U.S. stock futures dropped on Tuesday, with commodity prices again in the spotlight even as crude-oil futures softened a bit, as speakers from the Cleveland Fed president to the chief executives of Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart Stores highlighted inflationary pressures.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer and discounter, says its first-quarter profit rose 7%, driven by international growth and penny-pinching U.S. consumers seeking value.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures fell sharply Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar rose against other major currencies, hurting investment demand for the precious metal.
Nissan Motor Corp. profit for the current financial year may drop 30%, Japan’s third-largest automaker warns, as a stronger yen and surging commodity prices take a toll on the bottom line.
The chief executive of Toll Brothers, the nation’s largest builder of luxury homes, says buyers didn’t materialize this spring as sales and prices continued to plunge in the company’s latest quarter.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Prices that U.S. residents paid for imported goods rose 1.8% in April, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, as costs for petroleum and other products gained.
Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Tuesday's session are AIG, Liz Claiborne, Corporate Express, DRS Tech, EDS, Fluor, Fossil, H-P, Toll Brothers, Walgreen, Warnaco and Wal-Mart.
Japanese carmaker Nissan warns that its earnings could fall by 30% over its next financial year from April 2008. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 13 May 2008 | 12:30 pm
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) has apparently been having some problems in its gaming PC division. The company's own XPS gaming systems sales are competing against its higher-end Alienware sales. In the report, four of Dell's XPS gaming systems will be phased out. The Wall Street Journal is also noting that the XPS gaming consoles have also kept people from buying the ultra high-end gaming PC units under the Alienware brand. Dell plans to end XPS marketing campaigns like its commingled marketing with World of Warcraft. For better or worse, after the performance of Dell shares over the last year you...
AP - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said Tuesday its profit rose 6.9 percent in its first quarter on higher sales as lower prices helped boost its results, topping Wall Street's expectations.
Hewlett-Packard announced Tuesday it is buying Electronic Data Systems for about $13.9 billion in cash, as it aims to step up competition for the computer services business with rival IBM.
Wal-Mart Stores edged past forecasts in what it termed a good start to its fiscal year, as it said that tough economic times helped sales at the discount leader.
The computer maker agreed to buy Electronic Data Systems, one of the world's biggest information technology services companies, for $13.9bn, in a deal that marks a challenge to IBM Source: FT.com - US homepage | 13 May 2008 | 12:06 pm
As part of their plan to tame record oil prices, lawmakers are urging the President to stop putting oil in the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve(SPR). But some analysts say that won't do much to lower gas prices.
Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) came out this morning and didn't just beat earnings estimates; they trounced them. The company posted $21.2 million non-GAAP income or $0.65 non-GAAP EPS on a 34% revenue rise to $171.2 million, compared to First Call consensus estimates of $0.31 EPS and $151.9 million. Guidance for Q2-2008 is now $185 to $190 million with non-GAAP income at $17 to $18 million, versus $167.6 million consensus. It also sees shipments of approx 45MW in Q2. For this year, the company said it is on track to achieve previous guidance of shipping 200 to 220 MW of...
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co will buy Electronic Data Systems Corp for $25.00 per share, the two companies said on Tuesday, or about $12.6 billion to better compete against IBM.
Reuters - Stock index futures fell on Tuesday
after Oppenheimer & Co slashed its price targets on a number of
brokerages and on concern about Wal-Mart Stores Inc's
outlook.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures fell on Tuesday after Oppenheimer & Co slashed its price targets on a number of brokerages and on concern about Wal-Mart Stores Inc's outlook.
These are not the only analyst calls this morning, but these are some of the impact calls we are seeing this Tuesday morning: Barr Pharma (NYSE: BRL) raised to Outperform from Neutral at Cowen & Co. Bearingpoint (NYSE: BE) Cut to Hold from Buy at Citigroup Electronic Data Systems (NYSE: EDS) Cut to Sell from Hold at Citigroup; cut to Market Perform at FBR. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) was removed from the Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List, although its BUY rating was maintained. Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse. McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP) and Moody's (NYSE: MCO)...
PARIS (Reuters) - France's biggest retail bank, Credit Agricole, announced a 5.9 billion euro ($9.1 billion) rights issue to shore up its capital after new writedowns at its Calyon investment bank, hitting its shares.
Credit Agricole considers a 5.9bn-euro rights issue while Societe Generale announces a 23% fall in profits. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 13 May 2008 | 11:36 am
Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc , the
world's largest retailer, reported a 7 percent rise in
quarterly profit on Tuesday as discounts drew U.S. shoppers
looking for bargains on necessities like food and pharmacy
items.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, reported a 7 percent rise in quarterly profit on Tuesday as discounts drew U.S. shoppers looking for bargains on necessities like food and pharmacy items.
China's main stock market falls - despite efforts to minimise economic disruption caused by the earthquake. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 13 May 2008 | 11:33 am
Reuters - Clothing maker Liz Claiborne Inc
reported a quarterly net loss on Tuesday, versus a
year-earlier profit, hurt by expenses related to exiting some
brands and operations that are now discontinued. Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 13 May 2008 | 11:30 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Clothing maker Liz Claiborne Inc reported a quarterly net loss on Tuesday, versus a year-earlier profit, hurt by expenses related to exiting some brands and operations that are now discontinued.
