What's New in the Financial World (10/4/2012)

Macau Gambling Revenue

Macau gambling revenue came in short of expectations. Macau has become the Mecca of gaming firms as activity has slowed, particularly in places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Macau’s government said revenue rose 12.3% in September to $2.99 billion. The would seem satisfactory, but it lags past results and current expectations. Reuters reports:

Analysts had forecast September growth in the tiny enclave on China’s southern coast, to be up 15-17 percent, ahead of a national holiday week starting on October 1.

The Chinese economy’s slowdown and increased political scrutiny due to an impending leadership change have taken their toll on the mainland’s big-spending billionaire punters, pushing Macau’s gambling revenue growth levels down substantially over the past five months.

Facebook Post Promotion

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) users will be able to see how well they promote themselves, events or other important information across the social network. But it will cost money — about $7 per for each user who wants to see how a message has done in the Facebook news feed. According to The Telegraph:

Facebook’s plan is to introduce the service in the US and it is unknown whether a similar initiative will be rolled out in the UK.

The company has already launched promoted posts for Facebook pages and has begun tests for its general users in New Zealand.

The initiative follows in the footsteps of Twitter, which offers promoted tweets to users.

AT&T to Sell New Nokia Phones

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is about to get a boost from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T). Reports indicate the huge wireless service network will launch the new Lumia 920 and 820 smartphones. Each runs on the Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows mobile OS. Dow Jones Newswire reports:

The launch of the new Nokia devices on the U.S. market is crucial for the embattled Finnish handset maker, as it hopes to regain footing in the market after losing considerable ground to competitors.

The Lumia 820 and 920 devices were unveiled in September, and will compete against a range of new smartphones from the likes of Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC. Corp.

Douglas A. McIntyre