EchoStar Technologies L.L.C, a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), today announced its entry into the cable industry with the introduction of CableLabs Certified® DOCSIS® 2.0 SlingModem at CableNET® in New Orleans, La. Earlier this year, EchoStar Corporation™ spun-off from DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH), retaining its set-top box business and certain infrastructure assets. EchoStar purchased Sling Media last fall and is now pursuing OEM relationships with cable operators worldwide.

via news.ecoustics.com

Stock index futures eased on Tuesday, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street with merger and acquisition activity in focus as Hewlett-Packard engages in talks to buy Electronic Data Systems. At 4:51 a.m. EDT (0851 GMT), index futures for the S&P 500 had fallen 0.2 percent, Dow Jones industrial average futures eased 0.1 percent and Nasdaq futures fell 0.2 percent. The indicative Dow Jones index dropped 1.1 percent. European shares were broadly unchanged while Asian markets gave a broadly firmer performance.

via reuters.com

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts. When it comes to multi-bladed disposable razors, how many blades is enough? In the long-standing rivalry between the two biggest brands of disposable razors, the current answer seems to be five. For now. The Gillette company, which in 2005 became part of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), invented the safety razor in 1895, as well as the first razor marketed to women in 1916.

via bloggingstocks.com

Cambodia's prime minister sought Monday to allay fears that the planned creation of a cartel of rice-exporting countries in Asia could hurt countries who must buy the grain. Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej raised the possibility of such a grouping during a visit last week from his counterpart from Myanmar, another rice-exporting nation. Thailand is the world's biggest rice exporter. Such a grouping "is not intended to put a stranglehold on countries facing rice shortages."

via iht.com

Oil prices rose Monday, supported by weekend news of an attack on a Nigerian oil installation, but with gains limited by a stronger U.S. dollar. Royal Dutch Shell PLC spokesman Precious Okolobo said Saturday that attackers hit a flow station belonging to Shell's joint venture in southern Nigeria and that some oil production had been shut down. He gave no further details. Flow stations are intersections for pipelines carrying oil from wells to export terminals.

via chron.com

Amazon.com is suing New York over a new law that requires out-of-state online companies to collect sales tax from shoppers in New York. "We are challenging the constitutionality of the recently enacted legislation in New York," Amazon spokeswoman Patricia Smith said.
Officials estimated the state would gain about $50 million by requiring Internet giants such as Amazon.com to collect state sales tax. New Yorkers, like residents of many states, are currently on an honor system to report their online spending when they file state tax returns.

via businessweek.com

Gold traded near its lowest in four months, almost erasing this year's gains after the dollar's rally to a five-week high against euro eroded the precious metal's appeal as an alternative asset. Bullion has plunged 18 percent from its March 17 record of $1,032.70 an ounce. The dollar headed for its first back-to-back weekly gains this year against the euro on speculation the Federal Reserve will halt its interest-rate cuts. The central bank lowered the benchmark rate to 2 percent on April 30.

via bloomberg.com

Oil prices retreated further Friday from the early-week record near $120 a barrel as a strengthening U.S. dollar prompted investors to exit the market. As the greenback has recovered this week against the euro and yen, the front-month crude futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange has dropped nearly $8 from its high to benchmark oil's lowest level since April 14. The rise of the dollar has stripped away some of oil's appeal to investors who have been betting that the greenback would continue to falter.

via chron.com

Shareholders of Macrovision Corp. and Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. have approved Macrovision's takeover of Gemstar for about $2.3 billion in cash and stock, the companies said Tuesday. The deal calls for Macrovision to pay $6.35 per share, or 0.2548 Macrovision shares for every one Gemstar share. The companies expected the deal to close Friday. Gemstar-TV Guide said in a statement that more than 90 percent of its shareholders approved the takeover, while Macrovision said its shareholders also gave the go-ahead.

via businessweek.com

The Garmin technology is a dream when you know how to use it, but it can turn into a dangerous nightmare if you don't have command of the knobs, buttons and system logic before you get in the air. The King Schools Garmin 430/530 computer-based interactive video course can help you get the full utility and power from your Garmin. The course serves up short video snippets with close-up, finger-to-button demonstrations that make it easy to see the actions. Video snippets are followed by King's procedures trainer, which lets you put what you have just learned into practice right away, reinforcing your learning.

via avweb.com

Even with crude oil prices setting records almost daily and natural gas prices firming nicely, it's a fact of life that oilfield services companies that bring in a big portion of their bacon from producing horizons in the U.S. can generate varying levels of sizzle. Take BJ Services (NYSE: BJS) and Smith International (NYSE: SII), for instance. Houston-based BJ watched its results slip in the most recent quarter on the basis of weak domestic contract prices. Furthermore, the company doesn't foresee an imminent reversal of that trend. However, Smith -- what a fabulous and imaginative name for a company! -- was still able to gin out an almost 15% increase in net income for the quarter.

