Filed under: Productivity, Google, Mozilla, web 2.0

gDocsBar is a new sidebar extension for Firefox that gives you instant, always-on access to your entire collection of Google Documents. With built-in search and filtering, and easy browsing of your on the internet documents, gDocsBar will quickly become a “how did I do anything before this?” Firefox add-on.

Once installed, you’ll be prompted to login to your Google account (you do have one by now, don’t you?). Don’t worry about the vulnerability of your login information; the credentials are sent to Google directly over SSL.

Now that you’re logged in, you’ll see a list of your Google Documents, including Spreadsheets and Presentations. You’ve the option to sort them by date, title, or author, in ascending or descending order. There are also tabs for each type of Google Doc, so that, if you so select, you can see only one type of document at a time. All your documents are instantly searchable by name, author, or content.

Uploading documents to Google Docs has never been easier than with gDocsBar. Simply drag and drop a file to the upload section at the bottom of the gDocsBar sidebar, and the file is instantly uploaded. Word to the wise: it has to be a file type that Google Docs supports, or else you’ll run into errors.

If you’re a steady user of Google Docs and Firefox, this is a no-brainer.

[via Webware]

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Marketing and advertising

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) Chief Executive Jerry Yang is going to have to convince investors that the company he helped found in 1995 still matters when it reports fourth quarter results later today. It’s not going to be simple.

The most visited Web site is expected to report its eighth straight quarter of declining profit. according to Bloomberg News. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are expecting an average profit of 11 cents on revenue of $1.41 billion. Expectations, to put it kindly, are real low.

The view of Sanford Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay quoted by Bloomberg that Yahoo “just isn’t generating anything like the resources they need to really stay in the game” is typical. Yahoo shares have plunged more than 27% over the past year.

Unfortunately, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) isn’t the only company taking a bite out of Yahoo which trails the search engine giant in every conceivable metric. Social networking sites such as Facebook continue to siphon away young users coveted by advertisers as are smaller niche sites, forcing Yahoo to offer rate discounts to advertisers.

But there are a few reasons to remain optimistic.

Yahoo continues to attract a big audience which advertisers can’t ignore. In an economic downturn, advertisers may shift dollars away from traditional media to the portal because it is so cost effective. Any improvement in its search market share would help its bottom line even if it continues to fall short of Google. Yahoo also is in the midst of trimming costs including layoffs.

Maybe, a leaner more focused Yahoo will emerge once the dust settles. Then again, investors have waited for a Yahoo turnaround for a long time and their patience is wearing thin.

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Filed under: Products and services, Marketing and advertising, Stocks to Buy

The market’s choppy / consolidating pattern continues, suggesting the need for an additional defensive play or two (or perhaps more), and with this as a backdrop, Ecolab is worth a review.

Ecolab (NYSE: ECL) is a global supplier of cleaning, sanitizing, and maintenance products and services for the hospitality, institutional, and industrial markets.

Analysts anticipate the company’s domestic institutional, Kay, food & beverage, health care, and pest elimination units to continue to expand. Revenue is expected to increase a healthy 10-13% in 2008.

Further, international sales should continue to be strong, with better-than-adequate margins. Overall costs remain reasonable, even with higher raw material costs. In short, it’s a largely positive commercial landscape for ECL, bolstered by favorable international economic conditions. The Reuters F2007/F2008 EPS consensus estimates for Ecolab are $1.66/$1.90.

The risks? Ecolab remains vulnerable to unexpected slowdowns in the hospitality, travel, and food service sectors. Analysts also have their on those aforementioned raw material costs, and ECL’s capability to launch successful new products.

The First Call mean rating for ECL is: Purchase. [16 firms.] Mean 2008 target: $56.00. [high: $60, low: $51.]

Stock Analysis: Ecolab is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Investors with an investment horizon longer than 2 years should be rewarded from ECL’s shares. Sell / Stop Loss if you were to buy shares in this company: $28.

Disclosure: Lazzaro has no positions in stocks. In addition to private real estate holdings, he owns corporate and municipal bonds, and cash certificates of deposit.

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UPDATE 1-Constellation ready to break ground on nuke in ‘08
Forbes - It is also ready to file its loan application to finance the project with the Department of Energy by early Might, said Michael Wallace, chief executive of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, at the EXNET Utility M&A Conference in New York.

