Paul DeMartino (Reuters.com) submits: When Viacom Inc.'s (VIA) Paramount Studios announced that it was ending its 14-year relationship with Tom Cruise, Chairman Sumner Redstone cited the actor's recent behavior as cause. But an examination of Cruise's recent box office is likely more pertinent.

We went to the Internet Movie Database and looked up the U.S. box office grosses on each of

Rob Black submits: Citing Tom Cruise’s yearlong metamorphosis from pure box-office phenomenon to pop-culture punch line, Viacom’s (VIA) Sumner Redstone, said that Paramount was ending its 14-year relationship with the actor’s production company. Mr. Cruise insists that he quit. Either way, the parting of the ways was anything but amicable. And it came as the latest sign that the media conglomerates that control Hollywood are growing impatient with the megastars who earn the highest salaries.

Tom Cruise joins Lindsey Lohan and Mel Gibson as being the objects of scathing public attacks from their studios. Mr. Cruise has a

Travis Johnson submits: Everyone knows what went wrong with Imax Coporation (IMAX) yesterday: they offered the company up for sale, they didn't get a buyer at the price they wanted ($12-14), their accounting is in some dispute with the SEC, and, as a result of those first two, the class action lawyers are circling like sharks.

Which just goes to show you how bad a company can perform even when their business is on track and their profits are growing. And that's why I'm selling some shares today as part of my overall margin reduction initiative.

I don't like that I sold IMAX . I'm still holding the shares that I Lionsgate Films: Decent Company, But Not Worth the Margin Exposure
at 2006-09-01 22:48:32

Travis Johnson submits: As a continuation of my across-the-board selling to reduce margin exposure, I've sold the portion of my Lionsgate (LGF) holdings that were held in a margin account (roughly half of my overall LGF position).

I mentioned the criteria I considered for this broad selling when I posted earlier, and I sold a fair number of stocks on Wednesday. So why Lionsgate?

Well, I like LGF the company quite a lot. I think that it's very well run, and I like their strategy of producing lower cost niche films and developing a large and valuable film and TV library that

Rob Black submits: CBS (CBS) announced the sale of its two San Antonio radio stations (KTSA-AM and KJXK - FM) on Wednesday for $45 million in cash to Border Media, a privately owned Hispanic radio broadcaster that already has a cluster in the market and owns 35 stations across the state. After announcing radio station sales this week to Entercom and Border Media, CBS still has stations for sale in Greensboro (3 stations), Columbus (3 stations), Buffalo (5 stations), Kansas City (4 stations) and Fresno (7 stations).

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