Unlike savings account plans from other banks, WaMu’s savings account has several features that you really won’t find anywhere and the fees will be less or even nonexistent. Here is what you will get:

- Free Online Banking
- Free Electronic statements
- No monthly service charges to open an account or to link a new savings to an active WaMu checking account
- Overdraft Transfer Service will prevent overdrafts or other NSF transactions (bounced checks)
- Easy access with the use of Worldwide ATMs

The best part is that there isnt a catch. All you have to do is maintain a balance of $300 to avoid the monthly service charge of $4. When you compare savings plans to other banks you will notice that WaMu’s savings plan is one where your money will be safe and will not be liable to several high fees. WaMu’s savings plan is definitely the best bang for your buck and in these times of uncertainties, a savings account is the only way that you can hedge against your future risk. If you don’t have a savings account or are looking to switch over from another bank then I would recommend WaMu’s savings account. Go check it out!

Some of you may LOVE Wendy’s but it might come as a surprise to some of you that Wendy’s hasn’t been doing so well financially and therefore this is one of the many businesses for sale now. On Monday, Wendy’s slashed its earnings forecast down and is now considering a sale among other alternatives. In April, the company contemplated a sale as an option and this past Monday, that option has become an option that they are likely to take. Wendy’s is the Number 3 hamburger gain and it cut its earnings forecast down about 9-13% per share. Wendy’s even tried adjusting prices to align itself with McDonalds and Burger King meaning that in some areas a baked potato would now cost $1.19 instead of the original .99 cents. It also was nudged to spin off a coffee and doughnut chain but apparently that plan didn’t fall through. One of Wendy’s largest owners, Highfields Capital Management, which owns 8.5% of Wendy’s was pushing for a sale to the highest bidder. Highfields Capital is a private investment manager firm. Wendy’s currently owns about 22% of its 9,900 stores and the other 78% are franchisee owned. A private equity buyer could might as well get something out of purchasing the firm by re-capitalizing the debt, re-franchising some of the company-owned restaurants and by indulging in better marketing strategies. Well, it would be interesting to see how this turns out for Wendy’s. In the mean time, lets have a look at its stock chart.

Stock Chart

Enlarged View

Hypothetical Scenario for Fun
For example, if you purchased Wendy’s stock in the Feb of 1990 at $4 per share and you purchased 1000 of them for a total cost to you of $4000. Over the years you let it hang around and decided to sell around July 2006. So lets break this down.

Purchased: 1000 shares at $4 each for a cost of $4000
Sold: 1000 shares at $60 each for a sale price of $60,000

Thats a profit of $56,000 and that may not seem like much considering you waited 16 years but think about this in the case that you owned 10,000 shares then you will see a big change. If there were stock splits then you would see your profits rise instantly and thats what I meant that its not “too much fun as a buyer”

Interesting Facts That You May Not Have Known
1) The Total Market Capitalization for Wendy’s is $3.38 Billion
2) Outback Steakhouse was taken private this month for $3.5 Billion
3) Applebee’s is exploring a sale and reports were made that IHOP may have bid.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post. I finally got to talk about a little bit of finance on my blog and I hope you appreciate my insight! I wonder if you guys actually like Wendy’s when compared to McDonalds or BurgerKing.

After Apple announced the iPhones official release as being June 29th, The Apple stock rose by 2.5% on June 4th, a day after the announcement. On that note, MSN has something called StockScouter which is a stock picking tool. What it essentially does is that it identifies 10 stocks with great potential for growth in the coming term. All stocks that are rated 8,9 or 10 are then set aside, from which stocks that have a trading volume of less than 50,000 per day are removed. The the remaining stocks are evaluated based on 3 characteristics – market capitalization, sector membership and whether they are growth or value stocks. The recently released list looks like this:

1 ) Apple (AAPL)

2 ) Analog Devices (ADI)

3 ) CVS Caremark (CVS)

4 ) Qualcomm (QCOM)

5 ) Walt Disney (DIS)

6 ) Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)

7 ) PMC-Sierra (PMCS)

8 ) ValueClick (VCLK)

9 ) Alcoa (AA)

10 ) Cytyc (CYTC)

Note that clicking on the stock symbol will launch the stock chart. Also note that all stock charts seen are shown over the time period of 1 year. Although, MSN is the one that came around with the StockScouter tool, I prefer Yahoo’s Finance Charts to MSN’s Charts. The new Yahoo Beta Charts seem to have a lot more to offer in terms of seeing splits and dividends. Hope you enjoyed this post and I shall have more in the future!

