text:
Results 71 to 80 of 86
local fish stores
i agree with all points made. Do your own research first.If you do go to the lfs try and go in the week when everyone is at work so you can spend more time with the employee who is selling and if you are not happy with that person, ask for someone with more experience or find a lfs that actually cares for what they actually sell. It is our right to be informed and ask the questions about care and not to make big corparations bottom line, they need us as we need them.
I agree with Lady Hobbs. I was using a pet store at the start of my tank cycle and wish I hadn't relied so much on them to give me advice. (I haven't started up a tank for quite a while, and never one so small, so I wanted to make sure I was getting it right)
They didn't know much about keeping fish. They've had training, but most don't remember it. To them it's just a job, which is a real shame because it's a great job!
I've switched to a local aquatic centre to buy my stock, and they seem okay, but I'm also researching the topics for myself.
AC has been great at easing my concerns about my tiny tank and I've had great advice, now it is going great.
I regret going into it without 'reading the book first', I won't be making that mistake again.
And....I wish I'd come here sooner :)
I hate to chime in late- but I do have a few thoughts on this subject. I am recently a rube in that I went to the lfs, asked many questions, took their advice and came home with a 10 gallon tank and eight fish with no information on cycling. The onus is on me to do the research, I know that now and that is why I've probably spent 20 hours this weekend doing research on how to correct my situation.
However, my lfs has a lady whose sole job is fish keeping. She also has her own small business caring for other people's fish, including my employer. My boss has a beautiful 90 gallon tank in her office that this woman has cared for the 7 years I've worked there. I would assume that she is knowledgeable regarding fish. When I went to the lfs, and asked for this woman, it was under the impression that she was a fish expert. When she told me I needed at least eight fish I told her which kind I wanted and she told me not to get all of one kind (even though they were schooling fish). I took her on her word. My mistake, but that leads me to my next thought.
I live in a kind of foodie town with a wine industry. We have some 130 wineries with a population of 30,000.00. When I go into a tasting room to buy a bottle of wine, I absolutely expect the employee to know where the grapes were grown, what the wine tastes like, what I should pair it with and how I should store it. That is basic. The same with food shops. When I go into a cheese shop I absolutely expect the employee to know what to pair with my cheese, what temperature to store it at, what temperature to eat it at, and even what animal's milk it came from and what region.
However, there is a terribly funny episode of Portlandia where a couple goes into a restaurant and are trying to decide whether to order the chicken or fish, and ask the waitress what the chicken's name was, was it happy, what were it's hobbies, where did it come from and then went to said farm, came back to the restaurant and started asking about the fish. Very very funny. Consumers need to be more educated, and store's need to be more honest when portraying themselves as experts.
09-10-2012, 03:04 PM #74Junior Member Guppy
- Join Date
- Sep 2012
- Posts
- 4
awesome thread
this topic spans lots of shops not just aquariums. in the end theyre all salesmen wanting to sell you something! dont get me wrong i like talking about stuff especially with the cute fish store girl "can i get some sea snails please? the ones at the bottom " but when its about what i do with my money... 20$ for the smallest algae magnet!?!? tech stores too! i dread the "can i help you"
A fish is not a product. It is a living creature that has specific requirements. IF you are at all concerned about its well-being, then it would not take very long at all to research the requirements of keeping it. If petstore employees were well known for being knowledgeable about their stock, then maybe this could be overlooked, but this not the case.
09-15-2012, 12:12 PM #76Member CoryCat
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
- Posts
- 171
I think it really depends on What Local Fish Store were talking about here when it comes to listioning to their "Sage" advice. If its a wal-mart or a chain store like petco or pet smart I wouldn't listion to um. Chances are they are making it up. If its a locally owned fish store like Aqualand or even better A world of fish listion to um but don't take it 100% do your research first.. Search around for a second or third opinion.
As For the fish dying after going to bad homes that is really sad, but as long as money can be made off pets and people are willing to spend it, things will never change.
Right now I'm researching Freshwater Manacapuru Angelfish to see if they can outgrow a 55? My father when he was young kept an angelfish, not sure the tank size or if it was freshwater or saltwater, i know he kept brackish fish. but it outgrew the tank. He had to donate it to the Shad Aquarium, he grew up in Chagago ( misspelled) That is why I'm researching adult size and tanks before I get Angels.