RBI leaves personal finance untouched
Times of India - MUMBAI: Good news, however small, is always welcome. The Reserve Bank of India didn’t do a US Fed, as was widely expected. The banking regulator has left its key policy rates untouched in its policy review on Tuesday. That means it is status quo for

Rogue Traders a Nightmare Scenario for Finance CEOs
ABC News - Well, Kerviel told investigators that he believes his bosses were well aware of his risk taking but turned a blind eye as long as he earned money, a judicial official stated Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. “I can’t believe that my superiors

UK says finance ministers to take forward details on tackling
Forbes - LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Specific proposals on how to tackle the global financial crisis should be taken forward by G8 finance ministers when they meet in Japan next month, stated British Prime Gordon Brown’s spokesman Michael Ellam. Speaking ahead

Who’s Blogging
Washington Post - The Senate Finance Committee will take up its own version of the stimulus package tomorrow, which shrinks most of the tax checks to $500 but offers them to virtually everyone, including poor seniors and rich families left out of the Home bill. The

U.S. Home passes $146 billion stimulus plan
Forbes - The bill next goes to the Senate, where Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, is offering an substitute that would provide a flat $500 rebate to all eligible people, $1,000 for couples and $300 per child. (Reporting by Donna

McCain, Romney Vie to Capture Momentum in Florida (Update2)
Bloomberg - Florida Say Representative Trey Traviesa, who introduced Romney at the event, singled out McCain’s willingness to work with Democrats on issues such as overhauling campaign finance law, immigration and global warming. “Too many times McCain has

Business events scheduled for Wednesday
Boston Globe - WASHINGTON — Senate Finance Committee hearing on the economic stimulus proposal. SEATTLE — Amazon.com Inc. releases fourth-quarter financial results. CHICAGO — Boeing Co. releases fourth-quarter financial results. ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Eastman Kodak Co.

House passes US economic recovery package
International Herald Tribune - That plan, written by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, would deliver checks even to the richest taxpayers, who are disqualified under the House-passed measure. Both versions would provide tax breaks to businesses to spur equipment and

For FPL, it’s garbage in, power out
Miami Herald - Business Monday | National | International | Personal Finance | Technology | Small Business | Friday Business Report Food | Health | Home BY JOHN DORSCHNER jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com Florida Power & Light isn’t quite making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but

How To Dig Out Yahoo!’s Treasures
Forbes - Newspapers are organized in sections: news, including politics, business and finance; sports; and classifieds, including real estate, personals, jobs and autos. On weekends, highlights include travel, arts and entertainment. And, at least until the

Senator Warns of Rebate Loans
Newsday - Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., at a Finance Committee confirmation hearing for President Bush’s choice to head the Internal Revenue Service, stated he was worried that people eager to get their rebate checks early will turn to so-called refund anticipation

Commanders see long operation in Mosul
Miami Herald - Business Monday | National | International | Personal Finance | Technology | Small Business | Friday Business Report Food | Health | Home The top U.S. commanders in northern Iraq predicted Tuesday the battle to oust al-Qaida in Iraq from its last urban

TheStreet.com University : Personal Finance
Street.Com - Editor’s note: This is a special excerpt from TheStreet.com Ratings’ Ultimate Guided Tour of Stock Investing. Other Beginner’s Guides cover stock basics , market indices , diversification , financial goals , risk tolerance and growth and income

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Filed under: Business, Internet, E-mail, Productivity, Web services, Google

Registering domain names and enabling your managing those domains is what a registrar should do. Making those tasks logical and intuitive is gravy for personal users but is the deal-breaker for small business. It still amazes us that businesses register domains based solely on price without foreseeing the nickel-and-diming a registrar does or worse, prevent you from fully managing your domain. You probably won’t find out the hidden costs until you’re ready to launch your new Web site.

If you have a single fun or personal domain, skip this article. If you’re in business with an on the internet presence, there are five services a registrar should provide without charging extra. But first, let’s speak about price.

Low price is no longer the decision-maker
Domain registration varies from about $8 to $35 per year but rock-bottom pricing can no longer be your sole criterion. It’s bait-and-switch: you get the domain for a low price but you’re charged to do everyday tasks. Look beyond the price and itemize the services that you can do for free at a low-cost registrar. A low registration price does not guarantee you’re going to get services you need without paying per additional service. As managers of almost a thousand domains, this is our list of the five can’t-live-without features a registrar must include in the registration price.

Continue reading Five Services to Anticipate from Your Registrar (or get a new one)

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Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Productivity, Mozilla, Browser Tips, web 2.0

Why do we assume we only get one homepage? For those willing to explore the potential of their browser, we’d like to show you a little out-of-the-box thinking in the form of Morning Coffee.

