Over the years, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) has aggressively expanded into global markets, such as China (through Alibaba) and Japan (through Softbank). Now, the company is seeing opportunity in another large area: the Middle East.

Today, Yahoo! announced a deal to purchase Maktoob.com. The terms were not disclosed, but the rumors are that the price tag was between $75 to $80 million. Maktoob.com, which gets about 16.5 million unique users, has enormous amounts of local content -- in Arabic (the locations include Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). In fact, the site reaches one-third of online users in the Middle East.

Continue reading Yahoo! purchases Maktoob.com: Yahoo of Arabia?

Yahoo! purchases Maktoob.com: Yahoo of Arabia? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo!'s (NASDAQ:YHOO) big footprint in Asia could be a significant benefit to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) as it tries to gain market share from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the region. Yahoo! owns large pieces of Yahoo! Japan and China e-commerce firm Alibaba. A takeover from Microsoft would give the world's largest software maker access to all of that.

According to Reuters, "If the deal goes through, Microsoft stands to gain a leg up over Google from cooperation with Alibaba's online software and Yahoo Japan's online customer base."

The theory may be based on soft reasoning. Yahoo! has been operating in the region for a decade and Google, which entered the market much later, has done fine. In Japan, Google is No.2 in audience behind Yahoo!, according to comScore. Google recently signed a deal to be the default search engine for NTT Docomo (NYSE:DCM) handsets. Docomo is the dominate cellular provider in Japan.

Microsoft may pick up relationships with web properties in Asia, but if its search product does not measure up to Google's that may not matter. Being better is the best way to get bigger. Buying in won't guarantee success.

A Microsoft (MSFT) Asia play to hurt Google (GOOG)? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Alibaba, the big Chinese e-commerce company is 39% owned by Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). That has been OK for Alibaba; Yahoo! has not taken any role in running the company. But, the firm and the Chinese government are a little worried that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) will not see it that way if it buys Yahoo!

According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "Alibaba has already been contacted by Chinese regulators seeking information on how it could be affected by a Microsoft purchase." The concern is perverse for two reasons.

China thinks nothing of allowing its sovereign funds to put capital into U.S. financial companies. Congress has already begun to worry in public that the Chinese might exert unwanted pressure on the managements of some of Wall Street's biggest companies. The Chinese cannot have it both ways, buying into American businesses while setting limitations on investments in its country.

What is even more obvious is that one solution is to have Microsoft simply enter into a legal agreement that makes its shares in Alibaba non-voting. This allows the big software company the advantage of an investment that will probably grow in value, and one that it will probably eventually sell back to Alibaba or even to the Chinese government.

Why make the issue more complicated than it really is?

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Alibaba worries Microsoft might take its independence originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The short interest in Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) fell by 11.8 million shares to 54.3 million between October 31 and November 15, according to figures from the Nasdaq. The stock has never really recovered from poor earnings late last year and the perception that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) will suck up a huge share of internet ad dollars. Yahoo!'s stock was over $43 in early 2006, but now trades at only $25.59.

To some extent, believing that Yahoo!'s shares will rise is believing that all internet advertising will continue to rise quickly. Yahoo!'s quarterly numbers show that its revenue is actually not growing as fast as online advertising in general, a rate that is put at about 20% year-over-year. But the company has moved to make acquisitions that will allow it to target display advertising better, and its Panama search ad platform has received at least modest reviews from customers.

The problem with gambling that Yahoo! can do better is that its performance does lag online revenue in general, and there is a perception that a recession could slow the flow of all internet dollars. Yahoo!'s modest growth rate might get worse. And its share of the U.S. search market is not really improving. Yahoo! sits at about 20%, while Google's monthly numbers run closer to 60%.

The market was also excited about Yahoo!'s big stake in China e-commerce company Alibaba. The firm went public last month, and, at one point, the U.S. company's piece of the IPO was worth over $5 billion. But Wall Street figured out that selling such a large stake was impossible. And Alibaba's shares did drop.

Yahoo! may not be going up and some shorts may get burned.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Yahoo! (YHOO) shorts may not pay off originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Alibaba rockets ahead in Hong Kong debut

Alibaba rockets ahead in Hong Kong debut originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Before the bell: Techs to the rescue -- stocks poised for a rebound

Before the bell: Techs to the rescue -- stocks poised for a rebound originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 07:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When the market started to realize that Yahoo!'s (NASDAQ: YHOO) shares in China ecommerce company Alibaba were worth a great deal, the approaching IPO for the Asian company began to move the US portal firm's shares higher. Even after modest earnings, Yahoo! stock is up almost 40% in the last three months.

