Exceeding 3GB Data Usage Results In ATT Wireless Reducing Data Speeds

The ATT Wireless and U-Verse divisions are giving it to the public in the A-S-S with their new data usage caps. Since when did they get so stingy with their data, or my data as I would still like to believe. Not only is there data usage cap in the ATT Wireless Division, but there is also a data usage cap on the ATT U-Verse Wi-Fi. Thus far, the amount of data used with your U-Verse home internet is not divulged to you until you’ve already cap-sized. What are they trying to pull over there? The wool over our eyes?

Grand Fathered In | ATT Wireless

I know what your saying to yourself, ” Hey, if you’re grandfathered in, what are you complaining about?” Well it’s true, I am an established ATT Wireless customer and have been for some time, hence the grandfathered in perk of having unlimited data usage with my ATT Wireless service. Here is how the  connection between my ATT Wireless and ATT U-Verse exists. First, let me tell you that I work at home from time-to-time and listen to music on Pandora, or online sports talk radio (Sports Radio 1310AM and 96.7 FM The Ticket). If I were to do this whilst using my Wi-Fi it would eat up my data usage from my ATT U-Verse service. Therefore, I chose to consume my media using my 4G ATT Wireless Service via applications available for download (Pandora and SportsDay) on my cell phone. Haha! I outsmarted you wicked data trolls…so I thought.

I can now say that for being such a faithful, upstanding ATT Wireless customer and most recently an ATT U-Verse customer, I am valiantly being threatened to cease using so much data on my phone. The threat in effect is the following, “ATT Free Msg: Your data usage is near 3GB this month. Exceeding 3GB during this or future billing cycles will result in reduced data speeds, though you will still be able to email & surf the web. Wi-Fi helps you avoid reduced speeds.” Or, in other words, you thought you found a loop hole, congratulations. Now, were sending you and your phone back to the same internet speed you had when you became a customer…enjoy dial-up speeds as you try to pull 3GB of data next month, loser!

Pace Yourself For The TWX Marathon, Do Not Freak Out

As I stated in the beginning, when I first introduced this blog, profits for publicly traded companies are interdependent on the success of its many umbrella companies. Which for this in this bloggers case is not necessarily a good thing. If you haven’t checked your stocks lately, Time Warner Inc. (TWX) is not doing so great. When you the reader and I sat down to discuss buying TWX the stock was at $45.01, and it is now at $44.02. Ouch! But don’t fret analysts suggest that we buy TWX now for a few different reasons. We will discuss, why The Street analysts support buyingTWX we will explore the reasons why Stockpickr supports the future success of TWX, and finally we’ll discuss other options for the skittish investor  with “The Walking Dead.”

The Street Wire, a blog on TheStreet.com, gives great detail in why you should buy TWX and I agree with the logic. “Compared to its closing price of one year ago, TWX’s share price has jumped by 38.74%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame” (TheStreet.com). On top of the great share price, the debt-to-equity is 0.68 with a quick ratio of 1.11 (pertains to short-term cash flow). The companies P/E (profit/ earnings) ratio is 17.7, the net operating cash flow has gone up and “In addition, TIME WARNER INC has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of 14.61% All these numbers are promising and if you don’t know what they mean you need to get educated. Ask me for resources if you would like. I encourage engagement and also encourage you to buy. Why? Here are a few more reasons to be confident in TWX.

AMC’s “The Walking Dead”

If we have already forgotten what a powerhouse TWX is lets leave it up to Stockpickr.com to remind us of a few excellent companies under the TWX umbrella of holdings,”The firm owns a portfolio of television networks that include HBO, CNN and TNT, the largest combined film studio in the world in Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, and a publishing arm that produces print names like People and Time.” I simply state to Stockpickr: You had me at HBO. But wait there is more and I didn’t even realize this, but Stockpickr stated that TWX pays a nice 2.3% dividend. Mainly though, we learn that the ability to share its content between networks will bring more benefits, “The biggest benefit to Time Warner today is the fact that the firm is able to share content between units to earn a higher return on every title in its library” (Stockpickr, 10/22/12).

I understand that you invested your children’s college fund on ‘Argo’ but my only advice is: Buy More. But if you don’t want to take a chance on TWX that’s your choice. If you haven’t heard about the recent success about the TV series on AMC entitled “The Walking Dead” it is worth giving a once over, “This year opened with about 11 million viewers (15.2 million overall), reports The Washington Post. And that was without help from DISH Network” (Daily Finance, 10/22/12). The DISH Network is such an important part of this statement because as of Sunday, October 21, 2012 AMC’s “The Walking Dead” was viewable to DISH Network subscribers which will brings the numbers in viewership up. So if you feel like you are the walking dead because of the slide in the TWX stock, then I have two pieces of advice. First, if you are going to panic during the marathon, just remember it’s not a sprint, so stop being a nervous Ned/ Nelly. Secondly, if you’re looking to diversify and buy into a few more options, then take a peek at the Daily Finance article posted here about the up and coming success of “The Walking Dead.”

