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Comments »Monthly Archives: March 2013
DOD Chants iSave
“The U.S. Department of Defense will order 650,000 iOS devices to replace older BlackBerry devices that are incompatible with the new BlackBerry 10 operating system after the sequester is over, reports Electronista.
The DOD will order 120,000 iPads, 100,000 iPad minis, 200,000 iPod touches, and 210,000 various iPhones models. Electronista has been told that “more than half are headed to the battlefield, afloat, and to associated support commands. Most of the rest will stay [at the Pentagon].”
There are currently 470,000 BlackBerry devices….”
Comments »$GOOG Will Keep Chrome and Android Operating System Separate for Now
“(Reuters) – Google Inc’s Chrome and Android operating systems will remain separate products but could have more overlap, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said, a week after the two came under a single boss.
Google last week said Andy Rubin, the architect of Android – the world’s top-selling mobile operating system – was moving to a still-undefined role while Sundar Pichai, in charge of its Chrome web browser and applications like Google Drive and Gmail, was taking on Rubin’s responsibilities.
Schmidt, Google’s chief executive from 2001 to 2011, is becoming more outspoken on issues involving technology and world affairs, and was in India as part of a multi-country Asian tour to promote Internet access.
After the Indian capital, he is visiting Myanmar, which is seen as the last virgin territory for businesses in Asia.
In January he went to North Korea, saying it was a personal trip to talk about a free and open Internet….”
Comments »The Senate Passes Bill to Fund Gubmint Operations
“The Senate Wednesday passed a bill to keep the government operating through September—a rare bipartisan compromise that is near certain to pass the House and avoid the budget brinkmanship that has often tied Congress in knots in recent years.
The bill, which was approved 73-26, leaves in place the mandate that $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts take affect across domestic and defense programs over the next six months but would soften the blow for some programs.
The compromise accommodated both House Republicans’ desire to bulk up the Pentagon’s budget for operations and maintenance, as well as Senate Democrats’ desire to shore up domestic programs such as nutrition aid for women and children and Head Start, an early-childhood-education program.
Even in such programs, the bill eases but doesn’t eliminate the impact of the cuts, known as a sequester.
During Senate debate on the bill, lawmakers of both parties sought—largely without success—to offer amendments to undo the effects of the sequester on pet programs. Sen. Jerry Moran (R., Kan.) pushed an amendment to prevent projected furloughs of air-traffic controllers, which he said could threaten to close many airports in rural areas—including seven in Kansas.
Democratic leaders refused to allow most such amendments, fearing that would open the floodgates for sequester exceptions. They said efforts to reverse the sequester would be addressed in Democrats’ 2014 budget resolution—a long-term plan for raising taxes and cutting spending that was brought to the Senate floor after the funding bill passed Wednesday…..”
Comments »$KBH Beats Estimates and Pops 5% Pre-Market
“KB Home (KBH), one of the nation’s largest and most recognized homebuilders, today reported results for its first quarter ended February 28, 2013. Highlights and developments include the following:
Three Months Ended February 28, 2013
- Revenues increased 59% to $405.2 million from $254.6 million for the first quarter of 2012 as a result of an increase in the number of homes delivered and a higher average selling price. Compared to the year-earlier quarter, revenues were up across all of the Company’s homebuilding regions.
- The Company delivered 1,485 homes, up 29% from the first quarter of 2012, reflecting increases in three of its four homebuilding regions.
- The overall average selling price of $271,300 was $52,300, or 24%, higher than the year-earlier quarter, marking the Company’s 11th consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement, and its highest first-quarter average selling price since 2006.
- The higher average selling price in the current quarter reflected, among other things, the Company’s ongoing strategy of repositioning its operations to serve its core first-time and first move-up homebuyers in higher-performing choice locations in land-constrained growth markets that feature higher household incomes and greater demand for larger homes and more design options, as well as generally rising home prices….”
$HPQ Authorizes a 10% Bump in the Dividend
“Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), the world’s biggest personal-computer maker, authorized a 10 percent increase in its quarterly dividend, which the company expects to declare in May.
The current dividend, payable on April 3, will remain at 13.2 cents a share, the Palo Alto California-based company said today in a statement. Hewlett-Packard last raised its dividend in 2012, also by 10 percent.
The payout increase comes a day after Chairman Ray Lane and two other board members were re-elected in slim majorities in a referendum that demonstrates growing dismay over the company’s performance and acquisition of Autonomy Corp….”
