(MarketWatch) -- Amazon.com is widely expected to lift the wraps on a new large-screen Kindle device this week, which could be the first in a line of electronic reading devices geared toward newspapers and textbooks.
The online retail giant has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday -- 10:30 Eastern -- at Pace University in New York City.
Amazon did not disclose details about the event, but the New York Times reported over the weekend that the company is expected to unveil the latest version of its Kindle e-book reader. This device would reportedly have a larger screen optimized for newspapers, magazines and textbooks.
The Times also said that the newspaper's parent company is expected to be one of Amazon's partners in providing content for the device, citing unnamed sources.
Shares of Amazon were trading up nearly 2% at $80.50. The stock is up 60% since the first of the year.
A new Kindle designed for newspapers could be the first of many such devices. Two newspaper publishing companies -- News Corp. and privately held Hearst Corp. -- have disclosed plans to develop similar e-reader devices. A Silicon Valley startup called Plastic Logic is also developing a large-screen e-reader device geared toward newspapers.
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Monday, 04 May 2009
Sunday, 03 May 2009
Buffett: Government doing right
Billionaire Warren Buffett said on Saturday that the US government is taking the correct actions to help the economy recover.
Buffett spoke briefly before the opening of the annual meeting for his Berkshire Hathaway, expected to draw an audience of roughly 35 000 people.
"The government is doing the right things," Buffett said. "They're acting in a countercyclical manner."
But Buffett said he can't predict how quickly the economy and the markets will improve. He said last fall that the US faced an "economic Pearl Harbor."
Buffett and his partner, Charlie Munger, were expected to spend more than five hours answering questions at the Berkshire meeting. In the exhibit hall on Saturday morning, Buffett was mobbed by shareholders seeking photos of the billionaire CEO as he walked between exhibits for subsidiaries Justin Boots and Dairy Queen.
The meeting began as usual with a humorous movie, but instead of the traditional comical cartoon, Berkshire offered a reassuring message from animated versions of its products.
An animated Mrs. See of See's Candy told the crowd that it didn't seem right to have a humorous cartoon when so many things in the world don't seem sweet. And a talking Dairy Queen ice cream treat said the security of the company's balance sheet would help it withstand any blizzard.
Read more here
Buffett spoke briefly before the opening of the annual meeting for his Berkshire Hathaway, expected to draw an audience of roughly 35 000 people.
"The government is doing the right things," Buffett said. "They're acting in a countercyclical manner."
But Buffett said he can't predict how quickly the economy and the markets will improve. He said last fall that the US faced an "economic Pearl Harbor."
Buffett and his partner, Charlie Munger, were expected to spend more than five hours answering questions at the Berkshire meeting. In the exhibit hall on Saturday morning, Buffett was mobbed by shareholders seeking photos of the billionaire CEO as he walked between exhibits for subsidiaries Justin Boots and Dairy Queen.
The meeting began as usual with a humorous movie, but instead of the traditional comical cartoon, Berkshire offered a reassuring message from animated versions of its products.
An animated Mrs. See of See's Candy told the crowd that it didn't seem right to have a humorous cartoon when so many things in the world don't seem sweet. And a talking Dairy Queen ice cream treat said the security of the company's balance sheet would help it withstand any blizzard.
Read more here
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
ANZ Bank first-half cash profit misses expectations
(MarketWatch) -- Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said Wednesday its net profit and cash profit for the fiscal first-half fell due to burgeoning bad debt on its ledger, with the cash profit result missing analysts' expectations.
For the six months ended March 31, ANZ Group said its cash profit -- a closely watched metric for banks -- dropped to 954 million Australian dollars ($673 million) from 1.67 billion Australian dollars at the same time last year.
A Dow Jones Newswires survey had put analysts' average expectations for cash profit at 1.19 billion Australian dollars.
Bottom-line net profit, meanwhile, fell to 1.42 billion Australian dollars from 1.96 billion Australian dollars in the year-ago half.
Bad loans for the recent period more than doubled to 1.37 billion Australian dollars.
ANZ Chief Executive Mike Smith was quoted by Dow Jones as saying the outlook for bad loans in the second half of the fiscal year was "difficult" and the bank won't meet an earlier forecast to limit provisions to between 2.4 billion and 2.5 billion Australian dollars for the entire 2008-09 fiscal year.