Mortgage lending may deteriorate further despite the Bank of England's latest efforts, the Council of Mortgage Lenders warned today, as it revealed that new lending has now tumbled nearly 50pc, compared to last year. Source: Telegraph Business | 13 May 2008 | 11:30 am
Mortgage lending may deteriorate further despite the Bank of England's latest efforts, the Council of Mortgage Lenders warned today, as it revealed that new lending has now tumbled nearly 50pc, compared... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 11:30 am
The weak economy has been a source of strength for Wal-Mart Stores, but at some point, the slowdown may start to drag.
The world's largest retailer reported an impressive 6.9 percent gain in first-quarter earnings, as its price-cutting attracted consumers trying to tighten their belts amid worries about their jobs, gasoline prices, and housing. Net sales rose 10.2 percent, to $94.1 billion.
But Wal-Mart also cautioned that the economy presented uncertainties for the rest of the year, saying that it expects sales at U.S. stores open at least a year to be essentially flat. The retailer forecasts earnings per share of 78 cents to 81 cents per share: the low end of analysts' estimates.
Last week, the company noted that it was seeing signs that U.S. sales would drop toward the end of the month, as shoppers awaited their next paycheck.
For the first quarter, Wal-Mart earned $3.02 billion, or 76 cents per share, compared with $2.83 billion, or 68 cents per share, in the quarter a year ago. International sales surged 22 percent, to $23.9 billion. Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose 2.9 percent, excluding fuel and gasoline sales.
"Our business is even more relevant to our customers today, given the current economic pressures," Wal-Mart's chief executive, Lee Scott, said on a conference call. "We're off to a solid start."
Douglas McIntyre on the 24/7 Wall St. blog says that Wal-Mart is achieving its growth at the expense of others. "There is no way that Wal-Mart could post numbers of this magnitude without taking business from other retailers," he says.
MILAN (Reuters) - Finmeccanica SpA has agreed to buy U.S. military contractor DRS Technologies Inc. in a $5.2 billion deal, the biggest so far in European defense contractors' bid for a slice of the growing U.S. defense market.
Crédit Agricole, France's biggest retail bank, has confirmed it is planning to
raise €5.9 billion (£4.7 billion) through a rights issue after taking a €1.2
billion sub-prime hit from its investment banking operations in the first
quarter. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 May 2008 | 11:25 am
Torrential rain and powerful aftershocks hampered efforts to rescue victims of the earthquake in China's Sichuan province as the death toll rose to nearly 12,000. Officials warned that thousands more were buried in rubble Source: FT.com - US homepage | 13 May 2008 | 11:23 am
Oil prices slipped on Tuesday but base metals rose after an earthquake in China and agricultural commodities put on a mixed performance. Crude oil moved lower after the International Energy Agency cuts... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 11:15 am
The cost of living soared last month, with the official annual inflation rate jumping to 3pc driven by higher fuel and food costs. Source: Telegraph Business | 13 May 2008 | 11:15 am
The cost of living soared last month, with the official annual inflation rate jumping to 3pc driven by higher fuel and food costs. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 11:15 am
AP - The earthquake that devastated parts of central China's Sichuan province will likely have a limited impact on the country's booming economy, analysts said Tuesday, though repercussions were seen across the region.
London's equity markets fell on Tuesday after weak retail sales data and rising inflation spelled out slowing consumer demand and future grief for UK retailers.Opening gains faded, and by late morning,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 11:01 am
Alliance & Leicester is on course to reduce its mortgage book by 10pc this year, pulling as much as 4bn out of the market in a move that will add to the shortage of deals for home buyers. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 11:00 am
Alliance & Leicester is on course to reduce its mortgage book by 10pc this year, pulling as much as £4bn out of the market in a move that will add to the shortage of deals for home buyers. Source: Telegraph Business | 13 May 2008 | 11:00 am
Wall Street headed for a lower opening Tuesday, with investors hesitant ahead of reports expected to show that consumers curtailed their spending amid rising food and energy prices. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:58 am
Stock futures fell Tuesday, as solid results from retail giant Wal-Mart Stores weren't enough to lift investor sentiment ahead of comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Japan's Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday it expects net profit to tumble almost 30 percent this year due to sluggish sales in maturing markets, a stronger yen and high material costs. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:55 am
House builder Redrow adds to the gloom surrounding the housing market by reporting rising cancellation rates. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 13 May 2008 | 10:54 am
Record oil prices and a slowdown in advanced economies are set to curb global oil demand despite growth in China and the Middle East, the IEA forecast on Tuesday, saying stockpiling was a... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:51 am
Travis Perkins, the builders merchant and owner of the Wickes chain, has put a
virtual freeze on hiring and halved its spend on store expansion as a
decline in trading gathers pace in its DIY stores. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 May 2008 | 10:43 am
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi insists that troubled airline Alitalia will pull through its financial crisis. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 13 May 2008 | 10:40 am
Alliance & Leicester on Tuesday revealed a sharp fall in unsecured personal lending and a slowdown in its mortgage business in the first four months of the year, as the UK bank revealed the costs related... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:40 am
Luxury home builder Toll Brothers says preliminary results show homebuilding revenue fell 30 percent in its fiscal second quarter amid a weak spring selling season. Horsham, Pa.-based... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:34 am
Oil prices dropped below $124 a barrel on profit-taking Tuesday after hitting another trading record in the previous session. Monday's mark of $126.40 a barrel was the sixth trading... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:32 am
Planet Rock, the radio station that GCap Media, Britain's largest commercial
radio group, announced it would axe, was last night named digital station of
the year at the prestigious Sony Radio Awards. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 May 2008 | 10:31 am
While most retailers are simply trying to stay out of Chapter 11, Wal-Mart posted an extraordinary quarter. It was even more impressive because, as the world's largest retailer, it must fight the law of large numbers making each percentage point of growth more dear. Wal-Mart's (WMT) numbers showed that the recession is in full bloom and the management as much as said so. Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009 was approximately $94.1 billion, an increase of 10.2% over $85.4 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year 2008. Net income for the quarter was $3.022 billion, an...