01-28-2013, 01:19 PM #77Junior Member Guppy
- Join Date
- Jan 2013
- Location
- Michigan
- Posts
- 7
Luckily not the case with my local store. Looked in literally every aquarium in the store and saw no algae, no ich and all the fish looked very healthy and the staff were very knowledgeable about fish and aquariums. Surprisingly they had a pretty big selection of the rarer fish too.
07-10-2013, 02:14 AM #78Junior Member Guppy
- Join Date
- Jul 2013
- Posts
- 5
I do not understand people who do not want to do their own research. I enjoy the research aspect of keeping aquariums, and I have amassed a nice library of aquarium related reference books over my 20 years in the hobby.
With that said... I am blessed with my local PetSmart. There is a young man there that knows the correct answer to almost any freshwater related question imaginable. In fact, many local freshwater aquarists will direct newcomers to him if they are not informed on the questions being asked. However, I am aware that this is not the norm.
I agree that we can not "assume" our hobby dealers know what they are dealing, but I believe we should expect them to know what they are dealing. However, I do not take offense to the thread, like some have, because I view the thread as a "WARNING" to the responsible aquarium hobbyist as opposed to a "this is the way things should be" thread.
07-10-2013, 02:15 AM #79Junior Member Guppy
- Join Date
- Jul 2013
- Posts
- 5
Sorry... This was an accidental double post.
07-10-2013, 06:06 PM #80Junior Member Guppy
- Join Date
- Jul 2012
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Posts
- 19
Was at a local Pet World yesterday with a friend (thinking about it, Milwaukee is really blessed with an over abundance to buy all different types of fish from common to exotic) but back to the story. He was getting his water tested and thinking about new fish/plants while I begged him not to because he doesn't have the lights for it and he doesn't take care of his fish properly.
While standing there while the employee was testing the water I was telling him how he needed to actually clean the damn tank regularly, at least do a 30% water change each week, yada yada. The employee turns to us and says changing the water other then once a month is a bad thing and will actually hurt your fish and that she usually only does it only once a month or once every few months for her personal tanks.
Gave her a blank look, shook my head and walked away. If I stayed I can tell she was going to get VERY pissy with me. She already had a look of disgust on her face with the advice I was giving.


text:
From Fish Tank Sales to Wedding Favors, Our Donors Find a Way to Protect the Ocean They Love
Posted On November 13, 2012 by Sarah van Schagen
For more than 40 years, Ocean Conservancy has been hard at work keeping the ocean healthy to keep us healthy. But none of that work would have been possible without the generous support of our many donors.
Who are the people who help us protect our valuable marine resources for generations to come? They're people just like you.
Here are just a few of the Ocean Conservancy supporters who make our work possible:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hey guys new to the sight here and also a new Boykin owner. Just picked up my 7 week old female pup. Ive owned and hunted labs all my life, but never a had a Boykin. I realize I have a bit of time to work with her before hand on the basics but I wanted to locate a Pro trainer in Alabama or close by and prepare her for his training.
Thanks for the advise


text:
Web Stories
Symposium planned on property tax reform, April 11
Posted March 28, 2003; 04:09 p.m.
"Property Tax Reform: Where Have We Been? Where Are We Going? How Will We Get There?" is the subject of Princeton University's annual Symposium on New Jersey Issues scheduled for Friday, April 11. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.
The program will feature a panel of New Jersey state legislators, as well as presentations by nationally recognized authorities on state tax policy. Katherine Barrett, a special project editor and columnist at Governing magazine, will kick off the program by commenting on the subject of her recent research, "The Way We Tax: A 50 State Report."
Also presenting will be: Brendan "Tom" Byrne Jr., president of Byrne Asset Management and a longtime New Jersey political activist; Henry Coleman, director of the Center for Government Services and faculty member in the Edward Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University; and Robert Franks, former U.S. congressman from New Jersey and currently president of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey.
The program is sponsored by: Princeton University's Office of Community and State Affairs ; Princeton University's Policy Research Institute for the Region ; Rutgers University's Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy; and the Regional Planning Partnership.
The program is free and open to the public. However, registration is requested by e-mailing Pam Hersh , director of community and state affairs, or faxing (609) 258-9000.
Contact: Eric Quinones (609) 258-3601


text:
Escape from it all at the Hilton Dallas/Rockwall Lakefront, a spectacular lakefront hotel just 20 minutes east of Dallas. Inspired by Mediterranean resorts, the hotel offers gorgeous lake views and access to spectacular sunsets.
