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Apple Releases iPhone SDK 2008-03-06 18:58:22 Apple released the highly anticipated software developers kit for its iPhone
today. The SDK allows developers the capabilities to freely develop on the iPhone natively. Native iPhone apps will be distributed through Apple iTunes store, and developers will be able to set their own prices and receive 70 percent of the revenues. Read more:Apple
Bank of America Reports it Still Plans to Acquire Countrywide Despite Conditions 2008-03-06 18:49:42 Bank of America
confirmed that it plans to continue with its buyout of Countrywide
despite rising delinquencies. Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, reported that everything is ready to complete the transaction. Countrywide reported last week that its delinquency rate increased nearly 900 percent from a year prior as the number of foreclosures continue to sky rocket. Read more:Acquire
Wachovia Plans to Open 5 New Branches 2008-03-06 18:45:53 Amongst all of the credit crisis, Wachovia is still expanding its core business. The company has asked federal regulators to approve the opening of five new branches across four states. Wachovia currently operates 3,400 branches across the United States.
Apple's iPhone to Gain Support for Microsoft Exchange 2008-03-06 18:42:17 Apple announced that it will be offering support for MicrosoftExchange
and also offering new security features to appease business users. Support
ing Microsoft Exchange could allow the iPhone
to compete directly with Research in Motion its own game, the enterprise market. Read more:Apple
Wal-Mart to Only Open 81 Stores in March 2008-03-05 18:51:38 As retailers continue to get hit by drops in consumer spending, Wal-Mart announces that it plans to only open 81 new stores in March
. For Wal-Mart the 81 new stores represents significantly slower growth as the company opened up over 195 stores during this period last year.
Bush Stands by Ethanol as Oil Breaks $104 2008-03-05 18:47:59 President Bush calling for energy independence is standing by ethanol despite criticisms that it is to blame for the rising costs of food. Bush stated on Wednesday that "We gotta get out of oil, American has got to change its habits." The energy bill passed by Congress supports refiners to replace nearly 36 billion gallons of gasoline with ethanol by 2020, where about 50 percent of that ethanol will be made from corn. The price of corn has more then doubled since 2006, and that has led to drastically higher food costs increasing the cost of chicken, beef, and other livestock fed with corn.
Citigroup May Need upto $30 Billion in More Capital 2008-03-04 18:40:13 Shares of Citigroup
fail to a nine year low Tuesday after a prominent Middle Eastern investor reported that the bank will need more then $30 billion in additional capital in order to get by. Citigroup's shares are now trading at $21.23 down nearly 60 percent since last January as the bank has been struggling to deal with massive losses.
Bernanke Asks Banks to Forgive Portions of Mortgages 2008-03-04 18:37:04 Bernanke urged lenders to forgive homeowners who are at the risk of defaulting on portions of their mortgages. Poised with the worst housing market in a quarter of a century, the Federal Reserve noted that housing conditions have too great of risk on the economy then monetary policy will be able to deter. In a report to Congress, Bernanke is asking lenders to work out mortgage terms and defer payments for those homes falling below their mortgage balances. Read more:Bernanke
MacBook Air Still Selling Out 2008-03-03 18:55:43 Major retailers have been selling out of Apple's MacBook
Air. After a full month of being on the market, the MacBook Air is still selling strong with is still difficult to obtain in some retail channels. Apple currently has an additional 5-7 day wait time on new orders, and Amazon has stated that they will not being shipping new units until March 16. The causes for the short supply was not stated; however, Ars noted that stores receiving stock often sell out the same day.
