Continue reading Google to Launch TV Platform Globally in 2011

Google to Launch TV Platform Globally in 2011 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Former Goldman Sachs Employee Charged with Theft of Trade Secrets

Former Goldman Sachs Employee Charged with Theft of Trade Secrets originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Poll: Global Economic Confidence Dips on Fiscal Concerns

Poll: Global Economic Confidence Dips on Fiscal Concerns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Ray of Light: Confidence in Global Economic Recovery Rises

Ray of Light: Confidence in Global Economic Recovery Rises originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last summer, two Bloomberg News reporters filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the records of Federal Reserve secret transactions during the financial meltdown. The transactions relate to the $2 trillion U.S. loan program launched after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. In August, a federal judge ordered that the information be released.

Now, the Federal Reserve is appealing the ruling. The appeal states that "The disclosure of highly sensitive documents including 231 pages of daily lending reports, threatens to stigmatize lenders and cause them severe and irreparable competitive injury."

Continue reading Federal Reserve Refuses to Come Clean About Secret Bailout Transactions

Federal Reserve Refuses to Come Clean About Secret Bailout Transactions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bloomberg News took a recent poll of its subscribers. Here are some highlights of the survey:

• Only 31% of investors saw investment opportunities in the stock market, down from 35% in the July survey.
• Worldwide, investors see the U.S. as the weakest link in the world economy. Twenty five percent of respondents see an unemployment rate of 11% in the U.S. next year.
• Respondents see China and India as the most promising markets and commodities are the asset of choice.
• Real Estate and bonds are out of favor, with 40% saying that bonds will have the worst returns over the next year.

Continue reading Are stocks about to get routed?

Are stocks about to get routed? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As you walk by the corner of East 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, it's hard to miss Manhattan's temple to retail tech. The Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) store stands out amid the older, more traditional stores in the area -- both for its giant glass cube and what happens when you descend into it. So, is it so hard to believe that Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) move into the space could be successful?

At the turn of the century, the notion of Apple stores was mocked, with BusinessWeek proclaiming in May 2001, "Sorry, Steve: Here's Why Apple Stores Won't Work." Of course, it turns out BusinessWeek is what doesn't work, as evidenced by its recent acquisition by Bloomberg.

Continue reading MSFT retail: They laughed at Apple

MSFT retail: They laughed at Apple originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Wells Fargo climbs out from under the TARP

Wells Fargo climbs out from under the TARP originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Ray of light: Global economic confidence surges in August

Ray of light: Global economic confidence surges in August originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading NYC sales tax hike: A regressive tax the economy doesn't need

NYC sales tax hike: A regressive tax the economy doesn't need originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What does it mean when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) considers issuing bonds to raise cash? Obviously, the organization would be seeking more money to pursue its agenda, but what else could be inferred by this? How would the dynamics of world economic power wielding be affected? What effect could this have on the natural ebb and flow of free market capitalism? How would U.S. Treasuries be affected?

This possible bond issue was examined recently by Bloomberg.com. The Bloomberg article points to what I think is the most significant aspect that an IMF bond issue would present. I'm concerned that IMF bonds would directly compete with U.S. Treasury bonds. That possibility is fodder for a great deal of speculation.

Continue reading IMF bond sale: Would that be a good thing?

IMF bond sale: Would that be a good thing? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Regulators are fundamentally dumb," Taleb added. "Traders will go around them. I want the system where regulators can be stupid without you and I being harmed by it."

If we're going to try to move away from the Madoff model of economic policy, there are quite a few places we could start, but this one's my favorite: The United States government is buying cars from General Motors (NYSE: GM) to help the company demonstrate viability and secure more government loans.

Or we could take the principled stance and admit that what Madoff is doing isn't different from what Wall Street and the government dose everyday with little fanfare -- and let him get back to work.

Taleb calls the stock market and private equity Ponzi-like originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Poor Steve Jobs! He recently asked a Bloomberg reporter: "Why don't you guys leave me alone?" In addition to having some vague health problems which require him to take a leave of absence from his position as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO, Apple's disclosure about Jobs's health is now under review by the SEC. Unfortunately for Jobs, the SEC cannot treat the CEO of a public company the same as it might an actress, such as Greta Garbo, who famously said, " I want to be left alone."

To bring any case, the SEC would probably have to show Apple tried to benefit by withholding information about an unambiguous diagnosis. In other words, it looks like there may be some legal wiggle room for Apple in the way they communicated Jobs' health challenges.

But after months of rumors, a few weeks ago Jobs said he would remain CEO while seeking a "relatively simple" treatment for a hormonal imbalance. Nine days later, Jobs said he would take a five-month medical leave after learning his health issues were "more complex."

Meanwhile, Apple is scheduled to report earnings after the market closes this afternoon.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

SEC will not leave Steve 'Greta Garbo' Jobs alone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The media has been filled with reports about how poorly the advertising at The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) has been doing. The company has $400 million in debt due next year. It is trying to sell its part of the parent company of The Boston Red Sox. NYT is even attempting to mortgage its headquarters building.

Bringing in new money won't do much long-term if revenue keeps falling. Cutting costs would.

One of the sections of The New York Times that must be costly to run is its business section. Looking at all the bylines, the staff must be in the dozens. But, a great deal of what runs in the business pages is not unique. Most of its is covered by Reuters, Bloomberg, FT, or The Wall Street Journal.

As the cost of being in the news business stays high and revenue drops, networks are pooling reporting resources. Newspapers are sharing coverage of certain geographic areas. Websites such as Politico are offering newspapers coverage of Washington to save money on having bureaus following the federal government.

