Business Publication #1

BBC News- (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8343179.stm)-Intel in threats and bribery suits- I found this article to be interesting because it shows what big businesses will do in order to stay ahead in today's tough economy. As the economy worsens, competition gets more severe and cut throat, and some don't play fairly. The Intel Company took matters into its own hands by bribing and intimidating consumers to purchase their products over their competitor's. Though this was a very unethical thing to do, I can see why Intel took those steps of precaution to save their own company. I thought it was interesting that Intel seemed to have done this to several companies, yet very few reported Intel's actions. This goes to show that it's not only Intel that's working to survive with the tough economy, even Intel's consumers were willing to accept the extra support in the economy. It was also interesting to see that Intel's influence went over country boarders. Not only is the USA's economy needing the extra help, but people around the world were willing to accept and comply to Intel's bribery. Though it wasn't the best way to get more consumer support, Intel was doing what they had to in order to compete with other microchip companies. I also thought it was interesting that one of the main reasons consumers were opposed to Intel's actions was not due to the fact it was illegal, but more because the consumers could have gotten a better deal elsewhere.

Denver Post- (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WALL_STREET_WEEK_AHEAD?SITE=CODEN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT) -Investors look to consumer for clues to recovery- I thought this article was interesting because it shows how businesses are looking less at government predictions as a source for basing their theories about the economy and spending. Instead, business are looking at the earning reports and the job market. The consumer's hesitant spending, especially approaching the holiday season, concerns businesses. Consumers worry about their jobs, which makes them more weary of spending their precious money in this bad economy. I found it interesting that there are thoughts of spending being very tight this holiday season, even though some consumers are thought to justify their spending. Wal-Mart also continues to be one of the biggest businesses due to its promise of low prices and good value. Even stores that were expensive and began losing business, regained that business after cutting their prices to be more competitive with the economy. Businesses have to adjust their perception towards consumers to reflect these new findings in the spending.

Forbes- (http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/06/hollywood-film-funding-business-entertainment-movies.html)- Bad Economy, Better Movies- I liked this article because it relates to the movie business to the economy. It also describes how the movie business is most likely to be better for the consumer, due to the fact that better movies will be produced because of the money shortage. The movie business is now more competitive due to the limited funds, making it harder for small films to even be considered for production. The article described the past couple years as Hollywood having a film 'bubble' that was bust due to the poor economy. The mass amount of produced films during that time were easily lost and discarded, but now films are more likely to be noticed because there are less being produced. Banks have also been impacted due to the film shortage. With less competition and less funding, banks are able to fund the specific movies they fill will make the most money and be the most productive instead of having to fun several movies that were more then likely to get lost with all the other films. I thought this article was interesting because it even mentions foreign influence and money. The film industry is starting to see money support from India, though other countries focus more on their own economic problems.