Filed under: Internet, Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Marketing and advertising, Technology

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will be rolling out new tools and services soon to encourage more internet advertisers and producers to create better online ad campaigns, the software giant said this week. Naturally, the new tools will work with Microsoft’s adCenter and Live Search environments. With competitor Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) collecting the lion’s share of online advertising revenue, will these newer tools make a dent in that empire?

Perhaps a little. Nothing new here — Google and Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) tools are designed to work with their own search engines and related properties as part of an advertising customer recruitment and retention strategy. But, from looking at these tools, I’d hardly call them revolutionary.

One of the newer tools, which is being described as an “adCenter Add-in for Excel 2007,” allows search ad customers to research the effectiveness of ad keywords by reach and targeting efficacy. If this just imports adCenter data into Excel, then this is a non-product. If the product imports adCenter data into Excel and performs a huge massaging of data to give specific suggestions to the Excel-using adCenter customer, then this is a good thing.

But it will take more than that for Microsoft to burst through the 10.3% market share stat it gleaned in September, compared to 57% for Google.

[Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 12-4-07]

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Filed under: Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL)

With Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) now saying that it will indeed participate in January’s FCC bandwidth auctions, one has to wonder which other non-telecom companies may throw their own hats into the ring. Google, who makes a low-key presence known while it plans to dominate the world’s information distribution, may try to trump the establishes, bloated telecom carriers and bring its services directly to customers. In a sense, though, there’s another company that would probably love to do that as well — Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

In fact, it’s been said as much by Bob Cringely that Apple will be joining Google in bidding for some wireless airwaves come January. The two companies make a rather neat pair. After all, Google CEO Eric Schmidt does sit on the Apple board of directors.

While Apple is all about closed product ecosystems that work exceedingly well and are simple to use for all customers, Google operates in a completely open ecosystem that encourages direct customer interaction over a “walled garden” approach. In a sense, Apple and Google operate different business models. But, when it comes to taking their collective products direct to the customer, the two companies see eye-to-eye.

Therein lies what Apple may really be after — a slice of airwaves that does not need a bloated, national wireless carrier like AT& T, Inc.(NYSE:T), any customer two-year contracts at $60/month or any partner hassles. AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson may have underestimated Jobs, as many partners do. This time, though Apple has a mighty powerful ally: Google.

Will Apple use some of the airwaves (if it wins them) to have all iPhones use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to make voice calls and surf the net and — over time — de-emphasize the AT&T network it currently relies on for each iPhone in the U.S.? Perhaps. If so, Jobs will have burned the telecom industry just like it has the music industry. It’s a brave new world out there though, and it will be exceedingly fun to watch what happens.

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), eBay (EBAY), AT and T (T), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Money and Finance Today, H and R Block (HRB), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Comcast Cl’A’ (CMCSA), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Verizon Communications (VZ), Merck and Co (MRK)

Over-the-Top Bank Fees
Paying an overdraft fee on your checking account is like having your mouth washed out with soap: The bank says it’s for your own good-but is it really? In 2006, consumers paid an estimated $17.5 billion in overdraft fees. To avoid outrageous overdraft charges, keep close tabs and weave a safety net.
Over-The-Top Bank Fees - Kiplinger.com

Entrepreneur of the Year
The ousted co-founder of PayPal wants to provide solar power to everyone, put us in supercharged electric cars, and colonize Mars. He just might pull off all three.
Elon Musk - Entrepreneur of the Year - Tesla Motors -SpaceX Other Top Entrepreneurs of 2007

Real vs. Fake?
Whether it’s adulterated medicine that can kill you, bogus batteries that can burn you, or wannabe Guccis that simply wear out fast (though you may look stylish for a while), counterfeit merchandise is everywhere. Because today’s fakes are not just the usual knockoffs, you need to take special precautions when you shop.
ConsumerReports.org - Counterfeit products: What to look for counterfeit quiz - can you guess the fake?

