The 24/7 Wall St./Flame Index: March 11 Bad Weather For Del Monte

Investing

Published: March 11, 2011 11:13 am

AIG (NYSE: AIG) suffered from news that it will buy back $16 billion of distressed securities. Del Monte (NYSE: DLM) received bad press because of concerns about poor weather effecting crops.

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

Rank	Company	Ticker	Score	Change in Rank	Comments
1	BP	BP	32.058	0	Exxon Pushes Back on BP CEO
2	Chevron	CVX	29.203	+5	Still trouble over Ecuador lawsuit
3	Dynegy	DYN	27.842	-1	Board adds four news members post Chapter 11 talk
4	Toyota Motor Corporation	TM	26.932	+1	Reorganization of management
5	General Motors	GM	26.407	+1	CFO walks
6	American International Group	AIG	25.682	+54	Proposes to buy back $16 billion in bad paper
7	Del Monte Foods	DLM	25.408	+43	Worries weather has hurt crops
8	Massey Energy	MEE	24.447	-5	New lawsuit risk due to mine collapse
9	Exxon Mobil	XOM	22.235	0	Announces ambitious cap ex plan
10	Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	21.281	0	FDA will oversee troubled plants

Data and ranking provided by the Flame Index.

Travel Cards Are Getting Too Good To Ignore (sponsored)

Credit card companies are pulling out all the stops, with the issuers are offering insane travel rewards and perks.

We’re talking huge sign-up bonuses, points on every purchase, and benefits like lounge access, travel credits, and free hotel nights. For travelers, these rewards can add up to thousands of dollars in flights, upgrades, and luxury experiences every year.

It’s like getting paid to travel — and it’s available to qualified borrowers who know where to look.

We’ve rounded up some of the best travel credit cards on the market. Click here to see the list. Don’t miss these offers — they won’t be this good forever.