With close to 60 million users, Twitter is a force corporate marketing departments just can't ignore. The reach offered by this microblogging platform is profound, and skipping it means yielding digital turf to the competition.

Yet, as the country's major brands have flocked to Twitter, not all have mastered it. Some merely push headlines and deals, while others have used it as a way to open a dialogue with their customers, build relationships and ultimately grow their businesses. A study by The Big Money sought to determine the dozen companies that are mastering Twitter and why they are the masters.

Continue reading Tops on Twitter: 12 companies that are doing it right

Tops on Twitter: 12 companies that are doing it right originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Silicon Alley Insider has an interesting take on Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) The company has a market cap of $573 million. As of the last earnings report,, the company had $369 million in cash and $259 million in short-term investments. (A reader has correctly pointed out that Palm had a special dividend of $9 after the Q was filed and the company took on $400 million in debt)

Although the news is deeply insulting to Palm's board and management, it may make the company an excellent investment.

Palm runs close to breakeven. In the last quarter, it last $841,000 on $361 million in revenue. The company has brought in the former CFO of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), along with one of the executives who helped create the iPod.

With the company's balance sheet and market value being so close together, where is the risk in Palm? The answer is that there probably isn't much.

The ratio also makes the company a better talkover target. The net cost to buy the company is next to nothing.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Palm (PALM) stock worth less than its balance sheet? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) will begin an online technology TV show early next year.

The New York Times writes, "to be called TechTicker, the Web program will report exclusively on technology stocks, offering daily streaming-video segments and blog posts, as well as some live coverage of breaking news, said Brian Nelson, a spokesman for Yahoo." Hosts will include Henry Blodget of Silicon Alley Insider and blogger Paul Kedrosky.

The idea just may work, and it could offer some competition for the likes of CNBC and Fox Business Network. Internet consumers have become used to watching video online, particularly because of the success of YouTube. And, Yahoo! Finance and the portal's technology news section can certainly promote the new video news service by sending it a great deal of traffic.

The plan may also be a financial success. Video ads placed in online content tend to get much higher CPMs than display ads do. If some of the visitors to Yahoo! are willing to watch business and tech news presented in video instead of print, the online giant may be able to improve its ad yield.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Yahoo! to start online tech TV program originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.