microsoft posts
FeedPosted Apr 4th 2011 2:20PM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals, Marketing and Advertising

The players in Facebook are elusive. Since it is a private company, it is not required to disclose its partners. Once and a while we learn about an individual or company that has a piece of the company.
Not only is it difficult to find out who owns a stake in Facebook, it is equally difficult to ascertain the value of the company. The numbers keep going up and up. For example, Microsoft (
MSFT) invested $240 million when the company was valued at $15 billion.
Interpublic
(INPGP), the advertising conglomerate, bought 1/2% of Facebook for $5 million, in 2006. As the value of the company went up, so did Interpublic's investment. When the Facebook investment appreciated, Interpublic was forced to disclose the information to the SEC, as reported in the
Financial Times.
Continue reading Interpublic Discloses Its Stake in Facebook
Posted Mar 10th 2011 1:00PM by Steven Halpern (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Newsletters, Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Bank of America (BAC), Best Buy (BBY), Campbell Soup (CPB), Stocks to Buy
"Even when the market is up a lot, you can always find some good stocks that have been left behind but could be on the verge of a rebound," says George Putnam.
The editor of The Turnaround Letter explains, "That's where we suggest you focus your efforts right now. These eight stocks all have strong business franchises and have all significantly lagged the market over the last two years.
"In fact, several of them are still trading near or even below where they were in early 2009. Here, we look at Bank of America (BAC), Best Buy (BBY), Campbell Soup (CPB), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Microsoft (MSFT) and Sprint Nextel (S).
Continue reading Turnaround Expert: A Six-Pack of Rebound Buys
Posted Mar 8th 2011 12:30PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Research in Motion (RIMM)
Google's (GOOG) mobile operating system, Android, is an example of how acquisitions have made a big difference. This technology came from a deal struck in 2005. Then, after lots of internal development, Google launched Android in 2007. Since then, the growth has been sizzling.
In fact, according to the most recent report from comScore, Android's market share hit 31.2%. Yes, it is now the number one mobile operating system.
Continue reading Android Becomes the King of Mobile
Posted Mar 4th 2011 3:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Apple Inc (AAPL), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Intel (INTC), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Citigroup Inc. (C), American Express (AXP), Chubb Corp (CB), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Entrepreneurs, Serious Money, Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG), MetLife Inc. (MET), Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV), Republic Services Inc. (RSG), Stock Picks, National Grid (NGG)

Prognosticators the world over are throwing in their 2 cents about "my pal Warren's" next market moves; especially since he announced last week that his trigger finger was itchy. When Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (
BRK.A and
BRK.B) speaks, investors listen.
On Wednesday March 2, this investor threw in his two cents worth (see:
Serious Money: What Should Warren Buffett Do Next?) discussing possible acquisitions. Since all the "pro's", I use the term loosely, have had a say I thought I would give readers a chance to express some of their ideas too.
Continue reading Serious Money: Buffett's Next Buys -- You Pick'em
Posted Mar 3rd 2011 9:40AM by Trefis (RSS feed)
Filed under: Competitive Strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), AOL (AOL)
Yahoo (YHOO), which competes with Google (GOOG) and AOL (AOL) in the search business, is seeing a relatively stable profit margin of 42% since 2008 by our estimates, and we expect the margin to rise slightly over the coming years as Yahoo benefits from its partnership with Microsoft (MSFT). In 2009, Yahoo and Microsoft signed a deal whereby Yahoo will not only use Microsoft's search technology on its websites but will also keep a majority of the ad revenues. Yahoo is also making efforts to control costs by cutting its workforce, which should improve profitability in the short term.
Continue reading Yahoo's Search Profit Margin to Expand, Offering Additional Upside to Stock
Posted Mar 2nd 2011 10:00AM by Trefis (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft (MSFT) dominates the markets in which it competes. Microsoft dominates the operating system markets where Windows has 75% of the PC market share. It also dominates he business productivity market where Office has 95% share by our estimates.
Microsoft competes with Apple (AAPL) and open source players like Red Hat (RHT) and Novell (NOVL) that support Linux distributions in operating systems, and with Google's (GOOG) Apps suite of products, Adobe (ADBE), IBM (IBM) and Oracle (ORCL) in business productivity.
Continue reading Two Microsoft Concerns That Could Deflate Our Enthusiasm
Posted Feb 17th 2011 12:00PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Microsoft (MSFT), CA Inc (CA), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Red Hat Inc (RHT), Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF), Analyst Initiations, Suntech Power Hldgs ADS (STP)
Analyst Upgrades
- Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
- tw telecom (TWTC) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
- Agree Realty (ADC) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
- Millicom (MICC) to buy from neutral at Nomura.
- BioMed Realty (BMR) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
- Realty Income (O) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: ANF, CA, HBAN, MSFT, NTAP, NVDA, OWW, ORCL, RHT ...
Posted Feb 14th 2011 3:30PM by Steven Mallas (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Technology
So, I'm sitting here in front of my screen, watching the market action. Kind of a boring day, at least for my portfolio. In particular, one of my holdings, Microsoft (MSFT), is acting in a very boring manner. I was hoping to see some interest on the part of Wall Street in that name today following the stock's recent weakness, but alas, there is none to be had. At the time of this writing, shares are down fractionally to $27.15.
Investors have been digesting the news concerning the deal between the maker of Windows and Nokia (NOK). The plan is to generate some competition in the smartphone business. Success with this initiative would be nice for shareholders of both companies.
Continue reading Microsoft: Should I Add to My Position?
Posted Feb 14th 2011 2:00PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Nokia Corp. (NOK)

When Stephen Elop became CEO of Nokia (
NOK), there was some optimism. Would this outsider – who was a former executive at Microsoft (
MSFT) – shock the slumbering organization into action? Well, based on the stock price over the past week, the answer is "no."
It seems that Elop is trying to remake Nokia into, well, Microsoft. True, Microsoft is a great company – but it is certainly not a model of renewal. And the company is desperate to get a big deal in the mobile space.
Continue reading Nokia Focuses on Microsoft
Posted Feb 7th 2011 10:40AM by Steven Halpern (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Newsletters, Stocks to Buy
"Microsoft (MSFT) recently released its fiscal second-quarter results; we felt results were really quite strong, with solid gains in most segments and good cost discipline," says Geoffrey Seiler.
The editor of Bullmarket.com explains, "If these results were from another company, the stock likely would have gotten a lift. But Microsoft is the Rodney Dangerfield of companies: it doesn't get the respect it deserves.
"Microsoft reported net income of $6.63 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with $6.66 billion, or 74 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Sales grew by 5% to $19.95 billion from $19.00 billion.
Continue reading Microsoft (MSFT): 'No Respect'
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