Rio Guadalupe has been a family oriented resort since 1977 with CABINS, RV CAMPING, RAFTS, KAYAKS, TUBING, & Trout Fishing just downstream from Canyon Lake on the Guadalupe River and close to many great places to visit in the Texas Hill Country.
Big Rack Ranch is dedicated to producing the highest quality Texas breeder bucks and whitetails hunts in Texas for breeding. Contact us to know more about our breeder bucks and Texas whitetail hunts.
Dallas' Largest Indoor Ropes Course for Xtreme Adventurers. Great for corporate team building exercises, youth groups, scout troops, school leadership events, or teachers in-service.
Just down the road from McAllen Texas and located in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley. AmeriCana is friendly RV Park just minutes from the World Birding Center, the World Butterfly Center, and Bentsen Rio Grande State Park.
Thrilling zipline adventure including 6 different ziplines with panoramic views of the east Texas countryside. Sky-High Thrills.....TEXAS Style!
Gray Line offers sightseeing tours, package tours, charters and airport shuttles at over 50 US travel destinations from coast to coast. Use our services to discover San Antonio and Austin!
Traders Village Houston opened in 1989. Since then millions of people have browsed, shopped and traded in the 100+ acre market. Every weekend shoppers find thousands of dealers offering a little bit of everything, all at bargain prices.
Our tours this year cover the globe beginning with Texas and the United States,Mexico, Overseas, Cruises, Religious Tours and One Days. Find one that is especially for you and Lets Go!
The perfect place for you to escape. There are 9 suites total. Seven King suites with private baths and a full gourmet breakfast. Two Royal Suites with jacuzzi tubs, fireplaces and breakfast in bed. Please visit our website for more information.
San Angelo, Texas visitors guide to accommodations, adventure travel, unique tours and rentals. Check out top San Angelo, Texas getaways & destinations. San Angelo, Texas vacations, packages & travel spots. Visit San Angelo, Texas !.


text:
Era da una vita che i miei cromosomi volevano vedere i draghi di Komodo. Grazie Susy!
Komodo dragons!
Trip Start Feb 24, 2010
93Trip End Dec 12, 2010
Map your own trip!
Loading Map
Loading Map
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
Where I stayed
On the deck of Perama boat
The guides were very funny and told us lots of things about the dragons and the other many animals that live on the island. They carry a long, thin forked stick as the only protection from the dragons. Not very comforting when there is a 90kg dragon sitting beside you and you know they have killed and eaten people before. The trek wasn't too difficult as it was only 5km but the heat even at 7 in the morning was unbearable
After Rinca we continued on our three day boat trip towards Lombok island, stopping at small islands for snorkeling and swimming. Very nice, clear blue and green water with coral, colourful fish and plastic bags. Some very nice beaches on tiny islands but the amount of rubbish washed up on the shore really ruins it. Pity. Also the coral seems to be trying to attack Sue! I think seeing lots of dolphins and flying fish made up for it though. :)
Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures & Videos
Era da una vita che i miei cromosomi volevano vedere i draghi di Komodo. Grazie Susy!
Sounds amazing - hope you're taking more photos than just the few we get to see... Jees you guys have had a lot of early morning starts but Im sure its well worth it! Your dragons remind me of last time we were in Zimbabwe, the guide kept pointing out lethally poisonous snakes and telling us how quickly you will die and then telling us the closest anti-venom was in South Africa!!


text:
The IDF Kids and Diabetes in School (KiDS) Information Pack for School has been divided into four distinct sections:
- Section 1: School staff
- Section 2: Parents of a child with diabetes
- Section 3: Parents generally
- Section 4: Children
Usage guidelines
- Guidelines for using the KiDS information pack (pdf)
- Diabetes associations (ppt)
- Teachers (ppt)
- Parents (ppt)
- Children (ppt)
The KiDS Diabetes Information Pack for Schools is available for download in eight languages. Please make sure to read the following guidelines before downloading the Pack:
- The Pack should be used in tandem with an information session and is not intended to be distributed as a standalone item. A programme on diabetes education should be organised at school around the pack.
- If you wish to translate the pack into further languages or make culturally specific adaptations, please notify IDF and Sanofi Diabetes before any changes are made.
