What is Groupon and are they legitimate?

Groupon is a deal-a-day website that features discounts from various websites at one location: groupon.com. After a few simple steps you can be signed up for the region in which you live. You will receive deals at local restaurants, spas, fitness centers or other shops-- an article on Wall Street Journal today mentioned ten things Groupon wont tell you.

1. 50% off, well not really. They get you on the undisclosed tax and shipping & handling fee (which is higher than ordering most internet products).

2. Good luck cashing in. A lot of deals are often oversold and not able to be redeemed. There have been many cases where people were not able to spend a day at the spa because they waited too long to use their coupon because too many people already did.

3. We're above the law. There may be undisclosed expiration dates sooner than you would think so that is imperative to identify.

4. We'll be out of business by Christmas. Many sites don't survive and these deal-a-day sites are a new craze. The technology behind deal sites makes them easy to start, but sustaining them requires a steady stream of interested business and consumers, says Opus Research's Sterling.

5. You won't use this coupon. The silver lining for consumers" there's a growing secondary market on sites like Lifesta, CoupRecoup and DealsGoRound, where sellers unload their unwanted deals and buyers can grab them, often at a steeper discount than the deal site originally offered.

...more to come on this article

Big deal in Info Tech industry

An interesting deal transpired Monday in the information technology sector: the formation of a monster. AT&T has purchased T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom) in a $39 billion deal. The markets seem to like the implications of the transaction raising hope that the business environment is improving. This will create the world's largest cell phone provider, but the deal will face antitrust barriers.  The deal sent Deutsche Telekom shares surging, opening 16.3% higher while AT&T shares gained 1.3%. Takeover targets, like T-Mobile, will cause a company's share price to sky rocket. The $39 billion buyout still needs approval by regulators but that liquidity is what sent shares so hire. One company pays the money out, AT&T whom hopes to see a positive reaction (didn't see as much percentage improvement), and one company receives the money, Deutsche Telekom assuming no antitrust barriers will hold it from materializing will have shares soar. 

Big news in the telecom industry. But with the iPhone be available to T-Mobile customers? What are the pros and cons of keeping the two services separate? These are interesting questions to consider.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703292304576213050651047200.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12802111

Now this is something to look at...

Just an update before I comment on the article I read.

Apple: has practically not seen any percentage change for a 7-day span, but is down  2.2% since Friday.

Time Warner: is down 2.9% over the past 7 days. As expected I don't like the move to team up with Facebook.

Google: Down 1.5% over the same 7 days. And even more before I posted the application security breech. According the efficient market hypothesis, the market has reacted before the public sees the news.


Now to get to the article I found about Barnes & Noble releasing a tablet of their own. For a fraction of the cost of the iPad and the Xoom, you can buy a $200 no-nonsense tablet that is great for e-books and reading other forms of media. The author of the article is basically telling us about his experience thus far with it. He said that although not internet accessible at purchase, there is a legal download Google's Android platform. I don't know how Google will respond to this, whether it's charging for the download, removing it completely, or not taking any action at all.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703662804576188901890884360.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLETopStories

Facebook to offer movies? Lets get Tech-nical

In a Wall Street Journal article today, Facebook and Time Warner are going to experiment offering movies on the social networking site. I realized earlier this year that the site was beginning to offer services at a charge. Games became available to compete against your friends. Facebook only gave you so many credits to play the games, if you wanted to play more and ultimately beat your friends you had to purchase additional credits. I personally thought it was crazy to put down your credit card to gain more points in Family Feud than your friends, it isn't worth even $5. So I am interested how offering movies for a charge will do.

I get it, hundreds of millions of people go on the social networking site everyday, but I am skeptical. The first movie that will be streaming is "The Dark Knight," which came out two years ago! This is one of my favorite movies, but shouldn't they experiment with a more recently released movie? Netflix stock had fallen on the news of more competition in the digital video market. Something to keep an eye on.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703386704576186913491751144.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLETopStories

Google Takes Heat Over App Security

Apparently on Tuesday of the previous week, March 1, there were fifty eight malicious applications that were downloaded off the Android market Google was not aware of. The details were not too informative other than the apps were downloaded onto 260,000 devices until Google terminated its connection. The stock has depreciated over 3.5% since markets opened Tuesday the 1st after Presidents Day.

Apparently, unlike Apple Inc. or Blackberry, Google doesn't have employees designated to monitor the apps submitted to the store. They have a more reactive approach than their competitors proactive stance. Google has reportedly said to be taking action to keep future malicious applications off the Android market, but did not reveal what kind of steps they will be using. The article that I read was on Monday, March 9th, as a finance major I am fascinated by the markets response to news. We are taught that you cannot invest using just public information and if you did you may be too late to capitalize on Google's missteps. Nothing against Google as an organization all together, but it is amazing how efficient the market can and should be!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703883504576186810666183384.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection