Tag Archives: MSFT

Watch These Most Overbought S&P 500 Stocks

By Tom Aspray, Contributor

It was another positive week for stocks as the Dow Transportation Average led the way, gaining 2.3%, followed by a 1.2% gain in the Dow Utilities. Small caps were also strong with the Russell 2000 over 1.3%. Oil and gas was the top industry group, up over 2%, while the technology sector was hit hard as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) was down 11% last Friday after testing its daily starc+ band early in the week. Given the S&P 500’s rally from the late June lows, I was cautious in last week’s column Should You Be Buying Now even though I acknowledged that another 1-3% on the upside was still possible. There are still no signs of a top with first support at last Wednesday’s low. In determining whether a new position should be established or not, you have to consider whether you are buying near resistance or selling near support. By determining your stop level, you can determine the risk, which should determine whether the position is taken or not. Focusing on risk is the key because if you take too many high-risk positions, the odds of success are not in your favor. Click to Enlarge My weekly starc band scan of the stocks in the S&P 500 reveals that quite a few stocks closed last week above their weekly starc+ bands. As a reference, the Spyder Trust (SPY) closed last Friday just 1.5% below its weekly starc+ band. It is important to remember that just because a stock closes above its weekly starc+ band (overbought), it does not mean that the stock cannot still move even higher. But each consecutive week a stock closes either above its starc+ or below its starc- band (oversold), the odds increase that prices will at least consolidate, if not reverse. In the summer of 2011, the consecutive closes in gold above the monthly starc+ bands warned of a significant trend change. On the table, I have also included the % that they are above their 200-day moving average. The first eight stocks on the list are above their weekly starc+ bands. While that does not mean they can’t still go higher, they are a high-risk buy at current levels. At the top of the list is Xilinx Inc. (XLNX), which closed last week 1.6% above its starc+ band and is 12.5% above its 50-day MA. It is also important to determine whether the stock is above or below long-term resistance. Let’s look at the four most interesting stocks on the list. Click to Enlarge Chart Analysis: Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) is a $12.1 billion dollar semi-conductor company that reported earnings last week that their 1st quarter net income was up 21%. Since the June low of $37.63, it is up 21.9% and has already exceeded the quarterly R2 resistance. The first support is in the $42.60 area, 7.1% below Friday’s close, which is quite a bit of risk. There is more important support at $41.47, which was the May high. The weekly chart has multi-year …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Nokia Earnings Disappoint, Windows Phones Fall Short

By 24/7 Wall St.

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Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) had another rough quarter. The numbers show the company still cannot make progress against powerful competition from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Samsung.

The new Windows phones from Nokia and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) have not sold well, which is a blow to the fortunes of both companies. Microsoft’s success in the PC sector has begun to disappear, leaving mobile as one of the few industries in which it can grow.

According to the Nokia earnings announcement:

Nokia Group non-IFRS EPS in Q1 2013 was EUR -0.02; reported EPS was EUR -0.07.
Nokia Group achieved underlying operating profitability for the third consecutive quarter, with a Q1 non-IFRS operating margin of 3.1%.
– Devices & Services achieved underlying profitability for the second consecutive quarter, with a Q1 non-IFRS operating margin of 0.1%. Devices & Services benefitted from a strong focus on cost as well as the reversal of approximately EUR 50 million of previously recognized inventory related allowances in Q1.
Nokia Siemens Networks achieved underlying profitability for the fourth consecutive quarter, with a Q1 non-IFRS operating margin of 7.0%. Nokia Siemens Networks benefitted from strong gross margin performance in Q1.

Nokia Group net sales in Q1 2013 were EUR 5.9 billion
– Devices & Services Q1 net sales decreased 25% quarter-on-quarter to EUR 2.9 billion.
Lumia Q1 volumes increased 27% quarter-on-quarter to 5.6 million units, reflecting increasing momentum.
Mobile Phones Q1 volumes decreased 30% quarter-on-quarter to 55.8 million units, reflecting competitive industry dynamics and an estimated higher than normal seasonal decline in the market addressable by Mobile Phones.
Nokia Siemens Networks net sales decreased 30% quarter-on-quarter to EUR 2.8 billion, reflecting industry seasonality

Those numbers were below expectations.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, PC Companies, Technology Companies, Wireless Tagged: AAPL, MSFT, NOK

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From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/18/nokia-earnings-disappoint-windows-phones-fall-short/

Media Digest (4/15/2013) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

By 24/7 Wall St.