- The IDF, ISPAD and Sanofi Global logos must remain visible on the material. If you have a local partner that supports the project, please seek permission from IDF and Sanofi before adding additional logos on the pack.
- Please provide feedback on usage of the Pack and photos from your information sessions.
- No fees will be asked for using the Pack.
If you wish to translate and adapt the pack into your language, please read the KiDS Step by Step Protocol (pdf, 80KB) - ES - FR.


text:
A customer came to our Calera Cleaning Center with an evening dress she had recently bought and wanted us to press it for an event the next evening. After picking it up from us, she took it home and found a stain on the dress that wasn't there when she brought it in. She just knew we put the stain on the dress and wanted us to remove it since we put the stain on the dress.
Of course, we're happy to help remove the stain and we won't even charge to do this even though our customer asked for just our pressing service, not our dry cleaning service. We take our responsibilities for caring for your clothes very seriously.
While we can't be absolutely certain, we likely did not put the stain on the dress. We take great precautions to avoid having food or drink around our customers' clothes. We don't have oil or grease exposed on our equipment. We're in the dry cleaning business so we understand what stains can do to our customers' clothes. But I also understand our customer being convinced that we put the stain on her dress. After all, the stain was not there when she brought it to us.
So who is right?
This is likely a case where both the customer and the dry cleaner are right…the stain wasn't there when the customer brought it in and we (most likely) didn't put the stain on the dress. But how can that be?
This is probably a case of an "invisible stain."
It was invisible until the heat from steaming and pressing the dress found the stain and caused it to darken. Such a stain can result from food or drink dripped on the dress. It could also be from body oils or perspiration…but that is not likely in this case based on the fact that the dress is new.
Yes, it could be our fault, but it could also be the seamstress who altered the dress, or the clerk in the dress store where it was purchased, or even the customer or someone at her home. But it seems like the dry cleaner gets the "credit" for the stain since our efforts resulted in a previously invisible stain becoming visible. This is the dry cleaners' "hot potato" and the music stopped when we had the dress in our hands.
Sometimes dry cleaning might get this out without "pre-spotting" but more often this type of stain requires pre-treatment before cleaning. And of course the problem is that the stain is invisible and no one knows about it. In this particular case, the customer requested that we just press the dress so there was no chance of getting this stain out since there were no cleaning procedures requested.
If this type of "invisible" stain gets on most "dry clean only" garments, dry cleaning alone usually will not get the stain out. It requires "pre-spotting." And if it doesn't get pre-spotting, the stain could become permanent after one cleaning, or in this case, one pressing.
So if you wear a garment, be very aware of the possibility of food or drink spills. And get your clothes to your dry cleaner as soon as possible and alert us that there might be a food or drink spill present. This will help us help you maintain your wardrobe.
Without sounding too self-serving, let me add that stains are not usually caused by the dry cleaners. But your dry cleaner can certainly help you deal with the stain.
Is Your Wedding Gown Taking Up Valuable Closet Space?
Wedding Gown Preservation Can Solve That Problem.
Read about wedding gown cleaning and preservation in Birmingham, Alabama.


text:
By Brandon Speck/NEMS Daily Journal
Click here for In depth College Football News from DJournal.com and AP. You'll want to bookmark this site.
STARKVILLE – Jameon Lewis got off to a streaking start as a freshman last season for Mississippi State.
And that was about it.
This season, the sophomore from Tylertown has another chance. There were no 80-yard touchdown receptions Saturday like the one he had in the opener against Memphis last season, but Lewis made his share of plays in the Bulldogs' 56-9 season-opening win against Jackson State.
He converted four first downs, with three of those plays – two catches and a run – in third-down situations .
MSU coach Dan Mullen said the key to his consistency is continued improvement.
"I think he had a real good training camp and I thought he played pretty well tonight," Mullen said. "A nice part of our receivers is we have some depth. We can roll those guys through. A lot of different guys are touching the ball."
Lewis tied for a game-high three catches for 32 yards, had a pair of wildcat rushes for 11 yards and had 19 yards on his only kick return. Eight players caught passes for the Bulldogs.
Against Memphis last season, Lewis caught four passes for 113 yards. He also ran for a touchdown and had 29 yards on a pair of carries.
He added only 30 more receiving yards and 57 rushing yards and didn't score the rest of the way despite playing in all 13 games. He did lead the team with 386 yards on 21 kick returns.
