To read all articles, go to http://paper.li/SADailyNews (which updates at 11:00a.m.), or read them here:

Contest Will Pick a “Little Miss Coppertone”

By Stuart Elliot

Relevance – Marketing and Social Media – A venerable brand character — who like Little Orphan Annie, an even older character, is never seen without her dog — is getting a 21st century update in the form of a presence in social media.

Pepsi Partners With Michael Jackson’s Estate

By Associated Press

Relevance – Media and Advertising- PepsiCo Inc. is going on a reunion tour with the King of Pop. The Purchase, N.Y.-based company on Thursday announced a deal with the estate of Michael Jackson to use the late pop star’s image for its new global marketing push. The nature of the promotion will vary by country, but will include a TV ad, special edition cans bearing Jackson’s image and chances to download remixes of some of Jackson’s most famous songs.

To read all articles, go to http://paper.li/SADailyNews (which updates at 11:00a.m.), or read them here:

 Facebook Tests Smaller Version of ‘Trending Articles’ in Newsfeed

By Lauren Indvik

Relevance: Facebook is testing a smaller, less invasive version of the “Trending Articles” insert that began appearing in some users’ Newsfeeds earlier this month. Now, instead of displaying a vertical block of stories — between three and six, from the screenshots we saw before — users see just one headline, accompanied by a thumbnail, source, introductory text and the name(s) of the friend(s) who have already read it.

Pinterest growth curve levels off

By Jon Swartz

Relevance – Social Media: Are consumers losing interest in Pinterest? That appeared to be the trend last month, when meteoric growth for the overnight app sensation slackened, according to two market-research firms.

Study: Kindle Fire dominating Android tablet market

By Brett Molina

Relevance – Technology/Business: More than half of the tablets owned in the U.S. that run Google’s Android operating system are Amazon’s Kindle Fire, says research from comScore.

To read all articles, go to http://paper.li/SADailyNews (which updates at 11:00a.m.), or read them here:

Skechers Sets New Pace on Sponsors

By SARA GERMANO

Relevance:  Marketing- That may be about to change. Skechers USA Inc., known more for fashion sneakers than sports shoes, has signed a new contract with Olympic medalist and New York City Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi that marks a shift in the way sponsors traditionally reward track and field athletes.

The Reel End: Theaters to Get Movies by Satellite

By MICHELLE KUNG And ERICA ORDEN

Relevance: Launches- A coalition of film studios and movie-theater companies said it intends to start experimenting with a new satellite-based digital delivery system for movies, in a bid to make theatrical distribution more efficient.

MIT videos teach fun-damental lessons

By Marie Szaniszlo

Relevance: Higher Education- But dozens of Massachusetts Institute of Technology students have embraced a new school initiative to produce short videos teaching youngsters in kindergarten to 12th grade basic concepts in science and engineering. And they’ve done it with panache.

Facebook finds adding users unfriend-ly to profits

By Ira Kantor

Relevance: Social Media- Facebook attributed its revenue spike to continued growth in active users.

US firms beat estimates, boosting optimism

By Lu Wang and Thomas Black

Relevance: Business Economy- Companies from Apple to 3M are surpassing earnings estimates at the highest rate in two years as economic growth at home helps drive demand and counter a drag from Europe.

Friendly’s CEO goes from panini to patty melts

By Gail Waterhouse

Relevance- Food: Panera chief operating officer John Maguire will try to turn Friendly’s around.

Facebook beefs up security

By Brett Molina

Relevance: Social Media- Facebook is taking several steps to ensure its 900 million users explore the social network more securely.

Bad labels force another recall of Nissan Titan, Armada

By James R. Healey

Relevance: Automotive- Nissan is recalling Titan pickups and Armada SUVs because of a mistake on the tire-information label.

A Web Retailer Buys the Perfect Domain Name. Then Comes a Letdown

By IAN MOUNT

Relevance: Digital- The Newark Nut Company paid a hefty price for a clean, new domain name – then watched its traffic fall significantly.