The New York Times might be better off if it cut a deal with Bloomberg or the FT to handle its business section. The paper would still be competitive with The Wall Street Journal, and the move might be the start of a system to save a lot more money by doing something similar with other parts of the Times.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Outsourcing The New York Times business section originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our feature on Money Winners of 2008. See them all.

In Michael Bloomberg, you're dealing not just with a person, but with a brand.

Bloomberg, of course, in 1982 founded what is now Bloomberg LLP, the firm that runs Bloomberg News, a financial news service that competes with Reuters, Dow Jones, and News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) to provide breaking news, features, data, and analytics, among other products, to financial players worldwide.

Bloomberg ingeniously developed a product that essentially aggregated, summarized, and presented financial market data at a time when financial institutions -- particularly bond market participants -- were ripe for such a product, and along with editor and former Wall Street Journal reporter Matt Winkler, built a financial news empire known for its speed, accuracy, and comprehensive coverage of the markets.

Bloomberg's reward for the above, in monetary terms? About $20 billion in estimated net worth, good for eighth place on Forbes magazine's 400 Richest Americans list.

Continue reading Money winners of 2008: Michael Bloomberg, the man and the brand

Money winners of 2008: Michael Bloomberg, the man and the brand originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

People like Obama but don't expect much originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Want a classic example of how the real estate slump is affecting not only the construction industry and home owners, but also states and municipalities, as well?

Consider the plight of the nation's largest city, the City of New York.

Wall Street's mortgage losses have ballooned to such a degree that some firms may pay small or no taxes for years, Bloomberg News reported. That's right: no taxes for years.

Rising tax revenues, no more

For much of the current decade, indeed for much of the 1990s as well, the city could count on rising tax revenue from Wall Street firms -- based on increased securities industry business -- as a starting point for the city's budget. Not now: the city, which derives about 20% of its revenue from Wall Street businesses, is projecting a decline in revenue from Wall Street firms -- a contraction that is expected to widen the this year's $1.5 budget deficit in fiscal 2009 to $2.3 billion next year, fiscal 2010, and then to $5.96 billion in fiscal 2011 budget deficit, Bloomberg News reported. The city's budget for fiscal 2009 is $59.1 billion.

The Wall Street recession has put the social service goals of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on hold, for the most part. Bloomberg has already asked city department and agency heads to implement a 6.4% spending cut; he will likely ask department heads to identify other cost savings of up to 3%, should revenues continue to come in below projections.

Continue reading All economics is local: Wall Street slump cuts New York City tax revenue

All economics is local: Wall Street slump cuts New York City tax revenue originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Chief Executive Tom Glocer told reporters that financial services markets "are likely to remain challenging through at least the end of the year." That means that big clients are going to be asking for big discounts. Bloomberg, my former employer and the company's biggest rival, has usually been able to resist this temptation.

Continue reading Thomson Reuters is in for a tough slog after missing expectations

Thomson Reuters is in for a tough slog after missing expectations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It is not right to say that management misleads investors. That is too crass.

But the coarse language may come out when Wall Street talks about what Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) did today. After the bell, MER "said it expects to take a $5.7 billion pretax write-down in the third quarter due to losses on the sale of mortgage assets and plans to raise at least $8.5 billion by selling new common shares," according to Reuters. Well over $3 billion of that will come from Singapore's Temasek Holdings. It put some money into Merrill before, and this evening's news may have left it with a bad taste. But it stepped up anyway, probably to protect the cash it had already put in.

The trouble is this. John Thain, Merrill's CEO, has kept saying that the worst was behind the company. He said he had engineered a solution by selling Merrill's stake in Bloomberg and by taking what were supposed to be the lion's share of the writedowns last quarter. Thain's credibility bled out onto the floor late today.

The SEC will get to take something away from today. Merrill's stock began to sell off sharply at about 11 AM. By the end of the day, it was down over 11%. Someone knew something when they should not have.

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

Merrill Lynch's (MER) last stand originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reuters reports that today is a big one for bank and technology earnings. It looks like Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) will lose big and will try to soften the blow with an announcement about selling its 20% of Bloomberg LP for $4.5 billion to its founder, New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg. JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and a handful of big technology companies are expected to report profits. But will they be enough?

Meanwhile, how can we make sense of yesterday's 276 point rally on Wall Street? Nobody knows what happened, but theories abound: the price of oil fell -- possibly due to anticipation that the Fed would raise interest rates to deal with inflation that is roaring out of control. Higher interest rates would strengthen the dollar, which would drive down the price of oil since it's traded in dollars. But I think yesterday's market was a short-covering frenzy. With the SEC foolishly squeezing the shorts, they needed to cover their bets that financials would fall further. Of course good news from Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) didn't hurt.

Today's earnings -- with estimates courtesy of a Reuters analyst survey -- are likely to move the market. Here's a roundup:

• Merrill Lynch is expected to lose $1.94
• JPMorgan was expected to make $0.44, down 63% from 2007. At a Price/Earnings to Growth (PEG) ratio of 0.4 and a P/E of 12 on earnings forecast to grow 31% to $3.34 in 2009, it looks cheap. CNNMoney reports it made 54 cents -- well ahead of expectations and its shares are up 5% in premarket.
• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) will earn 47 cents a share, a 21% increase from last year. At a PEG ratio of 1.1 and a P/E of 15 on earnings forecast to grow 14.3% to $2.16 in 2009, it looks reasonably priced.

Continue reading Earnings roundup: Merrill to lose, tech to win?

Earnings roundup: Merrill to lose, tech to win? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.