Archive for February 6th, 2008
Filed under: Internet, Google (GOOG), Technology
With investor interest high in China, this hasn’t been lost on corporate investment. Companies must face the decision about how to address the Chinese juggernaut: essentially, to build, buy, or partner.
PaidContent.org has a story this morning that the Internet giant, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), is close to launching a joint venture to offer free music downloads in the Chinese market.
According to PaidContent, “Google is in the late planning stages of a JV with Chinese online music company Top100.cn, a Beijing-based site that currently sells licensed music downloads. The new service would permit Google’s search engine in China to provide free and licensed music downloads, reports WSJ, citing sources.”
This is significant in Google’s push to counter leading Chinese search engine, Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU), which already provides links to download sites.
This move may help Google position itself vis-a-vis locally-favored Baidu.
Zack Miller is the Managing Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund. Author owns a long-term position in Google stock.
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Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), Time Warner (TWX), Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), AT and T (T), IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI), Comcast Cl’A’ (CMCSA), Verizon Communications (VZ), News Corp’B’ (NWS)
 After over a week of rumors all over the blogosphere, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) finally announced Tuesday it was introducing new models of the iPhone and iPod touch which have double the memory. The iPhone now comes in a new 16GB model for $499 , joining the 8GB model for $399 . iPod touch now comes in a 32GB model for $499 , joining the 16GB model for $399 and the 8GB model for $299. Now we’ll have to wait and see if the rumors about the new MacBook Pro are also true.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is studying alternatives to Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT)’s unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover offer, including the emergence of a rival bidder or a business tie-up with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) that might allow it to remain independent. According to “people familiar with the matter,” Google believes there would be too many antitrust hurdles to a straight bid. Meanwhile, according to the WSJ’s sources, possible bidders such as AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and Verizon Communication Inc. (NYSE: VZ), aren’t considering offers.
As there are no time constraints on the offer and while Yahoo! is studying it, some analysts believe Microsoft would raise its bid. According to Reuters, “UBS on Tuesday set a price target for Yahoo shares above Microsoft’s $31 offer and Citi said a raised Microsoft bid was the most likely of five scenarios it saw…”
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is bringing a small but tall commercial van from Europe to the United States for use mainly in congested urban areas. Meanwhile, however, Bear Stearns downgraded American automakers. Shares of Ford are down about 2.5% in premarket trading as Bear downgraded it to Peer Perform from Outperform. Shares of General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), which have been hit hard Tuesday, are only slightly down following the downgrade to Underperform from Peer Perform. The downgrade, Bear says, reflects concerns over the consumer’s ability to purchase new cars.
While considering the impact the Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo! could have on its business, Google isn’t sitting idly by and is preparing a counterstrike in China against market leader there, Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU). The Wall Street Journal reports that Google “is in the late planning stages of a joint venture with a Chinese online music company that would permit it to provide free — licensed — music downloads in China.”
AC InteractiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI), which is in the midst of a battle between two media moguls Barry Diller and Liberty Media’s John Malone over dividing the company up, reported Wednesday that it lost $369.9 million in its fourth quarter, due to higher taxes, difficulty in its mortgage referral unit and restructuring costs for proposed spinoffs that would make five companies out of one. Net loss amounted to $1.31 a share for the October-December period versus profit of $15.3 million, or 5 cents per share, in the same period in 2006. Revenues rose 8% to $1.86 billion from $1.72 billion a year ago. Results fell short of analyst estimates.
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Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Google (GOOG), Time Warner (TWX), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP), Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP), Time Warner Cable (TWC)
.gif) MAJOR PAPERS:
- Battling Baidu.com Inc (NASDAQ: BIDU) in China with little success, Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is working with a Chinese company to offer free licensed music downloads, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new service is expected to be launched in several weeks.
OTHER PAPERS:
WEB SITES:
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Filed under: International markets, China, Newsletters, Stocks to Buy
“By all estimates, China will continue to be the hottest economy on the planet, and we remain bullish on its future prospects,” says China expert Jim Trippon.
One favored sector in the model portfolio of his China Stock Digest is telecom. Here, the advisor takes a look at two China telecom firm — China Netcom Group Corp. (NYSE: CN) and Chunghwa Telecom Ltd. ADS (NYSE: CHT).
“What about the potential effect of a slowdown or even a recession in the U.S. economy? We agree with
the World Bank opinion that China is well positioned to deal with the impact of slackening demand for exports
from the United States.
“The U.S. may be China’s most important trading partner, but it is no longer the sole key to Chinese economic growth. The Chinese have been busily forging free-trade agreements throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and
growth in that part of the world is expected to remain robust.
“The Asian Development Bank expects economies in the region to grow at a rate of more than 6% in
2008. That kind of economic momentum in China’s back yard will help sustain the anticipated level of
activity on the mainland.
Continue reading China expert rings up telecom favorites
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Filed under: Consumer experience, Marketing and advertising, Yum Brands (YUM)
 Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) has an exciting new plan to revive its sagging KFC chain: moving the emphasis away from fried chicken.
Now wait a minute you say: How can Kentucky FRIED CHICKEN possibly re-invent itself as what CEO hopes will be a “nonfried chicken platform.”
I doubt that it can, although I understand the temptation. Fried chicken has become synonymous with poor health and KFC has tried to change that image by changing its name from Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC.
