U.S. Business

United Parcel Service is hoping for a delivery from its namesake Big Brown in the Preakness Stakes. The 2008 Kentucky Derby winner, who many are starting to believe will become the first thoroughbred to win horse racings Triple Crown, has signed a sponsorship agreement with International Equine Acquisitions Holdings prior to the second jewel of the Triple Crown. The horse, who was named after the delivery company, is ridden by Kent Desormeaux who had already signed a deal with UPS. The racing team will fly the colors of the company on Preakness Day.

Big Brown's team was pleased to have UPS along for the ride, saying:

“This is such a thrilling time for our entire ownership team and we are extremely honored to have a company like UPS along for the ride,” said Michael Iavarone, co-president and CEO of International Equine Acquisitions Holdings, Inc., which owns IEAH Stables. “Having a Kentucky Derby winning-horse is a dream come true. Competing for a Triple Crown title is the thrill of a lifetime and we’ll be supporting ‘Brown’ all the way.”

According to a renowned airbrush artist, Dove's "real beauties" might not be so real afterall. In a profile published in The New Yorker online, Pascal Dangin of Box Studios was quoted as saying that he extensively retouched photos used in the Campaign for Real Beauty.

Lauren Collins, who wrote the article, said that she had mentioned the Dove ad campaign "that proudly featured lumpier-than-usual 'real women' in their undergarments." She says, "it turned out that it was a Dangin job."

To which Dangin then said, "Do you know how much retouching was on that? But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone's skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive.'"

Since the articles publication, attempts to contact Unilever, Dove's parent company, were unsuccessful. However a spokesman for the campaign creators at Ogilvy & Mather cast doubt on Dangin's claims, but did say that they are attempting to colelct details of his work.

A spokeswoman for Ogilvy said:

"We are unsure right now what he did. He works with Annie Leibovitz, the photographer. And we don't have any record of him actually working on any of the Dove campaign.

Juicy Couture, the California apparel company made famous by the likes of Britney Spears and other Hollywood elite, has filed a lawsuit against Victoria's Secret. In the filing, Juicy Couture accuses Victoria's Secret of stealing their idea of putting their name on the backsides of women's clothing.

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in Manhattan, in which Juicy Couture claims:

"The similarities are not inadvertent and are designed to capitalize on the success of Juicy Couture."

Further suggesting that Victoria's Secret is out to steal and capitalize on all their ideas, Juicy Couture also accuses them of selling clothes wrapped in the shape of lollipops, bon bons and ice cream cones in order to mimic the success of their Sweet Shoppe packaging.

But that's not all! The suit also claims that VS is using deceptive trade practices, and is trying to capitalize on the success of Juicy Couture.

Juicy is asking for the judge to order all of the offending clothes destroyed, and is asking for triple damages, or three times the profits that VS made through the sale of its allegedly stolen ideas.

With declining circulation numbers and revenues, the print newspaper industry has for all accounts and purposes seen its best days fall behind them. Meanwhile, online revenues are on the rise, which leaves many of us left wondering when the newspapers will simply call it quits and shift their focus entirely online. For one daily newspaper in Wisconsin, the time is now.

On Saturday, The Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin shut down its print operations, fired a third of its staff, and completely restructured its business to focus exclusively online. The 90-year-old daily newspaper is one of the first such daily newspapers to make this drastic decision, but felt the affects of the dying industry twice as much being the afternoon paper in a two-newspaper town.

Recently, the newspaper's circulation dropped to just around 18,000, down from a high of 40,000 in the 1960's.

Clayton Frink, publisher of The Capital Times, said in an interview just two days before the final daily press run:

"We felt our audience was shrinking so that we were not relevant. We are going a little farther, a little faster, but the general trend is happening everywhere."

Another one bites the dust! Frontier Airlines has now filed for bankruptcy after a credit card processor indicated that they would begin withholding receipts from the airline's ticket sales. Stockholders are now quite nervous, and are considering pulling out to avoid further losses.

According to a statement, Frontier said that they would continue to operate without disruption during the bankruptcy proceedings, offering their full schedule of flights, honoring reservations, and paying both its employees and suppliers.

Denver-based Frontier said that they were forced to file for bankruptcy protection "following an unexpected attempt by its principal credit card processor to substantially increase a 'holdback' of customer receipts, which threatened to severely impact Frontier's liquidity." The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a New York court on Friday.

News last week of JP Morgans offer to buyout Bear Stearns at just $2 per share shook up the financial industry, and left many investors angry and upset. The $2/share bid was more than a 90% discount on their closing price of $30 two Fridays ago, and a very small fraction of their 52-week high of $159.36/share. According to people involved in the negotiations, JPMorgan Chase was in talks Sunday night for a deal that would quintuple its offer for Bear Stearns in an effort to pacify Bear Stearns shareholders.

The offer is intended to win over stockholders that who last week vowed to right the original deal, which was struck just a week ago and gained approval from the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department.

