mimblr.com

Durable goods are just that: hard goods; they don’t wear out quickly and can be used over and over again for at least several years. Think your car, TV, refrigerator or computer. These are certainly not disposable, one-time use items.
The opposite of a hard good is (surprise!) a soft good or, if you like, a non-durable good. These are products you use once, like your lunch at McDonald’s, the gas in your car and the ugly sweater your grandmother bought you for your birthday. These items have an intended lifespan short of three years, or are consumed immediately.
Investors pay attention to the monthly durable orders report released by the Commerce Department around the end of each month. When durable goods are strong, it means that U.S. manufacturing is humming along, though economists tend to parse the numbers pretty closely. Big-ticket items can skew the overall results, since an order for, say, 75 Boeing 747s has a bigger impact than 75 iPods. Luckily, the data lets economists break down the sectors.
May 12, 2008 (SmarTrend� via COMTEX News Network) —-The DJIA is expected to rally this morning in an effort to brake its retreat that started last Tuesday; but the index is still anticipated to correct down further this week, perhaps touching 12,500 before finding a base from which to climb again for its hurdle at 13,000.
SmarTrend(R) uptrends to downtrends chalked up a second day in a row of declines at 24:63, and the Trend Ratio responded by declining a point. This was offset by a slight increase in the IBDI. Thus the net effect by the intermediate-term trend on the DJIA was fairly neutral. However, the long-term trend remains in a downward-pointing mode. Combining all of these investor-trend factors, the outlook for the market in general continues to be soft, not positioned to provide much buoying to the near-term trends.

foxbusiness.com

I was struck by a report in The Wall Street Journal today that officials at International Lease Finance Corp. are contemplating a split with American International Group. Wow! ILFC is the world’s largest buyer of commercial aircraft and one of AIG’s most profitable units. A split would—and should—be big news.
But what exactly is the news here? ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy, never one to shy away from speaking his mind, is quoted as talking about the need to “evaluate what the appropriate relationship is” — from an interview he did in March.
Now, there are “two people familiar with the situation” (one of whom could be the irate ILFC chief, under cloak of anonymity) talking about how AIG’s poor performance last quarter may prompt officials to push for changes.
Nothing concrete emerges from the piece, which leaves me wondering if ILFC has another agenda in putting pressure on its parent right now. Certainly, cuts in AIG’s credit rating cause significant pain for its capital-intensive subsidiary. And, as a major AIG shareholder himself, Udvar-Hazy can’t be happy with the performance of AIG chief Martin Sullivan. With an annual meeting this week, is ‘news’ of a possible ILFC split from AIG one more way to put heat on the increasingly maligned AIG chief?

businessweek.com

You know Fox hates your new comedy series when …
A) Fox cuts the episode order.
B) Fox schedules your show for Friday night, a dead night for broadcast TV.
C) Fox promises to launch your show after “American Idol” before sending it to Friday night Siberia, then changes its mind on the post-”Idol” launch, sticking you with nothing but that Friday death slot.
D) All of the above.
Alas, for Amy Sherman-Palladino, the answer is D. “The Return of Jezebel James” (8 p.m. tomorrow, WPGH) was supposed to mark the triumphant return of Sherman-Palladino, creator of the beloved “Gilmore Girls,” who left that series a year before it reached its conclusion. Instead, the show will launch with a whimper. Sadly, it deserves no better.
Miscast and only intermittently funny, “Jezebel James” misfires on all cylinders.
Indie film actress Parker Posey plays Sarah, a childless, more selfish Lorelai Gilmore. Sarah is another Sherman-Palladino woman who speaks in rat-a-tat-tat zingers. She’s sophisticated but daffy and not always likable.
Sarah works as a children’s book editor, and one of her books shares its title with this comedy series. Viewers learn in the pilot that Jezebel James was the imaginary friend of Sarah’s estranged sister, Coco (Lauren Ambrose).
If there’s a good reason for naming the show after this throwaway bit of trivia, it’s not clear from two episodes sent for review. It’s certainly doesn’t play into the main plot of the show: Sarah can’t conceive a child and asks Coco to be her surrogate.
At first, Coco is appalled, fearing a scene out of “Alien.” (Because this is a Sherman-Palladino show, pop culture references abound.)
“Not exactly like ‘Alien,’ ” Sarah says. “It’ll have a different exit strategy.”
Posey is curiously flat. Scenes only come to life in the pilot once Ambrose enters with her patented, angry-young-woman routine. Honed over the years on “Six Feet Under,” Ambrose’s fiery reactions give the show some spark, even if I never quite believe any of the characters as real people.

post-gazette.com

The CW just released an official announcement that Supernatural, One Tree Hill, Smallville, Gossip Girl and America's Next Top Model have been picked up for next season. Yes, we will see all these shows in the fall for the 2008-09 season!
Happy Snoopy dance with me, will ya?
The episode orders for each of these series remains "TBD," but I can assure you that the cast of OTH is celebrating the pickup of its sixth season—most likely at Hilarie Burton's house—right now in Wilmington, North Carolina. I just ran into Sophia Bush at dinner in West Hollywood a few days ago and had a nice chat about how the show is really, as she put it, "in its groove" this season, and how she and the cast feel they have a good thing going and hope it continues. Word. Ask and ye shall receive.
I also just checked in with Gossip boss Josh Schwartz, and he tells me, "Didn't know [the pickup] was happening today but I guess—when the show is Gossip Girl—reading it online is as good! Stephanie and I couldn't be happier or more grateful to the CW for all their support. We've had a blast working with this cast and crew, and shooting in NYC has been awesome. We're excited about what's to come in the next five episodes and season two." Josh's other new show, Chuck, is also expected back this fall, so he's just on a roll. Whee!
And while Gossip Girl and Top Model seemed no-brainers for fall, Supernatural and Smallville fans are most assuredly breathing a huge sigh of relief at these pickups, since the fates of both series have been in limbo as of late. Super boss Eric Kripke knows he owes a great deal to you fans and your very vocal support efforts, especially in this here wacky world o' web. "Our online community is a rowdy and boisterous one," he says. "And we love them for it."

eonline.com

Mt. Hebron’s Kristen Bilney, right, celebrates with her teammates after Qiana Coleman scored the winning shot at the buzzer to give Mt. Hebron a 39-37 win over Gwynn Park March 7.
Quick pass. Open player. Easy basket. Buzzer. Regional championship.
That sums up the essence of Mt. Hebron’s first regional title since 1995. What the brief bottom line synopsis leaves out, though, is the utter disbelief of the Gwynn Park players, who were anticipating overtime, and the surge of Mt. Hebron’s student body who mobbed the court in celebration following the 39-37 Class 2A South thriller.
Mt. Hebron sophomore Aja Wallpher tied the game, 37-all, on a 3-point shot with 44 seconds remaining to play. It was the Vikings’ sixth triple of the night, a scoring pattern that ultimately helped set up the final outcome.
After Wallpher scored, Gwynn Park’s Lynnae Lampkins, a superb athlete who will play for Syracuse next year, missed a potential go-ahead basket. In the scramble for the rebound, Deanna Dydynski forced a jump ball. The possession arrow was in Mt. Hebron’s favor with just over 27 seconds left.
Mt. Hebron worked the ball to midcourt and called timeout to set up a final play. The clock read 10.5.

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