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Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) cuts the number of outside investment managers that its brokers can offer to clients. (Reuters)

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) is likely to pay $13 billion to buy Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: LIFE). (Reuters)

Foxconn adds workers in preparation for production of the new Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone. (WSJ)

The FAA orders inspections of about 1,000 Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) 737s. (WSJ)

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) probably produces a new touch smartphone type watch. (WSJ)

Verizon Wireless pushes out the number of months subscribers need to wait for phone upgrades from 20 months to 24. (WSJ)

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) presses value of its products to customers to help same-store sales. (WSJ)

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) will produce new transmissions together. (WSJ)

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) agrees to search restrictions to settle antitrust claims by the European Commission. (NYT)

The ability of big companies to save money on manufacturing overseas helps offset a weak U.S. economy. (NYT)

A study by Brookings and the Financial Times shows the global economy is not improving. (FT)

India’s inflation drops to a 40-month low at 5.96% in March. (Bloomberg)

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, BA, F, GM, GOOG, LIFE, MCD, MSFT, TMO, WFC

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From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/15/media-digest-4152013-reuters-wsj-nyt-ft-bloomberg/

How Dividends Change the Game for Microsoft Investors

By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

MSFT Dividend Chart

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The wealth-building power of compound interest will never cease to amaze me. It’s a story of patience and attention to detail, where small, short-term differences add up to massive divergence over decades. And in the end, the biggest winners don’t always deliver the fattest share-price returns.

Microsoft doesn’t have decades of dividend history to fall back on, but the company is a quick learner. Microsoft has increased its regular dividends every year since the first payout policy was implemented, save for a brief one-year pause triggered by the economic crisis of 2008. Share prices haven’t exactly soared, but dividend yields are growing nicely:

MSFT Dividend data by YCharts.

Without dividend payments, the stock would have lagged its Dow Jones peers significantly. But the race becomes much closer if you reinvested Microsoft’s dividend checks along the way. If not for the disappointing launch of Windows 8 last year, shareholders would have kept up with the blue-chip index over the last seven years.

MSFT data by YCharts.

Mind you, it’s not like Redmond is falling apart at the seams. That squiggly stock chart goes along with fairly impressive increases in long-term sales and cash flows. It’s the price-to-cash-flow ratio that has declined, not the business results themselves.

MSFT Free Cash Flow TTM Chart

MSFT Free Cash Flow TTM data by YCharts.

The company has plenty of headroom to become an even more attractive dividend play. Microsoft paid out $7 billion to shareholders last year but collected $27.6 billion in free cash. Nobody is asking Redmond to pour buckets of cash into its dividend policy, but the option is there if management wanted to appeal to a new class of investors.

As it stands, only seven of the Dow’s 30 blue chips offer a stronger yield than Microsoft. That pecking order might not last forever if Redmond sticks with its generous cash-sharing policies — or takes the next step with even stronger dividend increases.

It’s been a frustrating path for Microsoft investors, who have watched the company fail to capitalize on the incredible growth in mobile over the past decade. However, Microsoft is looking to make a splash in this booming market. In this brand-new premium report on Microsoft, our analyst explains that while the opportunity is huge, the challenges are many. He’s also providing regular updates as key events occur, so be sure to claim a copy of this report now by clicking here.

var FoolAnalyticsData = FoolAnalyticsData || []; …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Corporate Cash Piles Up

By 24/7 Wall St.

Money, US, $100 bills

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The debate over how America’s largest companies use cash will pick up again. Moody’s Investor Services released a study that forecasts how big the cash balances will be at some of these public corporations at the end of 2013.

The kind of activism Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has faced about distributing its cash to shareholders through a higher dividend or share buybacks almost certainly will spread to the other companies on the Moody’s list.

The Moody’s report put Apple’s year-end cash balance at $170 billion. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) are also on the Moody’s list. Perhaps the most critical difference between these companies and Apple is that they have shown a history of acquisitions. Apple has never used its money that way, at least on any large scale.