"Jameon is a guy who can makes plays when he gets the ball," quarterback Tyler Russell said. "He's going to improve and keep improving. I think he's going to be a big time playmaker for us."
Lewis was a state champion quarterback at Tylertown, so he knows something about that position as well. Russell is in his fourth year in the program and knows what experience in the system will do.
The junior was 15 for 23 for 175 yards and a pair of touchdowns Saturday.
"Another year in this offense helps you out tremendously. You start to understand what the coaches expect from you," Russell said. "Jameon knows what I'm thinking and he'll break his route off. He's just going to keep improving."


text:
Manufacturer: Dell
Lowest Historical Price: $1099 [History]
If you have a desktop PC, chances are that you have a complete mess of cables exploding from the back panel to your various power and peripheral connections. The Dell XPS One aims to provide an integrated all-in-one desktop solution for users willing to fight the clutter with their wallets. You need just one cable to get the XPS One up and running. Just what do you get for the $1299 base price? Read on to find out.
Unboxing & Set-Up
The XPS One arrives in a large branded box that you wouldn't want to leave out on your doorstep. It's a hefty load, with a shipping weight of about 41 lbs. Once you open the box, it seems as if there is just too little padding for the delicate monitor, however everything arrived in perfect condition. Set up couldn't have been much easier. Just find a spot where the XPS One will live out its days, put the included batteries into the wireless Keyboard & Mouse, and plug in the single power cable. After the usual Vista first-boot shenanigans, you're ready to play.
If a computer manufacturer decides to try their hand at an all-in-one, they damn well better make sure the design measures up to what's already out there; namely the Apple iMac. While the One certainly doesn't look as clean as an all-white iMac, its overall design and execution are quite impressive. Apple has never been very good about peripheral connections, and this is an area where the XPS One is far better.
From the front the XPS One looks like a high quality 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor with a set of side speakers. The screen is glass and the dark bezel hides several features that are not noticeable at first glance. As your hand approaches the monitor, a series of multimedia controls lights up in a nice dark blue shade. These are touch sensitive areas of the bezel, and feedback is provided by a short vibration that occurs when you press a button. The slot-load DVD burner (optional Blu-Ray) is situated on the right edge of the screen, and a half circle blue light (think an outline of the disc) indicates the presence of a disc in the drive. The front of the screen also conceals a webcam & mic for your late night chat rendezvous.
On the left edge of the screen, you have the main power button, headphone and mic connections, two USB ports, a FireWire mini port, and a multi-card reader. One quirky aspect is that the HDD indicator light is on the left panel, so it's not visible from the front of the screen where you'd be sitting.
Along the lines of connectivity, the rear panel of the XPS One provides an additional 4 USB ports for your jungle of extra devices. The back panel also hosts connections for Gigabit Ethernet, 6-Pin FireWire, Optical Audio, and an expansion port that provides Coax & S-Video as well as RCA audio. Hook up your cable box to the TV tuner and you'll be able to watch live TV as well.
One of the main complaints about desktops is the amount of noise they make. I was happy to find out that the XPS One is virtually silent. I could hear the hard drive activity, but the fan noise was almost imperceptible. The case design is such that air flows vertically from the bottom and out the top, which is the natural way the heated air wants to go anyways. Based on a Kill-A-Watt measurement, the XPS One consumes about 90 Watts at idle.
In terms of raw performance, this system does not have the graphical power to satisfy a power gamer. It runs the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100, which is just about the most basic video card you can buy with a new system these days. If you can pass on the latest gaming fads, the XPS One has plenty to offer.
All of Vista's features including Aero worked quickly and flawlessly on the One while performing an array of duties from web browsing, audio editing with the included Adobe Soundbooth CS3 software, and watching DVDs. The side-speakers produced clear sound that can fill a medium sized room if needed. The included keyboard has a multimedia pad to control your entertainment programs, as well as a track pack to use while you're using it away from the desk.
XPS Support
Part of Dell's message with their XPS brand is that you not only get an XPS computer, but you get the "XPS Experience" with a separate support hotline than their run of the mill customers. We wanted to test out the response of this system, and so we set out to record a call. What happened during our first call was disheartening. After entering the service code, the call was transferred to a dead extension. The second test call was more successful, and we were able to reach a live technician in about 2 minutes. We didn't have any material to test him on since the XPS One didn't have any problems.