An E-Book That Glows in the Dark

By DAVID POGUE

Relevance: New products- A new glow in the dark ebook will be sold for $140.

Facebook Marketing: Why Less Is More

Lauren Hockenson

Relevance: Social Media/Marketing- According to Peter Shankman, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist with a hearty background of marketing and consulting under his belt, the answer is actually pretty easy: “Sharing for the sake of just hearing yourself talk is pointless.”

Top NFL Draft Picks to Hold Google+ Hangouts With Fans

Sam Laird

Relevance: Social Media- In a pro football first, the presumed top two picks in this week’s NFL Draft will hold Google+ Hangouts with fans of their new teams.

To read all articles, go to http://paper.li/SADailyNews (which updates at 11:00a.m.), or read them here:

 Short Hub stop for tall women’s shop

By DONNA GOODISON

Relevance – Consumer Retail/Local Business: If you spot a lot of tall women around the Hyatt Regency Boston this weekend, don’t assume it’s a gathering of hoops stars. Long Tall Sally, a London-based clothing chain catering to women 5 feet 8 inches and taller, is hosting a two-day “pop-up” shop at the hotel. The 2,000-square-foot temporary store will be stocked with 3,000 items — including tops, dresses, jeans, suits, pajamas, swimwear, yoga outfits and shoes.

Lot drives SUV owners mad

By JERRY KRONENBERG and DANIELLE RIVARD

Relevance – Green Business: SUV and Jeep owners are seeing red over a planned Hub “green” parking lot that intends to charge customers who drive big vehicles a 10 percent “gas-guzzler” surcharge.

 Teens out to get job done

By MARIE SZANISZLO

Relevance – Consumer Spending/Recession: Nearly 200 teenagers will lobby state lawmakers today to restore $2.1 million in funding as Massachusetts faces a summer-job crunch for youngsters.

Coca-Cola proposes 2-for-1 stock split, first in 16 years

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Relevance – Investments: The world’s biggest beverage maker said Wednesday that the 2-for-1 split is in line with its plan to double revenue over this decade.

 Apple trumps earnings expectations

By SCOTT MARTIN

Relevance – Consumer Tech/Investments: Apple reported earnings results Tuesday that extended its mobile dominance despite the best efforts of Samsung, Microsoft and Google to match its playbook.

 Olympic ads out before Memorial Day

By BRUCE HOROVITZ

Relevance – Advertising/Marketing: Many folks haven’t even cut their lawns yet this spring. That’s not stopping some of America’s biggest brands from already marketing their best hopes for late-summer sales heroics: Olympic athletes.

 Enlarged natural gas pipeline proposed for N.E.

BY Erin Ailworth

Relevance: Local Developments: A Houston pipeline company has begun exploring the expansion of a major regional pipeline to bring abundant supplies of natural gas to New England from nearby shale formations, a move that could help lower heating and electricity costs here.

Home sales rise nearly 20% in Mass.

BY Megan Woolhouse

Relevance: Markets/Home: Sales of single-family homes in Massachusetts increased by nearly 20 percent last month, the strongest March showing since the recession and an indication the housing market is slowly recovering from years of erosion.

Apple Inc.’s iPhone sales, at 35m, whip predictions

By Peter Svensson

Relevance: Technology: New York- Apply Inc., the world’s most valuable company, trumped skeptics once again by reporting blowout iPhone. 

Apple Profit Rises on Higher iPhone and iPad Sales

BY Nick Wingfield

 Relevance: Technology: Not long after the iPhone came out, skeptics questioned how much appeal the costly device and related wireless service would have in countries like China with lower income levels. On Tuesday, Apple provided the answer: A lot

Apple Rides iPhone Frenzy

BY JESSICA E. VASCELLARO And IAN SHERR

Relevance: Technology: Apple Inc.’s AAPL -2.04%quarterly profit nearly doubled as iPhones and iPads continued to fly off shelves, putting to rest recent worries that the company can’t maintain its momentum.