Comments »Jobless Claims: Prior 334k, Market Expects 345k, Actual 336k
U.K. Retail Sales Rise More Than Forecast, Pound Strengthens
“U.K. retail sales rose more than economists forecast in February in a rebound from the previous month when heavy snowfall held back consumers.
Sales including fuel surged 2.1 percent from January, when they dropped a revised 0.7 percent, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. That was the biggest increase in almost a year and exceeded the 0.4 percent median forecast of 20 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. From a year earlier, sales increased 2.6 percent. The pound strengthened….”
Comments »Beppe Grillo Moves To Form a Government With His Party
“….Grillo is pushing ahead with his campaign promise to wrest political power from established parties and re-evaluate positions, like euro membership, that previously enjoyed near universal support in parliament. Today’s meeting gave Napolitano a chance to ask Grillo, a 64-year-old ex-comic who won a blocking minority in the Senate, to lower his resistance to compromise and agree to support a rival for the premiership…..”
Comments »Tick Tock Goes the Cyprus Debt Clock; ECB Hands Country Ultimatum
“The European Central Bank said it will cut Cypriot banks off from emergency funds after March 25 unless the Mediterranean island agrees on a bailout with the European Union andInternational Monetary Fund.
“The Governing Council of the European Central Bank decided to maintain the current level of Emergency Liquidity Assistance, ELA, until Monday, 25 March 2013,” the Frankfurt- based ECB said in an e-mailed statement today. “Thereafter, ELA could only be considered if an EU/IMF program is in place that would ensure the solvency of the concerned banks.”
The Cypriot parliament this week rejected a proposed levy onbank deposits to raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion), which euro-area finance ministers backed as a condition for the country’s bailout. A bank holiday in Cyprus has been extended to March 25, giving policy makers until Monday to find a compromise to prevent a collapse of the country’s banks.
“With this statement, the ECB put even more pressure on European finance ministers and the Cypriot government to come up with a deal,” said Juergen Michels, chief euro-area economist at Citigroup Inc. in London. “But we’ll have to see whether they’ll actually follow through with their threat if there’s no deal by Monday and policy makers decide to further extend the bank holiday.”
’Poker Game’….”
Comments »Hermes Posts Monster Earnings on Asia Growth
“Hermes International SCA (RMS), the French maker of Kelly bags and silk scarves, reported 2012 earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates as it increased production.
Operating profit rose 26 percent to 1.12 billion euros ($1.45 billion), the Paris-based company said today in a statement. Analysts predicted profit of 1.09 billion euros, according to the average of 15 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The operating margin widened to 32.1 percent, the highest since its shares began trading in 1993.
Hermes said last month it expected that measure of profitability to beat 2011’s 31.2 percent after a surge in fourth-quarter sales led to a 16 percent gain in full-year revenue, excluding currency swings. The company, which added two workshops in France in 2012, exerts control over revenue by limiting supply of its handbags amid strong demand, according to Exane BNP Paribas….”
Comments »German Manufacturing Survey Falls Unexpectedly Into Recessionary Territory
“….“Investors have come back a bit on Cyprus and the immediate impact it may have on the broader euro zone and have concluded that Cyprus alone isn’t enough to re-ignite a crisis,” Norman Villamin, who helps oversee $64 billion as European chief investment officer at Coutts & Co. in Zurich, said. “But we look at the tools and the approach being taken and think it’s really making any future problems much more risky for euro-zone policy makers to handle.”
German Manufacturing
A purchasing managers’ index for Germany’s manufacturing industry unexpectedly fell to 48.9 this month. The median economist forecast had called for a reading of 50.5, according to a Bloomberg News survey. A separate report showed that manufacturing in France contracted more than estimated.
“The French indices disappoint again, and also the German numbers are very unsatisfactory,” Ulrich Wortberg, an analyst at Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen in Frankfurt, wrote in a note to clients….”
Comments »The Eurozone Economy Contracts Quicker Than Expected
“Euro-area services and manufacturing output contracted more than economists estimated in March, adding to signs the currency bloc’s economy is struggling to emerge from a recession.
A composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers in both industries fell to 46.5 from 47.9 in February, London- based Markit Economics said today. Economists had forecast a reading of 48.2, according to the median of 23 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
The data “indicate that the euro-zone economy has remained stuck in recession in the first quarter,” said Martin Van Vliet, senior euro-area economist at ING Groep NV in Amsterdam. “With fiscal austerity, tight credit and high unemployment set to keep most peripheral economies in recession, the path back to growth will likely be slow and bumpy. Moreover, if the situation surrounding Cyprus spirals out of control the onset of recovery might well be delayed.”