According to Dell's branding lingo, their XPS systems are "Designed for Performance." Traditionally this has come to mean that XPS is aimed at people who want a custom experience above and beyond the typically Dell box. With the XPS One, Dell has created a stylish all-in-one PC with multimedia & simplicity as its main traits. If you've been building your own PC's for years or you're on a shoestring budget, the XPS One probably isn't for you. For everyone else, the XPS One is an alternative that warrants serious consideration.
Image Gallery
Price History [History]


text:
By Tiernan Ray
Shares of eBay (EBAY) are up 2 cents at $54.43, after the company last night missed Q4 revenue expectations but beat on the bottom line, and forecast weaker-than-expected results for this quarter and the year.
The entire focus in after-hours last night, marked by a 9% rise in the stock at the time, was the company's disclosure that activist investor Carl Icahn offered a proposal for the company to split off its PayPal payments unit. Perhaps in response, eBay said its board authorized another $5 billion in share repurchases.
The core "Marketplace" business of auctions rose 12% in revenue terms, while PayPal revenue rose 19%, highlighting the disparity between the two businesses.
Management said it believes keeping PayPal part of the business is best for shareholders.
There's a diversity of views today, ranging from a shrug of the shoulders to those suggesting eBay might do something like storage vendor EMC's (EMC) partial spin of VMware (VMW) in the last decade.
But the general sense is that nothing is going to happen, and that PayPal is more reliant on the Marketplace business than Icahn may realize.
There were three outright ratings changes, that I can see. One is from Topeka Capital Markets's Victor Anthony, who cut his rating from Buy to Hold, and cut his price target to $60 from $64, writing that "While shareholder activism could keep a floor on the share price near-term, we see few compelling reasons to buy the stock at current valuation levels, with an after-hours share price that implies a PEG of 1.6x (12% 3yr EPS CAGR)."
Anthony seems to believe management has firm command of the PayPal situation:
eBay announced that it has received a notice from Carl Icahn indicating that he has nominated two of his employees to its Board of Directors and submitted a non-binding proposal for a spinoff of PayPal into a separate company. Carl Icahn has an 0.82% economic interest in the company. CEO John Donahoe stated that the board is unified in keeping eBay and PayPal together and he sees dissynergies in separating the two. He delivered a spirited defense for keeping the two together including: 1) eBay accelerates PayPal's success-eBay generates 30% of PayPal's new users at zero customer acquisition costs; 2) eBay data makes PayPal smarter-risk management; and 3) eBay funds PayPal's growth-1/3 of PayPal's revenues and 1/2 of its profits come from eBay. eBay also announced an additional $5B share repurchase authorization.
Anthony cut his 2014 estimates to $18.27 billion in revenue and $3 per share in net profit from a prior $19.09 billion and $3.13.
Stifel Nicolaus's Jordan Rohan also cut the stock, to Hold from Buy, stripping away a $63 price target, writing "With EBAY management resistant to activist ideas, and the likelihood of a Paypal spin low without management support, we believe that weaker fundamentals will return to focus soon enough."
Rohan notes slowing trends in the core business and in PayPal:
Underlying metrics looked solid with active user growth of 14% and items sold growth of 11%, stable throughout 2013. However, GMV growth (U.S. and Int'l.) continued to decelerate with U.S. growth of 14% and international Fx-adjusted growth of 10%. Given the high margins of the marketplaces business, the slower growth in GMV weighs heavily on the future earnings guide […] TPV maintained the 25% growth rate from 3Q. We do note, however, that on-platform penetration increased more modestly, rising only 20bps in 4Q. The company noted that the transition of Paypal's business at the point-of-sale is taking longer than expected.
And Brian Nowak and James Friedman of Susquehanna Financial Group cut their rating to Neutral from "Positive," writing that "we struggle to find a source of material upside or higher earnings power."
Nowak and Friedman cite a low likelihood of a split, and need for stepped-up investment:
We put a low probability on eBay spinning off PayPal for multiple reasons (laid out by eBay last evening). First, the Marketplaces is a material and high margin driver of PayPal growth, bringing new users to PayPal with essentially zero customer acquisition cost…and now making up 30% of PayPal's TPV and over half of profitability. Sharing risk management and transaction data across the two businesses makes them more competitive, and the Marketplaces remains a source of low cost capital for PayPal investment. Investment is coming too, as eBay reduced its long-term PayPal margin guidance to be below the 25%+ laid out last Spring. The volumes are flowing as PayPal 4Q TPV growth was strong (in particular off-eBay, which accelerated by 300bp to 31% YoY growth), but eBay intends to step-up its investment. We expect a continued push into large merchants (more take-rate pressure), a sales & marketing ramp to drive awareness and more adoption, and increased investment in mobile and product ubiquity.
