January 29th, 2012 by admin

Starbucks Corp reported a quarterly profit that topped view of the Wall Street but it was not enough to save its shares that fell as investors in the world’s biggest coffee chain focused on softness in Europe rather than strength in the United States.

Shares of the company up roughly 45 percent from a year ago and hovering near all-time highs, were off 2.2 percent at $47.26 in extended trading after closing at $48.34.

Starbucks has been underperforming internal targets in Europe where high unemployment and debt worries weigh heavily on consumers and the company has taken steps for improving results there, Chief Financial Officer Troy Alstead said on a webcast.

Tags: high unemployment, Starbucks, Wall Street

January 19th, 2012 by admin

Seven people have been charged by U.S. prosecutors with running a $62 million insider trading scheme. Making it one of the largest sweeps in the government’s investigation, the FBI in New York arrested four people and authorities announced previously secret charges against three others.

The prosecutors said the seven charged worked for five different hedge funds and investment firms and reaped nearly $62 million in illegal profits on trades in Dell Inc.

“It describes a circle of friends who essentially formed a criminal club, whose purpose was profit and whose members regularly bartered lucrative inside information,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said at a news conference.

Tags: hedge funds, insider trading scheme, investment firms

January 18th, 2012 by admin

Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple Inc, received a one-time stock award worth nearly $400 million, the largest given by a company in a decade.

Board of the company granted Cook 1 million restricted stock units (RSUs) to signal its confidence in Cook. The company said in a Monday proxy filing that the stock award was worth more than $376 million, based on the closing price of Apple’s shares on August 24, 2011.

“As far as a singular award, we haven’t seen anything this large in a long time,” said Aaron Boyd, head of research at Equilar, an executive compensation data firm.

“The Board views his retention as CEO as critical to the Company’s success and smooth leadership transition. The RSU award is intended as a long-term retention incentive,” Apple said in its statement.

Tags: Apple Inc, leadership transition, restricted stock units, stock award, Tim Cook

January 5th, 2012 by admin

In a deal that could be worth as much as $5 billion, Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) is in talks to sell most of its 50 percent stake in TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK (5012.T) back to its Japanese refining partner and unload other assets in Japan.

The deal would mark a retreat from the third-largest economy of the world by the U.S. oil giant that is emphasizing on its resources globally on exploration and production and shifting away from so-called downstream assets such as those held in Japan.

“If this report is true, it could open the door for TonenGeneral to realign in alliance with another company. That may or may not include capital ties,” said Hidetoshi Shioda, senior analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities.

Tags: capital ties, exploration and production, Exxon Mobil

January 2nd, 2012 by admin

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on Saturday in parts of Nigeria plagued by a violent Islamist insurgency. The President also ordered shutting down the borders with Cameroon, Chad, and Niger in the northeast.

Jonathan told state television the measures would aim to restore security in troubled parts of Nigeria’s north.

“The temporary closure of our borders in the affected areas is only an interim measure designed to address the current security challenges and will be resumed as soon as normalcy is restored,” he said.

“The crisis has assumed a terrorist dimension,” Jonathan said. “I therefore urge the political leadership (in northern local governments) to give maximum cooperation to ensure that the situation is brought under control.”

Tags: emergency, Islamist insurgency, security challenges

December 16th, 2011 by admin

A confidentiality agreement has been signed between Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc, which allows the software giant to take a closer look at Yahoo’s business, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Yahoo, which fired its chief executive in September, is undergoing a “strategic review,” for revamping its business and stagnant revenue growth.

From Reuters.com:

Private equity firms KKR and TPG Capital have also signed confidentiality agreements with Yahoo, people familiar with the matter previously told Reuters. The firms are looking to potentially buy minority stakes in Yahoo of up to 20 percent, with an eye toward eventually taking over the whole company, the people said.

Silver Lake, another private equity firm, has also signed a nondisclosure agreement with Yahoo, according to the technology blog AllThingsD.