Read more here
For the six months ended March 31, ANZ Group said its cash profit -- a closely watched metric for banks -- dropped to 954 million Australian dollars ($673 million) from 1.67 billion Australian dollars at the same time last year.
A Dow Jones Newswires survey had put analysts' average expectations for cash profit at 1.19 billion Australian dollars.
Bottom-line net profit, meanwhile, fell to 1.42 billion Australian dollars from 1.96 billion Australian dollars in the year-ago half.
Bad loans for the recent period more than doubled to 1.37 billion Australian dollars.
ANZ Chief Executive Mike Smith was quoted by Dow Jones as saying the outlook for bad loans in the second half of the fiscal year was "difficult" and the bank won't meet an earlier forecast to limit provisions to between 2.4 billion and 2.5 billion Australian dollars for the entire 2008-09 fiscal year.
Read more here
Monday, 27 April 2009
Top S.Africa ANC official sees ongoing role for Manuel
(Reuters) - South Africa's veteran Finance Minister Trevor Manuel will continue to have an important role in government after last week's elections, a senior official in the ruling African National Congress told Reuters on Monday.
ANC Treasurer General Mathews Phosa, a former lawyer and ally of new South African President Jacob Zuma, said the final decision on Manuel's future would be made in the next two weeks.
Manuel's fate is being closely watched by financial markets, and Phosa was in London to meet with and reassure investors. He said the most common question he had been asked was over Manuel.
Read more here
ANC Treasurer General Mathews Phosa, a former lawyer and ally of new South African President Jacob Zuma, said the final decision on Manuel's future would be made in the next two weeks.
Manuel's fate is being closely watched by financial markets, and Phosa was in London to meet with and reassure investors. He said the most common question he had been asked was over Manuel.
Read more here
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Microsoft sales fall for first time in 23 years
(CNNMoney.com) -- Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that declining PC sales hurt revenue, as the software giant reported quarterly sales that fell for the first time in its 23-year history as a public company.
The Redmond, Wash.-based company said sales fell 6% from a year earlier to $13.7 billion, missing analysts' expectations of $14.1 billion.
Meanwhile, the company's net income fell 32% to $2.98 billion, or 33 cents per share, in its third quarter ended March 31.
Results included charges totaling 6 cents per share for job cuts and investments that took place in the quarter. Without the charges, Microsoft earned 39 per share, in line with forecasts by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, which typically exclude one-time items.
Microsoft said weakness in the global PC market negatively impacted its results.
Still, shares of Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) rose 4% after hours, as the company performed roughly in-line with expectations. In the previous quarter, results came in well below forecasts, and Microsoft rescinded its prior outlook for 2009.
"Expectations were much more tempered now," said Katherine Egbert, analyst with Jefferies & Co. "People now understand that near-term business won't be so good."
On a conference call with analysts, Chris Liddell, Microsoft's chief financial officer, said the current recession has been "the most difficult economic environment we've faced in our history." He noted that he expects the recovery to be slow and gradual, but again he declined to give a specific outlook for the next three-month period.
Still, Liddell said he was encouraged by the company's ability to cut costs.
"While I can't be happy in any quarter in which our revenue and earnings per share decrease, I'm pleased with our relative performance," he added.
Demand quagmire: The company has had a difficult time combating slumping demand for its Windows operating system, as the economic slowdown has dragged PC sales down 7% to 9%, according to Microsoft's estimates.
The recession has also prompted many consumers to opt for cheaper, scaled-down "netbooks" that perform only basic tasks such as e-mail and accessing the Internet. They typically run a lower-cost version of Windows or an open-source operating system such as Linux.
"The trouble for Microsoft is that its cash cow is shifting," said Carl Howe, analyst with Yankee Group. "PC sales are troubled, and they're getting hurt by the move to cheaper notebooks."
In January, Microsoft announced its first mass job cuts in its 34-year history in an effort to bolster its bottom line The company slashed 1,400 position during the quarter with another 3,600 expected to be cut by mid-2010. At that time, the company said it was also adding a few thousand positions, mainly in its online advertising division.
"While market conditions remained weak during the quarter, I was pleased with the organization's ability to offset revenue pressures with the swift implementation of cost-savings initiatives," said Liddell. "We expect the weakness to continue through at least the next quarter."
