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The 24/7 Wall St./Flame Index, The Companies With The Worst PR: March 16
Published:
Healthnet was hammered on news that it “missplaced” data on 2 million customers. Toyota (NYSE: TM) remained high on the list due to concerns about Japanese production and sales. Regulatory problems and costs may crush margins at Massey (NYSE :MEE)
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 | Health Net | HNT | 50.89 | +4 | Loses data on 2 million customers |
| 2 | Fannie Mae | FNMAS | 50.794 | 0 | Investors frantic about stock losses |
| 3 | Toyota Motor Corporation | TM | 42.803 | +9 | Japan earthquake |
| 4 | Consol Energy | CNX | 36.695 | 0 | Worries about companies with reactors |
| 5 | Massey Energy | MEE | 36.304 | +69 | Regulatory costs could be huge after mine disaster |
| 6 | Lubrizol | LZ | 35.914 | -5 | Buyout by Buffett riles investors |
| 7 | General Electric | GE | 35.211 | +3 | Large reactor builder faces liability costs |
| 8 | Duke Energy | DUK | 33.883 | +5 | Another nuclear facility operator |
| 9 | Bank of America Corp. | BOA | 33.467 | -2 | Leaks of internal memos may embarrass |
| 10 | Freddie Mac | FMCC | 33.137 | +181 | Mortgage problems and losses deepen |
Data and ranking provided by the Flame Index.
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