April 2008

I'm now on the airplane and am at risk of having my BlackBerry confiscated as I write this final blog. The trip to Anheuser-Busch's headquarters was one of my favorite trips! Honestly, the best part was seeing the Clydesdale horses and dalmations in the barn. They are so.....beautiful! It takes your breath away. The barn does not smell a bit and is a national historic landmark built in 1885. Each ... read more

Did you ever wonder how a beer is brewed? How long it takes to brew a beer? How long a beer is good for? If there's an expiration date on beer? Whether it's better to drink a beer on tap or in the bottle? Watch this! Doug Muhlemen is the global vice president of brewing operations at Anheuser-Busch. Talk about a tough job! He has to taste test beers from all of their breweries around the World ... read more

Last night I traveled to St. Louis, Missouri for this morning's show. What a blast! This is my first time in St. Louis, and it's a really pretty city. Great architecture and one of the most beautiful ballparks!!! I'm here because today is the anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. On April 7, 1933 President Roosevelt repealed prohibition, which started in 1920. To celebrate this day we flew ... read more

So it's just past 7p.m. eastern time and I'm sitting in O'Hare airport waiting for my flight back to New York City. When I first started writing my blogs I talked a lot about the behind the scenes activity. More of the page six aspect of what I do when I go on the road. This week has been insane! Since arriving back from vacation on Sunday evening at midnight (airplane delays), every day has ... read more

You want to have some fun? Check out my interview with Grant Heslov, who partnered with George Clooney -- yes, I said George Clooney -- to create a production company called Smokehouse Productions. Grant Heslov. If the name is not immediately familiar (just as it wasn't for me) that's because Heslov is a character actor. When he walked on set this morning, I remembered his face immediately. ... read more

Market volatile actually means opportunity, according to Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. So how can you cash in during a volatile market? “The thing that investors ought to do is focus on their long-term plan, set up a broad asset allocation that is right for them specific to where they sit on the risk spectrum,” she said. “That’s not a buy and hold and ... read more

What's the deal with diesel? Why are diesel prices so high? Why is that companies like Volkswagen, the dominant player in the U.S. with 800,000 diesel cars sold, are making more investments in clean diesel fuel engines? Take a look at this video. Our correspondent Jeff Flock talks to a local trucker on Route 66 about why they are protesting the rising price of diesel fuel costs. Then we talk ... read more

On Tuesday morning I wrote a pretty bullish blog about the market. It was the first day of the second quarter and the overseas banks were reacting very favorably to record writedowns and needs to raise further cash. As a journalist, I have to walk a fine line. I cannot and don't want to pump the market. It is merely my responsibility to state the facts. Some will add to my argument and some will ... read more

Get this! The pawn shop business is booming! Forget going to the bank to get money to pay for your car loan or credit card. You can get a loan from a pawn shop in many cases for 30 days to cover your upcoming home heating or electric bill. All you have to do is bring in your personal items as collateral. Now it’s not cheap! Some pawn shops charge interest rates as high as 100% of the value of ... read more

If you're like me, you heard about the catastrophic pull back in stocks like Merck (MRK) and Schering Plough (SGP) on Monday after a study released by Enhance and reiterated at the American College of Cardiology's conference on Sunday in Chicago suggested Merck's Vytorin and Schering-Plough's Zetia were NO more effective than other medications like statins from Pfizer's (PFE) Lipitor. Keep in mind ... read more