Recent Comments:
How Bebo stacks up ... according to everyone else {BloggingStocks}
Mar 14th 2008 10:53AM Jon --
Nice to see that the market has figured out that this Bebo deal is at best a bad deal for TWX.
You've got to wonder when Bewkes is going to say enough is enough with the insanity at AOL and demand accountability and performance.
You can almost see Randy Falco and Ron Grant spinning a story that goes along the lines of "we moved HQ to New York and that caused some hiccups in the advertising sales. But with the acquisition of Bebo we are on a new trajectory. Trust me, everything will be fine tomorrow"
There has been a complete failure to innovate at AOL going back at least 5 years. The last interesting thing to come out of AOL that worked was Buddy Lists.
It is becoming clear that Bewkes is plodding much too slowly in getting things straightened out at TWX. I have to wonder if he is feeling heat from rolling New Line into Warner Brothers. He may well be trying to quell a revolt on that front and not able to focus on the bigger picture. Kind of like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
At some point Hedge Funds will find TWX an attractive candidate as the price continues to fall since the parts will quickly be more valuable than the whole.
No more 'Time Warner' name confusion {BloggingStocks}
Feb 11th 2008 9:25PM Jon --
With all the goings on with Yahoo, Microsoft and the implications for AOL, the best you can come up with is Time Warner Telecom changing there name? Come on, dude, put the thinking cap on.
-- JDaggitt
Kodak announces four EASYSHARE digital picture frames {Engadget}
Dec 13th 2007 5:08PM So, I just bought three of the Kodak EX1011 Wi-Fi enabled digital picture frames. Let me tell you that my out-of-the box experience sucks. I've called Kodak customer support 3 times and have spent a total of 47 mins. on hold. I could here the reps flipping thru printed manuals trying to find the answer to some pretty simple questions.
So here's my situation...I've got the frame connected to the Internet. I've got pictures downloaded from the Kodak website to my picture frame, but when I add new pictures to the website, there is no way to get the frame to refresh with the new pictures. After 40 mins with customer service, I'm told to power off the picture frame and turn it back on. You know, I'd already figured that out, but was looking for a more elegant, some would say thoughtful solution.
I think Kodak came close with this product, but since a lot of these are likely to be given as gifts to grandparents, it would be nice to have a mode on the picture frame where it would go and automatically grab pictures from the website without powering it on and off, navigating thru the menus, selecting the pictures, etc.
And I just got my second question answered and I can't believe this one. There is no way to tell the picture frame what directory / folder on the PC to fetch pictures from when you stream from a local PC. So in essence, the picture frame will display all the pictures in My Documents > My Pictures and Shared Documents > Shared Pictures. You can't create a directory / folder and point the frame at it so that you only display a subset of the pictures.
Oh well, I'll continue to play with it and see what else it does and doesn't do. But at this point, my conclusion is, close but no cigar and Kodak will get killed with customer service calls trying to support this product since their website contains zero helpful information.
Time Warner (TWX, TWC): Will it unveil its Holy Grail strategy during tomorrow's earnings call? {BloggingStocks}
Nov 6th 2007 11:44AM Jon --
I doubt there will be discussion of grand strategy or what's next for TWX. Instead, me thinks, they will be fending off questions about how they missed the numbers again. I believe Parsons announcing his departure is an attempt to get out in front of bad news and what will be even more people calling for his departure come Wednesday morning.
Time Warner's Dick Parsons expected to join today's CEO exodus {BloggingStocks}
Nov 5th 2007 3:33PM Good riddance to Mr. Parsons. He did little for the shareholders of TWX and so it is no surprise to see Wall Street react positively to the news that he's leaving. He brought neither vision nor passion to the business. (In fact, when a rumor circulated last month that Parson's was leaving, the stock also moved up nicely.)
However, I think all TWX shareholders should hold their breath when the company releases its numbers this week for two reasons:
1) TWX never fails to disappoint with its quarterly numbers. Check back on how the stock has preformed when the quarterly are released and you'll see that it usually moves down sharply as soon as the numbers are released.
2) Parsons’ departure being leaked ahead of the quarterly numbers, leads me to believe that the report will again disappoint, and that there would be a lot more people clamoring for Parsons’ to leave come Wednesday morning. So, I believe he is for once he's being proactive and getting out some positive news…even if it is his own departure.
Both Time Warner stocks (TWC and TWX) flirt with 52-week lows {BloggingStocks}
Sep 26th 2007 6:59PM Kent --
I agree with your comments regarding the latest post about AOL "kicking major (you know what)" on this site. I guess we should all bear in mind that Blogging Stocks is owned by Time Warner, so if you sense a fawning attitude from the paid bloggers you'll know why.
And can one of our insightful Bloggers explain why the theme park deal in the Middle East makes sense. I didn't know TWX was in the real estate development business, the video game business, the theater development business.
Although it is becoming increasingly clear that TWX management is in the business of making bad decisions.
Advertising.com #1 again in online ad reach {BloggingStocks}
Sep 19th 2007 8:29AM Would somebody please go poke Dick Parsons with a sharp stick to wake him from his deep slumber ?
Here's a quote from a recent Reuters business story: Addressing calls for a breakup of Time Warner, he said, "We would like to see if the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, which I believe it to be."
Don't you think that after 4 years at the helm of TWX that Parsons should have a clear idea whether the sums is more valuable than the parts.
This is a clear indication to me that Parsons has no passion for the company and no vision for the future. And it begs the question, can Bewkes be any better given that he seems to be quitely waiting in the wing for his turn? The changes required at TWX need to start in the Executive Suite with a clean broom sweeping all corners.
Time Warner (TWX): No catalyst or no leadership? Some comparisons {BloggingStocks}
Sep 4th 2007 7:56PM If you were to sell off the underperforming divisions, you would, in essence, break up the company because all of the divisions under perform their peers and in most cases are under serious competitive pressure (AOL vs Google, MSN, Yahoo); (cable vs fiber & satellite); (movies vs internet, pirates); (magazines vs internet).
And with Parsons at the helm you can expect more of what you've seen in the past which is to say an abundance of caution coupled with a lack of forward thinking and no feel for new technology.
When Bewkes takes over you can expect more of the same since this is the guy who describes "synergies as bullshit." What, pray tell, is the reason for a media conglomerate if not to find synergies between the divisions (you need look no further than AOL and Road Runner)?
Time Warner: Pullback creates buying opportunity {BloggingStocks}
Aug 2nd 2007 11:13AM Time for Randy Falco to go?
It seems that the advertising results at AOL are dragging down TWX's stock price. Let us remember that Dick Parsons and Jeff Bewkes brought in Randy Falco in November to head up AOL. From the press release issued in November: AOL is showing early success in transitioning to an advertising-focused business model, and Randy is a first-rate choice to ensure AOL realizes its promise.
Well, it appears that AOL has failed to realize its promise and I assume that Mr. Falco will be called on the carpet regarding this. Oh no, this is TWX where no one is held accountable for failing to meet plan.
Time Warner earnings a tad short after adjustments {BloggingStocks}
Nov 1st 2006 9:17AM Jon --
I think it would be interesting to look at TWX's stock performance in the 3 or 4 days after they announce quarterly numbers. My bet is every quarter since the merger of TWX and AOL, the stock has dropped after the quarterly numbers. Which is to say that TWX never fails to disappoint the Street. TWX got a boost based on Comcasts numbers in late October so the stock moved up in anticipation of TWX's actual results. However, when the numbers come out, TWX drops with the disappointing numbers are unveiled.
