Investing
The 24/7 Wall St./Flame Index: Companies With The Worst Press (5/3/2011)
Published:
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 | Sony Corporation | SNE | 93.604 | +1 | Playstation. Hacker. Say no more. |
| 2 | Berkshire Hathaway | BRK.A | 68.05 | -1 | Reputation problems with Sokol mess begin to disappear |
| 3 | DISH Network | DISH | 42.107 | +64 | Cuts deal to be law suits with Tivo |
| 4 | Cephalon | CEPH | 40.227 | +710 | Teva buyout but shareholders want a lot more money |
| 5 | Community Health Systems | CYH | 38.114 | +5 | Raises off for Tenet |
| 6 | Arch Coal | ACI | 37.101 | +91 | Investors don’t like bid to purchase ICG |
| 7 | Massey Energy | MEE | 35.388 | -4 | Bad earnings, memory of mine disaster |
| 8 | GOOG | 34.954 | +5 | South Korea raids search company’s offices | |
| 9 | Rite Aid | RAD | 34.164 | -2 | Concern about ongoing same-store sales stagnation |
| 10 | American Electric Power | AEP | 30.215 | +9 | Nuclear power victim |
| 4 | Cephalon | CEPH | 40.227 | +710 | Teva deal. |
| 17 | Hartford Financial Services | HIG | 23.929 | +691 | A profit, at last |
| 18 | Fannie Mae | FNM | 23.028 | +92 | |
| 20 | Abbott Laboratories | ABT | 21.593 | +677 | Rivals Pfizer and BSX do well. |
| 25 | Toyota Motor Corporation | TM | 20.147 | +236 | Car sales in Japan home market trashed. |
Data and ranking provided by the Flame Index.
It’s Your Money, Your Future—Own It (sponsor)
Retirement can be daunting, but it doesn’t need to be.
Imagine having an expert in your corner to help you with your financial goals. Someone to help you determine if you’re ahead, behind, or right on track. With SmartAsset, that’s not just a dream—it’s reality. This free tool connects you with pre-screened financial advisors who work in your best interests. It’s quick, it’s easy, so take the leap today and start planning smarter!
Don’t waste another minute; get started right here and help your retirement dreams become a retirement reality.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.