According to MarketWatch:

Overall, corporate-cash stockpiles at U.S. non-financial companies rated by Moody’s grew to $1.45 trillion in 2012, up 10% from 2011, according to the report.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Dividends & Buybacks Tagged: AAPL, CSCO, GOOG, MSFT, PFE

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

What's Important in the Financial World (3/19/3013)

By 24/7 Wall St.

Garden gnomes

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Corporate Cash Piles Up

The debate over how America’s largest companies use cash will pick up again. Moody’s Investor Services released a study that forecasts how big the cash balances will be at some of these public corporations at the end of 2013. The kind of activism Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has faced about distributing its cash to shareholders through a higher dividend or share buybacks almost certainly will spread to the other companies on the Moody’s list. The Moody’s report put Apple’s year-end cash balance at $170 billion. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) are also on the Moody’s list. Perhaps the most critical difference between these companies and Apple is that they have shown a history of acquisitions. Apple has never used its money that way, at least on any large scale. According to MarketWatch:

Overall, corporate-cash stockpiles at U.S. non-financial companies rated by Moody’s grew to $1.45 trillion in 2012, up 10% from 2011, according to the report.

Cypriot Parliament to Weigh In

The parliament in Cyprus may block the government‘s attempt to seize money from the savings accounts of its citizens as a way to raise money to get access to bailout funds. If so, the anxiety about the action, and its possible effects on the plans of other financially weak EU nations, should drop. Some analysts believe there could be a sort of contagion, if countries like Greece run out of options to close budget gaps. Cyprus does not have anywhere else to turn for the money, which is the primary reason it took such measures. According to Reuters:

Cyprus‘s parliament is unlikely to pass legislation taxing deposits which has prompted turmoil in its banking system, falling short on a condition for an international bailout, government spokesman Christos Stylianides said on Tuesday.

Apple and Its Shadow

Wherever Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) goes, Samsung is never far behind it. The South Korean company said it will build and market a smartwatch, just as Apple is rumored to be doing. Among a heightened competition, the launches are likely to cause another round of intellectual property and patent challenges in courts around the world. These kinds of fights already are well along as Samsung has challenged both the iPhone and the iPad. According to Bloomberg:

“We’ve been preparing the watch product for so long,” Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile business, said during an interview in Seoul. “We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.”

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Market Open Tagged: AAPL, CSCO, GOOG, MSFT, PFE

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Video Game Industry Continues to Face Headwinds

By 24/7 Wall St.

Wii U Nintendo OK

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Research firm NPD has released its monthly data for video game sales. The industry continues to face consumer preferences for using tablets and smartphones instead of consoles as platforms. And the number of inexpensive games that can be download from app stores has risen. Some of the most popular sources of these games are free.

This movement has pressured both console makers Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) and has eroded revenue at game creators and marketers, particularly Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA).

According to Edge Online:

The software charts saw an overall year-on-year decline in unit sales of 30% compared to February 2012, though there were a similar number of new releases. Total video game software sales at retail amounted to $352 million in February 2013, compared to $484 million the previous year.

Shares of Electronic Arts closed yesterday at $19.34, in a 52-week range of $10.77 to $19.51.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Video Games Tagged: EA, MSFT, SNE

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Secondary Offering Doesn't Outweigh Cash for Russian Search Engine

By 24/7 Wall St.

global network concept

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Russia’s largest search engine, Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX), announced a secondary offering of more than 24 million shares after markets closed last night, and the stock promptly fell 8%. But all is forgiven this morning.

The offering included only shares from some of the company’s largest shareholders, and Yandex did not share in the proceeds. The share price slide failed to take into account Yandex’s cash hoard of nearly $1 billion, which several analysts were quick to point out. At least one analyst thinks that Yandex will use some of that cash for a special dividend.

Yandex stock is essentially flat to its price of a year ago, while shares of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) are up 53% and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) shares are 30% higher. Only China’s Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) of the major search engines/portals is down. As of mid-February, Yandex searches outnumbered searches on Bing, the search engine from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), and the Russian service became the world’s fourth largest search provider.