Alibaba's IPO did well, perhaps even better than expected. The Wall Street Journal says that Alibaba "nearly tripled from its initial public offering price on its Hong Kong debut Tuesday, exceeding market expectations as it shot to levels some analysts warned could be unsustainable."

Alibaba is now worth about $20 billion, and Yahoo!'s share of the company is roughly 40%. The portal company's entire market cap is $42 billion, so its stake in the ecommerce company is a significant contributor to the overall value of Yahoo!.

But there is a problem here. What the shares are worth on paper and what Yahoo! could get for them are two very different things. The shares could not be sold without driving down Alibaba's price. And Yahoo! may think that Alibaba could be helpful in building a better foothold in China for the US company.

The Yahoo! stake may look like it is worth $8 billion, but it isn't.

Douglas A McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Alibaba IPO could drive Yahoo! shares up again originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 04:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The IPO of Alibaba, the large Chinese e-commerce site, may show that the China stock markets are topping. The company appears to have raised $1.5 billion for about 17% of the company. This is good news for Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), which invested a billion dollars in the site, but it could also make the US portal look bad. If the China market moves down before Yahoo! can off-load some of those shares, its initial investment in the company may not look like a coup.

The astonishing thing about the Alibaba IPO is that, according to The New York Times, "the I.P.O. price translates to a multiple of 55 times its forecast 2008 earnings." The number serves to point out the fact that, even with its economy growing at 10% a year, sustaining P/Es at this level will become impossible, as it did in the Japanese markets and US internet stocks in late 1990s. Both of those bubbles led to corrections of more than 50%.

The Shanghai Composite Index is now up well over 200% this year. The bull argument for an ongoing increase is that the emerging China middle class needs a place to invest its money and cannot move that capital into overseas equities. That makes the market overly dependent on one set of buyers.

Continue reading Does Alibaba's IPO mean China's markets have peaked?

Does Alibaba's IPO mean China's markets have peaked? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to a person briefed on the situation, Merrill Lynch & Co Inc's (NYSE: MER) CEO Stan O'Neal was negotiating the terms of his forced departure on Sunday and the departure is expected to be announced on Monday. The top contenders for the CEO position are said to be BlackRock Inc's (NYSE: BLK) CEO Laurence Fink and NYSE Euronext Inc's (NYSE: NYX) CEO John Thain, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• The WSJ also reported that Alibaba.com raised $1.5B after the company priced its IPO at HK$13.50, at the top-end of the HK$12-$HK13.50 range. Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) holds a 39% stake in Alibaba Group.

• Ness Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: NSTC) was awarded a contract worth NIS 5 Million to convert the pension fund data managed by Opal Future Technologies, Globes reported.
• Indian company Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited (NYSE: RDY) is set to attempt to raise its share of the U.S. over the counter drug market by partnering with at least six more U.S. retail chains; the company plans to launch up to 10 drugs over the next 12 months that could become OTC offerings in the U.S., the Economic Times reported.

• According to TechCrunch, IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) may have submitted a letter of intent to acquire movie-centered social network Flixter over the last week or so.

Newspaper wrap-up: Merrill Lynch CEO negotiates terms of forced departure originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Oct 2007 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) implied volatility up on expectations of Alibaba, Yang & EPS.

YHOO is recently trading $22.58. Recently, Alibaba.com, China's largest e-commerce company, hired NM Rothschild to advise it on a stock listing. YHOO has 40% ownership stake in Alibaba. YHOO is expected to report EPS on 10/16. YHOO over all option implied volatility of 38 is above its 26-week average of 35 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

Rediff.com India Limited (ADR) (NASDAQ: REDF) volatility elevated as REDF trades near 52-week lows.

REDF, a provider of online consumer offerings, is recently up 30 cents to $15.07. REDF over all option implied volatility of 59 is above its 52-week average of 51 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Option update 8-29-07: Yahoo (YHOO) volatility up on expectations of Alibaba, Yang & EPS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

eBay's rival Alibaba to begin charging fees originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I think we started talking about eBay, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:EBAY) endeavors in China months ago. Rumors kept surfacing every few months about eBay either getting out of China or making a deal with a local player. Just last week there were reports that Tom.com (NASDAQ:TOMO) and eBay EachNet were close to signing an agreement.

