Ed's Topics

New Apple TV New Features, but still no Amazon Prime App.

Visitors to Karl Marx's gravesite resent having to pay. Wall Street Journal article.

Would you allow auto insurance companies monitor your driving habits? For example, Allstate.

Adidas now offers 3-D printed shoes.

Inventor creates a beer cup that fills from the bottom potentially ending the beer line as we know it.

Ron's Topics

VW's Market Share Myth

Volkswagen's emission testing scandal was reported in The Economist, September 26, 2015, "A mucky business." One of the reasons cited was VW's desire to overtake Toyota as the world's largest auto manufacture.

The market share myth on parade. See our shows, The Top 10 Business Myths, Parts I and II, from September 26, 2014 and October 3, 2014 for more on this.

Interesting to note that cars carrying the VW badge make up 60% of sales but the profit margin on them is just 2%. VW obviously makes its profits from its other brands, including Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Lamborghini, etc.

Right to Try Laws Sweep the Country

Right to Try laws allow doctors to prescribe medication being safely used in clinical trials for patients diagnosed as terminally ill. These laws goes beyond the FDA's current "Compassionate Use" policy, allowing patients access to drugs that have passed Phase I clinical trials, since that exemption requires 100 physician hours of paperwork, hence only about 1,000 applications are approved annually.

Right to Try laws have passed in AZ, AK, CO, IN, LA, MI, MS, MO, MT, ND, SD, UT, VA, WY, and CA has a bill on the Governor Brown's desk. The FDA, so far, has not challenged these laws, and it's believed if it did, they'd lose in court--and in the court of public opinion.

Prediction Markets on the US Presidential Race

Check out the Iowa Electronic Market and PredictIt websites for, usually, more accurate predictions with respect to political races than pollsters.

eBay No Long an Auction Site

The Economist reported in its August 29, 2015 issue that eBay reports only 20% of its sales are made in an auction. Sixty percent are now a flat price and the rest are best offer.

Sage Small Business Awards US Prize Winner Interviewed

Michelle James, founder of Forever Cakes, is an entrepreneur with an inspiring story. Here is a picture of the cake she mentioned as here favorite. We have to admit, it is pretty amazing!