Chinese shoppers continue to spend in April, with retail sales rising at a record annual level of 22%. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 13 May 2008 | 10:27 am
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp is likely to win a contract over Boeing Co to build next generation navigation satellites for the U.S. military, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the contract.
The BlackBerry is belatedly set to reach South Korea, which has so far kept out the mobile e-mail devices despite Koreans being among the world's heaviest internet users.SK Telecom, South Korea's biggest... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:24 am
The U.S. dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies in European trading Tuesday morning. Gold fell. The euro traded at $1.5463, down from $1.5540 late Monday in New York. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:23 am
China must address a widening gap between its rich and poor if Beijing wants a "harmonious society," the World Trade Organization will report in a trade review of the Asian nation,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:18 am
A toxic mix of data showing slowing economic activity and rising prices sent the pound down towards a three-month low against the dollar on Tuesday.A survey from the British Retail Consortium showed UK... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:14 am
Hank Greenberg built AIG (AIG) from a nothing insurance company to one of the largest financial services firms in the world. Along the way, he became a billionaire, but shareholders figured he was worth the money. Then, Eliot Spitzer caught up to him and brought Greenberg up on fraud charges. He was pushed out of AIG, but remained a big enough shareholder to cause trouble. After AIG announced that it had lost $7.8 billion last quarter and would have to raise $12.5 billion, Greenberg decided that trouble it would be. He is pushing the company to delay its annual meeting....
NEW YORK/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Corporate Express said on Tuesday it was willing to talk to U.S. office supplies retailer Staples Inc after it raised its offer for the Dutch business products wholesaler.
Nissan reported a big jump in fiscal fourth quarter profit Tuesday compared with the previous year. But like other Japanese automakers pinched by a strong yen and soaring oil and material Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:08 am
The Heathrow airport boss who oversaw the opening of Terminal 5 is to leave his role, BAA says. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 13 May 2008 | 10:06 am
UK consumer inflation hits 3% in April, its highest level in 13 months, on food and fuel costs, official figures show. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 13 May 2008 | 10:06 am
Airbus on Tuesday announced new delays on deliveries of the superjumbo A380, already almost two years late, saying the company is behind schedule switching to automated production. The Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 10:03 am
Ford (F), GM (GM), and Chrysler have continued to maintain the hope that car sales will turn in the second half of the year. Since they have been falling by double digits each month, it is better to dream than to give in to despair. Nissan may have expressed a more realistic view when its said its earnings in the last quarter were weak and that their fiscal 2008/2009 would be down because of high commodities costs and a battered US market. Nissan's US sales rely more on light trucks while its competitors Honda (HMC) and Toyota (TM) tend to...
European equity markets sank as high UK inflation data dragged bourses lower and financial stocks added more weighed offsetting gains by oil and commodities shares.In mid morning trade, the FTSE Eurofirst... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 9:54 am
BAA's managing director of London's Heathrow airport, who was responsible for
assuring "cost, time, quality and safety" at Terminal 5, is leaving the
airport operator with immediate effect. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 May 2008 | 9:48 am
The world's top industrialized countries should develop environmentally friendly workplaces and help workers move to nonpolluting industries, their labor ministers said Tuesday. The... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 13 May 2008 | 9:46 am
Credit Agricole may have to raise over $9 billion to rebuild its capital after substantial mortgage-related losses in the last quarter. According to The Wall Street Journal "Crédit Agricole said it will launch an action plan to refocus the corporate and investment banking division on its core activities and to reduce risk." The plan may be a little late, but management had to say something other than it will be business as usual in the future. If the news from Credit Agricole has any broader implication, it is that the write-downs from large banks and brokerages are far from over....
AFP - French banking giant Credit Agricole said Tuesday it is seeking 5.9 billion euros (9.2 billion dollar) in fresh cash from shareholders after reporting another 1.2 billion euros write-down due to the US subprime home loan crisis.