The price target for Yandex is around $31 and shares are trading at $23.52 in the first half hour this morning, after last night’s nosedive. The 52-week range on the stock is $16.65 to $28.14.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, International Markets, Internet, Secondary Offering Tagged: BIDU, GOOG, MSFT, YHOO, YNDX

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Media Digest (3/13/2013) Reuters, WSJ, NY Times, Bloomberg

By 24/7 Wall St.

newspapers

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Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) gets permission from the FAA to test fly its troubled 787. (Reuters)

Job openings rose in January, according to the Labor Department. (Reuters)

President Obama will meet with CEOs on the subject of cyber security. (Reuters)

IDC expects sales of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-powered tablets to pass the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad this year. (Reuters)

Dean Metropoulos and Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE: APO) will buy some of the Hostess brands. (Reuters)

The FTC wants standards for traditional ads to apply to those on Twitter and Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) sites so that certain disclosures about the marketers are clear. (WSJ)

Samsung spent more than Apple to market smartphones in 2012. (WSJ)

Audi’s sales pace may allow it to challenge BMW and Mercedes for market share. (WSJ)

Regulators approve a deal for T-Mobile to combine with MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS). (WSJ)

Sudan agrees to begin new shipments of crude oil, which had been suspended recently. (WSJ)

China steel output rose 9.8% last month, largely due to domestic construction. (WSJ)

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) enters the mortgage business. (WSJ)

Google presses into the cloud computing market now dominated by Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). (NYT)

West Texas Intermediate crude nears a two-week high as U.S. supplies drop. (Bloomberg)

The new Samsung Galaxy IV will target sales of Apple’s iPhone. (Bloomberg)

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, AMZN, APO, BA, DFS, FB, GOOG, MSFT, PCS

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Apple, Google Still Top Smartphone Market

By 24/7 Wall St.

iPhone_5_FrontBack

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In a refrain we’ve all heard more than once already, research firm comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) reported today that the U.S. market share leader among smartphone manufacturers is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and the leader in operating system platform market share is Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). No big surprises there.

On a rolling average basis for the months of November, December, and January, Apple claims 37.8% of the handset market, up 3.5% from its October 2012 average of 34.3%. Samsung Electronics finished second, up 1.9% in January, from 19.5% to 21.4%. HTC Corp., Motorola (now part of Google), and LG Electronics rounded out the top five, with only LG posting a small (0.3%) share gain.

On the platform side, Google’s Android operating system took the top spot with a 52.3% share, down from 53.6% in October. Apple’s iOS platform picked up 3.5% in market share, to move from a 34.3% share to a 37.8% share. Apple took share from each of the top five platform providers: Google, BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Symbian. Only Apple and Google posted double-digit market shares.

The U.S. release of BlackBerry’s new operating system and touchscreen handset is set for next week, but any impact won’t show up until the March report which is due in April. The news is not so good for Microsoft, which had high hopes for its Windows Phone 8 platform.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Consumer Electronics, PC Companies, Research, Technology Companies, Telecom Tagged: AAPL, BBRY, GOOG, MSFT, SCOR

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Deutsche Bank Says Buy the Enduring Eight Tech Stocks (CSCO, EMC, HPQ, IBM, INTC, MSFT, NTAP, ORCL)

By 24/7 Wall St.

Server room

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During the bull market for technology stocks in the 1990s, investors eagerly awaited the quarterly results from the large-cap technology leaders. The personal computer was being totally integrated into the home and business environment and pricing was more competitive with each passing year. In a new research report, Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) says its time for investors to own the “Enduring Eight” big-cap technology leaders again.

With business fundamentals expected to improve in 2013, corporate spending is expected to follow suit. The analysts at Deutsche Bank expect an upturn in tech business spending in 2013, after a flattish 2012, as growth picks up and confidence improves. Companies have been frugal in their information and technology budgets, and their IT infrastructure has aged. Gartner forecasts around 5% annual growth in information technology (IT) spending from 2013 to 2016, led by storage and software.

