Today’s Best Market Rumors (1/11/2012) NYSE Merger Off, Dell Tablet PC
Updated throughout the day Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) will offer a tablet PC by the end of the year (Reuters) Alibaba will reduce the size of a loan its was to use to buy back…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Toyota Prius Sales Top Japan Market In 2011–Japan Automobile Dealers Association
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.1324331373.htmlThe Japan Automobile Dealers Association reports that the Toyota Prius was the No.1 selling car in Japan last year. The Prius is by far the most popular hybrid in the world having sold over…
Yahoo! Workers Fear Layoffs–FINS
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.1324331373.htmlEmployment site FINS reports that a growing number of Yahoo! workers are worried that their new CEO Scott Thompson will cut some of the company’s 14,000 people to save money. Yahoo! has had trouble with…
Nokia/Microsoft Windows Phones Sales May Be 37 Million In 2012–Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley says that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) may sell as many as 37 million Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows powered smartphones. It would be major rebound in the fortunes of the world’s largest handset maker and…
Do Weak PC Sales Now Mean Better Ones Later?
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) management says that PC sales may have fallen slightly in the fourth quarter of last year. The Thailand floods that interrupted supply chains are to blame. What Microsoft did not say…
Citigroup Wants More “Transparency” From Financial Firms
Vikram Pandit, the CEO of Citigroup (NYSE: C), wants more transparency of balance sheet risks at all financial institutions. It is a convenient argument because Citigroup has been forced into a series of disclosures not faced…
Dell Too Late to Tablet Market
Dell’s (NASDAQ: DELL) habit of coming to market with products well after its competitors do continues. Reuters reports that the PC company will launch a tablet later this year. Dell management says it prefers…
Even Germany Gets Caught in Europe’s Downdraft
The Germany economy is so strong that it might have avoided the downdraft created by the trouble in Europe. Its export levels have been strong enough and its consumer activity robust enough that these…
What’s Important in the Financial World Today (1/11/2012) Intel Smartphone Chip, Toyota Prius c
Germany’s economy took a step closer to recession. The government announced that its GDP grew at 3%, which was less that posted earlier. The economy contracted 0.25% in the final quarter of 2011. Export…
Media Digest (1/11/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) to launch its first tablet PC late this year. (Reuters) NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and Deutsche Boerse will try to save their merger with a case for EC regulators. (Reuters) Fannie Mae’s…
Unemployment And Sovereign Debt Crisis Threaten 2012–World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum laid out its concerns about 2012 in its “Global Agenda” document At the core of its analysis Dominated by the crisis in the Eurozone, economic discussion is driven by the…
Gold Is Preferred Investment Asset For 2012–Nomura
A study by Nomura shows that gold is the preferred investment for institutional investors for 2012. Via CNBC: Of the 164 investors who took part in Nomura’s poll, 19.5 percent said they would choose…
Amazon To Boost Studio Streaming Efforts–Bloomberg
Amazon.com has agreed to adopt the digital streaming technology most favored by Hollywood studios, it said at CES Bloomberg reports: Hollywood’s effort to sell digital copies of movies got a boost when Amazon.com, the…
European Pension Liabilities At $39 Trillion
The Research Center for Generational Contracts at Freiburg University says that as of 2009, state funded pension obligation among 19 area nations total $39 trillion. There is not suggestion in the research about where…
Gallup: Satisfaction With Direction Of America Rises
Gallup has announced that one of its polls shows an uptick about how American fell about the direction of the US The firm reports that Eighteen percent of Americans are satisfied with the way…
Dell To Launch Tablet In Late 2012– Reuters
Reuters reports that Dell will launch a tablet PC late this year. Dell is well behind market leader which include Apple and Samsung which may make a successful introduction difficult The new service reports…
India Will Allow Foreign Single Brand Retailers Into Country
The government of India will allow foreign companies to operate in the world’s second largest nation. This opens the door for firms like Starbucks and Ikea. According to Reuters The government ratified a Nov. 24 cabinet…
Intel Announces Phone Chip Deals With Motorola And Lenovo
Intel announced that it has set deals for its microprocessors to run in Motorola and Lenovo smartphones. The world’s largest chip firm has tried for two years to take market share away from industry…
Germany Q4 GDP Contracts .25%
Germany’s GDP rose 3% in 2011 which was less than expected. Worse, Q4 GDP was down by .25%. It is a sign of weak demand for its goods and services in the EU. The…
MetLife Leaves Forward Mortgage Business
MetLife said it would exit the business of originating forward residential mortgages. MetLife expects $90 to $110 million, after tax, in costs related to exiting the business to be incurred over the next year, with…