Does Yum really think people are that stupid — or that KFC will be able to re-establish itself as something other than a fried chicken joint? What’s the point of even trying? That is KFC’s brand. If you want to make it into a non-fried chicken restaurant, why not just start a new chain?
The fact is that KFC will in all probability sink or swim as a fried chicken restaurant — radical reinventions of brands that are synonymous with one product almost never work.
Yum is trying to turn hula hoops into Furby’s.
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Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO)
 Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) continues to dominate the news nearly a week after announcing its $44 billion bid for internet rival Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). Analysts are still deciphering the reasons why the world’s largest software company wants to pay such a premium for an ailing — but still powerful — internet brand. The prevailing wisdom is that the growing power of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has finally forced Microsoft’s hand here. To a point, that’s very much true.
But the future of the web may not be fought on the laptop screen nearest you, but instead on the mobile screen that goes everywhere in your pocket. With that “internet everywhere” mentality that’s still not a huge reality for millions of consumers, mobile advertising beckons as a huge revenue stream.
Tapping into that may be a large reason why Microsoft wants to merge with Yahoo!, according to Gartner analyst Philip Redman. “Leadership in mobile advertising is still unclaimed, while Google is threatening to do there what it did on the internet, so Microsoft is being preemptive.”
Is mobile advertising the next coming of the internet? Many industry watchers and analysts believe so, although most phones absolutely stink as portable internet access terminals. The Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone has been the game-changer; it was made for the internet. Well, if you can see past that poky-slow wireless cellular connection that you probably have. Analyst Jeff Kagan said that “Yahoo touches so many customers and there’s so much advertising potential in this deal . . . It’s the kind of world Microsoft loves.”
Disclosure: the author holds a long position in MSFT.
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Filed under: International markets, China, Newsletters, Stocks to Buy
“By all estimates, China will continue to be the hottest economy on the planet, and we remain bullish on its future prospects,” says China expert Jim Trippon.
One favored sector in the model portfolio of his China Stock Digest is telecom. Here, the advisor takes a look at two China telecom firm — China Netcom Group Corp. (NYSE: CN) and Chunghwa Telecom Ltd. ADS (NYSE: CHT).
“What about the potential effect of a slowdown or even a recession in the U.S. economy? We agree with
the World Bank opinion that China is well positioned to deal with the impact of slackening demand for exports
from the United States.
“The U.S. may be China’s most important trading partner, but it is no longer the sole key to Chinese economic growth. The Chinese have been busily forging free-trade agreements throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and
growth in that part of the world is expected to remain robust.
“The Asian Development Bank expects economies in the region to grow at a rate of more than 6% in
2008. That kind of economic momentum in China’s back yard will help sustain the anticipated level of
activity on the mainland.
Continue reading China expert rings up telecom favorites
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Filed under: Major movement, Earnings reports, Good news, Options, Technical Analysis, Polo Ralph Lauren’A’ (RL)
 Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) shares are rising today after the apparel maker posted a fourth-quarter profit of $112.7 million, or $1.08 per share, helped by higher wholesale sales and a lower tax rate. Analysts had been expecting a profit of 77 cents per share. Wholesale sales rose 17% to $627 million. RL also raised its 2008 guidance this morning, a move that investors generally love. If you think that the company won’t fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on RL.
After hitting a one-year high of $102.58 in July, the stock hit a one-year low of $50.55 last month. RL opened this morning at $60.94. So far today the stock has hit a low of $60.11 and a high of $62.89. As of 10:45, RL is trading at $62.72, up $5.26 (9.2%). The chart for RL looks neutral and improving slightly, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.
Continue reading Polo Ralpoh Lauren (RL) soars on lifted gidance
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Filed under: Consumer experience, Marketing and advertising, Yum Brands (YUM)
Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) has an exciting new plan to revive its sagging KFC chain: moving the emphasis away from fried chicken.
Now wait a minute you say: How can Kentucky FRIED CHICKEN possibly re-invent itself as what CEO hopes will be a “nonfried chicken platform.”
I doubt that it can, although I understand the temptation. Fried chicken has become synonymous with poor health and KFC has tried to change that image by changing its name from Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC.
Does Yum really think people are that stupid — or that KFC will be able to re-establish itself as something other than a fried chicken joint? What’s the point of even trying? That is KFC’s brand. If you want to make it into a non-fried chicken restaurant, why not just start a new chain?
The fact is that KFC will in all probability sink or swim as a fried chicken restaurant — radical reinventions of brands that are synonymous with one product almost never work.
Yum is trying to turn hula hoops into Furby’s.
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Filed under: Good news, Commodities, Oil
 Oil fell $1.55 to $86.86 at mid-day after crude oil inventories rose by seven million barrels for the week ended February 1 — well above the consensus estimate of a 2.6-million-barrel increase — the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced Wednesday.
Meanwhile, gasoline inventories increased 3.6 million barrels and distillates rose 100,000 barrels.
Other oil and natural gas products also fell on the news. Heating oil fell about 3 cents to $2.41, unleaded gasoline declined about 3 cents to $2.23 and natural gas fell 50 cents to $7.99 per million BTUs.
Oil to test $80?
Independent energy trader Jim Dietz told BloggingStocks Wednesday the oil market “is becoming very price-heavy and the bears are piling up.”
Continue reading Oil falls below $87 after weekly inventories surge
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