I understand there is a significant cost behind the architecture, infrastructure and deployment a network the size that Comcast has developed, but one would think that the company would also be able to successfully run the network once in place, wouldn’t you?

Whenever the weather changes, be it a drop in temperature, rain, or significant wind, the Internet service provided by Comcast either slows down noticeably or all together stops.  When one calls the support center, most times, they have no clue as to a) any issue or b) how to help you.

I’m not saying they are evil, as others do, but come on! For $55 a month I would expect better service…

Tim Geithner and his inspiring confidence

During the Senate nomination of Tim Geithner, David Axelrod called on individuals to look past Geithner’s tax errors because Tim “inspires great confidence” and Rahm Emanuel called Geithner “the right man for the job.” 

Well, take a look what happens when the right man for the job, who inspires great confidence, speaks:

Obviously, that reflects the confidence of Wallst. 

Ford and GM see the car market stabilizing

Maybe my observation from two weeks ago was right after all…  I made the comment that I noticed a number of “new” cars on the road.  Well, a number of cars that had temporary license plates.  Despite having horrific sales in January, Ford and GM now say the automotive market is showing signs of stabilization.

Jim Farley, Ford Motor Co.’s global marketing chief, said Wednesday that seasonally adjusted retail sales demand has held steady for the past four months. Meanwhile, the country’s used car market has come “roaring back” since January.

“That shows me that credit’s available,” Farley said after a Ford presentation at the Chicago Auto Show. “When we’re seeing the kind of growth in the used car market that we’ve seen in the last six weeks, that is a really important milestone for the bottoming out of the industry.”

While new cars are not moving, it looks like the used car market MAY be picking up a bit.

Unless your head was buried in a pile of cocaine, or sand, whatever works for you, you know that the Big three automakers are really hurting these days and that pain really hit the market last week.

As Congress attempted to provide financial aid to the automotive industry some startling financial information became public – Ford has roughly 38 billion dollars on hand, or about three years of funding, where as GM has about 20 Billion, or one year worth, and Chrysler has 11B in the bank but no true estimate on how fast they are burning cash (since they are no longer public they do not need to disclose their financial information).

Rumors of bankruptcy, automotive collapse and a massive waive of unemployment was all over the press. It seemed that GM and Chrysler were about to fall apart overnight. While the misfortunes of Detroit have been documented for some time the rapid unwinding of the credit markets only added to woes of the carmakers. One rumor that received very little press, but actually makes business sense, was that GM was an acquisition target of Chinese carmakers SAIC and Dongfeng.

Little does most of the general U.S. public know but GM owns 35% of the Chinese automotive market share is considered to be a luxury brand! Let me put that in different terms – GM is a successful company in China. As SAIC and Dongfeng are attempting to expand market share in China and the U.S., plus achieve significant economies of scale, an acquisition of GM by a Chinese company only make good business sense.

If a Chinese rival acquired GM, do you think the companies’ workforce would be welcoming of their new overloads? Do you think the pride of individuals who get in the way, or do you think they would be happy for the survival of the “American” giant?

While I have no answer, I find such a scenario to be the ultimate irony for the financial crisis facing the United States today.