One key reason cited for purchasing the large-cap tech leaders is that, in the Deutsche Bank view, large multinational companies treat the global tech giants as key operational partners and not mere vendors. The long-term and global relationships these tech leaders have with customers are part of their ability to endure the challenges of a dynamic and competitive industry – a key difference from consumer tech products. In addition, these companies are already key players in big data, cloud and mobility, the main drivers of business IT spending

These are the Deutsche Bank enduring eight tech stocks to buy:

Networking leader Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) currently is trading near the $20 level. The Wall St. consensus estimate target for Cisco is $26.

Storage giant EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) makes the list. It is trading at what appears to be a support level of $23. The Thomson/First call price target is $30.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is the only personal computer company to make the grade. It closed last Friday at $20.15, and the consensus target is lower at $17.50.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), the leader in IT products and services worldwide, has a consensus price target of $230. The stock closed Friday at $202.91.

Semiconductor giant Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is the only chip company to make the Deutsche Bank list. The stock closed Friday at $21.03 and has a consensus price target of $23.00.

Windows software maker Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) also makes the Deutsche Bank list. The stock closed Friday at $27.95 and has a consensus target of $33.

Network storage solution leader NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) is trading near $33.95, which is way below the 52-week high of $46.80. The consensus price target is $40.

Application software giant Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) rounds out the enduring eight list. Trading close to its 52-week high at $34.63, it has a consensus price target of $38.

The analysts at Deutsche Bank point out that while growth disappointed in 2012, it should be better in 2013. Over the cycle, tech’s enduring eight have generated healthy growth, which has yet to be fully appreciated by investors. From 2006 to 2012, average …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Media Digest (3/4/2013) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

By 24/7 Wall St.

Xbox 360 logo

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President Obama suggests cuts in Social Security and Medicare to end a battle over budget cuts. (Reuters)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) may try a large acquisition to improve its fortunes. (WSJ)

Spending among wealthy households rises with stock market gains and higher wages, as lower income households struggle with high gasoline prices and higher taxes. (WSJ)

Worse-than-expected budget data causes Portugal to ask for better bailout terms. (WSJ)

Global app revenue will rise 62% to $25 billion this year. (WSJ)

A modest drop in oil prices may help Exxon Mobil Corp.’s (NYSE: XOM) M&A efforts. (WSJ)

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) may move into desktops with Android and disrupt the profits of Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). (WSJ)

Budget cuts may hurt jobs but are unlikely to harm corporate profits or the stock market. (NYT)

The reasons for many cyber attacks are not known. (NYT)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) may reinstate its dividend. (FT)

The sales of the Fiat 500 moved ahead of the Mini. (Bloomberg)

China luxury car sales could move ahead of those in the United States by 2016. (Bloomberg)

Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iWatch product could make more than its foray into TV. (Bloomberg)

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Press Digest Tagged: AAPL, BMY, GOOG, INTC, MSFT, RIG, XOM

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Short Interest Wanes in Some Big Stocks (GE, NOK, BAC, VZ, ANR, MCD, AAPL, RIMM, MSFT, DELL, GMCR, CSCO)

By 24/7 Wall St.

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We have tracked the key short interest changes as of February 15 in the following large cap stocks: General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Research in Motion, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) and Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO).

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) short interest rose 6.4% to 77.96 million shares. About 0.7% of GE’s float is now short.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) saw short interest fall by 2.7% to 330.97 million shares, about 8.8% of the company’s total float.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) short interest rise 10.3% to 166 million shares, which represents 1.5% of the company’s float.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) saw a 3.8% rise in short interest to 47.05 million shares, which represents about 1.6% of the firm’s float.

Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) showed a rise of 3.6% in short interest, to 33.13 million shares, about 15.2% of Alpha’s float.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) showed a rise of 12.5% in short interest, to 13.92 million shares, about 1.4% of the company’s float.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw a short interest fall by 0.4% to 18.78 million shares, or 2% of the company’s float.

Research In Motion changed its name to BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) on January 30, and short interest for this period was reported under the old name and ticker symbol RIMM. It saw short interest rise by 5.4% to 136.51 million shares, or 27.6% of the total float.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) posted a 4.4% rise in short interest, to 83.58 million shares, about 1.1% of Microsoft’s float.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) short interest fall by 30.1%, to 28.73 million shares or about 2% of the company’s float.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) saw short interest increase by 13.9% to 30.89 million shares or 25.4% of the company’s float.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) saw short interest fall by 3% to 55.11 million shares or about 1% of the company’s float.