Microsoft Not Expected to Raise Offer for Yahoo 2008-03-03 18:47:26 Microsoft is not expected to raise its current offer for Yahoo
. Microsoft's takeover offer for Yahoo Inc. is currently valued at $40.9 billion. Microsoft's CEO stated that the offer is very reasonable despite Yahoo's rejection. Steve Ballmer reported at a press conference Monday that the deal make sense with the current price and that in time they hope that the bid becomes a reality. Read more:Expected
, Offer
, Microsoft
Despite Sub-prime Losses HSBC Announces 21 Percent Profit for 2007 2008-03-03 18:41:49 Despite massive losses related to sub-prime
loans, HSBC Holdings reported on Monday that its profit rose by 21 percent in 2007. HSBC noted that its 2008 outlook is uncertain and expects current market conditions to get continue to get much worse before improving. HSBC is now forecasting a turnaround may not happen until the end of 2009. Read more:Percent
, Losses
Barnes & Noble Issues Profit Warning 2008-03-03 18:35:46 Barnes & Noble
announced that their expected earnings for 2008 would be significantly lower then Wall Street estimates due to recessionary pressures. The stock immediately dropped 5 percent on the news. For 2008, Barnes & Noble is forecasting revenues of $1.70 to $1.90 a share much lower then analysts estimates of $2.12. Read more:Issues
, Barnes
Visa Not Expected to Match MasterCard's Returns 2008-03-02 14:18:07 It is unlikely that Visa's stock will be able to achieve anywhere near the returns MasterCard
's has. A combination of current market conditions and company specific conditions will hold the company's stock price down. First, Visa does not have the same foreign exposure that MasterCard has. Secondly, MasterCard's shares have climbed over 400 percent since its IPO as the company has been able to increase its operating margins; however, Visa is already operating at 30 percent operating margins the same operating margins as MasterCard with little expected room for growth. Barron's indicated that investors should not bid too aggressively above Visa's current planned IPO price of $37 to $42. Read more:Returns
, Match
, Expected
The Dollar Expected to Continue its Downward Decline 2008-03-02 08:54:30 Despite massive losses in the value of the dollar, currency analysts are still expecting the dollar to continue its steep decline for at least another month. This week the dollar broke a new low to the euro, one euro is now worth $1.50 for the first time. This week the dollar slid due to Ben Bernanke hinting at more aggressive rate cuts in order to stabilize the economy. Read more:Continue
, Dollar
, Decline
, Expected
JPMorgan Issue Warning on Home Equity Losses 2008-03-02 08:50:53 JPMorgan issued a warning Friday stating that quarter one losses on home equity could reach $450 million. The bank also expects that total bad debt write offs to double from that number by the end of the fourth quarter. Read more:Home Equity
, Equity
, JPMorgan
, Losses
Sprint Nextel Posts Massive $29.5 Billion Loss 2008-03-01 11:00:52 Sprint Nextel's stock sunk over 9 percent after the company reported that it lost $29.5 billion during the fourth quarter. The loss was mostly related to merger expenses with Nextel. The company announced that it has suspended its dividend and taken out a $2.5 billion loan. Daniel Hesse, Sprint's CEO, responded to bankruptcy concerns stating that the company has plenty of cash on hand and borrowed the funds to allow for greater flexibility in fixing its business. Read more:Sprint Nextel
, Sprint
Yahoo Facing Multiple Lawsuits Over Refusing Microsoft's Offer 2008-03-01 10:54:13 Yahoo is facing seven lawsuits regarding its decision to refuse Microsoft
's takeover offer. Yahoo's board believe that Microsoft's $44.6 billion offer was insufficient and significantly undervalued the company; however, shareholders are disappointed at Yahoo's reaction to dismiss the offer before negotiating a better deal. Read more:Lawsuits
, Multiple
, Facing
, Yahoo
, Offer
Wachovia to Add Up to 1,000 New Jobs in St. Louis 2008-03-01 10:50:04 Danny Ludeman, CEO of Wachovia Securities, stated that within the next two years it plans to add up to 1,000 new jobs in its division in St. Louis
. He also hinted that the division may sale off most of its real estate in the area stating that Wachovia typically does not own a lot of real estate and wants to utilize the capital in a more efficient matter. Wachovia obtained the real estate last year when it acquired A.G. Edwards for $6.9 billion.