REITs Spring an Unnerving Surprise

BY A.D. Pruitt and Craig Karmin

Relevance: The Property Report: During the decade leading up to the downturn, some small investors put their money into a special type of real-estate investment trust, ones that aren’t traded on an exchange but promised steady dividends.

Apple Announces WWDC 2012: June 11-15

By Stan Schroeder

Relevance: Technology: Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone West June 11 to 15, the company has announced.

To read all articles, go to http://paper.li/SADailyNews (which updates at 11:00a.m.), or read them here:

How to Get More Clicks on Twitter [Infographic]
[via danzarella.com]

 Relevance – Social Media: I’ve often said that the best use of Twitter is as a broadcast medium. You should be creating a ton of interesting content and sharing it with your followers. To that end I’ve done a bunch of research on how to optimize the clickthrough rate (CTR) of the links you’re tweeting.

How the Fortune 500 Companies Use Social Media [Infographic]
[via sprial16.com]

Relevance – Social Media: Having an active social media presence has become an important and integral part of modern business marketing strategies, especially for engagement and brand awareness and loyalty.

Creating a #Hashtag Campaign on Twitter
[via socialmediatoday.com]

Relevance – Social Media: Often the biggest results come from the smallest actions. Take Twitter hashtags, for example… The concept itself is deceptively simple; just add the “#” symbol in front of a word or a group of words with the spaces between them taken out.

5 Food Brands Building Social Buzz on a Budget

By: Bob Marshall
Relevance: Food/Social Media – By now, most brands are rightly viewing social media as an integral piece of their overall marketing strategy. However, many still hold the incorrect notion that injecting more money into social media is the only way to build and nurture an online fan base

Music Festival Tech Changes Drastically Since Woodstock [INFOGRAPHIC]

By: Samantha Murphy
Relevance: Music/Technology – Concerts have changed a lot since the Woodstock days of the late 1960s. Here’s an infographic that compares how technology is used by fans at music festivals such as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California compared to the iconic Woodstock festival held in 1969.

Perch’s Interactive Displays Could Change the Way You Shop for Shoes [VIDEO]

By: Lauren Indvik
Relevance: Consumer/Media – Digital technology is making increasingly frequent appearances in offline retail environments. Those installations — think TopShop’s augmented reality fitting room in Moscow, PayPal’s “mobile shopping walls” in Singapore and Sephora’s iPad-enhanced makeup counters in the U.S. — tend to be fun and interactive, drawing in shoppers through novelty of experience.

Younger customers take to Pingup’s text-based ordering

By: Gary J. Remal
Relevance: Technology – Frustrated, angry and stuck on hold with his cable company more than a year ago, Boston tech entrepreneur Mark Slater came up with an idea that could just turn out to be the next big thing.

State’s mum over Amazon, sales tax

By: Gary J. Remal
Relevance: Retail/Local – State tax officials won’t say if moves by online retailer Amazon to start research and manufacturing operations in Massachusetts will mean the company must start collecting an estimated $25 million to $45 million a year in state sales taxes on Web-based purchases.

Chrysler’s image rises, but Clint Eastwood didn’t help

By: Brent Snavely
Relevance: Media/Marketing – Chrysler’s hardscrabble ad campaigns appear to be convincing car-buying Americans that the scrappy automaker, bailed out by the government, can win the game.

American merger could mean higher fares, analysts warn

By: Bart Jansen
Relevance: Corp. mergers – US Airways has taken a bold step toward merging with American Airlines, a prospect that would leave the country with four major airlines and probably lead to higher ticket prices.

Facebook apps rated on privacy protection

By: Byron Acohido
Relevance: Social Media – A new service that grades how each of Facebook’s top third-party apps respects consumers’ privacy was released late Sunday by research firm PrivacyChoice. The free tool, Privacyscore for Facebook, spells out privacy policies and tracking practices of more than 200 top Facebook apps, including games, work-related programs and sharing apps.