The euro-area economy has contracted for five straight quarters and is forecast to shrink 0.1 percent in the first three months of 2013 before returning to growth, the median of 24 economists’ estimates in a separate Bloomberg survey shows. The European Central Bank forecasts the economy will contract 0.5 percent this year.
Gradual Recovery…”
Comments »The Kiwi Dollar Rises as Economy Expands on Rebuild of Christchurch
“New Zealand’s dollar rose against all of its major peers after data showed the nation’s economy grew at the fastest pace in three years last quarter.
The nation’s bonds fell for the first time in seven days on figures showing gross domestic product rose 1.5 percent from the previous three-month period, exceeding the 0.9 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News poll. Demand for the so- called kiwi and Aussie dollars was supported after Chinese manufacturing accelerated. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillardretained leadership of the governing Labor party after an uncontested ballot today.
“It looks like buoyant economic activity in New Zealand will be sustained,” said Mike Jones, a currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand in Wellington. “That’s swayed some doubts about the New Zealand economy and seen the New Zealand dollar enjoy a pretty strong bounce.”
The kiwi rose 0.4 percent to 82.62 U.S. cents at 5:09 p.m. in Sydney. The currency advanced 0.2 percent to 79.14 yen. The Australian dollar traded at $1.0376 from $1.0379 yesterday. It fell 0.3 percent to 99.39 yen from yesterday, when it rose 1 percent.
New Zealand’s GDP growth was almost twice as strong as the Reserve Bank’s 0.8 percent forecast. The nation’s 10-year bond yield climbed five basis points to 3.73 percent The two-year swap rate, a fixed payment made to receive a floating rate, rose five basis points to 2.94 percent. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
“The Reserve Bank may have to rethink their expectation that they can hold off on rate hikes until next year,” Bank of New Zealand’s Jones said….”
Comments »Private Survey Reveals China Manufacturing is Expanding Faster Than Expected
“Chinese stocks rose, extending the biggest one-day gain in two months, as a private survey showed manufacturing is expanding at a faster pace in March.
FAW Car Co. (000800) gained 3.2 percent after rallying by the daily 10 percent limit yesterday. Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. and GoerTek Inc. (002241) led an advance by technology companies. The preliminary reading of a Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 51.7, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said, quicker than both last month’s 50.4 final reading and the 50.8 median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg News survey.
The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) added 0.3 percent to 2,324.24 at the close. The CSI 300 Index climbed 0.2 percent to 2,614.99. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI)fell 0.4 percent in Hong Kong. The Bloomberg China-US 55 Index (CH55BN) rose 2.2 percent in New York yesterday.
“The data shows the economy is on a recovery path,” said Wu Kan, a Shanghai-based fund manager at Dazhong Insurance Co., which oversees $285 million. “But there’s still concern over the strength of the recovery.”
The Shanghai index has dropped 4.5 percent from its Feb. 6 peak on concern that an economic recovery will falter as officials take steps to cool the property market and counter risks for banks from an expansion in credit. The gauge jumped 2.7 percent yesterday as Market Studies LLC’s Tom DeMark said the equity index will resume a rally to gain as much as 28 percent by September.
Trading volumes
Thirty-day volatility in the benchmark stock index rose to the highest level since February 2012 yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The gauge is valued at 9.5 times projected 12-month earnings, compared with the seven-year average of 15.8, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Trading volumes were 0.5 percent higher than the 30-day average….”
Comments »Japan Exports Fall Adding to the Longest Run of Deficits in 30 Years
“Japan posted its longest run of trade deficits in three decades as exports fell in February, underscoring challenges for Bank of Japan (8301) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda in reviving the world’s third-biggest economy.
Shipments dropped 2.9 percent from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said in Tokyo today. The median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1.7 percent decrease. Imports rose 11.9 percent, leaving a trade shortfall of 777.5 billion yen ($8.1 billion).
Kuroda is scheduled to give his first press conference from 6 p.m. in Tokyo today, with news from Bank of Japan briefings usually embargoed until after they finish. The new central bank chief has pledged more aggressive monetary easing that may further weaken a yen down about 10 percent against the dollar this year, a move that’s already swelling the nation’s import bill as nuclear-plant shutdowns force bigger imports of fossil fuels….”