6 Notorious Credit Killers
You may not know it, but you could be perpetrating a violent crime … against your credit. Many common behaviors slay your chances of getting a better FICO score. Here are six to look out for.
6 ways to be a credit killer -Bankrate.com

Best Medicines for Less: Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs
Have allergies? There is a good chance you are taking Zyrtec to provide relief at a cost of $101/month. If you switch to nonprescription Ioratadine at $13/month you will be saving $88. This is just one of nine examples that can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars if you and your doctor choose a CR Best Buy Drug over a newer, highly advertised alternative.
ConsumerReports.org - How to Save Hundreds of Dollars on Prescriptions ConsumerReports.org - Best medicines for less, save money on prescription drugs

5 Ways to Cut Your Cell Phone Bill
Look into special-caller deals. Verizon Wireless and AT&T don’t charge for calls to other customers using the same service. Alltel’s My Circle plans provide free calling to any 10 wireless or landline numbers that you designate; T-Mobile’s myFaves plans (right) do the same, for five numbers.
ConsumerReports.org - Cell phone service, 5 ways to cut your bill
Also: Pssst: You Don’t Need a Cell Service Contract

Off the Rack
One of the hottest shopping trends these days isn’t faux fur or the leather satchel; it’s personal shoppers. Though they’ve been around for years, until recently, stores reserved the amenity for big spenders. But now, from Macy’s to the more upscale Barneys, personal-shopping services are growing. Are personal shoppers anything more than a way to boost sales? Off the Rack | SmartMoney.com

Top-Earning Young Superstars
These 20 people have it all. They have fame, wealth and youth on their side. See 20 top-earning celebrities under 25. Topping the list is NBA great LeBron James with $27 million. Other top young earners are Maria Sharapova, Michelle Wie, Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen, Daniel Radcliffe, Hilary Duff, Carrie Underwood, Avril Lavigne & Keira Knightly.
20 Under 25: The Top-Earning Young Superstars - Forbes.com

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Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst reports, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), eBay (EBAY), XM Satellite Radio (XMSR), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Walt Disney (DIS), AT and T (T), Boeing Co (BA), Merrill Lynch (MER), NYSE Euronext (NYX), Trump Entertainment Resorts (TRMP), Merck and Co (MRK)

Before the bell: Investors concerns resumed, stock futures lower

Continue reading Before the bell: YHOO, EBAY, TRMP, MRK, SIRI, XMSR, AAPL …

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Filed under: Deals, Industry, Competitive strategy, China, BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP), Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP)

While big metals company Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) is trying to prevent being taken over by larger rival BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), it appears that another bid may be coming from China. According to The International Herald Tribune, “China’s biggest steelmaker, Baosteel Group, is considering joining with others in the industry in a bid for mining giant Rio Tinto.”

Rio Tinto has been scrambling to show the markets that it is better off alone. It has discussed selling $15 billion in assets. The company has also said that the economies of scale in a BHP deal are much less than the bidding company has indicated.

All of that may be well and good, but the market has actually moved RTP shares down since it rejected the BHP Billiton offer, a sign that traders do not think long-term value is going to be enhanced by the company staying independent.

While the BHP offer is for a stock transaction, it is possible that the bid from Baosteel could have a cash component, money from the Chinese government. And that might change the view of a lot of RTP shareholders.

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

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Industry, Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Economic data, Housing

Fortune has done a “back of the envelope” look at Fannie Mae’s (NYSE: FNM) portfolio, calculating roughly that the financial institution may have another $5 billion in write-offs around the corner. The magazine writes: “Fannie Mae’s rival Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) last week issued $6 billion of new stock to bolster its capital position.” The company issued only $500 million in new stock during the same period.

Using that data and a detailed look at Fannie Mae’s filings, the publication has come to the conclusion that there almost has to be larger write-offs in the fourth quarter. The Fannie Mae portfolio could not have dodged that bullet, which has hit almost every other big company in the mortgage industry. “Fannie Mae has taken some losses on those securities, but they’re relatively small compared with the losses seen at other banks,” the magazine says.

The Fortune article is nice and gives some details to a puzzle that investors are trying to put together, but it does not say anything that the market does not already know. With the huge number of expert eyes looking at Fannie Mae, the smart money has already figured there is much more trouble ahead.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares have traded in tandem over the last three months. Their charts are almost identical. What does that mean? Institutional analysts knew what Fortune discovered, but they knew it weeks ago.