With a value of $2,692 Million, there is no doubt as to why Nivea is on the World’s Top 100 Brands list by Businessweek. Today, Nivea is undoubtedly one of the largest skin and body-care product company in the world. Its owned by the German company, Beiersdorf, and was started in 1911 when Beiersdorf “developed a water-in-oil emulsifier as a skin cream.” After WWI was when Nivea got its signature blue tin and white logo. As the 1930′s came around, Suntan lotions, shaving creams, shampoo and facial toners joined the product lineup. Following WWII, Nivea’s trademark was expropriated among many countries and Beiersdorf successfully regained the trademark rights in 1997, nearly 50 years after they were first expropriated. Beiersdorf has over 17000 Employees and is located in Europe, America (North, South & Central), as well as Asia, Australia and Africa. Although Europe accounts for almost 72% of its sales globally, Nivea is a company that has grown to become a very reputable brand globally.

Although its profit (after taxes) is forecasted to drop by almost 75%, Beiersdorf is still in great shape considering the benchmark is their own income statement from the year before. Looking at the income statement above, we notice that last years income statement includes 371 million € due to the sale of BSN medical. Overall, Nivea is a great brand that has seen growth since its inception in 1911 and the dedication towards quality and market renovation has led Nivea to be one of the most recognizable brands in the world.

Ever since Knut has made his appearance the zoo has seen a doubling in visitors (now at around 350,000) and the gate receipts totaling almost $1.4 million, and not to forget $400,000 in Knut merchandise. A nonprofit organization by the name of Zoologischer Garten Berlin has licensed the Knut brand which will help generate money, most of which will be donated towards nature conservation and environmental research. According to Business week:

Inquiries already have poured in from the U.S., Taiwan, Japan, and China. One brand consultant figures revenues from Knut licensing could hit $14 million. Aside from stuffed animals, Knut candies, and packaged hotel tours, there’s already a Knut DVD, plans for several Knut books—including one from Scholastic (SCHL) aimed at educating children about global warming—and talks under way about a potential Knut musical and movie.

But now, as time passes by Knut is losing his cuteness and that could mean that the Knut brand may not be as well of as it once was. The zoo states that “Knut” was just to raise awareness for nature conservation and for people to realize that polar bears are endangered animals. Knut has successfully used his looks to raise awareness but as he grows older, sources say that his cute looks are wearing out and that Knut’s presence that caused a rise in business at the Berlin zoo is going to gradually slow down. Here is a video of Knut in May, about 6 weeks after his first public appearance in March.

I hope that Knut has raised awareness regarding the matter of nature conservation and animal protection but looking at the business aspect, Knut definitely helped the Berlin Zoo gain some much needed attention, if not financial proceeds.

For more pictures and videos of Knut visit Knut’s website that has Knut’s blog, videos and podcast.

Well, everyone knows what Levi’s is famous for and for those who dont, they are in the clothing industry and are most well known for their jeans. Levi Strauss & Co. which was founded in the 1850′s however, in 1877 the company standardized quality into the very rivets it used to strengthen their jeans. Today, Levi Strauss stands at #100 in BusinessWeek’s World’s Top 100 Brands. It ranks at 510 on the Forbes 2007 list and with an astounding 53.3% jump in revenues since 2005 Levi’s is definitely doing well. With revenues amassing a cool $2,689 million, it should be kept in mind that Levi’s is privately owned by the Haas Family who are descendants of the founder himself, Mr. Levi Strauss. The Haas family had purchased Levi Strauss for $1.45 Billion back in 1985 and declared itself debt-free in 1996. In Industry Specific rankings, Levi’s comes in fifth after companies such as Nike, VF, Liz Claiborne and the Jones Apparel Group. Since Levi’s is privately owned, there wont be any stock charts or interesting financial statistics to go with this post, however over the next posts, you will see more of the companies on the list of the World’s Top 100 Brands. Until, next time, keep checking back daily!