Reportedly, under the terms of the deal currently being discussed, JPMorgan has offered to pay $10/share for Bear Stearns, up from their original $2/share offer. The Fed, however, must still approve any new deal, and was already balking at the new offer price Sunday evening.

Shares of Cleveland-based National City Corp. (NCC) opened the day at $11.63, but plunged down nearly 43% to $7.50 at the closing bell. Hitting their 52-week low today, shares of NCC began dropping on renewed fears over the banking sector following JP Morgan's (JPM) decision to save investment bank Bear Stearns (BSC) from collapse, with a $2/per share buyout.

On this news, NCC stock was down more than 80% today from its 52 week high of $38.32 in April.

News of JP Morgan's decision to bail out Bear Stearns put an increased amount of pressure on the market, and caused elevated fears over the financial security of other banks.

JP Morgan's offer to buy Bear Stearns at $2 per share was more than a 90% discount on their closing price last Friday at $30/share, and an even smaller fraction of their 52-week high of $159.36/share.

The general consensus on Wall Street is that other financial institutions in weakened states and in need of capital may also be subjected to buyouts at drastically reduced prices.

National City, one of the US's 10 largest banks, has not been immune to the country's credit crisis and collapse of the subprime mortgage market. Today's drop is bad news for the city of Cleveland, which has already been hard-hit by the subprime mess.

If you watch any amount of television, you've undoubtedly seen the onslaught of pharmaceutical ads that run during commercial breaks. One such ad for Lipitor, which has been run countless times over the past few years, is now under fire after a congressional committee questioned its authenticity.

The Lipitor ads feature Dr. Robert Jarvik, who according to the New York Times, is not a cardiologist or even a licensed doctor. And he's most certainly not a rower, as the ad depicts. But that's not the way the makers of the number one selling drug in the world portray him in the TV ads.

Some earlier versions of the TV ads also made the claim that Jarvik is the inventor of the artificial heart, which is misleading. The credit should actually go to Drs. Willem J. Kolff and Tetsuzo Akutsu, said former Jarvik colleagues. Jarvik is actually credited with making improvements on the artificial heart. These ads were later changed to say that he invited "the Jarvik artificial heart."

The House Energy & Commerce Committee is still proceeding with its investigation into Pfizer and their misleading Lipitor ads.

The boycott of the world's most popular auction website - eBay.com - which began last week has been extended for at least another week, if not longer. Both sellers and buyers alike are boycotting the site in response to changes in eBay's feedback system and listing fees. While the boycott has been downplayed by both eBay officials and others who cite numerous failed strikes in the past, this strike is already beginning to have a major impact on the company and may force them to reconsider the changes.

According to data released by USAToday on Monday, the number of auctions on eBay have fallen 13% to just 13 million listings, down from 18 million. But there's another effect of the boycott that hasn't yet been quantified - the PayPal effect.

eBay purchased the online payment processing company in October 2002, arguably the most popular payment method for eBay auctions. So in addition to earning revenue from auctions, eBay also earns money by taking a cut of transactions processed through PayPal. With a reduction in auctions and items sold, it can be assumed that the company will also feel the effects through a reduced number of transactions at PayPal.

The original protest thread posted on eBay's discussion board is now over 209 pages long, and is growing rapidly. Scores of eBay sellers have "signed" the pledge agreeing to honor the strike, and have subsequently stopped listing new auctions, shut down their eBay stores, and have altogether ceased their activities on the site. Some have even put up virtual "closed for business" signs in their eBay stores and eBay profiles, alerting potential buyers that they will not be selling during the strike.

So where are all the sellers going? Many have relocated their listings to a site called OnlineAuction.com, which also happens to be accessible by typing in ola.com.

Offering a simple $8.00 per month flat-rate fee to list auctions, and no individual listing fees or final value assessments, OLA is a much more appealing option in light of the policy and fee changes at eBay. OLA is no small potatoes either - as of Monday, their total number of online auctions was hovering near 12 million. With eBay at 13 million and falling, the gap is closing quickly. Many eBay sellers have taken up residence here, and have begun directing buyers to their new auctions at OLA.

As far as payment processing goes, the strike also includes a boycott of PayPal. The next biggest payment processing system, which is simple to use and takes far less in fees, is Google Checkout. Users can store their payment details easily in a Google Profile, for quick and easy payments. Sellers can easily accept payments, which are directly deposited into your bank account by Google, unlike PayPal where it is held in limbo until you cash out.

The cost of mailing a letter is about to get another increase. The price for a one-ounce First-Class stamp will increase from 41 to 42 cents on May 12. The United States Post Office Released a statement explaining the increase:

Prices for other mailing services, such as Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services (including single-piece Parcel Post), and Special Services will also change. The average increase by class of mail is at or below the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

“The Postal Service developed the Forever Stamp for consumers to ease the transition during price changes,” said Postmaster General John Potter. “We encourage Americans to buy Forever Stamps now for 41 cents, because like the name suggests, they are good forever.” The price goes up to 42 cents on May 12.

The Postal Service has sold 5 billion Forever Stamps since the launch last April and plans to have an additional 5 billion in stock to meet the expected demand before the May price change.