What Is Important in the Financial World (4/12/2013)

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Bloomberg points out that the Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Dreamliner 787 may not be back in service as fast as the press and many airlines expect. The sticking point is that American regulators worry about making a mistake that will haunt them and cause a wrathful reaction from Congress. The news service reports:

The Federal Aviation Administration is under scrutiny for clearing the 787 in 2007, only to reverse itself after lithium-ion batteries overheated on two jets. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, whose agency includes the FAA, declared the planes safe days before they were ordered parked. FAA officials will face the National Transportation Safety Board this month to explain their initial decision.

Boeing needs the FAA to end a Jan. 16 grounding order so deliveries can resume from an order book valued at almost $190 billion. Politics, not just safety, will weigh on the agency as it reviews the Dreamliner’s battery redesign and test-flight data, said John McGraw, an aerospace consultant

Microsoft Management Shakeup?

For the hundredth time, analysts speculated that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer will be pushed out because of the failure of Windows 8 to quickly gain sales. A recent IDC report blamed a poor reaction to the operating system for a 14% drop in PC sales in the first quarter. The news dragged down the shares of PC manufacturers and chip providers. The Windows 8 case against Ballmer can be added to Microsoft’s late entry into search and its lack of success in the mobile markets. The speculation gets married with more speculation about who would take Ballmer’s job. Much of the guessing centers around Microsoft chairman and founder Bill Gates. He left day-to-day responsibilities behind when he retired more than a decade ago. He currently spends much of his time giving away his fortune. However, Gates may feel that his legacy is at stake as Microsoft flounders. Wall St. would not accept many of the other alternatives because few people have the background to turn around the world’s largest software company. The best candidates, including Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt, are not going to leave their current positions.

Electronic Arts Downsizing

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) continues to struggle with the fact that its legacy console-based games have lost ground to products that run on smartphones, many of which are free or priced at a few dollars. The company’s CEO resigned recently as weak earnings were announced. Wall St. does not expect a recovery, which leaves EA with few options. It demonstrated one of those options when it laid off a portion of its product staff. According to Joystiq:

“EA is sharpening its focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile. In some cases, this involves reducing team sizes as we evolve into a more efficient organization,” the company told Joystiq. “These are difficult decisions to let go of good people who have made important contributions to EA, and whenever possible we retrain or relocate employees to new roles. Streamlining our operations will help ensure EA is bringing the best next-generation games to players around the world.”

We continue to work on finding out the extent of today’s impact, but we believe we have a better grip on today’s layoffs at EA Mobile Montreal. Our understanding is that 60 to 70 permanent employees were let go, along with over 100 people working under EA’s contract system. These are mostly quality assurance testers. We’re told by one source, “If you walk through the office all you see is a bunch of already cleared out desks, and people cleaning out their desks.”