Good news -- Christmas came early this year! This morning, TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) and Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ) announced that they have joined forces to bring us all one step closer to the American dream. Thanks to a joint venture between the two companies, subscribers to TiVo's digital video recording service can now order a piping-hot pie from Domino's direct from their television set.
To take advantage of this waistband-unfriendly service, TiVo customers can click "I want it" from their TV remote. However, I imagine it's possible that this simple directive may soon be replaced by a series of Jabba the Hutt-like gurgles.
Rob Weisberg, vice president of precision and print marketing at Domino's, bragged that ''This is the first time in history that the 'on-demand' generation will be able to fully experience couch commerce by ordering pizza directly through their television set." (That sound you hear is the collective hardening of the 'on-demand' generation's arteries.)
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) has set up a deal with Tivo (NASDAQ: TIVO) to download rental movies to the digital video recording company's set-top boxes. The marriage represents another product in a massively crowded part of the premium video business.
According toThe Wall Street Journal, "The deal unites two high-profile tech brands that are both attempting to navigate the transition to a time when most video is delivered over the Internet rather than on DVDs and through television." At this stage, this type of partnership is nearly useless. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), and several private companies are in related businesses. Cable companies already offer on-demand products as do the new fiber-to-the-home telephone company services.
The critical question is how any of these companies believe that they can do well against cable TV on demand services. Although cable may not offer thousand of titles that no one will watch, they do have the most popular movies which probably make up over 90% of the content consumers want to watch. And, the cable companies already have the hardware and billing system to make the service seamless for customers.
Netflix is a little late. The product is not likely to get many takers.
TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) was once the leader in the digital video recorders for TVs business. The cable companies have most of that market now and TiVo struggles to find a place in the consumer electronics world. In 2004, its shares traded above $12. They have never gotten back there and now change hands around $7.
So to give itself a legitimate place in the world, TiVo keeps coming up with new services. The latest one may be more useless than most. According toThe Wall Street Journal, "TiVo Inc. and Nero AG of Germany are expected to announce Monday that they will be launching a package that turns a Windows PC into a TV recorder, just like a TiVo set-top box."
That would be the same PC that can get movies and TV shows from illegal file-sharing services. It would be the same PC that can download video from services like Hulu, and the same PC that allows consumers to get movies over IP from NetFlix (NASDAQ: NFLX).
The market for getting movies and TV shows onto PCs and portable devices is so crowded that even some of the largest content providers and consumer electronics firms may be pushed out of it.
TiVo is too small and too late to the game to have anything to offer.
It's cool fun sometimes to look at under-$10 stocks and see if there are any worth investing in. TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO), famous maker of digital-video-recorder technology, is currently trading under $10 a share, and it reported its Q2 numbers on Wednesday. I can't say, though, that I'm ready to buy just yet, even though some of the stats presented in the release described a nice improvement in year-over-year comparisons.
The bottom line, in fact, improved substantially. Earnings per diluted share came in at 3 cents. Last year, TiVo saw a loss of 18 cents per diluted share. According to Earnings.com, analysts were looking for a loss of 2 cents per share during the quarter, so estimates were certainly beat.
Cash flow from operations also jumped in a very nice way. The company generated over $10 million over the last six months. During the similar time period in 2007, TiVo needed to use almost three times that amount to keep operations going. Cash flow is an important metric for investors to look at, so that was good to see.
Stock futures were flattish Thursday morning as oil prices rose due to continued concern over Gustav. However, some retailers have posted better-than-expected earnings. Still, there are several economic reports due before the open that could sway sentiment either way, including revised GDP for the second quarter. [Update: Futures turned positive after the report U.S. gross domestic product grew by 3.3% in the second quarter - much higher than previously stated.]
U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) posted double the quarterly profit from a year ago on Thursday, benefiting from strong international sales and solid tourist spending at its New York flagship store. Net profit was $80.8 million, or 63 cents per share, in its fiscal second quarter, up from $40.5 million, or 29 cents per share a year earlier, and beating estimates of 55 cents per share. Revenue grew 11%. Tiffany also raised its 2008 profit outlook on strong sales in Europe and Asia and expected improvement in the U.S. TIF shares are up over 6% in premarket trading.
On the other hand, department store retailer Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) reported a 62% plunge in second-quarter net profit to $65 million, or 50 cents per share. Excluding a gain, Sears earned 21 cents, trailing some analysts' estimates by 15 cents. Chief Executive Bruce Johnson said the results were affected by the "slowing economy." It seems some, though, still have confidence in Chairman Lampert.
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM), the mortgage finance giant, shook up its executive ranks Wednesday. "Its chief financial officer and two other top executives are leaving the company. Three current executives were promoted to replace them." CEO Mudd kept his job. Shares of Fannie and sibling Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) have been rising after concern over a government bailout lessened. In premarket trading, FNM and FRE shares are up over 6% and 5% respectively.
Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) closed at $57.84 Monday. APC announced plans to repurchase up to $5 billion, or 18%, of its outstanding shares at the current trading price. APC intends to repurchase about $600 million in shares before the end of the year. APC affirms debt-to-cap ratio of between 25% and 35%. APC October option implied volatility of 45 is above its 26-week average of 42 according to Track Data, suggesting slightly larger price movement.
TiVo (NYSE: TIVO) is scheduled to report Q3 EPS after the market close on August 27. TIVO overall option implied volatility of 80 is above its 26-week average of 71 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.
Struggling mortgage lender Paragon is reportedly in talks with The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) about a potential takeover by Blackstone, the Financial Times reported.
OTHER PAPERS:
The New York Times reported that TiVo Inc (NASDAQ: TIVO) will today introduce a "product purchase" feature in partnership with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN). Under TiVo's plan, the television remote control will be turned into a tool for buying products that are advertised and promoted on talk shows and commercials.
Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) shareholders are due to approve the buyout by JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) today, marking what many feel as an end of an era as the 85-year-old company collapsed due to the subprime mortgage crisis.
The chief executives of UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) United Airlines and US Airways (NYSE: LCC) are set to meet today to discuss a possible deal despite concerns that threaten the deal, according to two people briefed on the discussions, the AP reported. Stocks of both airlines are up over 2% in premarket trading.
In other deal news, Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO Jerry Yang said that Yahoo is not a company under siege and that he is still waiting for a clearer proposal from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) about a possible partnership between the two firms. He said said that Yahoo "did not walk away from the proposal - Microsoft did. We were willing to do the deal on the right terms."
Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) is set to face disgruntled shareholders, including members of the Rockefeller family at its annual meeting today. They want to split split Exxon's chairman and chief executive positions. Other proposals include seven about the company's environmental policies.
The Wall Street Journalreported that Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) plans to hand over documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission showing that several Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Citadel Investment Group and Paulson & Co., cut their exposure to Bear in the weeks leading up to its collapse.
United Parcel Service Inc (NYSE: UPS) shares rose in Europe after Merrill Lynch upgraded the company's stock from Neutral to Buy.
While the earnings season is beginning to wind down for the current quarter, there are still plenty of results to come. Here's a peek at what analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are expecting from companies scheduled to report results in the final week of May 2008.
These companies are expected to post earnings growth, compared to the same period in the previous year:
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) down 2.9% to 33 cents per share, on $15.66 billion in revenue
TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) is expected to swing to a loss of a penny per share, compared to a penny profit a year ago, and report $55.62 million in revenue. And analysts expect Borders Group Inc. (NYSE: BGP) to narrow its loss 7.8% to 47 cents per share, on $801.11 million in revenue.
Citigroup upgraded Sina (NASDAQ:SINA) from "hold" to "buy" according toBriefing.com. The news service also reports that Tivo (NASDAQ:TIVO) was upgraded to "market perform" from "underperform" by Friedman Billings.
First Analysis Securities downgraded Cbiz (NYSE:CBZ) to "equal weight" from "overweight" according to the AP.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
Recently, TiVO (NASDAQ: TIVO) announced a partnership with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) that is likely to massively expand both its own viewership and that of Google's YouTube. Apparently, TiVo has plans to make it possible for YouTube subscribers to view their videos directly on their televisions. Viewers will access their YouTube accounts from their TiVo boxes and will be able to create and display customized playlists.
On the one hand, this seems like a masterstroke. After all, I can't count the number of times that I've found myself with a group of friends clustered around a tiny little computer screen, watching a commercial from the sixties, a film trailer, or a segment of Saturday Night Live. Half the joy of finding these little gems is sharing them with friends and loved ones, and that's a lot easier to do on a huge screen.
On the other hand, YouTube videos tend to be very small and have low-resolution, which makes them ideal for the internet. They can be quickly and easily uploaded, and the miniscule viewing area of the average computer screen makes their poor resolution a minor problem. However, transferring these tiny videos to a 32-inch television screen will render them practically unviewable. I have a crystal-clear vision of nostalgia-hounds and techno-geeks around the country squinting at televisions while asking themselves if they're looking at images of an Elliot Spitzer press conference or footage of a giant boob. The answer, of course, is what's the difference?
(I know, cheap shot!).
Developers are already preparing what is sure to be a veritable Aladin's cave of extras and I imagine that they will address this problem in one way or another, but it's hard to get beyond the fact that YouTube, for all its wondrousness, might be limited to one type of venue.
Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. YouTube has already cost him thousands of man-hours worth of work (and counting).
Good news -- Christmas came early this year! This morning, TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) and Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ) announced that they have joined forces to bring us all one step closer to the American dream. Thanks to a joint venture between the two companies, subscribers to TiVo's digital video recording service can now order a piping-hot pie from Domino's direct from their television set.
It's cool fun sometimes to look at under-$10 stocks and see if there are any worth investing in. 
Stock futures were flattish Thursday morning as oil prices rose due to continued concern over Gustav. However, some retailers have posted better-than-expected earnings. Still, there are several economic reports due before the open that could sway sentiment either way, including revised GDP for the second quarter.
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