Sales and profit fell in all of Microsoft's businesses, except its server business, which managed to squeeze out a 7% rise in revenue and a 24% jump in earnings. The entertainment and devices division, which includes the Xbox 360, suffered a 2% revenue decline and an operating loss of $31 million from a year earlier. The company's business division sales dropped 5%.
Read more here
The Redmond, Wash.-based company said sales fell 6% from a year earlier to $13.7 billion, missing analysts' expectations of $14.1 billion.
Meanwhile, the company's net income fell 32% to $2.98 billion, or 33 cents per share, in its third quarter ended March 31.
Results included charges totaling 6 cents per share for job cuts and investments that took place in the quarter. Without the charges, Microsoft earned 39 per share, in line with forecasts by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, which typically exclude one-time items.
Microsoft said weakness in the global PC market negatively impacted its results.
Still, shares of Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) rose 4% after hours, as the company performed roughly in-line with expectations. In the previous quarter, results came in well below forecasts, and Microsoft rescinded its prior outlook for 2009.
"Expectations were much more tempered now," said Katherine Egbert, analyst with Jefferies & Co. "People now understand that near-term business won't be so good."
On a conference call with analysts, Chris Liddell, Microsoft's chief financial officer, said the current recession has been "the most difficult economic environment we've faced in our history." He noted that he expects the recovery to be slow and gradual, but again he declined to give a specific outlook for the next three-month period.
Still, Liddell said he was encouraged by the company's ability to cut costs.
"While I can't be happy in any quarter in which our revenue and earnings per share decrease, I'm pleased with our relative performance," he added.
Demand quagmire: The company has had a difficult time combating slumping demand for its Windows operating system, as the economic slowdown has dragged PC sales down 7% to 9%, according to Microsoft's estimates.
The recession has also prompted many consumers to opt for cheaper, scaled-down "netbooks" that perform only basic tasks such as e-mail and accessing the Internet. They typically run a lower-cost version of Windows or an open-source operating system such as Linux.
"The trouble for Microsoft is that its cash cow is shifting," said Carl Howe, analyst with Yankee Group. "PC sales are troubled, and they're getting hurt by the move to cheaper notebooks."
In January, Microsoft announced its first mass job cuts in its 34-year history in an effort to bolster its bottom line The company slashed 1,400 position during the quarter with another 3,600 expected to be cut by mid-2010. At that time, the company said it was also adding a few thousand positions, mainly in its online advertising division.
"While market conditions remained weak during the quarter, I was pleased with the organization's ability to offset revenue pressures with the swift implementation of cost-savings initiatives," said Liddell. "We expect the weakness to continue through at least the next quarter."
Sales and profit fell in all of Microsoft's businesses, except its server business, which managed to squeeze out a 7% rise in revenue and a 24% jump in earnings. The entertainment and devices division, which includes the Xbox 360, suffered a 2% revenue decline and an operating loss of $31 million from a year earlier. The company's business division sales dropped 5%.
Read more here
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Soaring U.S. Budget Deficit Will Mean Billions in Bond Sales
(Bloomberg) -- Millions of lost jobs mean billions in lost tax revenue for the U.S. government, and billions in additional Treasury debt to fund a federal budget deficit that may soar to more than four times last year’s record $454.7 billion.
Employers cut 3.7 million positions from their payrolls in the six months since the fiscal year began Oct. 1, and the unemployment rate reached a 25-year high of 8.5 percent in March. That suggests receipts for April -- the biggest month for tax collection -- are likely to come in well below April 2008, analysts said.
With spending on unemployment insurance and other safety- net programs rising, the deficit is already at a record $956.8 billion six months into the fiscal year. To help close that gap, the Treasury Department has more than quadrupled borrowing, pushing the government deeper into debt.
“Tax receipts are just collapsing,” said Chris Ahrens, head of interest-rate strategy at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, one of 16 primary dealers required to bid at Treasury auctions. The need to sell more debt “is a big issue in the Treasury market and it is ongoing. The surging budget deficit is the primary cause.”
The government will have to sell $2.4 trillion in new bills, notes and bonds in fiscal 2009, according to UBS. From October through December, the Treasury sold a record $569 billion, up from $82 billion in the same period a year earlier, and auctioned another $493 billion in the last quarter, up from $156 billion. That helps to make up for the drop in tax receipts, pay for the rise in spending and refinance maturing debt. Along with the principal, the sales add additional interest costs to the deficit for years to come.