Bottom line, do not give up on TWX, we invested for a month, and those the rules I have set in place and I am a man of my word, so I’m not quitting Ben Affleck and his ‘Argo.’ I’m not worried though, because reliable, knowledgeable sources like TheStreet.com, Stockpickr.com, and Daily Finance give us news, options, and awareness.

Accredited Sources:

• ‘Argo’ earnings calendar via BoxOfficeMojo.com retrieved on 10/23/12 from:

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=argo.htm

• “The Walking Dead” picture via Daily Finance retrieved 10/23/12 from:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/10/22/investing-profit-walking-dead-zombie-apocalypse/

• Link to Cramer’s Portfolio retrieved 10/23/12 from: 

http://secure2.thestreet.com/cap/prm.do?OID=019175 via http://www.thestreet.com/story/11742310/1/time-warner-inc-stock-buy-recommendation-reiterated-twx.html?puc=aol&cm_ven=aol&source=motleyfool

• The Street Wire. Blog via TheStreet.com. Time warner inc stock buy recommendation reiterated (TWX). Retrieved on 10/23/12 from: 

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11742310/1/time-warner-inc-stock-buy-recommendation-reiterated-twx.html?puc=aol&cm_ven=aol&source=motleyfool

• Elmerraji, J. Blog via Stockpickr.com. 5 rocket stocks ready to rally this week – views. Retrieved on 10/23/12 from:

http://www.stockpickr.com/5-rocket-stocks-ready-rally-week.html-0?puc=aol&cm_ven=aol&source=motleyfool

Important Investment Blogs Compared

What’s your favorite investment blog?

When I started this blog one of the largest problems I faced was finding an investment/ finance focused blog that would talk about the entertainment business, more importantly film studio investing, on a regular basis that would also cover other subsidiary companies under the same umbrella of large corporations. After searching, I discovered a couple of very different blogs that offered relevant film news.

Business Insider, my preferred blog, and Freakonomics are very forthcoming with information, have a multitude of options to browse and retrieve for news and they are focused on all aspects of business which, in the long run, contribute to the overall possibility for profit when investing in corporations with film production studios, like Sony and Time Warner. I prefer Business Insider because the blog roll is instantaneous with a picture and a headline that entices the reader. Freakonomics is still a very important and useful source, but for different reasons. Freakonomics user interface is not as busy, or complicated with as many tabs as Business Insider, and it is a single home page without the need to scroll down to see all the content.

Both blogs include search boxes and social widgets towards the top of the page, but with Business Insider you don’t have to worry about navigating any tabs at the top to begin reading, if you don’t want to, so it is instantaneous. On the other hand, you know what you are getting with Freakonomics every time. One at a time, five featured, self scrolling blogs are available to view and their are tabs to help you navigate to different services. I recomment both blogs as credible, instant, and interesting forms of engaging information.

Gatekeeping and Drawbridging?

Gatekeeping and Drawbridging?

My opinion of the media online and offline is the same: they are byproducts of the greed that breeds greed. It is hard to trust the media and their perceived truths because of a theory named ‘gatekeeping.’

If we start with an example of a local news reporter’s professional goals, we will be able to sum up the untrustworthy, conceited abuse of hierarchal texts, it models from traditional rhetorical public speaking, but without an immediate rebuttal from the audience. “In traditional public speaking the structure of relationship calls for one person to speak while many people listen. One person is, therefore, put in a position of advantage over others, at least for the moment” (Brummett, 43).

A local reporter’s ultimate goal is to reach the position of national news anchor, but the only way this position is acquired is by jumping through all the hoops of pleasing network affiliate stations and ultimately the sponsors. ‘If it bleeds it leads,’ is the best summation of contemporary news gathering because of their goal to be revered and feared at the same time.  This is how they become opinion leaders and ‘gatekeep’ public information.

It is hard for me to trust media online or offline, because the processes of gathering, filtering, and exposing content is all determined by advertising by way of operating revenue and/ or the public by way of Wikipedia. I’m skeptical about putting too much importance on wiki-type websites, because I’m entrusting my information gathering process with the public. I don’t know about you, but there have been numerous occasions where I downloaded a virus and lost a little more trust for the public.

Here is an interesting theory I like to call “drawbridging,’ if the show Family Guy was put on the air (chosen by a gatekeeper) and then taken off the air by the same gatekeepers, but dictated to be put back on the air because of public popularity, this is ‘drawbridging.’ What do you think, am I reaching?

Additional Readings:

Brummett, Barry. Rhetoric in Popular Culture, Third Edition. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2011.