Well, who doesn't like to say, "I told ya so?" I certainly do, which is why I'm pointing out that Intel has settled (again) with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), promising to stop using bundled pricing to keep down the competition. On June 24 we pointed out that a variety of sources were expecting a settlement soon, with a minor wrist slap for Intel.

It has turned into a complete non-event. Investors today reacted with a yawn, as Intel shares in afternoon trading were exactly flat, at $20.71. 

In other news:

• BP says it has the oil spill solved (Washington Post). Really. No, this time, you should believe them.
• Apple rumor mills are already cranking up for the fall, with speculation over the iPhone 5 and iPad mini (CNET). Also coming: iPad Double-mini, iPhoneMiniPad, the iPodPad, the iToilet, and the iToldYaSo.
• Why the UAE is done with the Blackberry (WSJ).
• ISM service index expanded in July (Bloomberg). Apparently, there was a surge in sales of Big Macs.
• Billionaires like Bill Gates and Larry Ellison are pledging more money to charity (WSJ).
• Time Warner revenues and earnings increased (TheStreet.com). Just in case it sounds foreign, let's repeat that: Time Warner revenues and earnings increased!
• ADP sees slight uptick in jobs (Forbes). Apparently that Big Mac surge forced McDonalds to hire.
• Priceline and Electronic Arts helped boost tech stocks (MarketWatch).
• Toyota's back with $2.2B in profit (Detroit Free Press). I don't know why I used the DFP link. Mildly sadistic, I guess.
• Senators are taking for-profit education to the woodshed (Reuters). Fifteen schools investigated.

 

As a long-time journalist, I know that the media world is hopelessly slanted toward negative news. But unfortunately, this week's bad news is all real -- and not exaggerated. Greece is melting down, sovereign debt issues plague the globe, and now we have a massive environmental and economic catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Can you cut us a break, boss? Here's a rundown on what's going on on this dreary Monday:

• The Gulf oil spill will probably take months to contain (Washington Post)
• BP says it's ready to pay (Reuters) But it also says it's not to blame... figure that one out.
• Will the spill affect Obama's new "drill, drill, drill" policy?(CNN) That's what Barry gets for pretending to be Ronald Reagan.
• Deepwater Horizon had a history of problems, before the spill (Nola.com)
• Apparently blowout preventers fail frequently... (Kansascity.com)
• On to Greece... The Baklava Bailout is finally here (BusinessWeek). That's the slowest cooking Baklava, ever.
• Germany's share is $30B (Associated Press). And Angela Merkel can say goodbye now.
• Apple iPad 3G estimated to have sold 300K on launch weekend (Apple Insider). AT&T engineers trying to figure out what to do now.
• Is an anti-trust investigation at hand for Apple's app world? (New York Post). Steve Jobs' squeaky clean, integrated world may be just a little too integrated.
• Roger Ebert hates 3D (Newsweek). Funny, given that he's not exactly 2D.
• Is IronMan 2 about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs? (TechCrunch) If so, I'm glad they went with an allegory, instead of real life.
• A detailed analysis of Groupon (TechCrunch).