Sales & Marketing

A Bailout by Any Other Name

If it looks like a duck, walks like duck, and quacks like a duck, chances are it's a bailout.

Discounted Kindles Tell a Story

And the price cuts keep coming.

Just three months after Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) shaved $40 off its Kindle e-book reader, it's back with a promotion to cut another $100 off the retail price.

A BOGO Stock Sale

It’s buy-one-get-one-free time, and not just in the aisles of American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) stores. The consumer-unfriendly economy has driven the retailer to feature BOGO 50% off jeans and T-shirt specials on its website right now. Yep, instead of full-price back-to-school gear, it’s all about bargains for this once high-flying teen retailer. And shoppers aren’t the only ones getting a deal. Investors can swipe the stock at a price that’s less than half of its 52-week high.

Casual Male Keeps Slimming Down

Being the big guy on the block hasn't helped big-and-tall retailer Casual Male (Nasdaq: CMRG) much in pulling in the big bucks. Despite a dearth of meaningful competition, the big-and tall retailer -- or "XL," as they prefer to call it nowadays -- reported flat sales of $113.5 million. Its $0.05 in earnings per share fell a penny below what it gained last year, but more or less met analysts' expectations.

Is It Time to Sell?

Lighten up ... rotate out ... take a little off the table.

Whatever you call it, it means "selling," and it's tricky business. So before you reach for the rip cord, ask yourself this:

Luxury real estate meets market realities

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Many U.S. luxury homes are facing the same fate as foreclosed properties, the sometimes painful reality check of the cash auction, realtors report.

It is rare for luxury homes to fall into foreclosure in normal market conditions, ABC News said Wednesday.

But, wealthy homeowners are turning to auction sales and taking their lumps, because buyers pay upfront, in cash, closing within 30 days of the auction.

An auction sale eliminates the chance -- during a severe credit crunch -- that the homeowner will be denied financing. But, high end properties are often selling for far less than the homeowners intended.

A 4-bedroom home in Scottsdale, Ariz., which was listed for $3.2 million, was put up for sale at auction with an opening bid of $1.5 million, ABC reported. Townhouses and condos in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with list prices between $450,000 and $650,00) have been selling at auction for $330,000.

Mitigating Mortgage Problems

It's becoming abundantly clear that Congress' attempt at housing reform isn't just wrong -- it's ultimately little more than grandstanding. Burglars have bigger windows of opportunity to slip through than do the borrowers the plan is ostensibly designed to help. But homeowners who aren't eligible for government aid still have a few solutions available.

Universal to Sell CDs in a New Form

LONDON: Universal Music Group is changing its CD pricing structure to bring down the price of older music releases in line with music download sites' pricing.

It has been reported that the lowest-price CDs will go on sale for about € 10, or under £ 7, while the DeLuxe version will retail for around € 20.

This puts the low-price CD at around the same price as an album download from iTunes.

Hooda's son makes political debut

Rohtak--Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's son Dipender is all set to make his foray into politics.