Short interest in Dell has declined dramatically again following the buyout offer from Michael Dell and his partners. The rise in BlackBerry’s share price has brought more short interest because few people really believe the new smartphones will make much of dent in the armor of Apple, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) or Samsung. GE’s rise in short interest is likely due to investors’ belief that the stock is fully valued and prospects are dimming as the global economy continues its slow motion recovery.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Large Cap Stocks, Short Interest Tagged: AAPL, ANR, BAC, CSCO, DELL, GE, GMCR, GOOG, MCD, MSFT, NOK, RIMM, VZ

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Can Old Media Beat New Media in Ad War?

By 24/7 Wall St.

thumbs up

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The conventional wisdom is that old media online content gets trumped every time by new media properties, at least when it comes to ad revenue. This does not have to be the case, based on the number of people who visit old media websites.

New media, which did not spring from print or broadcast properties, do have an edge as far as total audience is concerned. ComScore reports that in January, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) sites had 186.6 million unique visitors. AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) had 111.3 million. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) sites, mostly MSN, had 169.7 million.

In aggregate, old media online does very well in audience reach. CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) sites had 82.8 million unique visitors in January. Turner, a part of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), had 79.5 million. NBC Universal, part of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) had 71 million. Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) had 69.7 million. Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI) had 50 million. Hearst had 43.1 million. The Top 50 sites by U.S audience also included Meredith Corp. (NYSE: MDP), which probably will combine with Time Inc., The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) properties, Fox Digital and The Tribune online properties.

All of this is a long way of showing that old media has extraordinary reach online, and that as traditional media outlets fail to produce the level of revenue they once did, or are no longer growing as quickly, online revenue has a chance to do better for these companies than it does.

The New York Times reported as part of its fourth-quarter results:

Digital advertising revenues as a percentage of total Company advertising revenues were 24.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with 22.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. For the full year, digital advertising revenues as a percentage of total Company advertising revenues were 23.9 percent in 2012 compared with 22.5 percent in 2011.

Given that the Times had 33.6 million unique visitors online in January, which dwarfs the circulation of the company’s properties, the online revenue production is pathetic. The Times will continue to have to cut editorial staff and production costs to remain financially viable. Digital ad growth is too slow to cover the expense needs of the company.

Time Inc., another firm that produces content among the most well-regarded on the Web, will nearly disappear into Meredith, largely because it could not unlock Internet revenue.

Why is new media in such a struggle with old media companies? There is no one answer. Perhaps management has not put enough pressure on sales staffs to press online ad sales. Perhaps the companies have not been adroit enough to create content online that is of as high a quality as their traditional content. Whatever the reasons, it is not a lack of audience.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Internet, Media, Old Media Tagged: AOL, CBS, CMCSA, featured, GCI, MDP, MSFT, NYT, TWX, VIA-B, YHOO

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Cloud Software Company Files for IPO

By 24/7 Wall St.

Cloud computing

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Marin Software, maker of cloud-based digital advertising management platform, has filed a Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launching the company’s quest for an initial public offering (IPO). For the purposes of the filing, Marin Software indicated that it seeks raise $75 million from the offering. Underwriters include Goldman Sachs & Co., Deutsche Bank Securities, UBS Investment Bank, Stifel, and Wells Fargo Securities.

The company counts Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M), Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), and Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) among its customers, and says it has business relationships with Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), Bing from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). Marin identified competitors Google’s DoubleClick advertising platform, Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE), and other privately held firms.

Marin expects about 23.27 million shares to be outstanding following the IPO, a total which does not include about 4.9 million additional shares issued or issuable, not does the total include shares reserved for future issuance under an equity compensation plan.

The company currently claims about 400 employees and will trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol MRIN.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Internet, IPOs, Software Tagged: ADBE, APOL, BIDU, EXPE, FB, GOOG, M, MSFT, SYMC, YHOO

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In Yahoo! Deal with Google, Microsoft Becomes Odd Man Out

By 24/7 Wall St.