For Results, Twitter Gets Out Early Word, in Code
By Scotta Sayare

Relevance – Social Media, World News: In France on Sunday, the flan was decidedly in the oven, while the tomato was surprisingly green. By the same token — according to Twitter, at any rate — the temperature in Budapest hovered near 25 degrees.

Climate Change to Affect Corn Prices, Study Says
By Stephanie Strom

Relevance – Food, Economy: Researchers have found that climate change is likely to have far greater influence on the volatility of corn prices over the next three decades than factors that recently have been blamed for price swings — like oil prices, trade policies and government biofuel mandates.

Google Opens Up About Its Network
By Quentin Hardy

Relevance – Technology: Unusually, Google is putting its mouth where its money is. Company representatives appeared at a computer networking conference in Santa Clara, Calif., on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss some of Google’s data center network workings. It has disclosed that its data centers have moved over to an advanced system dominated by software, instead of traditional hardware of custom switches and routers. The industry calls it a software defined network or S.D.N.

Waltham-based Care.com expands to UK
By Gail Waterhouse

Relevance – Local Business: Care.com, a Waltham online subscription service for finding caregivers, is setting up operations in the United Kingdom – its first international expansion, the company said Monday.

Nimble robot overcomes pet hair
By Hiawatha Bray

Relevance – Home and Tech Products: My home could use a spring cleaning as much as the next fellow’s; probably more. But my big problem is clutter – books and digital gadgets everywhere. So to test the latest vacuum-cleaning robot from iRobot, I handed one off to Globe reporter Erin Ailworth, proud owner of both a cat and a dog, each unable to keep their hairs to themselves.

Avon Is Late to Social Media’s Party
By Emily Glazer

Relevance – Social Media, Business: The Avon Lady needs to spend more time on Facebook. Avon Products Inc., famous for sending its representatives door to door, is losing traction in the U.S., where many time-stressed consumers are increasingly buying their cosmetics on the Web. Operating profit per representative in the U.S. has plunged 75% over the past decade, according to an analysis by Sanford C. Bernstein.

Pfizer Expected to Sell Baby-Food Line to Nestlé
By Anupreeta Das, Jonathan D. Rockoff and Dana Cimilluca

Relevance – Food:  Pfizer Inc. is expected to announce on Monday it has reached a deal to sell its baby food business to Nestlé SA for more than $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Tech IPOs Highlight Busy Week Ahead
By Lynn Cowan

Relevance – Technology, Investing: Following last week’s string of strong debuts, this week’s crop of IPO hopefuls may not shine as brightly.

SA and Baskin-Robbins’ Flavor Creation Contest and campaign won the coveted silver award in the Game category at the annual SABRE Awards competition. Baskin-Robbins sponsored the contest to discover the next flavor to include in their celebrated 31 flavors of ice creams offered at stores. Schneider Associates worked alongside the Baskin Robbins’ marketing and public relations team to cultivate a truly unique campaign incorporating an online interactive flavor creation App.  To read more about the Flavor Creation Contest and its Chicago winner Diane Sroga, click here.

Schneider Associates’ Harvard Business Review article “Why Most Product Launches Fail” was runner-up in two SABRE categories: PR Agency Marketing and Thought-Leadership in PR.

The SABRE Awards is the largest public relations awards competition in the industry, honoring the most successful and innovative agencies.

The Holmes Report featured an op-ed by Schneider Associates’ EVP and Launch Expert Julie Hall about how social media is changing the way we launch new products.

Hall and Schneider Associates introduced the Most Memorable New Product Launch (MMNPL) Survey in 2002, and since then, the poll has surveyed thousands of consumers about the most memorable product launches each year, analyzed media consumption and purchasing habits, and predicted trends based on the results.

