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The 24/7 Wall St./Flame Index: The Companies With The Most Negative Press (6/7)

Halliburton coverage moved negative after courts approved a class action suit by shareholders. GE and Capital One were hurt because of plans to buy ING Direct. An Airbus move to increase competition with Boeing drive negative press.

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 Massey Energy MEE 70.907 0  Finally sold, mine safety still issue
2 Halliburton HAL 62.453 +214  Shareholder class action suit gets green light
3 Alpha Natural Resources ANR 55.709 -1  Closes deal to buy troubled Massey
4 Sony Corporation SNE 49.423 +6  Playstation network still under attack
5 Google GOOG 42.846 +2  Chinese hack Gmail?
6 Boeing BA 37.216 +33  Rival Airbus may launch improved A350
7 Bank of America Corp. BOA 35.629 +16  Concerns about mortgage portfolio
8 Goldman Sachs Group GS 35.4 +9  Federal government probe
9 Temple-Inland TIN 35.186 +556  International Paper takeover bid
10 Office Depot ODP 31.448 +4  May sales poor
2 Halliburton HAL 62.453 +214  Lawsuit worries
9 Temple-Inland TIN 35.186 +556  Rejects IP takeover bid
15 Capital One Financial COF 25.009 +290  May bid for ING Direct
16 American Eagle Outfitters AEO 24.81 +211  Worries about solvency
19 General Electric GE 24.612 +607  May join bid for ING Direct

Data and ranking provided by the Flame Index.

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