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Barnes & Noble Struggles to Find a Buyer

barnes and noble searches for buyerBookseller Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS) has been hoping to find a potential buyer, but it appears as though its search will end with no buyer.

The book seller has been searching for months for a potential buyer, and the search will likely continue for a couple more weeks, but people close to the bidding process have stated that it looks unlikely that the company will be able to find a buyer.

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Short City Update: McGraw-Hill

Diversified publisher McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (MHP), first discussed here on December 8, 2010 at a price of $36, remains a short play with potential.

McGraw will likely to face a challenging 2011. McGraw-Hill's education segment will face an increasing sluggish textbook market, as public school systems -- particularly those in poorer U.S. school districts K-12 -- continue to belt-tighten in every way possible, due to state and local budget cutbacks. Translation: use existing textbooks longer, and increase use of the used-book market.

Continue reading Short City Update: McGraw-Hill

Barnes & Noble Loss Wider Than Expected, Shares Drop

Shares of bookseller Barnes & Noble (BKS) traded sharply lower in the opening minutes of the trading session after the company reported disappointing second quarter results.

Going into this morning's earnings report, analysts had expected a loss of 8 cents per share for the quarter. BKS reported a much worse loss of 22 cents per share.

Continue reading Barnes & Noble Loss Wider Than Expected, Shares Drop

Barnes & Noble: Too Speculative For Me

When there's uncertainty to a thesis, I'm not inclined to buy. That might seem obvious on the surface, but I know there are a lot of individual speculators out there who would disagree with me. Take a roll of the dice, they might say. Uncertainty can lead to huge gains, they might counter. Well, it depends on the situation, I suppose. In the case of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (BKS), I think I'll take my chances elsewhere.

At the time of this writing, shares of the bookseller were off by more than 4% in the afternoon session, coming in at $14.36. Volume wasn't yet above average, however.

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Google Convicted of Copyright Infringement in France

Friday morning, a Parisian court convicted Google (GOOG) in a copyright infringement case surrounding the online publication of French books. The French judge ruled that Google has to pay roughly $430,000 in damages and interest to French publishing house La Martiniere.

In addition, Google was ordered to pay 10,000 euro per day until the French books are taken down from the online database. This decision is notable because publishers and libraries in both the U.S. and Europe have criticized Google for its decision to scan millions of books and make them available online.

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Walmart, Amazon now slash DVD prices: What's next?

Santa hasn't even been tugged down Central Park West yet, and Wal-Mart (WMT) is already slashing its prices. The market among major retailers is intensifying, with many offering products as loss leaders in order to entice customers into the store (physical or otherwise) and boost their basket sizes. Along with Target (TGT) and Amazon (AMZN), Walmart is slashing DVD prices, the same tactic it's using with books.

Retailers are rushing to undercut each other this year, which is causing prices to spiral down quickly. When Walmart announced reduced prices on several titles to $10, Amazon followed at $9.99, with Walmart stepping back in at $9.98.

Continue reading Walmart, Amazon now slash DVD prices: What's next?

Scholastic's Q1 doesn't cast magic spell -- or does it?

Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the publisher of the Harry Potter books, issued its first-quarter numbers on Thursday. Although things do seem to be improving, I can't say I was wholly enchanted by the data.

Net sales from continuing operations rose 14%. Okay, that's a good start. Double-digit rises are always respectable. But then we get to the bottom line. Scholastic, which is a related business to McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP), lost 68 cents per share from continuing operations. Now, sure, the loss was considerably less severe than the year-ago black ink of $1.13 per share. But I always get nervous when I read about losses. Can't help it.

Continue reading Scholastic's Q1 doesn't cast magic spell -- or does it?

Google buys ReCatpcha to help in faster book scanning

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) stated its intention to buy a website fraud prevention company in order for it to more effectively scan books and publications into digital form for its massive (and controversial) Google Books initiative.

Continue reading Google buys ReCatpcha to help in faster book scanning

Barnes & Noble struggles with comps in the second quarter

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), a bookseller that competes with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP), issued a Q2 earnings report on Thursday morning that in no way makes me want to invest in the company. As far as I'm concerned, the retailer has a lot of work to do, and I wouldn't want to involve my portfolio with a business that is still trying to find its way.

