The company which received the most negative press today is Borders Group which has not only declared Chapter 11 but is in the process of closing 200 stores. Google (NASDAQ GOOG) ranks second because it faces the prospects of aggressive anti-trust cases brought in Europe. Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), which continues to be the big failure among America’s largest retailers closed it branded stores in China.
Note: The Flame Index scans thousands of news sites 24 hours per day and ranks companies getting the most negative press right now. The Flame Index Media Analysis Algorithm crunches the data for an up-to-the-minute ranking of the hardest-hit companies.
The Flame Index started as a research tool in 2008 at the NY Innovation Design Lab (nyidlab). It was used as a general metric to evaluate companies and their risk in the media. Publicly traded Fortune 500 companies are used as a measure to calculate an overall market of negative news and the companies are ranked within that market.
Douglas A. McIntyre
| Rank | Company | Ticker | Score | Change in Rank | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borders Group | BGP | 55.123 | -0 | Bankruptcy and store closings |
| 2 | GOOG | 35.296 | +7 | Possible antitrust in Europe | |
| 3 | Best Buy | BBY | 33.958 | +3 | Closes China stores |
| 4 | Rite Aid | RAD | 31.874 | -2 | Could it be the next Borders? |
| 5 | Fannie Mae | FNMAS | 31.609 | +10 | Government could shut it down. |
| 6 | ConAgra Foods | CAG | 31.596 | +329 | Analyst update disappoints |
| 7 | BP | BP | 31.192 | +148 | Joint venture in Russia runs into government headwinds |
| 8 | Dynegy | DYN | 25.585 | +142 | Top management leaves because it cannot sell the company |
| 9 | Massey Energy | MEE | 25.408 | +1 | Trial against company in West Virginia will go forward |
| 10 | Exxon Mobil | XOM | 24.31 | +19 | Worries about oil production in Middle East |
Data and ranking provided by the Flame Index.
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