Comments »Asia Trades Mixed, Europe is Largely Down, and U.S. Futures are Trying to Pare Losses
Yields for Italy, Spain, France, and Germany …
Comments »$ORCL Misses by a Penny, Misses on Revs Too
“REDWOOD SHORES, CA–(Marketwire – Mar 20, 2013) – Oracle Corporation ( NASDAQ : ORCL ) today announced that fiscal 2013 Q3 total revenues were down 1% to $9.0 billion. New software licenses and cloud software subscriptions revenues were down 2% to $2.3 billion. Software license updates and product support revenues were up 7% to $4.3 billion. Hardware systems products revenues were $671 million. GAAP operating income was up 1% to $3.3 billion, and GAAP operating margin was 37%. Non-GAAP operating income was down 1% to $4.2 billion, and non-GAAP operating margin was 47%. GAAP net income was unchanged at $2.5 billion, while non-GAAP net income was down 1% to $3.1 billion. GAAP earnings per share were $0.52, up 6% compared to last year while non-GAAP earnings per share were up 5% to $0.65. GAAP operating cash flow on a trailing twelve-month basis was $13.7 billion.
Without the impact of the US dollar strengthening compared to foreign currencies, Oracle’s reported Q3 GAAP earnings per share would have been $0.01 higher at $0.53, up 8%, and Q3 non-GAAP earnings per share would have been approximately $0.01 higher. Total revenues also would have been 1% higher and new software licenses and cloud software subscription revenues would have been 2% higher than reported.
“Our non-GAAP operating margin increased to a Q3 record of 47%, and we expect it to reach an all-time high for the fiscal year,” said Oracle President and CFO, Safra Catz. “Both operating cash flow and free cash flow were at record levels for a Q3, with operating cash flow of $13.7 billion over the last twelve months.” …”
Comments »Pump and Dump: Markets Sell Off After Fed Minutes
While we did not go red markets did take an opportunity to sell into strength given all the folly in the banking system of Europe.
Europe would not be an issue if there was no domino effect to worry about.
At any rate, the bulls do get a win today and investors are giddy over the fact that the Fed is pumping for now.
DOW up 55
S&P up 11
NASDAQ up 25
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJt7gNi3Nr4 450 300] Comments »Foolhardy Technology
“……..Bt Corn: A Most Dangerous Failure
Monsanto’s genetically-modified “Bt corn” has been equipped with a gene from soil bacteria called Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), which produces the Bt toxin. It’s a pesticide that breaks open the stomach of certain insects and kills them. This pesticide-producing corn entered the food supply in the late 1990s, and over the past decade, the horror stories have started piling up. And the problem with Bt crops go far beyond the creation of Bt-resistant insects.
Monsanto and the EPA swore that the genetically-engineered corn would only harm insects. The Bt toxin produced inside the plant would be completely destroyed in the human digestive system and would not have any impact at all on consumers, they claimed. Alas, they’ve been proven wrong on that account as well, because not only is Bt corn producing resistant “super-pests,” researchers have also found that the Bt toxin can indeed wreak havoc on human health.
Bt Toxin Now Found in Many People’s Blood!
Last year, doctors at Sherbrooke University Hospital in Quebec found Bt toxin in the blood of:
• 93 percent of pregnant women tested
• 80 percent of umbilical blood in their babies
• 67 percent of non-pregnant women
The study authors speculate that the Bt toxin was likely consumed in the normal diet of the Canadian middle class — which makes sense when you consider that genetically-engineered corn is present in the vast majority of all processed foods and drinks in the form of high fructose corn syrup. They also suggest that the toxin may have come from eating meat from animals fed Bt corn, which most livestock raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFO, or so-called “factory farms”) are.
These shocking results raise the frightening possibility that eating Bt corn might actually turn your intestinal flora into a sort of “living pesticide factory,” essentially manufacturing Bt toxin from within your digestive system on a continuing basis.
If this hypothesis is correct, is it then also possible that the Bt toxin might damage the integrity of your digestive tract in the same way it damages insects? Remember, the toxin actually ruptures the stomach of insects, causing them to die. The biotech industry has insisted that the Bt toxin doesn’t bind or interact with the intestinal walls of mammals (which would include humans). But again, there are peer-reviewed published research showing that Bt toxin does bind with mouse small intestines and with intestinal tissue from rhesus monkeys.
Bt Toxin Linked to Allergies, Auto-Immune Disease, and More….”
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