Oil markets are adequately supplied the International Energy Agency acknowledged as it cut the world oil demand forecast ,reducing some pressure on the Opec cartel to pump more oil Source: FT.com - US homepage | 13 May 2008 | 9:38 am
Reuters - Finmeccanica SpA has agreed to
buy U.S. military contractor DRS Technologies Inc. in a
$5.2 billion deal, the biggest so far in European defense
contractors' bid for a slice of the growing U.S. defense
market.
Plane maker Airbus warns of delays in the delivery of some of its A380 superjumbos this year and in 2009. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 13 May 2008 | 9:20 am
Shares in Alliance & Leicester, the UK bank that has lost more than half its market value in the past year, fell further after writing down £391m on credit-related investments. Source: Telegraph Business | 13 May 2008 | 9:10 am
Northern Foods, one of Marks & Spencer's main ready-meals suppliers, could cut up to 730 jobs after contract talks with M&S collapsed. Source: Telegraph Business | 13 May 2008 | 8:50 am
Mortgage lending to first-time buyers and existing home owners fell during the
first quarter to its lowest level for more than three decades and is
predicted to worsen throughout 2008. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 May 2008 | 8:49 am
Sterling fell against the dollar and the euro after a report showed that the housing market is in its worst state for 30 years as a record number of estate agents reported falling property prices. Source: Telegraph Business | 13 May 2008 | 8:45 am
Soaring costs for food and fuel triggered the sharpest jump in inflation for
almost six years today, lifting its annual pace of increase for last month
to 3 per cent. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 May 2008 | 8:43 am
Leading hedge fund GLG has invested $30m in a Christian version of YouTube as part of a $150m fundraising. Source: Telegraph Business | 13 May 2008 | 8:05 am
Airbus has told airlines waiting for first deliveries of the A380 superjumbo that there will be yet more delays, as it faces renewed difficulties in bringing the world's biggest commercial jet into series production Source: FT.com - US homepage | 13 May 2008 | 8:03 am
TOKYO (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co , the world's biggest drinks maker, is seeking more acquisition opportunities in the fast-growing soft drinks market to expand its revenue sources, the company's CEO-in-waiting said on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, HP (HPQ) plans to buy EDS (EDS) to better compete with IBM (IBM). Reuters writes that AIG (AIG) says it sees no reason to follow the request of its ex-CEO to the company''s annual meeting. Reuters writes that Staples (SPLS) has raised its hostile bid for Corporate Express. Reuters reports that Nissan reported a large drop in earnings and said that the next year would be disappointing due to higher commodities prices and weak US market.. Reuters writes that Microsoft (MSFT) has launched WorldWide Telescope, free software for exploring outer space. The Wall Street Journal writes that...
Alliance & Leicester, the UK bank that has lost more than half its market value in the past year, said it has funding into the second quarter of 2009 and arrears were ''significantly better than the industry average." Source: Telegraph Business | 13 May 2008 | 7:45 am
The two unveiled a deal to create Australia's largest mortgage lender and its biggest bank by market value Source: FT.com - US homepage | 13 May 2008 | 7:27 am
Markets in Asia were mixed The Nikkei rose 1.5% to 13,954. Canon rose 2.9% to 4310. KDDI rose 3.9% to 691000. The Hang Seng rose 1.7% to 25,495. China Mobile (CHL) rose 2.6% to 132.40. PetroChina (PTR) fell 1.6% to 10.78. The Shanghai Composite was off 1.8% to 3,560. Data from Reuters Douglas A. McIntyre
Analysts warned today that the earthquake could unravel the Chinese
government’s recent efforts to rein-in bank lending and cool inflation –
regional banks in the affected areas are now expected to be granted immunity
from the recently imposed curbs on lending as firms race to rebuild. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 May 2008 | 7:18 am
With costs as high as an elephant's eye, some growers are even cutting back on crops that are in short supply.
All over the world, prices for basic foods -- barley for beer, milk for cheese, corn for tortillas, and the rice that serves as a staple for more than half the world's population -- are soaring. But farmers aren't rushing to cash in on the boom by planting more of the crops.
A pilot project involving 10 factories that make products for the firms tests a new approach for dealing with low wages and long work hours.
Walt Disney Co. and McDonald's Corp., whose supply chain has drawn criticism, quietly released a long-promised report on a pilot project to improve labor conditions in China.
Defaults climb, shares slide for IndyMac, Downey and FirstFed.
Investors are increasingly throwing in the towel on Southern California-based savings-and-loan mortgage lenders IndyMac Bancorp, FirstFed Financial Corp. and Downey Financial Corp.
Bargain hunters say deals still abound -- they just may take some clicking in unexpected places.
As fellow passengers at Los Angeles International Airport grumbled about soaring airfares, Gilda Chavez-Diaz flew home to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last week. The cost of the round trip? $18.
