Avatar's" final total of $750 million total appears out of reach at this point. Cameron is currently preparing to respond though, as word broke this morning that he plans to shoot three "Avatar" sequels back-to-back.
Winner: America Sets a New Record for Old Cars
In fact, the average age of vehicles in the U.S. has hit a new all-time high. The average age of the 245 million vehicles registered in the U.S. was 11 years. What's behind the increase? Part of it is because the recession and sluggish recovery forced many people to put off buying or trading-in for a new or used car. Another factor is the fact cars and trucks are built to run longer. In fact, Experian says more than 52 million cars and trucks in America are 16 years or older.
Ford Runs StrongFord F-Series truck has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 30 straight years. Ford: 17.2% Chevrolet: 15.8% Toyota: 10.4% Honda: 7.3% One final note: Hybrid and electric vehicles are just 0.9 percent of the vehicles in operation in the U.S. That works out to a little over 2 million alternatively powered vehicles.
Winner: Apple Wins Injunction Against Samsung TabletApple won a court order immediately blocking U.S. sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer as the companies continue their global patent dispute. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, issued the order yesterday after rejecting a similar request in December. Apple’s request, part of a broader patent dispute over smartphones and tablets, was based on an appeals court finding that it will probably win its patent-infringement claim relating to the Tab 10.1 tablet. The world’s two biggest makers of high-end phones have accused each other of copying designs and technology for mobile devices and are fighting patent battles on four continents to retain their dominance in the $219 billion global smartphone market. If you look at precedents, different cases yielded different rulings. As long as smartphones aren’t blocked, Samsung’s fundamentals will stay intact.Winner: Supreme Court Obamacare Ruling Tomorrow Depending on what the high court decides regarding the legality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the fate of the nation's health care system is in balance, potentially upending again how the key players are paid.
Managed care companies and insurers. Insurers, such as UnitedHealthcare, WellPoint and Aetna, stand to benefit as more than 30 million additional Americans become potential customers. Hospital operators. Hospitals are big winners from the statute, thus the largest potential losers if it's struck down. Under the measure, hospitals get paid for visits by uninsured patients, rather than eating these "charity care" cases. Large hospitals include HCA and Universal Health Services.Medical technology companies. Companies that make medical equipment are among those helped least by the measure. These companies must pay a 2.3% annual fee on sales as a tax part of the rule. Big players include Johnson & Johnson and Stryker.
Drug companies. If health care reform stands, drug companies benefit, because it takes many more onerous rules off the table. If the measure is overturned, drug companies may need to brace for discussion to reopen on tougher rules.
Loser: Stockton to File for Bankruptcy ProtectionStockton, California, will file for bankruptcy after talks with bondholders and labor unions failed. Stockton will be the biggest U.S. city to seek court protection from creditors. The budget calls for defaulting on $10.2 million in debt payments and cutting $11.2 million in employee pay and benefits under union contracts. Stockton has 292,000 people.
Municipal bankruptcies in the U.S., while still rare compared to corporate filings, became more common after the housing and financial crisis began. 42 cities have filed for bankruptcy protection since 1981. This will hurt retirees as health care benefits will be cut.The city has cut services so much the past two years that “public safety is at a crisis level,”. Unemployment, at 15.4 percent in April, was almost double the national average. Stockton ranked third in murders last year among large California cities, behind Los Angeles and Oakland, according to FBI data.