Will Street follow boxoffice pattern? -- As the wave of quarterly earnings reports from big media and entertainment companies is set to start in earnest with Sony Corp.'s latest figures, Wall Street observers are hoping for new insight into how the much-discussed advertising, boxoffice and DVD sales trends are affecting the financial performance of sector giants. Amid much recent gloom and doom talk, as well as weak first-half stock trading momentum, however, many wonder if anything can turn investors more bullish on the sector over the near-term. According to analysts, second-quarter earnings figures from such media giants as Time Warner and Viacom Inc. are unlikely to inspire much enthusiasm, while the Walt Disney Co. and News Corp. should provide some of the strongest quarterly reports.
Try to imagine this scenario, that General Motors and Ford were given exclusive franchises to build America's interstate highway system, and also all the highways that connect local communities. Now imagine that, based upon a financial crisis, these troubled companies decided to convert all "their" local arteries into toll-roads -- they then use incremental toll fees to severely limit all travel to and from small businesses. Why? This handicapping process reduced the need to invest in building better new roads, or repairing the dilapidated ones. But, wouldn't that short-sighted decision have a detrimental impact on the overall national economy? It's a moot point -- pure fantasy -- you say. The U.S. political leadership would never knowingly risk the nation's social and economic future on the financial viability of a restrictive duopoly. Or, would they? The 21st century Global Networked Economy travels across essential broadband infrastructure. The forced intro...