The world around us

You’re going to really love this game. It’s called Bid4Prizes and how it works is that you bid for whatever item you would like, but the catch is that the lowest unique bid wins, instead of the highest bid as is the usual case. The prizes are all the stuff that everyone wants, and if they already have one, they want another: Apple I-phones, HDTV’s, designer bags, even a cash prize and many more. The site uses a reverse auction bid system where the lowest price wins the prize, so once you see something that you’d like bid as low as you want to, the system will tell you if that is too high or low or unique or duplicate.

With each bid, you must try to guess what the lowest unique bid will be, and that will be the winner. The trick is that your bid must be unique, so if the 50" TV has been bid from .01 cents to .45 cents but all are duplicate and the person who bid .46 cents has the lowest unique bid, that person wins the prize. There is no cost to participate, expect for shipping your free gifts to you. Bid4Prizes is not like other Sweepstake sites and is very simple to use and has an extremely user-friendly interface for bidding.  This one could get really addictive actually and I’m looking forward to becoming an expert at bidding and winning some fun prizes.

Wal-Mart showed its might when it slashed the prices of its 42" flat screen TV’s to $988, at the start of the Thanksgiving sales, causing the prices of flat-panel televisios to freefall at hundreds of other retailers. This has led to financial problems of some of the top consumer electronic stores, such as Circuit City, who closed 70 stores in the US February, laid of 3,400 employees and prepared to see its 800 Candian stores as well. Tweeter will also be shutting 49 stores and laying of 650 workers, CompUSA will be closing 126 of its 229 stores and Rex Stores will be selling 94 of its 211 stores.

The carnage has one phrase written all over it: the "Wal-Mart effect." For many electronics competitors, the experience with flat panels has been a replay of what happened in other businesses over the past two decades as Wal-Mart’s business stature grew dramatically. And Wal-Mart’s discounting of popular toys sent FAO Schwartz and KB Toys into bankruptcy. Now, Wal-Mart has clearly turned its gaze to electronics. "We recommitted to our customers that we would be their low-price leader, especially on those products that were rising in popularity, such as flat-screen and high-definition TVs," says Kevin O’Connor, Wal-Mart vice-president and general merchandise manager.

American Eagle Outfitters filed a lawsuit against Payless ShoeSource to "preserve the integrity of its popular youth-oriented lifestyle American Eagle Outfitters brand and to prevent consumer confusion arising from Payless’ use fo the American Eagle footwear mark" that the company bought from Jimlar Corporation last year. American Eagle Outfitters and Jimlar, a shoe wholesale company had co-existed without confusion, until PaylessShoeSource bought the Jimlar brand and has started to portray its brand  as "the youth fashion brand American Eagle" leading to confusion on if is sells American Eagle Outfitters merchandise 

"Our most valuable asset is our brand. We are committed to providing only high-quality, authentic merchandise to our loyal customers," said American Eagle Outfitters’ Vice President and General Counsel, Neil Bulman, Jr. "The mounting public confusion that Payless created has compelled us to take this action. As always, we will vigorously protect our brand as a leading lifestyle destination for 15-25 year olds."