To hear, then, that eBay EachNet and Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) agreed on a partnership isn't surprising and what's more, it makes perfect sense.

With over 60% of the Chinese market, Baidu is China's largest portal and search engine. With this in mind, the cross-promotional partnership could greatly benefit EachNet. Baidu will promote, PayPal Beibao, PayPal's Chinese service, as a preferred payment method while eBay EachNet will use Baidu exclusively for its search advertising. The companies will be testing the search as early as the first quarter; implementing by the second. A special toolbar, co-branded, will also be developed by the two companies.

Despite the fact that on the face of it the deal seems like it would benefit EachNet more than it would Baidu, BIDU shares are up 2.8% while EBAY shares are flat (by 11:30 a.m.). All in all, I'd say this is a positive move for eBay as the company's starting to show a strategy for this market.

Finally, if you recall, rumors of Google, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) or Yahoo!, Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) acquiring Baidu have also been floating around. If there is any truth to these rumors, this would be weird as Yahoo! holds a stake in eBay's competitor in China, Alibaba's Taobao.

eBay and Baidu sign a cross-promotional deal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Nov 2006 13:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yesterday, I waited until I had confirmation of the rumors that eBay China's CEO, Martin Wu, was indeed resigning.

Not a day later, and new reports are starting to surface about eBay China. This one claims that Tom.com, a Hong-Kong company, will soon "announce its takeover of eBay's China division and its PayPal service." That's according to a Chinese newspaper, the 21st Century Business Herald. The Tom Group is already distributing Skype in China.

eBay has been facing fierce competition in China from Alibaba's Taobao. With Taobao offering free listings while eBay Eachnet charges a fee, eBay China was losing market share fast. Now, with new Chinese regulation limiting foreign investment in online payment systems, it seems that eBay is quickly trying to improve its position in China.

A commenter in last night's post about China, claims to be close to the situation. He reassured me that my concern with the new CEO of eBay China is unwarranted since he was put there simply to facilitate and "manage the integration/transition of eBay China to its new ownership, which will either be Tencent or Tom.com." If that's true, a numbers guy for the job does make more sense.

Does this mean a withdrawal of eBay from China altogether? I find it hard to believe. As Meg Whitman, eBay's CEO, said before, the Chinese market is the one with the most growth potential. Why would eBay withdraw from that market?

Rumors are rumors and should be taken with a grain of salt. Perhaps the negotiations aren't for a takeover but more for a partnership -- one that would be similar to the Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), Alibaba relationship. That would make more sense and would definitely help eBay get a better hold of the immense Chinese market.

Last I checked, eBay shares were up more than 4%, trading at $27.30. It does seem then that there is some truth to the rumors after all. The question is, what truth.

Will eBay sell its China operations? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The IFPI estimates that about 85 percent of all music consumed in China is pirated, which calls to attention the cultural and legal differences between China and other countries when it comes to copyright laws and infringements.

Can the case against Yahoo China hold? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Jul 2006 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Can't decide on eBay? Neither can analysts originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I've been listening to Yahoo's analyst day in the background all day today and just heard the founder of Chinese Internet portal and Yahoo! partner Alibaba speak. His name is Jack Ma and he did talk about eBay.

Ma said he foresaw eBay would be coming to China, which was one reason Alibaba branched into consumer-to-consumer sales. AliPay is its payment system -- a direct competitor to Paypal. Ma says there are lots of eBay users that use AliPay.

Apparently Alibaba has eBay shareholders concerned (international is a huge part of eBay's growth plans). An analyst note referenced on theflyonthewall.com yesterday referred to how Yahoo's shareholder meeting could be a negative for eBay, partly because China and Alibaba would be a highlight.

EBay's shares are down 2.4% today. But I just checked and find that Yahoo!'s stock is down 2.8% today. So even if eBay shareholders are worried about Alibaba, Yahoo! shareholders are even more worried about other issues.

Ma is wrapping up his comments on the call now. He thinks Alibaba will be a huge company, one of the top three Internet companies in the world in 10 years. We'll see!

Is news of Alibaba's growth whacking eBay's stock today? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 May 2006 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.