Business leaders are anticipating the Government will soften its proposed reforms on overseas taxes to try to head off an exodus of leading companies. Source: Telegraph Business | 13 May 2008 | 6:45 am
Northern Foods, one of Britain’s biggest food suppliers, is cutting up to 730
jobs at factory supplying ready meals to Marks & Spencer after failing
to agree a new contract with the retailer. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 13 May 2008 | 6:41 am
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Hitachi Ltd tumbled to a quarterly loss on slow TV sales and a tax writedown but said it would rebound to a profit this year, and its shares were up 5 percent.
Australian bank St George accepts a 19bn Australian dollar takeover offer from its larger rival Westpac. Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 13 May 2008 | 6:02 am
The New Zealand dollar slid back below US77c today as investors decided slowing economic growth outweighed rising appetite for risk.
The kiwi closed on US76.82c against its US77.09c opening but was still above yesterday's US76.52c... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 May 2008 | 5:42 am
Some of HBO's most popular programs will be available for sale on iTunes starting on Tuesday, consummating a long-gestating deal between the cable network and Apple, according to a source within HBO, which is owned by Time Warner.
HBO spokesmen Jeff Cusson would not confirm today's launch, but did say that the official announcement of the deal between HBO and Apple could come as early as today.
Some HBO shows will cost more than the content currently on iTunes, according to Cusson, though he would not disclose specific prices. He also declined to say which programs would be available first, but it is expected that some of the network's most popular series—including The Sopranos,Sex and the City, and Entourage—will be among the first.
Cusson said that HBO shows would not be available on iTunes until after the DVDs of the shows are released. That's a much longer delay than current shows on iTunes, many of which can be bought and downloaded one day after they are broadcast.
Not all of HBO's library will be available on iTunes. HBO and Apple have agreed on a "rolled-out release," which means that over time more and more content from HBO's libraries will be available.
Cusson also said that the idea that HBO pursued the deal with Apple as a result of pressure from parent company Time Warner is "absolutely ridiculous."
Reuters - Hewlett-Packard Co
is in talks to buy technology outsourcing company
Electronic Data Systems Corp for $12 billion to $13
billion in a deal which would vault it to a close second to IBM
in technology services.
Food prices are continuing their steady upward climb, with April marking another month of price rises.
The price of food went up by 0.3 per cent in April, with yoghurt, sauce and potato chips leading the charge.
Statistics... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 13 May 2008 | 12:00 am
It's time to get serious about doing a trade deal with Japan, says free trade and business lobbyists, who say we've been neglecting our relationship with the world's second biggest economy.
A high-powered delegation of senior government... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 12 May 2008 | 11:45 pm
Westpac and St George Bank have agreed the terms of a merger between the two which will result in a new bank with a capitalisation of A$66 billion ($82 billion).
St George Bank shareholders will be offered 1.31 Westpac shares for... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 12 May 2008 | 11:30 pm
Methanex New Zealand is to spend $70 million restarting one of its methanol units at Motunui in Taranaki.
The company said today it had secured additional natural gas feedstock and intended to restart one of its 900,000 tonne per... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 12 May 2008 | 11:30 pm
Hank Greenberg, former chief executive of American International Group, has stepped up his campaign against current management, claiming the insurer is "in crisis" and urging the board to postpone Wednesday's shareholder meeting Source: FT.com - US homepage | 12 May 2008 | 11:22 pm
Sky City has appointed Simon Jamieson as manager of the group's two Auckland hotels.
He will be responsible for the Grand and Sky City hotels, as well as a convention centre and the well-known tourist attraction and restaurant,... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 12 May 2008 | 11:20 pm
The US has agreed to give North Korea 500,000 tonnes of food aid under a new deal that would allow monitors unprecedented access to oversee distribution in the Stalinist state Source: FT.com - US homepage | 12 May 2008 | 11:15 pm
Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) is selling a total $1.5 Billion in debt to a syndicate of underwriters in the United States. Of the full offering, some $600 million in debt of 6.05% 10-year Notes due May 15, 2018 and $900 million US of 6.80% 30-year Notes due May 15, 2038. The net proceeds of this debt offering will be used to repay short-term notes payable and existing outstanding debt under its credit facilities. The balance will be used for additional working capital. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC are acting as joint book running managers for the offering, which should close on...
Britain’s largest law firms are reducing the number of junior lawyers they are
hiring amid concerns that debt finance and corporate takeover work both in
London and overseas has largely dried up. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 12 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
Renault-Nissan and Bajaj Auto, an Indian motorcycle manufacturer, are joining
forces to make an “ultra-low-cost” car that will compete with Tata’s £1,250
Nano. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 12 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
New Zealand's biggest company, Fonterra, is seeking regulatory clearance of its bid for big Australian dairy cooperative, Sydney-based Dairy Farmers.
Fonterra has asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 12 May 2008 | 11:00 pm
The sharemarket edged higher in early trading today, after Wall Street provided impetus with a 1 per cent gain.
The NZSX-50 benchmark index, which yesterday rose 1 per cent, was up 10 points to 3648 at 10.20am.
London-;listed... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 12 May 2008 | 10:37 pm
The radio station and outdoor advertising company confirmed that it was in talks with the banks financing its leveraged buyout, as speculation grew that an agreement on a lower-priced takeover was in sight Source: FT.com - US homepage | 12 May 2008 | 10:35 pm
Invercargill's mayor Tim Shadbolt wants to meet with the Government to discuss its carbon emissions trading scheme as a major employer in the region warns it may be forced to close.
