ERTS

A research firm that tracks video game sales reported that March hardware sales rose, but software sales plunged again. NPD claims that 23% of software sales in 2010 came from apps, but the industry isn't sure that its lagging sales figures can be entirely blamed on apps like Angry Birds.

The short interest in some major technology stocks has increased sharply in recent weeks. The short sellers' view may make sense since these companies have helped drive the NASDAQ recovery.

In Electronic Arts' new Medal of Honor game, players can take on the role of the Taliban or U.S. soldiers. But the prospect of having players shoot Americans doesn't go over too well with a lot of people, including the folks running base stores.

Although Electronic Arts' fundamentals look solid, analysts have not been upbeat about the games giant's upcoming results, citing a "low pick-up" in video game sales. At the end of November, total video games sales were $14.1 billion, down 12% from the same time a year ago.

Electronic Arts, the largest video game maker in the U.S., has released new guidance, and the numbers were awful. GAAP sales for its fiscal 2010, which ends in March, will be well below its November forecasts.

Take-Two Interactive, publisher of popular video games such as Grand Theft Auto, announced disappointing earnings Thursday. But that didn't deter Carl Icahn from buying an 11 percent stake in the company the same day.

Unemployment, which recently hit a 26-year high of 10.2% nationwide, won't begin to show signs of improvement until the second quarter of 2010. Even then, it will take until 2013 for half the states to regain their previous peak employment levels. That's according to analysis from economic...

The "Year of the Layoff" was supposed to be over now that the economy is improving and most large companies have fired as many people as they reasonably can. Productivity gains can only squeeze so much out of a shrinking work force. But American companies are aggressively chopping their...

Darwin's Finance explains why the normal correlation between gold and the dollar has broken down. __________________ And speaking of which, The Intelligent Speculator figures out a new way to protect against inflation. __________________ Which biotech stock yields over 12% and sells for less than...

Whatever happened to former superpower, Argentina? ______________________ Amazing that people think this kind of thing will work: Local.com and Microsoft deny validity of press release. ______________________ Three new stocks for George Soros's portfolio. ______________________