Barnes & Noble earned 14 cents per share on an adjusted basis. Earnings.com reports an expectation of 10 cents per share. So management went beyond projections. Should shareholders be content with such news and call it a day?

Continue reading Barnes & Noble struggles with comps in the second quarter

Borders wins the earnings game, but it's still a loser in my book

Borders Group (NYSE: BGP), a book retailer that competes with Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), reported fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, and I'm happy to say that they beat analyst projections! I'm sad to say, however, that beating the analysts doesn't make me want to buy this awful stock.

According to this news source, Borders delivered adjusted income equal to $1.05 per share. The market was looking for $0.95 per share. Beating by a dime is a pretty wide margin and something to celebrate. If you're a healthy company, that is. Borders is not a healthy company. It's had all kinds of problems. For instance, Zac Bissonnette recently reported on the bookseller's debt problems and how it needed to secure a loan to stay running. Elizabeth Harrow discussed the terrible holiday-selling season and the replacement of the CEO back in January. And there have been workforce reductions.

Continue reading Borders wins the earnings game, but it's still a loser in my book

Will you be buying George W. Bush's book?

We've all been wondering what President Bush would do after leaving office with the lowest approval ratings in history and now we have our answer: He's writing a book.

"I want people to understand the environment in which I was making decisions. I want people to get a sense of how decisions were made and I want people to understand the options that were placed before me," he told the Associated Press.

Continue reading Will you be buying George W. Bush's book?

Condoleezza Rice signs a three-book deal

The publishing industry might be in the toilet, but former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is doing just fine.

The Associated Press reports that the former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has signed a three-book deal with Crown Publishers that guarantees her at least $2.5 million. The first book will be a memoir of her years in the Bush Administration, followed by a book about her family, followed by a young-adult version of her life story.

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Long term investments: The (bright) future of publishing

It can be hard to tell the difference between a revolution and a fad, or a game-changing innovation and the latest toy. With that in mind, it isn't surprising that so many people have failed to recognize Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Kindle for what it truly is: the first bold step in what will likely become the salvation of publishing.

Frankly, it's easy to overlook the Kindle. At more than $300, it is prohibitively expensive for many consumers in today's market; further, as Bloggingstocks columnist Joseph Lazzaro notes, there is nothing quite like curling up with a nice book, and the current Kindle doesn't quite make the grade. The little reader suffers from a too-small screen, a too-high price tag, and is an insufficient translator of the holistic "reading experience" that true bibliophiles adore.

Continue reading Long term investments: The (bright) future of publishing

Can Pooh pull publishing out of the crapper?

The first authorized sequel to A.A. Milne's beloved Winnie the Pooh series will make its debut this year. David Benedictus's "Return to the Hundred Acre Wood" will be in stores on October 5. Dutton Children's Books is the publisher, and executive Don Weisberg says the book will be a "huge seller for a long, long time."

To its credit, Milne's estate has carefully guarded the character -- they could have easily cashed in for millions years ago by authorizing sequel after sequel. That Mr. Benedictus was finally the one who convinced them would seem to suggest that the book will be quite good.

According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "The troubled book industry, in need of titles that will pull readers into the stores, will get a much-needed jolt" from the title.

I somehow doubt that Winnie will be a big enough hit to provide much relief to booksellers. But he's a hard guy not to root for.

Are books doomed?

There are times when technology displaces existing products and services, and times when it augments or supports existing products and services.

Further, while there is little doubt that online news and publishing is displacing newspapers and magazines - - it's at minimum forcing them to revise their missions and alter business models - - the same can not be said, at least at this stage of the digital age, regarding the Internet's impact on books.

Try curling up with a good computer screen

Initially, critics and other observers declared 'the end of books' - - that readers would gravitate toward reading books on computer screens. Reading a book on a computer screen?

Thankfully, the initial panic that gripped book publishers soon faded after what was clear to anyone who reads books became clear to publishing executives during a calmer moment: that the experience of reading a printed book in a traditional setting (such as in your favorite chair in a living room or study, or even on an outdoor deck / patio) is vastly superior to reading a book on a flat panel screen. Try curling up with a good computer screen.

Continue reading Are books doomed?

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