Read the article Obama Readies Push on Recovery Plan (Sahadi.  CNN.  1/5/2009) and answer the following questions:

1. How necessary is this plan to our current economic condition?

2. What part do you feel is the most important? Explain?

Post for Week #4 (10/26-11/1/2008)

Please read the article entitled "Finding the Right Franchise" by Marcia Wade (Black Enterprise, 2008) Answer the following questions.  Your initial post and response to at leat one student is due by Sunday, November 2, 2008.

1. Why is money only one of many factors when considering a franchise?
2. What other factors (besides those listed in the article) are important to consider to determine if a franchise is right for a person?

Please read this week's article entitled "A Legal Scramble Over Egg Prices" by clicking on the title.  Your initial post and response to at least one other student post is due by Sunday, 26 Oct 2008, by 11.59PM CST.

Be sure to address the following questions:

• What are the implications of restricting supply to fix pricing?  (Think about oil and other necessities).
• Is there ever a good reason to restrict supply?

Please read the article entitled MySpace Woos Small Business Ads (Heather Green.  BusinessWeek.com.  October 12, 2008).

• Do you think this will work?  Why or why not?
• How do you think the competitor Google will affect this new endeavor by MySpace? 

Please respond to this initial post and also one other blogger post by Saturday, Oct. 18. 2008. 

Please also remember that once you hit submit, your post will need to be approved by me, so only hit submit once as it may take a day for it to post once approved.  Thanks.

Dear students and companion bloggers:

To post a blog, click on "Post Comment" under the appropriate blog post.  It is important that you click on "post blog" right under the blog post that you wish to respond to.  

Once you click on this comment link, you will be brought to the blog window. It is important that you type your first and last name as well as your rasmussen email address as part of posting your blog.  This is especially important for my students as if I do not know you you are, then I cannot give you credit for your post.  Once you fill in the three fields; Name, Email, Message, you then enter the text shown in the text box.  You then hit submit.

Your blog will not show up right away, as it has to be approved my me.  I am going to check into see if there is a way for your blog to be posted in real time as soon as you hit "submit"; but in the meantime, your post will not show until I approve your comment.

To my students specifically:  When you respond to another student, you follow the same steps as posting to my blog as there is not a "sub-post" which would cause your comment to fall underneath the post of the student whom you are responding to.  Because of the way this posting system works, when responding to a fellow poster (student or other), please open your post by stating "In response to {first name last name}'s post: and then state your response.

Again, this is a brand new pilot project that I am incorporating into my business classes, so I appreciate your bearing with me as I work to refine and improve this process.  For you seasoned bloggers who are seasoned at posting to this site, please feel free to post any helpful feedback and suggestions to make this process more efficient and effective.

As always, please feel free to email me with questions at Matt.Gargano@rasmussen.edu.

Thanks!

With regards,

Matt

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:

This blog is open to all students, faculty, and staff.  I welcome and encourage a lively (and respectful) discussion of our current business issues!

To my business students:  You are required to complete this post as part of your week #1 assignments.  Please read the article (via the link by clicking on the article title) and make an initial post (responding to my questions) by Sunday, 12 October 2008 11.59PM (CST), and respond to at least two posts by Wednesday, 15 October 2008 (11.59PM CST).

Please read the article entitled Tough Day for Stocks (Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer, October 6, 2008) and answer the following questions for discussion:

• Based on the article, why do you think the market reacted the way it did based on Congress approving the $700 Billion bailout?
• At one point yesterday, the dow was down by 800 points and eventually rallied to close at under 300 points.  Please explain this market reaction.
• There are similarities between the way the market reacted last week when the bailout was not approved; and this week, based on Friday's approval of the bailout.  What factors account for these similarities?
• According to the reading "A CNN/Opinion Research poll showed that nearly 60% of Americans think a depression is likely".  Do you agree or disagree.  Please explain.

Please visit the article “At Freddie Mac, Chief Discarded Warning Signs” (Duhigg.  2008) and answer the following questions to spark a lively debate:

• The article reads “Richard F. Syron, the chief executive of Freddie Mac, says he had to balance the demands of shareholders and Congress.” (Duhigg.  2008)  Do you think this is an acceptable (and plausible) response in this situation?  Explain.
• Should Freddie Mac have been bailed out by the taxpayers?  Was the concept of “moral hazard” (look this concept up as it is not in the article) applied fairly?  Explain.
• Should CEO’s be held more accountable?  Explain.

Let me know what you think.

Please visit the article “The woman who called Wall Street’s Meltdown” (Birger.  2008) and answer the following questions to spark a lively debate: 

• The article reads “Whitney warned last year - and continues to warn today - that the "incestuous" relationship between the banks and the credit-rating agencies during the real estate bubble will have a long-lasting impact on banks' ability to recover.” (Birger.  2008)  Do you believe this statement to be accurate?  Explain.
• How much influence do you think rating analysts have over stock prices of companies they rate?  Explain.  What makes one analyst more influential than another?
• Will the new accounting rule FAS 141R be good for consumers or good for banks?  How about for the economy?  Do you think this rule will be properly enforced?

Let me know what you think.

Please read the visit  the article entitled “Falling Prices:  The downside” (Barr.  2008) and answer the following questions to spark a lively debate:

• How did oil prices climb this high?  Were these aggressive price increases truly a function of “real” supply and demand, or from artificial factors, such as market manipulation and fixed production? 
• Do you think oil prices will go substantially lower or substantially higher?  Explain. 
• Give best case scenario of impact of oil prices dipping to original prices of pre-$100 per barrel and also best case scenario if prices move the other way (above $150).

Let me know what you think.