Hall highlighted one significant change in this year’s MMNPL findings: “Facebook was nowhere near the top 10 sources of information about new products – and in the span of one year, it became the third most used source of information on new product launches, jumping from 17% to 40%. And this is just Facebook.”

Based on this and other findings, Hall coined the fifth P in the product marketer’s arsenal – Participation (the original four: product, price, promotion and place). Hall insists that consumers can be engaged by “Relationship Marketing,” which allows them to interact more closely with brands and products they love. Going forward, campaigns must consist of a blend of participatory marketing through various sources of old and new, traditional and social media marketing techniques in order to succeed.

Read the full article here.

If you would like help planning your next launch, contact us at launch@schneiderpr.com or on Twitter @SchneiderPR.

To read all articles, go to http://paper.li/SADailyNews (which updates at 11:00a.m.), or read them here:

Want Better Twitter Results? Try These Effective Types of Tweets

[via entrepreneur.com]

 Relevance: A team of researchers conclude certain strategies for tweeting including the most engaging types of tweets and the worst types of tweets.

Build Blog Products That Sell 3: Develop Your Product

[via problogger.net]

Relevance: The author looks at developing the product you’ve spent time conceiving through your blog.

5 Ways to Create Stunning iPad Applications

By: UX Magazine

Relevance – Tech News:  The iPad has been on the market for two years now. With a second milestone of 200,000 iPad applications on the App Store nearing, there’s no better time than now to reassess how to approach the UX of iPad applications.

Some of the ideas in this article are relevant to all tablets, not just the iPad. But in consideration of the tremendous success of the iPad (73% of all tablet sales last year), it does warrant specific attention and focus. So, without further ado, here are five interface guidelines to (re)consider when approaching the UX and design of iPad applications.

Pixlr Aims to Fill the Hole Between Photoshop and Instagram

By Peter Pachal

Relevance – Tech: Ever taken a shot with Instagram and wanted to put the lo-fi border on the Earlybird filter? A photo app called Pixlr-o-matic can do it, and the service behind it, Pixlr, offers photographers and photo editors a lot more.

There’s no shortage of online photo editors that are looking to fill the vacuum now that Picnik has gone dark, but few have anything that approaches the powerful feature set of Photoshop. At the same time, once you get into full-on editing, the mainstream user — who probably just wants to apply an Instagram-esque filter — gets lost.

Raid of EBT card cheats just ‘beginning’ of fight

By: Dave Wedge

Relevance: Boston Business  The raids on suspected EBT-scamming businesses and arrests of accused welfare cheats in Boston and across the state yesterday were just the beginning of a law enforcement crackdown that was launched even as Gov. Deval Patrick has defended the scandal-plagued program and lawmakers bicker about reforms.

Expert: Globe dragging down Times, but Sulzberger won’t sell

By Jerry Kronenberg

Relevance: Print Media The New York Times Co. reported today that ad sales at the Boston Globe, the Worcester Telegram and their websites plunged 12.2 percent during the first quarter, dragging down the overall company’s results.

The Times Co. said advertising at its New England Media Group — which consists of the Globe, the Telegram and their online operations — fell to $41.9 million during the quarter.

Rumors swirl of smaller iPad, which Jobs detested

By Peter Svensson, Associated Press

Relevance – Technology: There are constant rumors about the development of new Apple products, lately there have been rumors about a smaller iPad or “iPad mini.”

 Starbucks de-bugs its menu offerings

By Bruce Horowitz, USA TODAY

Relevance – Food/Retail: Just weeks after the world’s largest coffee chain took serious PR heat for switching to commonly-used cochineal beetles to color its Strawberry Frappuccinos, Starbucks has made a rapid reversal in how it colors its drinks and some of its other foods.

 Gulf residents to get extra $64M for 2010 oil spill claims

Relevance – Economy/National News: Roughly 7,300 residents and businesses harmed by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will get more than $64 million in additional payments because their claims with BP’s $20 billion compensation fund were shortchanged or wrongfully denied, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

Rising Fears that Recovery May Once More Be Faltering

By Annie Lowrey

Relevance – Economy: Some of the same spoilers that interrupted the recovery in 2010 and 2011 have emerged again, raising fears that the winter’s economic strength might dissipate in the spring.