Though Firefox can set a series of tabs as your “homepage” (select “Use Current Pages” from the preferences menu), this free add-on (shout out to all the free software coders out there) gives you the capability to choose when to open which homepage.

State, for example, you like to read the NYTimes on days when you work, but you prefer Google Reader on Saturdays and your church’s weekly bulletin on Sunday mornings. This program, as you may have already assumed, does just that.

[via gHacks]

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Filed under: Marketing and advertising, Books

Among investment gurus, Ken Fisher is undoubtedly one of the ideal. The Only Three Questions that Count is one of the best investment books to come out in recent memory, he has put together an astounding track record with Fisher Investments, and he’s even on the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans.

So why, Ken, must you promote yourself with all the subtlety of a late-night no-money-down infomercial guru?

Just once, I would like to be able to log on to Forbes.com without having to smash my speakers to silence your pitch for your firm.

I feel like a lot of serious, smart investors skip Ken Fisher because they’re so turned off by the incessant marketing… we associate that kind of relentless pitching with charlatans, which Ken Fisher is most certainly not.

So the purpose of this post is two-fold: if you haven’t read Ken Fisher’s book, you really ought to go purchase it. It’s 58% off on Amazon. And if you’re Ken Fisher, please think about hiring a new, more nuanced marketing firm.

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Filed under: Products and services, Marketing and advertising, Hershey Co (HSY)

The relationship between Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) and Wall Street has been sour for a while. Shares of the chocolate maker have plunged more than 30% over the past year amid concerns about rising commodity prices and the growth of healthier eating habits. Now, the confectioner is raising wholesale prices by an average of 13% on one-third of its domestic product line effective immediately [subscription required].

Chocoholics are paying the price for higher costs for raw materials, fuel, utilities, and transportation.

The move comes less than a week after the Pennsylvania company reported lousy fourth quarter results and gave investors disappointing guidance. In addition, the No. 1 candy maker recently bowed to pressure from law enforcement officials and said it would stop making Ice Breakers Pacs mints after some complaints that the candy might be mistaken for heroin or cocaine.

Yet another reason for people to eat healthy.

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Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT), Starbucks (SBUX), Marketing and advertising, Recession

The economy may not be in recession yet, and there’s a minor chance it will avoid one in 2008, but marketers/advertisers seem to be in ‘recession-mode,’ regarding the tone of their ads, The New York Times reported Monday.

Along with Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), the Times cited several corporations that have taken a ‘tougher times ahead’ approach with ads. These include Capital One (NYSE: COF), “Uncertain times call for a certain rate,” Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), which is testing a $1 coffee in Seattle, Washington, and Nissan (NASDAQ: NSANY), which is emphasizing the fuel economy of its 2008 Altima, rather than the car’s styling and performance.

Stephen Quinn, Wal-Mart’s chief marketing officer, told the Times, “When gas prices spiked last spring, we saw the pressure this put on our core customers.”

Economic Analysis: With major ad markets in California and Florida bearing a huge portion of the housing sector’s slump, it’s not surprising that corporations have modified ad campaigns to emphasize the money-saving / better value nature aspects of their products and services. But one should not equate this with Corporation America believing a recession is ahead. Ad tweaking indicates that a corporation doesn’t anticipate a robust year in its sector, and is adjusting its operational stance.

A superior indicator of Corporate America’s view of the economy? Staff hiring. If dozens of corporations announce that they’re laying off employees, that’d be an indication that a economic contraction is likely.

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Filed under: Blogs, Marketing and advertising, Target Corp. (TGT)

Today’s New York Times takes a look at Target (NYSE: TGT) and what can only be described as its arrogant attitude towards bloggers.

ShapingYouth.org sent an e-mail to the company, criticizing an ad Target was running that featured a woman lying on a Target logo with the bullseye centered on her crotch. Target responded by saying that, “Unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets.”

Wow! That kind of arrogance reminds me of Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) — isn’t Target supposed to be hip and chic? You’d think it would be up on what a powerful force bloggers are becoming.

A policy of not responding to blogs makes no sense at all. Companies should respond to questions from any potential customer.

Target explained to the New York Times that the ad was a woman making a snow angel, suggesting that it wasn’t meant to be provocative. From looking at the ad, and despite the retailer’s attitude, I’m actually inclined to agree.

Target could have saved itself a lot of trouble by just writing back to the blogger, explaining the idea behind the ad. Instead, the company’s PR team is now answering the same question from the New York Times, and wasting further time defending its asinine policy of not responding to blogs.

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