aapl

AMR (NYSE: AMR) may have skipped key inspections of some of its planes to keep them in service. According to The Wall Street Journal, "American made the procedural changes and revised its maintenance manual in an effort to prevent planes from being pulled out of service." The inspections were meant to look over planes that may have been hit by lightning.

American's defense for skipping the procedures is that, if a pilot reported that his plane was hit by lightning, mechanics will look into it. What if the pilot is napping? Further, the airline says no plane has crashed from a lightning strike in over 30 years. How convenient.

The airlines have one, weak reason for cutting back on inspections. They cannot afford them. The federal government has to deal with the fact that some carriers are near bankruptcy because of high fuel prices. The FAA may have to supply financial support for extra work by mechanics, or watch the industry fall apart.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and the editor of Ten Stocks Under $10.

Companies from Nokia (NYSE:NOK) to Samsung are trying to create a product to compete with the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone. Now RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM) will join the group.

RIM will come out with a touchscreen version of its Blackberry, probably in the third quarter. The decision is based on a false premise, which is that people want to buy an "iPhone" from someone other than Apple.

According to The Wall Street Journal "Dubbed the Thunder, the new BlackBerry is among RIM's strongest moves so far to appeal to the increasing number of consumers opting for multimedia phones."

The market has heard this song before. Over a year ago, both Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) came to market with competition for the iPod. Neither made any progress.

As infantile as the reasoning may seem, Apple built a nearly perfect product, which has been confirmed by strong demand , and plans to improve on it with features like 3G capability. Competition cannot replace what the customer views as irreplaceable.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 newsletter.

Walletpop (our sister site) blogger, Geoff Williams recently examined a new marketing strategy undertaken by Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS). The company wants to make you and your office "fashionable". Unfortunately, it appears that it has hired the wrong marketing firm to handle the task.

I cite as example this one whimsical little marketing blurb from Geoff's blog post. In attempting to get you to purchase fashionable binder clips, Staples has this to say about some retro look clips they have to offer: "It's the look of a bygone era with a decidedly modern flair."

Are they kidding? Does Staples think it's marketing argyle knee socks?

There's a whiff of desperation when a company completely departs from common sense in advertising. Personally, I have no use for toner cartridges which compliment my eyes. If the day ever comes when Staples begins to offer office mail carts with ground effects and spinner rims, I'd say we're just one baby doll lab coat away from seeing Staples close it's doors.

Gary Sattler is a freelance blogger. He does not knowingly have investment interest in the companies mentioned in this blog post

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) didn't really like the FCC's idea that it label all analog TV sets with a warning label -- something I posted on a month ago. In fact, the retailer is now challenging the FCC's authority to require retailers to slap those "Warning: Analog TV" stickers on those retail shelf boxes.

The FCC seems to believe it will be Y2K all over again when the analog television frequencies are vacated next February for all those who receive TV signals via antenna. Standard issue for the federal government, I suppose. Best Buy not only doesn't want to have even more labels and customer communication littering up its stores, but it argues that the fines levied by the FCC for the non-use of these stickers are invalid as well.

Best Buy was fined $280,000 and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was fined $992,000 for failing to include these analog TV stickers on the appropriate products. Wal-Mart had not decided what its plans were yet, but my guess if that it will unite with Best Buy to present a huge challenge to the FCC's authority. Best Buy's biggest argument was that retailers are not commission licensees by the FCC --- so how can the FCC impose fines? There are quite a few more arguments being made by Best Buy that should hold up in a court of law easily if it gets to that.

One would think that the recent FCC auctions of the about-to-be-abandoned analog TV airwaves would give enough cash back to the FCC's coffers than stupid fines like this. Apparently not.

Last week, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) filed a lawsuit in New York over the state's new law, which requires online retailers to collect sales tax from New York customers if the company has affiliates in the state soliciting sales for them.

Most state laws only require sales tax to be collected in a state if a company has a nexus, or physical presence there. Most states require purchasers of products who haven't paid sales tax on the items to voluntarily report the purchases to the state and pay use tax on them (the equivalent of sales tax). As you can imagine, in the government's eyes, this leaves plenty of tax money on the table as consumers rarely report these purchases to their home states and therefore avoid sales and use tax altogether.

New York's new law is a move to collect taxes on these sales, but it has angered Amazon.com and other companies. Affiliate programs are important to increase sales, as the "affiliates" are basically people and businesses who refer others to Amazon.com to make purchases. Amazon.com fought back, and now perpetual money-loser Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) is fighting back in its own way. Overstock is canceling its agreements with all of their affiliates in New York. If New York is going to use that affiliate relationship in order to impose sales tax on internet sales going to New York, then darn it, Overstock.com is going to show them!