 Microsoft Beats Estimates as Windows Makes a Stand

By Nick Wingfield

Relevance – Technology: Microsoft is facing some of the biggest challenges in its history with the rise of smartphones and the iPad, but one of its stalwarts of the personal computer era showed there is still life left in its main business.

 MIT seeks to invest $450m at Hanscom

By: Bryan Bender

 Relevance:  Local Boston MIT news WASHINGTON – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is proposing to build a $450 million research facility at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford in a long-term venture that would reinforce the base’s high-tech mission without requiring new federal spending, according to government officials

 BU student is city’s 4th homicide this week

By Travis Andersen and Matt Rocheleau

 Relevance: Local Boston News: A violent week in the city of Boston continued Thursday morning when a Boston University graduate student was fatally shot in a part of the Allston section that is usually safe, police and neighbors said.

 Fenway Park an indelible part of Boston history

By: John Powers

 Relevance: Red Sox Nation This article is excerpted from “Fenway Park: A Salute to the Coolest, Cruelest, Longest-Running Major League Baseball Stadium in America,” produced by The Boston Globe and published by Running Press.

The storied home of the Red Sox for a century, “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark’’ also is the oldest in the major leagues, and the most famous. From the classic brick entrance on Yawkey Way to the unique left-field wall with its manual scoreboard to Pesky’s Pole in right field, its timeless features are recognized from the Bronx to the Dominican Republic to Japan.

McDonald’s Profit Rises 4.8%

BY MELODIE WARNER

 Relevance: Stocks McDonald’s Corp.’s first-quarter earnings rose 4.8% on strong sales gains and improved profit margins.

The world’s largest fast-food chain has been able to boost guest traffic and sales faster than most of its competitors with its increasingly diverse menu—ranging from value-price offerings to higher-margin products like blended-ice drinks—and its growing global operations.

 Poll Frames Rivals’ Strengths

BY NEIL KING JR.

 Relevance: Politics President Barack Obama’s efforts to project himself as a protector of the middle class have strengthened him for the general election, while Mitt Romney has gained traction with his argument that he can improve the economy, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

Some seven months before the election, the survey showed that both men are starting the head-to-head contest with core strengths and myriad challenges. As he has since January, Mr. Obama tops Mr. Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, by six percentage points in the survey, 49% to 43%, a lead just within the poll’s margin of error.

 Norway Killer Studied Oklahoma Bomber

By CHARLES DUXBURY

 Relevance: Global News  The Norwegian right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in shooting and bombing attacks last year said Friday he studied the Oklahoma bomber in planning his attacks and spent years dehumanizing his victims in preparation for what he calls a war against Muslim immigration in Europe.

The MIT Sloan Executive MBA program, a SA client, was recently featured in the Financial Times. The article, titled “Fresh Experiences in the Field,” covers the Executive MBA program and its launch of a capstone course that focuses on experiential learning at an overseas company.

Jonathan Lehrich, director of Sloan’s EMBA program, describes how the students in the program are doing real work with actual companies, as opposed to just learning from case studies or classroom exercises. The article also details the issues Sloan’s EMBA students will face throughout the course, including how to operate in a decentralized, virtual team, and how to manage numerous international markets at the time same—challenges that many global companies must overcome.

To read the full article in Financial Times, Click Here.

To read all articles, go to http://paper.li/SADailyNews (which updates at 11:00a.m.), or read them here:

 House May Pull PR, CEOs, Communications Specialists Into Lobbying Definition

By COLLEEN QUINN

Relevance – Industry News: Public relations and communications specialists and any chief executive officers who regularly lobby lawmakers will be required to register as lobbyists, under a definition-changing bill that House lawmakers may consider as soon as Wednesday.

