Filed under: Business, World wide web, Web services

While Borders might be one of the most recognizable bricks and mortar book sellers in the US, the company has been almost invisible online. For the last seven years, Borders has basically relied on Amazon for its online presence. But now Borders is relaunching its website with a heavy focus on recommendations and recreating the experience of browsing in a book store

While you can certainly use the site to search for books, the most prominent features of the new site are recommendations for books, music, and movies. There are “staff picks,” new fiction and non-fiction, and customized suggestions based on your tastes in media.

One area where Borders has the advantage over Amazon is that the company does have bricks and mortar stores throughout the country. That means you can place an order on the web and have it shipped for free to your neighborhood store where you can pick it up. If you don’t have a safe, secure spot for receiving deliveries at your home, this could be an attractive feature.

[via AP]

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Filed under: Business, World wide web, Web services

While Borders might be one of the most recognizable bricks and mortar book sellers in the US, the company has been nearly invisible on the internet. For the last seven years, Borders has basically relied on Amazon for its on the internet presence. But now Borders is relaunching its website with a heavy focus on recommendations and recreating the experience of browsing in a book store

While you can certainly use the site to search for books, the most prominent features of the new site are recommendations for books, music, and movies. There are “staff picks,” new fiction and non-fiction, and customized suggestions based on your tastes in media.

One area where Borders has the advantage over Amazon is that the company does have bricks and mortar stores throughout the country. That means you can place an order on the web and have it shipped for free to your neighborhood store where you can pick it up. If you don’t have a safe, secure spot for receiving deliveries at your home, this could be an attractive feature.

[via AP]

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Filed under: Business, Design, World wide web, Productivity, Adobe, Google, Yahoo!, web 2.0

Let’s pretend you read this column and agree that it’s time to embark on a Web site overhaul for your small business. You understand a little about Web 2.0-ness, want some interactivity, are considering using new online tools and have created a real job for the webmaster to do site updates. What’s on your Web Overhaul Due Diligence To-Do List? What steps should you take to ensure that your site gets architected, designed, programmed, launched, and updated correctly?

HOMEWORK - let’s begin browsing sites and making favorites/bookmarks out of the ones that catch your eye. Note that you like the drop-down menu in one and the fading background in another. Make a “how did they do this?” list of snazzy features to ask your designer about implementing. In fact, build a spreadsheet and make column headings such as: URL, feature, forms, Flash, menus and more so you can keep your design notes and questions in a handy electronic document to share with all the design firms you interview, and we want you to talk to more than one.

Continue reading Seven Web Redesign Planning Tools

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Filed under: Forecasts, Deals, XM Satellite Radio (XMSR), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI)

Wall Street might believe that whether there’s a deal to merge with XM Satellite (NASDAQ: XMSR) or not, Sirius (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares have fallen as far as they are going to. How much more bad news can the company take? Recently, Goldman Sachs stated a combined company would need to raise as much as $1 billion for operating costs. Each of the companies already has long-term debt of well over $1 billion.

Subscription growth at Sirius is slowing and it still does not make an operating profit. The market has been concerned that HD radio, new consumer electronics devices, and mult-media phones all mean new competition for the satellite radio operator.

But the short interest in Sirius dropped 18 million shares to 170.4 million, the second largest drop for any company on Nasdaq during the Might 15 period.

Trading just above $2.50, SIRI shares may have found a permanent bottom. Its market cap is under $4 billion, a fraction of what it was two years ago. Is there anything left to move it down a lot more? Probably not.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Employees, Market matters, US Airways Group (LCC), AMR Corp (AMR), UAL Corp (UAUA), Economic data, JetBlue Airways (JBLU), Oil

Stock futures were higher early Wednesday morning as oil and other commodities declined, providing some relief.

U.S. stocks ended higher Tuesday, especially the tech heavy Nasdaq composite which rose 36 points, or a solid 1.5%. The Dow industrials and the broader measure S&P 500, rose 68 points, or 0.55%, and 9 points, or 0.68% respectively. A dramatic retreat in crude of more than $3 a barrel helped boost sentiment.

On the economic docket today is April durable goods order, which economists are anticipating to show a further decline. The report is due to release at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

Weekly crude inventories, usually released Wednesdays, will be postponed due to the shortened week. Meanwhile, though, oil prices continued to decline, dropping below $127 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, extending the previous session’s decline. It seems that the higher prices cut demand, which in turn, pressured prices back.

On the corporate side of things, Borders (NYSE: BGP) stated its losses narrowed in the first quarter to $31.7 million, or 53 cents per share, although its same-store sales fell. The results were below estimates of a loss of 47 cents per share. The relaunch of the bookseller’s retail Web site Tuesday didn’t impress Wall Street much either and shares dropped 7%. There was continued pressure on the shares in after-hours trading.

Shares of airlines might also be in the spotlight Wednesday, after JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) stated it will delay buying 21 new Airbus jetliners 4-5 years from because of rising fuel costs. JBLU shares were down some 4.7% in after-hours trading.

Meanwhile, AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR)’s American Airlines, also faced with soaring fuel prices, stated it has rejected its pilot union’s contract proposals because the cost is too high. The union now wants to know if speaks are at an impasse. The airline also detailed the first round of cuts. AMR shares, however, are 2% higher in premarket trading.

Similarly, merger speaks between UAL Corp. (NYSE: UAUA)’s United Airlines and US Airways (NYSE: LCC) appear to have slowed and perhaps even fallen apart, according to the New York Times. Shares of both are higher.

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Filed under: Deals, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO)

Short sellers must be betting that there won’t be any deal between Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). That would leave Carl Icahn holding a lot of stock without a profit.

Short sellers reduced their position in Microsoft by 25 million shares as of May 15 compared with April 30. That brought the total short interest in the world’s largest software company down to 73.4 million.

Over at Yahoo!, short interest rose 9.3 million to 47.3 million. That was the largest increase for any company traded on Nasdaq during the May 15 period.

Short sellers might be admitting what Yahoo! shareholders can’t bring themselves to believe, at least not yet. With no bid from Microsoft likely, Yahoo! has no other buyers. The company can do tiny to keep its share price from drifting back to the $20 range, especially if its Q2 numbers are weak.

Icahn can win his board seats in a proxy fight against the portal company. He’ll not be able to do anything with his influence if he gets it. He can’t sell what no one wants.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 newsletter.

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Filed under: Deals, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, UAL Corp (UAUA)

Airline mergers no longer look like a panacea for the industry. They don’t solve the problem of higher fuel costs. They often drive the ire of unions which do not want to lose any more jobs. And, integration problems usually make customer s mad, which can send them off to fly other carriers.

Perhaps because of some of these factors, United (NASDAQ:UAUA) and US Air (NYSE:LLC) are cooling speaks about a tie-up. Or, it may be that each airline thinks it can find a better deal. “Even as its talks with US Airways were continuing, United had begun speaks with Continental for a possible alliance,” Reuters reports.

The most likely case is that managements at airlines are looking for ways to stay out of Chapter 11. Rising jet fuel prices and the potential of lower passenger traffic in a recession have executives working overtime to keep losses from piling up.

A merger does no good if neither celebration in the marriage is in good enough shape to add much to the deal.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.

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