All of those green people in all of those green cars. The Toyota (NYSE: TM) Prius was a gamble when the auto company first designed and built it. The price was more than its "all gas" counterparts because the electric component of the engine was expensive to build. The Japanese firm had to bet that buyers would want to save the environment by purchasing an automobile aimed at cutting emissions.

All of that planning by Toyota worked. The Prius has now sold one million units worldwide. Reuters says that the car company said "Toyota believes that Prius vehicles worldwide have contributed to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by producing approximately 4.5 million tonnes less CO2 when compared with gasoline-powered vehicles in the same class and of similar size and driving performance."

And who is to say that the calculation is wrong, at least by much.

Toyota has once again put its competition in a situation where they have to catch up. When the company began to produce almost flawless cars 20 years ago, Detroit and Europe had to up their quality to stay in the game. Now they will need to aggressively follow Toyota into the hybrid market.

Being first to market sometimes has its advantages.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

As Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) continues sliding into irrelevance in the mobile phone industry, it could slip to number four in the global cellphone rankings. After Korean giant Samsung Electronics handily beat Motorola in 2007 for the number two spot, and has held it ever since, Korean company LG is poised to overtake the third spot from the American cellphone icon later this year.

LG has come on strong in recent years, with hits like the LG Chocolate, a phone that has sold 18 million units since its debut a few years ago. LG also has a huge fan in the U.S. in the form of No. 2 cellular carrier Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD). So, the soon-to-be top-three mobile phone lineup for global sales include a Finnish company and two South Korean companies. Motorola, poised for fourth place soon, would be followed by Sweden's Sony Ericsson.

Although Motorola has tumbled in recent years and is in the worse shape it could possibly be in, LG's rise hasn't been because of its competitor's stumbles. LG and Samsung both have made massive gains with high-end handsets, slick marketing and awesome designs in recent years, and have propelled themselves on their own merits over and above the competition.

All this without having a blockbuster like Motorola's RAZR, which sold 50 million units and still sells on store shelves today. As Motorola knew back in 2005, but seems to have forgotten today, design is where it's at and LG and Samsung both have it right now. As a result, Motorola seems to continue sliding down the pole of handset makers that just can't seem to compete any longer like they once did. I doubt newer CEO Greg Brown can fix that, but he may not have to.

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) does not want to be known as a place where there are products that could hurt little kids. It is bad for public relations and thus bad for business. So the world's largest retailer is going to set standards for toys that are much tougher that those of the U.S. government.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart does not just want the toys to be manufactured more safely. The paper writes, "The initiative also encourages suppliers to mark children's products with 'traceability information', including the factory in which the goods were made. About 80% of the toys sold in the U.S., including those marketed by U.S.-based toy makers, are manufactured in China."

Wal-Mart is a little late to the party. The threat of lead and other toxins has been causing trouble for retailers for over a year. Several of the company's competitors already have similar programs in place. And Wal-Mart sources a lot of inventory in China, so it may not want to be seen as leading the pack in a public relations war with the People's Republic.

The news also begs the question of why Wal-Mart was not inspecting the toys on its own. Of course, that would be expensive.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 newsletter.

By looking at other companies that sell services and PCs, it has occured to Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) that the hardware business is getting more competitive and that margins are moving down, But hardware is still the largest revenue center at the big tech company, and that may be the single greatest failing of the current management. It has not created large enough software and services businesses to match the hardware sales.

HP brings in less that 25% of its revenue from services. But that business is growing quickly. According to the company's 10-Q, it had revenue of almost $4.4 billion in the first quarter. In the same period a year ago, that number was $3.9 billion.

The prevailing theory is that HP plans to buy EDS (NYSE: EDS) for $12.6 billion for its revenue from consulting and outsourcing to better compete against IBM (NYSE: IBM). That may be true, but the actual reason may be much more simple than that. With its stock up 50% over the last two years, HP needs a new business to keep its revenue growing and its shareholders happy. That is not going to come from its ink and printer business. Buying EDS almost guarantees another two years of rising revenue and earnings.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and the author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

Several leading business journals have reported that China has created its own regional jumbo jet company to compete with Boeing Co (NYSE: BA) and Airbus.

The Financial Times (subscription required) reports, "China has unveiled a state-owned aircraft manufacturer intended to eventually challenge Boeing and Airbus's control of the global market in large airliners." The Times characterizes the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (CACC) as "a significant step in Beijing's drive to create an advanced civil aviation manufacturing sector able to help meet the country's rapidly growing demand for regional and larger jets."

Reuters noted that, "many analysts have expressed skepticism about the commercial prospects of a large jet designed and manufactured entirely in China, given the country's limited experience in big aircraft." Not sure what analysts know, I'm skeptical just as much of them.

It's been brewing ever so slowly, but AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) has finally been able to show the results of its efforts. Shares of AnnTaylor soared about 13% today after the women's apparel chain raised its first-quarter earnings forecast.