Morgan Stanley's Scott Devitt, reiterating an Equal Weight rating on the shares, and a $57 price target, and cuts his 2014 and 2015 estimates to reflect stepped-up investments by the company, and softness in the Marketplace business, noting of the forecast that "Similar to the setup last year, this implies an acceleration throughout the year," but that "while signs indicate that the macro should improve in both the US and international and FX should help, the acceleration could fail to materialize as it did in 2013."
Devitt's 2014 estimate goes to $18.27 billion and $2.97 per share in net profit from a prior $18.66 billion and $3.07.
But Devitt thinks the company is right in opposing Icahn's split request:
We agree with management's view that keeping PayPal integrated with the company will ultimately produce the most value longer term. We believe that PayPal is the best performing asset, but it owes much of this to its integration with ebay's other businesses (marketplace and enterprises), and we believe that PayPal's probability of success offline is enhanced considerably by ebay's overall omni-channel strategy.
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey's Rob Peck reiterates a Buy rating, and raises his price target to $65 from $61, writing that Icahn's proposal highlights unrealized value:
For many years investors have asked whether PayPal should be spun out from eBay to better highlight it and create shareholder value. We think Mr. Icahn's proposal is positive for eBay's stock for 3 reasons: 1) Even if PayPal doesn't spin, the proposal will force investors to revisit their sum of parts value of eBay, 2) eBay could decide to "meet Mr. Icahn halfway" by floating 20% (ala EMC and VMWare) and highlight the value, and 3) eBay could ultimately decide that a spin might serve shareholders best. Any scenario above is positive for shareholders.
Regarding the forecast, Peck thinks it "still indicates upside." He trims his 2014 view to $18.41 billion and $3 per share from $18.43 billion and $3.14.
Peck's looking for multiple valuation factors to push the stock higher:
We think eBay value could approach $65 based on 3 methods: 1) Our sum of parts that employs a 15x EBITDA multiple on PayPal and 8x on Marketplaces (see page 2), 2) a total asset value that employs a 12x multiple on our 2015 EBITDA est. of $6.74b, and 3) a total asset value that employs a 15x our 2015 est. EPS of $3.40 and adds back U.S. cash (~$2.50/shr), taxed Int'l cash (~$5/shr), projected tax adjusted cash flow (~$5.50/shr), and other assets (~$1/shr). Hence, we are raising our target from $61 to $65.
Deutsche Bank's Ross Sandler reiterates a Hold rating, but raises his price target to $62 from $56, writing that there probably won't be much of a stock lift over time from Icahn's push — not like there was for Apple (AAPL) stock since last summer's buyback fracas — given a split was likely already explored extensively:
The Key Take-Away. A winning strategy has been to invest alongside Carl Icahn in the past few years, t+1 (days from Icahn's involvement) return for AAPL shareholders is 11% to date. However, each situation is different – AAPL started at a ~1x PEG when Icahn started tweeting on 8/13/13 vs. ~1.5x PEG for EBAY today, and eBay has less balance sheet flexibility. We think the trading range moves up from the TTM $50-$55 on Icahn excitement, but given that private equity likely explored the spin options exhaustively years ago, we view a hostile value-creating event for shareholders as a low probability.
Cowen & Co.'s John Blackledge reiterates a Market Perform rating, and a $55 price target, writing that the weak forecast supports his view the core business is "hitting headwinds":
Management reset lower its 2015 guidance with revenue falling 7% to $21.0BN (midpoint) from prior $22.5BN. EPS was lowered to $3.27-3.33 (11-13% CAGR) from prior $3.79-3.98 (15-19% CAGR). Management blamed a lower Payments take- rate on i) higher growth off eBay and ii) shift toward larger merchants. Additionally, investment will be higher than anticipated as well. On the marketplaces side, management said competition was fierce during the holidays, limiting upside.
Blackledge trimmed his 2014 view to $18.02 billion and $2.97 per share from a prior $18.14 billion and $2.98 per share.