The owner of the Tiwai Point Aluminum Smelter... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 12 May 2008 | 10:30 pm
More flexible working hours would prompt nearly half of Auckland's finance and accounting professionals to consider taking home less pay, says a new recruitment company survey.
Finance and accounting recruitment agency Robert Half... Source: New Zealand Herald - Business | 12 May 2008 | 10:00 pm
A small amount of Israel's organic foods are being produced out of settlements in the West Bank -- which is reason for some consumers to buy them, and for others not to. But Daniel Estrin reports it's often hard for the buyer to know. Source: Marketplace | 12 May 2008 | 8:59 pm
American Airlines has joined the list of carriers charging an extra $25 to passengers who check a second bag. Add to that fuel surcharges and other fees and, as Nancy Marshall Genzer reports, the airlines could send customers packing. Source: Marketplace | 12 May 2008 | 8:59 pm
A new Jewish lobbying firm called "J Street" has set up shop in Washington. Kai Ryssdal talks with its Executive Director Jeremy Ben Ami about why the group thinks there's room for a different approach to the Middle East and foreign policy. Source: Marketplace | 12 May 2008 | 8:59 pm
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says he's only going to keep about 40% of the current Bear Stearns staff on the payroll. That decision is going to make an already tough job market on Wall Street even more difficult. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports. Source: Marketplace | 12 May 2008 | 8:59 pm
Commentator Fareed Zakaria says the growth of developing economies is a major factor in our current economic crisis. We know how to handle a recession, he says, but the worldwide growth we're now seeing isn't something we've dealt with before. Source: Marketplace | 12 May 2008 | 8:59 pm
Morgan Stanley announced today it has collected $4 billion for a new infrastructure fund. Credit Suisse and General Electric did them one better, raising more than $5 billion. Jill Barshay reports on where they're going to put all that money. Source: Marketplace | 12 May 2008 | 8:59 pm
The Supreme Court today let a lower-court ruling stand on whether apartheid victims can sue American companies that dealt with South Africa's former apartheid government. The reason: four justices had to recuse themselves. Jeremy Hobson reports. Source: Marketplace | 12 May 2008 | 8:58 pm
More than 8,600 people are known dead from a 7.8 earthquake that hit the southwest China province of Sichuan. Host Kai Ryssdal gets the lastest details from Marketplace's China correspondent Scott Tong. Source: Marketplace | 12 May 2008 | 8:47 pm
Shares in Research in Motion reached a record high after the Canadian manufacturer of the BlackBerry family of smartphones announced a new 3G flagship device dubbed the "Bold" Source: FT.com - US homepage | 12 May 2008 | 8:11 pm
Hey you, Blue! Yeah, Big Blue. I'm talking to you.
Think you're so hot in I.T. services, winning corporate contracts around the globe?
Well, guess what? We are too. Hewlett-Packard's not just about PCs, you know. We had $17 billion in revenue from services last year. And now we are going to buy Electronic Data Systems. Gonna try anyway.
Oh, you heard right. The Wall Street Journal wasn't making that up. Ross Perot's old outfit has been slowly getting its act together. Talking about $5.6 billion in new contracts this year. You gotta like that. Worth a 26 percent premium, I would think. And we can certainly afford it, with more than $11 billion in cash in the till.
I heard that chortle. You say H.P. can't handle the big deals? What about Compaq, you ask? Hey, hey, that was Carly's show. Not mine. I'm not the "Let's Go to Davos and Change the World" C.E.O. I am supposed to be the nitty-gritty operational whiz, the cost cutter, remember?
Yep, this is the New H.P. Way: getting right in your rear-view mirror, Blue.
Sprint Nextel, the struggling third largest US mobile network operator, lost more than 1m subscribers in the first quarter and forecast only marginal improvements in the current quarter Source: FT.com - US homepage | 12 May 2008 | 6:30 pm
A brawl over one of the biggest buyouts to be endangered by the credit crunch is heading toward a settlement.
Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, the private equity firms heading a buyout of the radio-station chain Clear Channel Communications, are near an agreement with the banks that had agreed to finance the deal, according to several reports. The buyout would be reduced to $36 per share, from $39.20. David Faber on CNBC first broke the news of the settlement talks.
Michael de la Merced on the New York Times' DealBook blog cautions that "the negotiations are fluid, and a settlement has not yet been finalized."
Earlier today, Justice Helen Freedman of the New York State Supreme Court adjourned the start of a trial of the private equity firms' lawsuit against the banks until tomorrow—without giving an explanation.
A revised deal would be an extraordinary salvaging of a deal that has often looked doomed. Originally announced in November 2006, the buyout terms were improved to win over shareholders, but has since been held up by last summer's credit crunch, which all but paralyzed the market for deal debt.
The six banks that agreed to finance the buyout—Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Wachovia—stood to lose billions of dollars if the deal closed as scheduled on June 12 on the original commitment terms.