The company said that better-than-expected results at its LOFT stores as well as lower inventories and better expense management overall contributed to the results. Yes, surprising investors is always good, but it's also always good to remain a little cautious with such news. The company itself warned about the rest of the year, leaving its full-year forecast unchanged.

Of course, the question is what's ahead for AnnTaylor. One answer already came today from the company when it said it would shelve a new store concept targeting baby boomers. But following the success of LOFT, the retailer is aggressively launching an outlet version of the brand. Is it smart? It certainly seems that in the current economic climate increasing lower-priced offerings would allow AnnTaylor to keep cash-strapped customers while offering them budget clothes in a familiar brand.

The BBC reported on Saturday that demands are being made for careful government scrutiny of any potential alliances between Internet giants Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).

According to the BBC report, a coalition of activist groups including the Black Leadership Forum, the League of Rural Voters, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, and the American Agriculture Movement, is concerned that allowing any kind of unregulated working relationship between Yahoo and Google could put Internet neutrality in serious jeopardy. Gary Flowers, representing the Black Leadership Forum, is quoted by BBC as stating, "We all suffer in such mega mergers." He further stated that the nature of such a partnership could "condense competition, increase prices and limit new business opportunity on the Internet."

The BBC indicates that the Justice Department is already in the process of reviewing joint operation trials that the two companies have engaged in. However, the department seems to be down playing the citizen coalition's demands, citing that the two companies have no working agreements to address. At a recently held Google shareholders meeting the matter was addressed by Chairman Eric Schmidt who stated, "If there were a deal [with Yahoo], we would anticipate structuring the deal to address the antitrust concerns that have been widely discussed."

I would tend to echo the valid concerns of Gary Flowers: too much control over Internet communications by any one particular entity or alliance would inevitably be bad for all of us. I think the matter needs to be taken to a broader base of examination than the justice department alone can provide.

Shareholders of Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) must be scratching their heads over the company's $650 million purchase of Newsday from Tribune Co., the latest in a long series of baffling moves by the Dolan family, which controls the New York-based cable company.

The theory -- if you want to call it that -- is that Cablevision would be able to market the newspaper to its customers and that the company would be able to add additional content to its cable news channel. This makes no sense. People have stopped reading newspapers in droves. The only way that they would even consider subscribing is if Cablevision practically gave the newspaper away. Newsday could have struck an alliance with the cable channel to share content without the paper changing hands; these sort of deals happen all of the time.

Maybe advertisers will be more interested in Newsday now that Cablevision will be able to bundle ad space in the paper and its website along with cable commercial time. The problem, though, is that residents in Long Island have a plethora of media choices including the New York Times, New York Daily News and The New York Post. Like the readers, the only way that advertisers that aren't in the newspaper now would consider doing business with Newsday would be with steep discounts.

SingTel, Singapore's big phone company, and some of its partners will bring the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone to Singapore, India, Australia and the Philippines. While the moves does not get the device into the huge China market, it does go a long way to helping Apple reach its iPhone sales goals and increases the likelihood that the company will have strong earning late this year and into next.

To be successful in these markets, Apple will probably need a 3G version of it smarphone, but word is that the feature will be coming soon.

Despite its success in the US, Apple is at a disadvantage to other Smartphone companies like Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Samsung, They have been in the Asian markets for years. It is not likely that they will part with that market share easily. Both companies have brought out multi-media and music stores of their own in the hope of competing with iTunes.

Apple probably already has several million unit sales in these markets locked up. The iPhone, in its unlock version, is already used on networks in Asia. The Apple brand is strong in the region because of the iPod.

The iPhone still has a chance to be Apple's most successful product, at least financially. Every big country where the iPhone is offered by a major carrier brings the company closer to that goal.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and the author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) can't afford to lose any market share to the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone. Apple has other businesses. RIM has only smartphones.

So as not to be bested RIM has a new BlackBerry. According to The Wall Street Journal, the device, called Bold, "runs on high-speed 3G wireless networks that carriers are rolling out to handle media-rich features." It also has multi-media features for downloading music.

The launch misses a critical factor in business smartphone devices. Enterprise users probably have little interest in BlackBerry beyond its e-mail features. The fact that the phone runs on faster 3G networks added to the function. Putting multi-media features into the product does not. It simply adds cost. The 3G capability will also help sales outside the US where 3G is more widely deployed.

RIM has a problem. While it is not likely the BlackBerry will ever become a music player, the new 3G iPhone may well attract business users with better e-mail, calendar, and web-searching features. The iPhone also sell well because it is consider "next-generation" with its touch pad. It also benefits from the "halo" effect from the company's iPod and iTunes products.

Apple can add e-mail to the iPhone and have a device that can cut across business and consumer users. It is not clear that BlackBerry can ever get beyond its core enterprise market.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.