Some private equity firms have balked at signing Yahoo’s NDA because of restrictions that would prevent them from forming consortiums, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

According to the source, Microsoft’s signing of a nondisclosure agreement with Yahoo occurred “recently.”

Tags: Microsoft Corp, private equity, revenue growth, Yahoo

November 29th, 2011 by admin

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday new fires involving the lithium-ion batteries in General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Volt have prompted an investigation to assess the risk of fire in the electric car after a serious crash.

The safety administration said in a statement one Volt battery pack that was being closely monitored following a government crash test caught fire on Thursday.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

GM, which was informed of the investigation on Friday, said in a statement that the Volt “is safe and does not present undue risk as part of normal operation or immediately after a severe crash.”

The latest fires are in addition to a battery fire in a crash-tested Volt six months ago.

NHTSA learned of a possible fire risk involving damaged Volt batteries when a fire erupted in a Volt that was being stored in a parking lot of a test facility in Burlington, Wis. The fire was severe enough to cause several other vehicles parked nearby to catch fire as well.

“NHTSA continues to believe that electric vehicles have incredible potential to save consumers money at the pump, help protect the environment, create jobs and strengthen national security by reducing our dependence on oil,” the agency said.

Tags: Chevrolet Volt, create jobs, electric car, electric vehicles

November 27th, 2011 by admin

The move by India to open its supermarket sector to foreign investors brought relief to its capital-starved local chains.

It however failed to impress small-shop owners who dominate retail in the country, despite rules intended to safeguard small operators.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

The government approved its biggest reform in years by allowing global supermarket giants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Tesco to enter India with a 51 percent stake in the hope it would attract capital to build much-needed supply chains and improve efficiency to alleviate food-driven inflation.

“This is an extremely important step for domestic retailers as this will get in much-needed capital, apart from domain knowledge,” said Thomas Varghese, chief executive of Aditya Birla Retail.

“The set of transactions which will happen fast is foreign players who are in existing joint ventures with Indian firms, the increase or decrease in stake, will happen quickly,” Debashish Mukherjee, partner and vice-president at consultancy firm AT Kearney, said. “The second are a set of deals that are waiting to happen and have been just waiting for the announcement.”

Tags: Aditya Birla, inflation, supermarket

November 2nd, 2011 by admin

On Wednesday, the leaders of France and Germany told Greece that it would not receive another cent in European aid until it decides whether it wants to stay in the euro zone.

Leaders of the two countries also made it clear that saving the euro was ultimately more important to them than rescuing Greece.

From news.yahoo.com:

After emergency talks with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “We would rather achieve a stabilization of the euro with Greece than without Greece, but this goal of stabilizing the euro is more important.”

Sarkozy hammered home the same message, telling a joint news conference with Merkel: “Our Greek friends must decide whether they want to continue the journey with us.”

Papandreou outraged European partners and caused panic on financial markets by announcing on Monday that Greece would hold a referendum on a second bailout plan negotiated with euro zone leaders last week.

“It’s not the moment to give you the exact wording, but the essence is that this is not a question only of a program, this is a question of whether we want to remain in the eurozone,” Papandreou said.

Tags: euro, euro zone, financial markets

October 31st, 2011 by admin

YouTube is making a bold step into original programming in an entertainment venture with some hundred content creators, from Madonna to The Wall Street Journal.

The video site, owned by Google Inc., recently said it is launching more than 100 new video channels.

From news.yahoo.com:

The Google Inc.-owned video site said Friday that it’s launching more than 100 new video channels. The partners include an array of Hollywood production companies, celebrities and new media groups that will produce mainly niche-oriented videos.

YouTube is shelling out $100 million to producers, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The money is an advance on advertising money the videos will bring in, and Google will recoup its portion first before splitting the proceeds. Advances are as high as $5 million per channel, said another person familiar with the arrangement, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

YouTube in a blog posting said the channels are being developed “specifically for the digital age.”

Tags: advertising, blog posting, celebrities, content creators, Google, media groups, production companies, Wall Street, YouTube