BlackLedge's conclusion about the Icahn matter is summed up in a brief remark: "Management comments suggests a Paypal spin is a low-likelihood event, at least in the short-term."
And then, there were others who made no mention whatsoever of the Icahn issue.
Canaccord Genuity's Michael Graham reiterates a Buy rating, and raises his price target to $64 from $60, writing that "We view the new guidance as largely de-risked (although not overly conservative), and suspect this dynamic may bring in fresh investors who are attracted to eBay's reasonable valuation at a time when much of the Internet sector is more expensive." Graham trimmed 2014's estimate from $18.24 billion and $3.14 per share to $18.22 billion and $2.98 per share,


text:
Manufacturer: Westibe Manufacturer: EHS, Inc. 2 Results
Westone 3 True-Fit Earphones
" I don't like to buy headphones solely based on people's recommendations without auditioning them first, but the reality is, you often have to because you just don't have the opportunity to audition exactly the models you are interested in due to where you live. The Westone 3 is one such case where I had to rely on internet reviews, and I regret the purchase. The problem with trusting online..." --Lunatique
iCandy Crystal Stereo Earbuds Blue
Designer-style with embedded blue crystalsContemporary MP3 white colorSmall comfortable earbudsBright clear sound


text:
Log In now to add this Gigapan to a group gallery.
Log In now to add this Gigapan to a gallery.
About This GigapanToggle
- Taken by
- Unity PR
- Explore score
- 31
- Size
- 0.84 Gigapixels
- Views
- 24935
- Date added
- Nov 06, 2009
- Date taken
- Nov 06, 2009
- Categories
- Galleries
- Competitions
- Tags
- Under, Stephen
- Description
Stephen King fans celebrate the release of his long-awaited new novel, UNDER THE DOME, by hiding words from the book's final sentences along the North Bank of London's River Thames, under the dome of St Paul's cathedral.
The novelist's final forty-five words - displayed on banners and placards - are scattered throughout the Gigapan image by randomly placed members of the public. The book's conclusion is revealed by zooming in on the shot and reassembling the scrambled sentences.
Image by nathangallagher.com


text:
On money, and missing the point
There are oftentimes when I talk enthusiastically about sharing my skills, techniques, and knowledge with other people. Usually this is greeted with enthusiasm in return, but sometimes I get a strange reaction... Whether it's improving one's codebase, or creating a spectacular outfit, or simply getting interesting people to meet and share their ideas, I'll occasionally have a friend ask me if I really want to be doing that, because I'm giving away my "secrets".
I appreciate that in business, a competitive advantage is a good thing. Being able to differentiate yourself from your competition is vitally important, and sharing one's secrets with those who might use them to compete with you isn't always a wise choice.
My problem with this attitude is that it assumes that money is the point of the exercise. It's easy to think this, and from a business perspective it might be true, but thinking of money as the goal kind of misses the whole point of living.
Without boring you with technical terms, the whole point of living isn't money, it's happiness. Money certainly has utility in providing hhappiness, but it's not the exclusive source. In fact we've got plenty of studies that show us that money isn't what makes us happy, it's just that being poor makes us unhappy. After a point, the utility of money drops off very sharply indeed.
The idea of me keeping trade secrets is even more amusing because my entire livelihood for the last decade has been based purely upon working in open source. Almost everything in our business that we can give away, we do all. All the tips, course notes, software, ideas, and everything else invariable gets released under an open source license. The business model isn't about keeping fragile secrets which must be guarded, the business model is about being so obviously and outstandingly awesome that people will pay for our services.
So when I talk about sharing skills, I most sincerely want people to learn from that. I want them to be able to do the things I can; in fact, I want them to do them better than me. I'm not worried about competing with other people, for the simple fact that I'm not competing. The world is a better place with more free software developers, more public speakers, more artists, more fancy costumes, more collectives of clever people, and more fun.
Knowledge transfer is one of my most treasured and beloved activities. To everyone's who's taught me to give a massage, tie a celtic knot, write a program, sew fabric, administer a system, identify cognitive defects, go diving, ride a bike, play with contact juggling, make a cocktail, play music on a leaf, use a camera, talk like a pirate, and all the other skills that slip my mind right now. Thank you. Thank you so very, very much. You are way more valuable than money.
-- Paul