Dow

Apple, Google about to join Dow Jones stock index?

Apple and Google could soon see themselves in the Dow Jones Industrial Average -- perhaps at the expense of a tech pioneer.

The stock index is due for a makeover and the two tech titans wield a lot of influence in financial markets, investment newspaper Barrons reported today (subscription required). The companies "represent major shifts in the global business landscape" in ways that the venerable Hewlett-Packard, Bank of America, and Alcoa do not, Barron's said.

"The guardians of the Dow need to ensure that this benchmark, created in the 19th century, stays relevant for a 21st … Read more

Dow starts mass-marketing solar shingles

Colorado now has a slightly more aesthetic option for harnessing all that lovely Rocky Mountain sun.

Dow Solar, a division of Dow Chemical, began selling solar roofing shingles this month that may attract even the most exigent homeowner.

While there have been several pilot projects throughout the country where the Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingles have been installed since their release in 2009, Colorado is the first state where the shingles will be available for widespread sale and installation.

Dow Solar then plans to mass-market its shingles in a dozen more states, starting in California and moving across the country to … Read more

The 404 879: Where we remember, remember (podcast)

Today we're exploring the trend of digital vigilantes (aka digilantes) taking to the Internet for crowdsourced criminal identification and cyberjustice. The most recent example is the hacker collective known as Anonymous' YouTube video threatening to take down Facebook on November 5, otherwise known as Guy Fawkes Day.

We'll also fill you in on the London police toying with facial recognition technology on Facebook to identify looters caught on camera, yesterday's 5,000 percent spike in blunt weapons sales on Amazon.co.uk, and a woman who used an airplane to wag a giant finger at Wall Street.

The 404 Digest for Episode 879

Anonymous: Facebook's going down November 5. Will London's police officials turn to Facebook's facial recognition technology to fight crime? Sales of aluminum bats are up more than 5,000 percent on Amazon.co.uk. The USB toothbrush: Philips' device is the "iPod of toothbrushes." Angry Birds makes it onto the cover of Mad Magazine. Airplane banner circles Wall Street: "Thanks For The Downgrade. You Should All Be Fired"

Episode 879 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Dow takes plunge into bioplastics in Brazil

Dow Chemical today announced a joint venture to produce ethanol and plastics from sugar cane, a step toward sourcing renewable feedstocks for chemicals.

The joint venture between Dow Chemical and Japanese industrial conglomerate Mitsui will initially produce ethanol from sugar cane, which will then be used as a feedstock to make plastics. Financial terms of the venture were not disclosed.

The companies project to start construction of the operation, which they say will be the largest facility for making biopolymers from ethanol in the world, in the third quarter this year. Dow Chemical expects to make plastic replacements for flexible … Read more

Phone hacking scandal claims Dow Jones CEO

Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton is leaving the company in the wake of the PhoneGate hacking scandal. Hinton is the second high-ranking News Corp. executive to step down today, and the first major figure from the company's American operations.

Hinton has been under scrutiny in the past couple weeks because he oversaw News Corp.'s News International unit, the group that publishes its British newspapers, from 1995 through 2007. That's the same time that News Corp.'s News of the World tabloid is alleged to have engaged in systemic voicemail hacking, among other offenses.

Hinton's resignation follows … Read more

Amazon stymies Lendle e-book lending service

It may be game, set, and match for Lendle. No, not Ivan Lendl, the former tennis great. Lendle, the newly hatched e-book lending service.

Lendle first reported the news via Twitter: "Amazon has revoked Lendle's API access. This is why the site is down. It's sad and unfortunate that Amazon is shutting down lending sites...According to Amazon, Lendle does not 'serve the principal purpose of driving sales of products and services on the Amazon site.'"

Reached by CNET, Lendle co-founder Jeff Croft, who's based in Seattle, had this to say:

They [Amazon] shut the API access off, and without it, our site is mostly useless. So, we went ahead and pulled it down. Could we build a lending site without their API? Yes. But it wouldn't be the quality of product we expect from ourselves.

VC sector optimistic for 2011, especially in IT

Venture capitalists expect greater investment next year, while CEOs of VC-backed firms are looking at more work and more hiring, according to a report (PDF) released today by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Dow Jones VentureSource.

Among the venture capitalists polled for the "2011 Venture View" survey, just over half (51 percent) are looking for investment to pick up next year. Only 24 percent expect it to stay level, while the same percentage believe it will decline. CEOs running venture-backed companies were also optimistic, with 58 percent eyeing an increase in venture investing next year and … Read more

Dow Kokam breaks ground on $322 million battery plant

Dow Kokam has committed to spend $322 million on a new advanced, large-format battery production facility in Midland, Michigan.

The company broke ground today on the 800,000 square-foot facility, according to a press release.

"We're making history today for Michigan and for the adoption of alternative energy by the automotive industry," said Dow Kokam's Chief Executive Officer Ravi Shanker. "In just nine short months, Dow Kokam has moved from formation to construction of a manufacturing facility to meet the needs of the next generation of the auto industry."

The company plans two overlapping … Read more

Simple stock ticker

Catfood Quote gives users a simple way to monitor their favorite stocks on their desktop. By allowing quotes to be easily entered and viewed, Catfood Quote is a simple program that will earn a lot of fans.

The program's interface was delightfully easy to manage and navigate. It embeds itself into the toolbar and provides intuitive areas to enter data and a simple way to read the results. Users will most likely not need to consult the Help file to operate this program. Checking stock quotes involves a few simple steps. Users simply choose the stock exchange they prefer … Read more

Markets soar, tech stocks post doube-digit gains

Tech stocks soared Tuesday, as the broader markets surged ahead on news that Citigroup generated an operating profit for the first two months this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 379.44 points to end the day up 5.80 percent at 6,926.49. And the Nasdaq climbed 89.64 points to close the session up 7 percent at 1,358.28.

Technology stocks also surged ahead, with the CNET Tech Index climbing 67.84 points to jump ahead by 7.35 percent to 990.66.

Within the tech sector, Adobe Systems jumped 10.37 percent to close … Read more

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