A number of big buyouts, including deals for Sallie Mae and United Rentals, have fallen apart because of uncertainty over the financing.
But the banks in the Clear Channel also faced a separate lawsuit filed by Clear Channel itself in Texas. A trial over the lawsuit, in which Clear Channel seeks more than $26 billion in damages, is scheduled to start on June 2.
Everyone expected the bond insurer MBIA to have an ugly quarter. But no one expected it to be as spectacularly bad as it actually was.
Losses ballooned to $2.4 billion as the company was forced to take a $3.6 billion unrealized loss on its insured credit derivatives. While MBIA expects many of the unrealized losses to eventually reverse before becoming actual impairments, it did say it expects to pay $827 million in claims stemming from nine troubled collateralized debt obligations. (What's a C.D.O.?)
It lost $3.01 per share during the quarter, which was more than twice what analysts expected it to lose. Its book value plunged 70 percent during the period.
As it tries to deal with the mess of its existing portfolio, new business at MBIA has quickly evaporated. The company said it did almost no new business during the first quarter until the last week in February, when Moody's and Standard & Poor's reaffirmed its AAA rating. Net premiums fell by 40 percent during the period. Fitch downgraded its rating on MBIA to AA in April.
With today's news, speculation again heats up over whether the two ratings agencies will maintain their outlook on MBIA debt. Credit-default swaps on the debt widened this morning, which reflects higher costs to insure it due to greater risk of default.
The company raised $2.6 billion in new capital during the quarter to help shore up its balance sheet and protect its credit rating. Chief executive officer Jay Brown said it does not need to raise more.
While this all sounds like it would be music to the ears of Bill Ackman, the activist hedge fund manager who has been shorting MBIA shares for several years, it curiously had the opposite effect.
Shares of MBIA soared more than 10 percent this morning, even after the company had to issue a correction to its earnings release showing that total revenue actually fell 4 percent during the quarter. Its first release said it increased slightly.
Brown's optimistic comments in the press release must have appeased nervous investors. "MBIA continues to be a sound financial institution," he said. "We have ample liquidity, our balance sheet is built to withstand credit stress levels many multiples of what we're experiencing now, and our business model is proving that we are adequately capitalized to satisfy any potential claims on our insured portfolio."
We know Ackman won't concur. But the only thing that matters now is whether or not S&P and Moody's will.
Because of the rapid pace of technology and the fickle nature of internet users, Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, needs to lay the foundation for an initial public offering now, before a new flavor-of-the-month social network comes along and makes Facebook look like yesterday's news.
So Zuckerberg is reshaping his management team with experienced corporate hands. In the latest change, Adam D'Angelo, Facebook's 23-year-old chief technical officer, is leaving the inner circle.
D'Angelo, who has known Zuckerberg since high school, is the programming whiz widely credited for building Facebook's technical infrastructure. He follows Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who left the company to join Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and Owen Van Natta, the company's former chief operating officer, who left after being demoted to chief revenue officer—a tough job at Facebook, apparently.
D'Angelo's departure comes amid a series of high-profile hires, including new C.O.O. Sheryl Sandberg from Google, who was brought in after a series of Facebook missteps, including the disastrous launch of the Beacon social-advertising platform, which prompted calls for "adult supervision" at the company.
But will new, more experienced management make a difference if the company can't figure out how to make money off its exploding user base?
More than six months after Microsoft injected $240 million into Facebook, Zuckerberg is coming under pressure to justify the $15 billion valuation implied by Microsoft's investment, not to mention the company's rapidly growing head count, this year expected to grow to more than 1,000 employees.
That may be why Facebook failed to raise the full $500 million it had sought in the funding round with Microsoft, instead topping out at about $350 million. But that hasn't kept Facebook from spending—and borrowing—cash: It recently secured a $100 million loan from Silicon Valley startup lender TriplePoint Capital to buy computer servers to handle its exploding user base.
In the beginning, Facebook was a place where college students seeking an alternative to MySpace's wretched interface and spam could congregate online, share photos, gossip, and generally carry on beyond earshot of nosy parents and teachers—not to mention future bosses.
Zuckerberg spoke of highfalutin concepts like the "social graph"—which was supposed to connect everyone in the world into a giant social network.
If Zuckerberg wants to take Facebook public, the time has come to prove that the company is more than just a nifty way for friends to stay in touch, and an actual business with a revenue model that will prove attractive to public markets.
The simple fact is that despite its rapid growth, Facebook has yet to turn a meaningful profit. The company is expected to earn $50 million on $300 million to $350 million in revenue in 2008, but is also expected to spend $200 million on capital expenditures, bringing its "negative cash flow" to $150 million. That's not a good sign for a richly valued company eyeing an I.P.O. in the next year or two.
In recent months it has become increasingly clear that advertising on social networks like Facebook and MySpace is proving to be a trickier proposition than many people had anticipated.
Earlier this year, Google co-founder Sergey Brin acknowledged that his company hasn't found "the killer best way to monetize social networks yet." This is a problem for Google, because it is obligated to pay News Corp., MySpace's owner, $900 million in guaranteed revenue through 2010.