Google Apps

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Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) made another in a series of decisions that have pushed its shares higher for months. It has formed an advertising deal with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), which has a search engine market share nearly four times Yahoo!’s size. Under the agreement, Yahoo! said:

Today, we’re excited to announce that we recently signed a global, non-exclusive agreement with Google to display ads on various Yahoo! properties and certain co-branded sites using Google’s AdSense for Content and Google’s AdMob services.

By adding Google to our list of world-class contextual ads partners, we’ll be able to expand our network, which means we can serve users with ads that are even more meaningful.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) continues to have an advertising partnership with Yahoo!, which originally was meant to challenge Google’s prime spot among search advertising. The writing is on the wall, though. Microsoft will be on its own eventually, and the billions of dollars it has invested in its Bing search initiative and earlier incarnations will be significantly jeopardized. The strategy that Microsoft and Yahoo! together could challenge Google will be a memory.

The disclosure by Yahoo! is another example of how new management under CEO Marissa Ann Mayer has turned to a philosophy of realpolitik. Years of evidence show that Microsoft has done nothing to improve Yahoo!’s revenue from search, and may have undermined it. Google’s lead is so strong that a Yahoo! alliance with any other company cannot be anything other than a failure. Mayer’s shift is the only practical decision as she tries to improve Yahoo!s fortunes to the point where Wall St. sees a viable future of it as a standalone company.

At the conclusion of Yahoo!’s announcement, management said:

We look forward to working with all of our contextual ads partners to ensure we’re delivering the right ad to the right user at the right time.

Google is the only company that has made this kind of advertising highly profitable and, therefore, the only partner worth having.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Internet Tagged: featured, GOOG, MSFT, YHOO

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Vringo Goes After Microsoft

By 24/7 Wall St.

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Patent illoIntellectual property firm Vringo Inc. (NYSEMKT: VRNG) announced this morning that a wholly owned subsidiary, I/P Engine, had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) alleging that the software giant had infringed on two Vringo patents. The suit seeks compensatory damages “past and future, amounting to no less than reasonable royalties.”

Last November Vringo settled a similar suit against Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL), IAC/InteractiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI), Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), and Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI) for $30 million. Vringo had sought $500 million.

The patents involved in the suit against Microsoft is the same as the patents involved in the Google lawsuit, and are related to relevance filtering when displaying search results. The patents were issued to Lycos, an early web search engine, and were acquired by I/P Engine before it merged with Vringo last year.

Google paid nearly $16 million to Vringo in the November settlement, and that’s probably a figure Microsoft will try to negotiate down.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Internet, Law, Software Tagged: AOL, GCI, GOOG, IACI, MSFT, VRNG

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Facebook Not Growing Much Faster Than Google

By 24/7 Wall St.

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GoogleLogoThe market barely reacted to news that Facebook Inc.’s (NASDAQ: FB) revenue spiked higher by 40% to $1.585 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, as compared to the same quarter of the previous year. That could be because the Internet’s next big engine of growth did not post growth much better than the Internet’s last big engine of growth — Google. Set side by side with Google, Facebook’s revenue expansion is not extraordinary at all.

Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) growth rate in the fourth quarter was 36%. And the revenue posted in that quarter was $14.42 billion, which makes Facebook’s revenue look very small. Google’s net income from that revenue was $2.89 billion. Facebook’s net for the same period was $64 million.

Supporters of Facebook’s nearly $68 billion market cap claim that the social network has only started to reach its stride. They would argue some proof of that is growth of mobile ad revenue to 23% of advertising revenue in the fourth quarter, up from 14% in the third quarter. However, Facebook did not remark on whether it charged more or less for mobile ads than those run on traditional platforms like personal computers.

One of the marks that Google has become the Web’s current powerhouse is that its growth for more than a decade caused its revenue and market value to blow past the previous generation of Web giants — Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) and the online properties of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). Google today has more revenue than all of those combined, and much, much greater profits.

At a 40% growth rate, it would take decades for Facebook to reach the revenues Google will have, even if Google’s percentage increase in sales slows somewhat. Facebook is not the next Google, and that by itself justifies whatever doubts Wall St. has about its valuation going forward.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Earnings, Internet Tagged: FB, featured, GOOG, MSFT, YHOO

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