Once upon a time, Amazon.com loved moms. Its free "Amazon Mom" service offered the same free two-day shipping as Amazon Prime, plus heaps of extra benefits for anyone who thought to ask for them (even dads and cousins.) But no more: Mothers' day is over at Amazon.
There's never a dull moment on Wall Street, especially now that the market is hitting multiyear highs. Let's go over some of the news that will help shape the week that lies ahead.
It is unusual for a stock's price to double in a year, but several well-known companies' shares have done it recently. The more important question for investors is: Which stock could be next? 24/7 Wall St. offer their list of S&P 500 companies whose stocks could double in 2012.
When it comes to how they treat their customers, some companies follow Santa-like policies. Others are more like the Grinch. But which is which? Consumer Reports offers the skinny on how a number of high-profile businesses behave with its Naughty & Nice Holiday List. Here's a rundown:
Too many of us aren't being smart with our smartphone data consumption, and the results are clear: Clogged wireless broadband networks, dropped connections, rising prices, and worst of all, expensive data bills. But Onavo wants to help us cut, compress, and otherwise tame our wireless use -- and it won't hurt a bit.
Apple shares are trading near their all-time high of $422.86, but most analysts expect them to go much higher. Forty-six analysts tracked by Thomson/First Call have a median price target of $500 -- an approximately 20% rise -- and the most optimistic among them forecasts the stock will hit $666 -- about 60% higher than it trades now.
This may have been a holiday-shortened trading week, but there were plenty of financial nuggets that kept stocks moving. Let's go over some of the news from Netflix, Verizon, Immucor and more that shaped this abridged week in the markets.
Major cellular carriers will soon begin to carry emergency text alerts for the U.S. government in the event of major disasters, turning the mobile devices of 250 million people into emergency alert devices.
Many major companies are hoping that consumers will use their smartphones as a credit or debit card, and Google may be preparing to join in with its Android phones. But is the trend, which has grown popular in Japan, finally ready to take off in the U.S.?
SprintNextel and T-Mobile USA are reportedly discussing another tie-up, as both companies seek to stop the flow of customers defecting to larger cell-phone service providers. In the past, the carriers have mulled a merger but haven't been able to agree on who would acquire whom.
Talks between Apple and China Mobile didn't go so well back in 2009, but Steve Jobs apparently wants to take another stab at getting his wildly popular iPhone onto the world's largest network. And Apple may be more accommodating about terms now that Google's Android is gaining share globally.
Verizon has put off by three months its switchover from an unlimited data plan to tiered pricing for new customers, possibly to coincide with the release of the iPhone 5 this summer. Exact pricing for the new plan is still not determined.
Despite the pre-launch hype and an expected storm of customers, analysts say Verizon Wireless' debut of the iPhone 4 failed to generate higher-than-expected sales to AT&T defectors. And those overall light sales dragged down Verizon share prices.
Verizon sold out of its iPhone 4 pre-order allotment after only 17 hours. But don't despair, they'll be available soon online again and in Verizon, Apple and a few other stores. It's starting to look like it'll be another all-night camp-out for those who want to score day-one phones.