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

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Filed under: Before the bell, Forecasts, Nokia Corp. (NOK), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Economic data, Federal Reserve

U.S. stock futures indicated a lower open this morning as once again worries about the economy and mortgage crisis became the focus on Wall Street.

Yesterday, U.S. stocks ended lower, with financial and technology stocks leading the decline. The Dow industrials lost 57 points, or 0.43%, the S&P 500 fell 8 points, or 0.59%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 23 points, or 0.9%.

There are no economic indicators due today, so likely the market will continue to pay close attention to the lingering problems in the credit market and, state of the U.S. economy and how it could impact global economies.

San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen said Monday that following recent developments, she now expects a bigger slowdown than the Fed had originally forecast in its last policy meeting in October. Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren offered a bleak forecast for the housing sector, saying he was worried foreclosures would worsen.

Continue reading Before the bell: Investors concerns return; stock futures lower

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Filed under: Forecasts, Bad news, Industry, Motorola (MOT), Nokia Corp. (NOK)

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has come out with its handset sales forecast for 2008. Since it has almost 40% of the global market, its prediction is closely watched. For 2008, it believes that total sales of cell phones will only rise 10%. According to Bloomberg “Nokia said there will be an estimated 4 billion handset users by 2009.”

Ten percent growth would be slower than the handset market was in 2007, and while Nokia may prosper because its piece of the business is so big, the news could be very bad for Motorola (NYSE: MOT). With Samsung and Sony-Ericsson getting larger and larger slices of worldwide sales, Motorola either has to claw some of that back, or count on a rapidly rising market to help the entire industry. It now appears that industry growth will not be the answer for the US company.

The other piece of bad news from Nokia is that revenue-per-handset will keep falling as more and more phones are sold in emerging markets. That means that margins will be pressured, another negative for Mototola.

If the Nokia forecasts are right, a turnaround at Motorola just got much harder.

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

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Filed under: Deals, Microsoft (MSFT), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Alcatel-LucentADS (ALU)

Over the past few months, there’s been a fall-off in M&A dealmaking. But that’s not stopping traders.

According to a report from Reuters, there is some buzz that Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) might buy SAP (NYSE: SAP). Hey, keep in mind that - several years ago - both companies talked about a combination.

On its face, it seems like a smart deal. SAP has a lucrative franchise in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) space. It’s a business that should last for a long time - despite the competitive threats, even from Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL).

However, SAP is currently in the process of closing its biggest acquisition - that is, the acquisition of Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ). So does it have time to do a mega deal with Microsoft?

Besides, I suspect there would be serious integration issues. No doubt, cross-border deals can be very complex. Just take a look at the Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) fiasco.

But as seen lately, the software space is consolidating rapidly. So, you really count anything out - even a transformative deal that would shake-up the industry.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

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Filed under: Good news

As news of the nationwide obesity epidemic among children sweeps through the media, it’s hard to fathom that one of major purveyors of crap food are the schools: Yes, those places we send children so they can be safe and grow up to strong, intelligent members of society.

Mercifully, Congress is close to dealing with the issue. According to the New York Times, “Federal lawmakers are considering the broadest effort ever to limit what children eat: a national ban on selling candy, sugary soda and salty, fatty food in school snack bars, vending machines and a la carte cafeteria lines …Several lawmakers and advocates for changes in school food believe that an amendment to the $286 billion farm bill is the best chance to get control of the mountain of high-calorie snacks and sodas available to schoolchildren. Even if the farm bill does not pass, Mr. Harkin and Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, a sponsor of the amendment, vow to keep reintroducing it in other forms until it sticks.”

Signing this bill would send the right message. It’s important for schools to raise money to fund programs, but exploiting vulnerable members of society and selling them something that could have a very negative impact on their lives is not the right way to do that. Government should not fund programs, however worthy, that sell unhealthy stuff to people.

The next step is for some independent-minded, courageous politicians (yeah, I know) to take on the lottery, which is similar to junk food in schools, in that they raise money by selling unhealthy products to society’s most vulnerable.

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