Baidu Announces New Instant Messaging Service 2008-02-29 18:13:48 Baidu Inc. officially announced plans to launch a new instant messaging service that will compete with existing services, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Live Messenger, AIM, and ICQ. Baidu currently dominates the Chinese search market and is aggressively expanding into other areas. The new messaging service will be named Baidu Hi when it is released. Read more:Baidu
, Service
, Messaging
XM & Sirius Extend Merger Agreements 2008-02-29 18:10:39 XM's and Sirius
's merger agreement was set to expire March 1st; however, as the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission continues to delay its decisions, the companies are now extending their merger agreements until May 1st. The two struggling companies have been waiting over a year for their merger to be approved. Now they are both facing stiff competition in their core market as automobile manufactures have begun offering audio options including built-in mp3 support and iPod docking stations. Read more:Merger
, Extend
Sacramento's Unemployment Rate Reaches 6.4 Percent 2008-02-29 18:00:35 The unemployment rate rose to as high as 6.4 percent in the Sacramento
area. The area lost 14,000 jobs from December to January. The highest job losses were related to retail with a loss of 5,400. California currently has one of the highest unemployment rates across the country at 6.3 percent. The nation's unemployment rate stands at 5.4 percent. Read more:Unemployment
, Percent
UBS Expects Apple to Release 3G iPhone 2 this Summer 2008-02-28 18:44:38 UBS analysts informed its investors that it believes that Apple
will be releasing 3G-enabled iPhone
s this summer, and that current iPhone production is already being ramped down earlier then expected to remove inventory levels. UBS also indicated it expects Infineon Technologies to be supplying iPhone parts. Read more:Summer
, Release
Analysts Expecting a Half Point Fed Cut in March 2008-02-28 18:35:40 According to the futures market, the street is expecting Bernanke to lower interest rates by a half percentage point. Bernanke previously indicated to Congress this week that the Federal Reserve was prepared to keep lowering interest rates as the economy weakens. The Federal Reserve is expected to meet March
18th. Read more:Expecting
Take-Two Interactive Receives Interest From other Bidders 2008-02-28 18:35:12 Take-Two Interactive reported Thursday that it has received interest from other bidders. Last week Electronic Arts unveiled its $2 billion takeover offer for the company. Take-two rejected the offer earlier this week stating that the offer, which was at a 60 percent premium, significantly undervalued the company. The stock has held its surge as investors are betting that it will either receive a higher offer from EA or from another interested buyer. Read more:Interest
Apple Confirms iPhone SDK Next Week 2008-02-27 18:43:31 Apple Inc. affirmed Today that is set to release its details regarding its software development kit next week. The SDK is sure to boost 3rd party development for the iPhone
. Apple's COO also stated that he is pretty confident that Apple will still be able to hit their sales goal of reaching 10 million units by the end of the year despite economic conditions. Shares of Apple rose over 3 percent following the news. Read more:Apple
Baidu Soars on Maxthon Buyout Rumors 2008-02-27 18:40:24 Shares of China's search engine company, Baidu
, soared on Wednesday, after speculation that the company may have acquired Web browser company Maxthon
. Maxthon's web browser is currently used by nearly 10 million users in China. Read more:Buyout
Bernanke Set to Lower Interest Rates Again 2008-02-27 18:37:46 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
noted that the U.S. central bank is prepared to continue to lower interest rates as economic conditions worsen despite high inflation. The announcement comes after several bad reports from the government indicating weaker economic conditions. Durable good orders for January dropped 5.3 percent as companies began to significantly cut back on spending. Also new homes sales continue to slide with new home sales at the lowest level since February 1995. The Fed has stated that is more concerned with financial stability and growth over the rising costs of inflation. Read more:Lower
, Again
, Rates
, Interest
Stagflation to Hit U.S. Consumers 2008-02-26 18:53:21 Stagflation, the economic term for describing a period of inflation while facing slower economic growth, is currently worrying economists as the country is facing much higher consumer prices amidst the turmoil in the housing market. In the latest government report, wholesale prices rose nearly 7.4 percent last year. This is the biggest rise in inflation since 1981. The mix of inflation and slower economic growth is the worst the nation has seen in nearly three decades and has economists worried about the current state of the economy.
Starbucks to Temporarily Close All Stores Nationwide 2008-02-26 18:42:40 According to Starbucks
' website, Starbucks plans to close all of its 7,100 stores in the U.S. Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for a massive in-house training session. The training will focus on "provide a renewed focus on espresso standards" and improving customer experiences. Read more:Nationwide
, Close
, Temporarily
Google Adsense Facing Lower Click Through Rates 2008-02-26 18:39:10 Google stock dropped nearly 7 percent Tuesday after a report was released showing that the company is experiencing a decline in ad clicks. Analyst firm Comscore reported that Google's paid-click growth was down 12 percent year over year and has fell a staggering 7 percent in December. Read more:Google Adsense
, Click
, Adsense
, Google
, Lower
, Rates
, Facing
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