Unemployment Benefits
At the same time, government spending has climbed 33 percent in the fiscal year through March, as relief programs such as unemployment benefits expand. Labor Department expenditures have more than doubled to $52.7 billion and payments by the Department of Health and Human Services have risen by $40.6 billion, or 12 percent. Spending by the Agriculture Department, which runs the food-stamp program, is 18 percent higher, or $9.9 billion more than in the same period a year ago.
These increases will contribute to a record federal budget deficit this fiscal year. On March 20, the Congressional Budget Office forecast the shortfall will reach $1.85 trillion, dwarfing the previous peak. UBS estimates a budget deficit of $1.65 trillion, Ahrens said.
Read more here
Employers cut 3.7 million positions from their payrolls in the six months since the fiscal year began Oct. 1, and the unemployment rate reached a 25-year high of 8.5 percent in March. That suggests receipts for April -- the biggest month for tax collection -- are likely to come in well below April 2008, analysts said.
With spending on unemployment insurance and other safety- net programs rising, the deficit is already at a record $956.8 billion six months into the fiscal year. To help close that gap, the Treasury Department has more than quadrupled borrowing, pushing the government deeper into debt.
“Tax receipts are just collapsing,” said Chris Ahrens, head of interest-rate strategy at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, one of 16 primary dealers required to bid at Treasury auctions. The need to sell more debt “is a big issue in the Treasury market and it is ongoing. The surging budget deficit is the primary cause.”
The government will have to sell $2.4 trillion in new bills, notes and bonds in fiscal 2009, according to UBS. From October through December, the Treasury sold a record $569 billion, up from $82 billion in the same period a year earlier, and auctioned another $493 billion in the last quarter, up from $156 billion. That helps to make up for the drop in tax receipts, pay for the rise in spending and refinance maturing debt. Along with the principal, the sales add additional interest costs to the deficit for years to come.
Unemployment Benefits
At the same time, government spending has climbed 33 percent in the fiscal year through March, as relief programs such as unemployment benefits expand. Labor Department expenditures have more than doubled to $52.7 billion and payments by the Department of Health and Human Services have risen by $40.6 billion, or 12 percent. Spending by the Agriculture Department, which runs the food-stamp program, is 18 percent higher, or $9.9 billion more than in the same period a year ago.
These increases will contribute to a record federal budget deficit this fiscal year. On March 20, the Congressional Budget Office forecast the shortfall will reach $1.85 trillion, dwarfing the previous peak. UBS estimates a budget deficit of $1.65 trillion, Ahrens said.
Read more here
Monday, 20 April 2009
Ivanhoe’s Merlin Rhenium Deposit May Make It Largest Supplier
(Bloomberg) -- Ivanhoe Australia Ltd., a unit of billionaire Robert Friedland’s Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., may become the world’s biggest supplier of rhenium used in jet engine turbine blades once production starts at its Merlin project.
The Merlin rhenium and molybdenum resource in Australia’s Queensland state contains metal worth $4.6 billion at today’s prices and is the world’s highest grade deposit of the two rare metals, Melbourne-based Ivanhoe said today in a statement.
Production may start in two years, Ivanhoe Australia’s Chief Executive Officer Peter Reeve said today in an interview. General Electric Co. and Rolls-Royce Group Plc are among the world’s biggest users of rhenium and Ivanhoe will seek long-term sales partners as development proceeds, Reeve said. The stock jumped to a nine-month high in Sydney trading.
“We can probably become the dominant supplier of rhenium in the world,” Reeve said in an interview by phone from Melbourne today. “We would try and tie up with a long-term end- user contract.”
Read more here
The Merlin rhenium and molybdenum resource in Australia’s Queensland state contains metal worth $4.6 billion at today’s prices and is the world’s highest grade deposit of the two rare metals, Melbourne-based Ivanhoe said today in a statement.
Production may start in two years, Ivanhoe Australia’s Chief Executive Officer Peter Reeve said today in an interview. General Electric Co. and Rolls-Royce Group Plc are among the world’s biggest users of rhenium and Ivanhoe will seek long-term sales partners as development proceeds, Reeve said. The stock jumped to a nine-month high in Sydney trading.
“We can probably become the dominant supplier of rhenium in the world,” Reeve said in an interview by phone from Melbourne today. “We would try and tie up with a long-term end- user contract.”
Read more here
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