In this series, we take a look at the 25 stocks on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) that have turned in the worst performance during the past decade -- what went wrong, and what happens next.

Be honest -- when was the last time you dropped off a roll of film to be developed? If your response dates back to the 1990s, the unpleasant fate of Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) probably doesn't need too much explaining. The way we take pictures and use paper has shifted drastically in the past decade, and Eastman has struggled in its attempts to keep up (with more "struggling" than "keeping up" involved, nearly every step of the way).

What went wrong? At No. 11 on our list of SPX dawdlers, EK shed 80% of its value during from June 30, 1998 through June 30, 2008. The stock tapped an all-time high near $95 in early 1997; during the decade in question, the shares peaked at $88.94 in July 1998. It was to be the first in a long series of lower highs for EK as it cascaded down the charts.

Eastman Kodak entered 1998 with an aggressive turnaround plan. The elimination of 20% of EK's payroll was meant to help stem the tide of diminishing profits and market share for the one-time leviathan of photography; the company was floundering in the face of heightened competition from the likes of Fuji. EK also unloaded a chain of retail stores and non-core businesses, but a gradual increase in profits couldn't mask disappointing sales growth.

Continue reading Worst 10-year performers: Eastman Kodak battles the digital era

Worst 10-year performers: Eastman Kodak battles the digital era originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ringo Starr follows Paul and John on Apple's (AAPL) iTunes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

US Steel (NYSE: X) volatility Up on unconfirmed chatter that Atticus is building stake. X is recently down $3.18 to $89.49. Unconfirmed chatter is circulating that Atticus Capital has acquired a 10% stake in X. X September option implied volatility of 45 is above its 26-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) calls active as TIVO trades near 10-month high. TIVO, a digital video recorder provider, is recently up 64 cents to $7.01. TIVO has a market cap of $682 million. TIVO September 7.5 calls have traded 25 times on transaction volume of 1,300 contracts above its open interest of 435 contracts. TIVO September option implied volatility of 57 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional risk.

Brinker (NYSE: EAT) volatility up; EAT talking to investors about selling Macaroni Grill. EAT operates restaurant concepts including; Chili's, Macaroni Grill, Maggiono's & On the Border. Goldman Sachs says "EAT reported 4Q operating EPS of $0.57, ahead of our $0.47 estimate. The overage came largely from a lower tax rate, share count, and modest expense variance." Dow Jones reported EAT "is talking with a 'number of investors' about the possible sale of its Romano's Macaroni Grill chain." EAT September option implied volatility of 33 is above its 26-week average of 29 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Option update: US Steel's (X) volatility up on Atticus Capital rumors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading eBay, Yahoo!, Firefox, Facebook: This ain't good folks.

eBay, Yahoo!, Firefox, Facebook: This ain't good folks. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Jul 2007 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There may be many good reasons to own an iPhone from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Although I still haven't gotten my hands on one, I have been able to get a good look at some of what the device can do. Perhaps these aren't the ten best reasons, but they are ten good ones.

To the best of my knowledge, all of the photo gallery images that I'm providing here for you have been sent using the iPhone. Though I'm impressed, I did notice that the iPhone image quality declines slightly as light levels decrease, but it still does remarkably well for a phone. Yes folks, the attached gallery pictures were sent by mobile phones.

The gallery images are all at original resolutions and are all unretouched. If it is true that we can now take digital images of this quality and instantly download them to our favorite picture manager as well as e-mail them to anywhere in the world that we choose, it is my opinion that the makers of memory cards for digital cameras had better be working on some new product ideas, because I'm guessing that image data storage has just taken a turn for the best.

Please do enjoy the gallery.

Gallery: iphone mania

Ten reasons I want to own an iPhone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Jul 2007 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Chittenden Corp (NYSE: CHZ) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at AG Edwards based on the buyout news from People's United Financial (PBCT).

• Digital River (NASDAQ: DRIV) was downgraded to Hold from Buy, and its target was cut to $44, at Jeffries based on the weak Microsoft (MSFT) ramp and weakness in the Symantec (SYMC) transition.

• SMH Capital downgraded shares of Image Entertainment (NASDAQ: DISK) to Sell from Neutral and recommends investors take profits on the upside and sell shares.

• Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Matrix, as the firm believes fundamentals trends are turning negative; the firm sees limited upside from current levels.

• Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was removed from Goldman Sachs' Americas Conviction Buy List.

• Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Roth Capital Partners.

• Andrew Corp (NASDAQ: ANDW) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Oppenheimer.

• JP Morgan downgraded shares of SkyWest (NASDAQ: SKYW) to Underweight from Overweight and shares of Republic Airways Holdings (NASDAQ: RJET) to Neutral from Overweight.

Analyst downgrades 6-28-07: BBBY, DISK, DRIV and JNJ originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) figures it is not in enough businesses already, so it plans to offer a high-definition photo [subscription required] format to the world's camera industry. The old standard, the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) compression format, has been around awhile and may not be able to break down photos into small files as well as Microsoft can.

The move by MSFT is not unlike the one that it made into the video world five years ago. It offered its Windows Media video compression in place of the old MPEG-2 standard for breaking down video files for transmission.

Moving photos around the internet is a big business. Companies like PhotoBucket and Flickr would not exist if photos could not be broken down digitally and sent over IP. The Microsoft product offers the opportunity to do this with less bandwidth usage than the JPEG format.

There is a lot at stake. Research firm NPD Group said that digital camera sales hit $6.9 billion in 2006. The new software could be a blessing for that industry.

Microsoft does not want money for the new technology; it is part of Vista. The world's largest software company thinks this might drive consumers to adopt Vista faster. It may be right.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Microsoft wants to take your picture originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There's an interesting little website that I like to visit and lurk around called, FreeSoftwareMagazine.com . For the most part, those folks are talking waaaaay over my head, but I like to go there and read with the hope that something worth while might sink into this massively opinionated brain of mine. A wonderfully gifted writer over there has documented an opinion of his which really grabbed my attention. I'm thinking that this guy is giving us a look directly into where a major portion of the future of our tech world is going.

Jabari Zakiya is the author and what he is predicting the eventual demise of the CD and DVD. His claim is that as the costs related to flash drive data storage systems recede into a consumer affordable context, those drives shall come to replace the optical disc drives we are so familiar with. He states that he believes this will change the very design and nature of our PCs. He makes a compelling case in which I'm inclined to agree.

I suspect that companies such as Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE), Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Hewlett-PackardCo. (NYSE:HPQ) and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) are quite up to speed on this concept and the implications it entails. This could be an upcoming change with an impact similar to the changes in data presentation from analog to digital. I don't really think that flash drives will bring on the demise of the CDs we've come to know. I will, however, buy into the concept that the coming generations of computers are preparing to take on new systems and forms that we have only dreamed about up until now.

How far forward do you like to look? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Dec 2006 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

GE & NBC expect a billion in digital profits -- only the beginning? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Sep 2006 16:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.