And last week, News Corp. said that selling ads on MySpace is proving to be more difficult than anticipated, which helps explain why Fox Interactive Media's revenues dropped from $233 million to $210 million in the previous quarter.
Part of the problem lies in the fundamental reason why users join online social networks in the first place. Put simply, they're not there to buy things, they're there to socialize.
By contrast, people go to Google, by definition, because they are looking for something. Often, that "something" is a product or service. Thus, by targeting Web advertising to a user's search query, Google has built an enormously profitable business.
This leads to an inherent—if underappreciated—maxim of the internet economy: Not all eyeballs are created equal. Users who visit a site actively looking for something are more valuable to advertisers than users who visit a site to hang out with their friends.
Thus Facebook's watchword is no longer community, but scale, which is why Zuckerberg brought in Sandberg, who built Google's search-advertising business from the ground up. (That business is now responsible for the bulk of the company's $16.6 billion revenue haul.)
Even if Facebook users' eyeballs are less valuable to Web advertisers than Google's, Zuckerberg is hoping that Sandberg can leverage the site's exploding user base (over 100 million globally) to turn a profit.
Cablevision owns lucrative, well-managed cable systems in the metropolitan New York region. But its stock is often said to trade at a lower price than it should because of the noncable activities and antics of the company's controlling shareholder, the Dolan family.
The Dolans' latest fancy is the Long Island newspaper Newsday. Cablevision has won the bidding for the paper owned by Sam Zell with a $650 million offer.
"This agreement enables us to maximize the value of Newsday and still retain an interest in this valuable asset," Zell said. Newsday was one of the papers acquired when Zell bought out the Tribune Co. late last year.
Cablevision will hold 97 percent of the Newsday Media Group, which also includes the free paper AM New York, with the Tribune Co. holding 3 percent. The path toward a deal was cleared after Rupert Murdoch withdrew from the bidding on Friday, saying that it had "become uneconomical."
And that is the big question about this deal. There will certainly be talk about finding synergies in Long Island content, but is the price worth buying a delivery system headed for extinction? In 1999, Newsday had a circulation of 574,000. Today it is 380,000 and falling. And its content has suffered from round after round of cutbacks imposed by the Tribune Co.
To pay for this deal, Cablevision is issuing debt of $650 million. Last week, Cablevision agreed to acquire the Sundance Channel for $496 million.
It's hard to see how these deals improve the value of the company's cable operations. And they are limiting Cablevision's ability to do meaningful deals in the near future.
"We've seen this movie before," Craig Moffett, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, told the New York Times. "Even if you squint hard enough to justify these deals, it isn't what shareholders signed up for."
And if this is a movie, it could be filed under "comedy." There was the satellite project Voom, promoted by Chuck Dolan, but shot down by his son, James. Then there has been the theater of the absurd known as the New York Knicks under Isiah Thomas, whose former, disastrous stewardship is estimated to have cost $187 million.
Indeed some cynics have even suggested only partly in jest that the Dolans are trying to hurt the value of the stock on purpose in order to try again to take the company private. In October, shareholders rejected a $36.26-per-share buyout offer from the Dolans as too low. Since then, however, the stock has fallen to under $25.
Cablevision, however, contends that with Newsday, "the combined company will gain significant opportunities in its advertising-based businesses and subscription-based businesses, while also adding to its content portfolio and enhancing its commitment to the local community," including pooling its news gathering resources and marketing the newspaper through Cablevision.
And analysts see value in the Cablevision franchise. On Friday, Richard Greenfield, an analyst with Pali Research, raised his rating on the company to "neutral" from "sell," reportsBarron's Tech Trader Daily blog.
Cablevision's first-quarter results show "the power of its incredibly high video, data, and voice penetration levels to reduce churn and mitigate marketing cost increases, despite rising competition," he said.
But there are still the Dolans, he notes, who "continue to emphasize their desire to focus on growth strategies—which we essentially view as the Dolans investing in 'passion' projects rather than driving CVC shareholder value."
AP - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said Tuesday its profit rose 6.9 percent in its first quarter on higher sales as lower prices helped boost its results, topping Wall Street's expectations.
Reuters - Stock index futures fell on Tuesday
after Oppenheimer & Co slashed its price targets on a number of
brokerages and on concern about Wal-Mart Stores Inc's
outlook.
AP - The earthquake that devastated parts of central China's Sichuan province will likely have a limited impact on the country's booming economy, analysts said Tuesday, though repercussions were seen across the region.
AFP - French banking giant Credit Agricole said Tuesday it is seeking 5.9 billion euros (9.2 billion dollar) in fresh cash from shareholders after reporting another 1.2 billion euros write-down due to the US subprime home loan crisis.
Reuters - Finmeccanica SpA has agreed to
buy U.S. military contractor DRS Technologies Inc. in a
$5.2 billion deal, the biggest so far in European defense
contractors' bid for a slice of the growing U.S. defense
market.
Reuters - Hewlett-Packard Co
is in talks to buy technology outsourcing company
Electronic Data Systems Corp for $12 billion to $13
billion in a deal which would vault it to a close second to IBM
in technology services.