 Nstar Chief  Knew Way Wind Was Blowing

By JERRY KRONENBERG

Relevance – Green Technology/Local Business: Nstar agreed to buy pricey electricity from the controversial Cape Wind project to remove the “fear” that Massachusetts regulators might otherwise block the company’s planned merger with Northeast Utilities, a top exec says.

 Intuit Puts AisleBuyer Into Its Checkout Cart

By MARIE SZANISZLO

Relevance – Acquisitions/Local Business: California-based Intuit has snapped up Boston mobile commerce company AisleBuyer, reportedly for as much as $100 million.

Only a Third of Hybrid Car Owners Buy Another Hybrid

By CHRIS WOODYARD

Relevance – Green Technology/Consumerism: A new study finds that only about a third of hybrid owners buy another hybrid.

 Investors Worry Profit Growth Slowdown Will Hurt Stocks

By ADAM SHELL

Relevance – Stocks/Investments: Profit growth, the fuel that powers Wall Street, likely downshifted in the first quarter to its slowest pace in three years. Investor expectations, as a result, have also dipped a few notches.

 SurfEasty Vows ‘Plug-in Privacy’

By EDWARD C. BAIG

Relevance – Social Media/Consumer Tech: You’re frequently in front of someone else’s computer. But whether surfing at an airport, library or client’s office, you surely don’t want the next person using the machine to know who you ogled on Facebook or which politician you read up on.

TalkTo Raises $3 Million For App That Lets You Text Questions to Businesses

By: Scott Kirsner

Relevance – Technology & Business – We’re all accustomed by now to text-messaging friends and colleagues to coordinate brunches, ask questions, and schedule meetings. It’s often the quickest way to get an answer from someone, even if they’re multi-tasking.

Stocks Make a U-turn, Climb After Big Decline

By Christina Rexrode, AP Business Writer

Relevance – Economy – NEW YORK—Stocks are opening sharply higher, a day after their worst loss of the year.

Army Lab to Develop Energy-Saving Technology

By John Flesher, Associated Press

Relevance – Technology – TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.—A new Army laboratory will develop technology such as fuel cells and hybrid systems for combat vehicles as the Pentagon steps up its push for cleaner and more reliable energy, federal officials said Wednesday.

A Billion-Dollar Turning Point for Mobile Apps

By JENNA WORTHAM

Relevance – Mobile Apps – The path for Internet start-ups used to be quite clear: establish a presence on the Web first, then come up with a version of your service for mobile devices.

Denny’s Uses Web Series to Speak to Young Adults

By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN

Relevance – Advertising – THE commercials showing now for Denny’s depict homey restaurants where waitresses call customers “Hon” and feature the slogan “America’s Diner Is Always Open.”

John G. Udell

By VIVIAN MARINO

Relevance – Real Estate – Mr. Udell, 55, is the president of Weichert Commercial Brokerage and Weichert New Home, which focuses on new residential developments like 77 Hudson in Jersey City.

Best Buy CEO Quits in Probe

BY MIGUEL BUSTILLO

Relevance: Fortune 500 Business Best Buy Co. Chief Executive Brian Dunn resigned abruptly Tuesday amid what the company described as a probe into his “personal conduct,” adding to the woes of the slumping consumer-electronics retailer, whose big-box business model is crumbling.

Apple Market Cap Touches $600 Billion!

By Steven Russolillo

Relevance: Apple Products Another day, another market milestone for Apple.

Shares hit a fresh record high earlier this morning and the company’s market capitalization briefly pierced the $600 billion level. Apple is only the second company ever with a market cap that has broken through this level (Microsoft also crossed above $600 billion in December 1999).

Santorum Exits GOP Contest

By Coleen McCain Nielson

Relevance: Politics GETTYSBURG, Pa.—Rick Santorum suspended his campaign for the White House on Tuesday, clearing the way for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to claim the Republican presidential nomination and end the primary season after three months and