via fool.com

Gold rose from a three-week low in Asia underpinned by increased demand from jewelry makers after the precious metal dropped below $900 an ounce. Jewelry demand has been dropping since the third quarter in 2007 as buyers pared purchases after prices rallied to a record $1032.70 an ounce on March 17. Gold fell below $900 on April 23 for the first time since April 3. ``There has been a bit of physical demand coming back to the gold market,'' Wallace Ng, chief trader for precious metals in Asia at Fortis Bank, said by telephone from Hong Kong. ``And some Japanese buyers have been accumulating gold as the dollar is appreciating against yen in the past week.''

via bloomberg.com

A trademark for canola-based biodiesel fuel that was the subject of an awkward industry tug of war a year ago is seldom seen because few U.S. retailers are selling the fuel. The Northern Canola Growers Association landed the Biola trademark last fall. The group had invested about $4,500 in a logo and planned to make it available for free to any U.S. canola biodiesel marketer who met product quality specifications. Association director Barry Coleman said this week that no one is using the logo.

via chron.com

Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) will soon begin to offer music from artists at Sony BMG (a 50/50 joint venture between Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) and privately-held Bertelsmann AG) on the company's music phones, reports Reuters. The addition of the second largest music company to top label Universal Music Group gives listeners and phone buyers access to tracks and the ability to keep those tracks even if they do not renew the program (or, if Nokia and the labels do not renew the agreements). "Comes with Music" will launch later this year on a number of different Nokia devices in select markets.

via bloggingstocks.com

Gold prices rose Tuesday after the dollar slumped to a new low against the euro and crude oil spiked to near $120 — inflationary moves that boosted the metal's appeal as an alternative investment. Other commodities joined in the rally, with everything from copper to heating oil and agriculture futures trading higher. The euro surged above $1.60 for the first time Tuesday after European officials warned of possible interest rate hikes to curb rising inflation. The 15-nation euro reached as high as $1.6018 before easing back to $1.5980 in afternoon trading, still above the $1.5916 it bought late Monday.

via chron.com

The next generation of new cars and trucks will need to meet a fleet average of 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015, the Bush administration proposed Tuesday, seeking more fuel-efficient vehicles in the face of high gasoline prices and concerns over global warming. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters outlined the plan on Earth Day, setting a schedule that was more aggressive than initially expected by the auto industry. It responds to a new energy law that requires new cars and trucks, taken as a collective average, to meet 35 mpg by 2020.

via chron.com

The Dow was down as much as 150 points today as oil rose, the dollar fell and corporate earnings were mixed at best. As of 1:15, the Dow is at 12,684, down 140. Bad news for the equities markets seems to be popping up just about everywhere you look. Not even good earnings from McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) could cut through the gathering economic gloom, and Mickey D's is down on lower same store sales despite the good earnings news. Oil flirted with a record $120 a barrel, while gold was up $6 to $924. Banks are still looking deeply troubled as the housing market bubble keeps deflating.

via bloggingstocks.com

For life, death and everything in between in South Korea, Samsung is there. It can even make you more marriageable.
The Samsung Group is the country's largest conglomerate and has its hands in maternity wards and funeral halls, memory chips and supertankers as well as credit cards and life insurance. On Tuesday, the man who ran the group for over 20 years, Lee Kun-hee, said he was stepping down after being indicted for tax evasion and breach of trust.
Lee's Samsung has been a constant in the lives of Koreans over the past two decades as the country moved to open democracy, emerged as one of the biggest economies in Asia and a global producer of high-end consumer goods.

via reuters.com

Texas Instruments Inc.'s first-quarter profit and sales were almost exactly what Wall Street expected, but the company's comments about a weak market for chips used in high-end mobile phones sent its shares lower. Company executives said chip inventories had grown too large and might take six to nine months to work down, partly by trimming production. And they set second-quarter profit and revenue targets that were below analysts' forecasts, blaming weaker demand for chips used in wireless devices, especially high-end mobile phones. Texas Instruments announced after stock markets closed Monday that it earned $662 million.

via chron.com

The stock market has reacted well to the recent stream of glum earnings. But this week, Wall Street faces an even bigger flood of first-quarter results, and as General Electric Co.'s bleak report earlier this month showed, bad earnings can even hurt a stock market with low expectations. Out of the 30 components that make up the Dow Jones industrial average, Bank of America Corp., American Express Co., Merck & Co., McDonald's Corp., AT&T, DuPont, Boeing Co., 3M Co. and Microsoft Corp. will be reporting quarterly results this week. Other big technology players besides Microsoft — notably Yahoo Inc. and Apple Inc.

via chron.com