Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft’

The Week Unpeeled

The week started with focus on President Barack Hussein Obama’s inaugural address, which itself focused on several themes outside of the US economy: civil and gay rights and climate change, or as The New York Times called “modern liberalism in America,” rhetoric that was in stark contrast to campaign talk on jobs, jobs and more jobs.  Stay tuned for continued focus on all fronts on the debt ceiling, fiscal cliff and, of course, jobs.

Elsewhere:

  • BlackRock invested in Twitter, valuing the company at $9 billion, #awholelotof money;
  • Davos kicked off amid few headlines although Derek Jeter did attend as a guest of Pepsi;
  • Microsoft emerged as one player that may help Dell go private, while Michael Dell, it was revealed, did have plans to buy a Dreamliner;
  • Apple’s earnings disappointed, with profits essentially flat;
  • The Pentagon lifted a ban so that women may now fight on the front lines in combat;
  • President Obama nominated Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission among a string of nominees or appointments, including Denis McDonough, national security official, as his next chief of staff;
  • The Dow chugged along to near record levels last week ending Friday at 13,895, just 269 points from its all-time high reached in October 2007; and
  • Novak Djokovic won his sixth Grand Slam by ousting Andy Murray at the Australian Open.
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No Comments » Written on January 28th, 2013 by
Categories: From the News, Media Navel Gaze
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The Week Unpeeled

Big news week all around, with headlines too close to home on the shooting outside the Empire State Building on Friday to a big week for Apple, which first became the largest US company ever by market-cap value, besting Microsoft at nearly $625 billion, making the company an economic but also social powerhouse.  Apple then won a “sweeping victory” in its court battle against Samsung ($1.05 billion in damages) when jurors found Samsung infringed on several patent issues, which may affect how competing smartphones are designed.

Elsewhere:

  • Prince Harry exposes himself and most of the media did anything but help him cover up, despite palace warnings (pleas) to keep what happened in Vegas for Harry in Vegas;
  • Lance Armstrong was stripped of all his record seven Tour de France titles after announcing that he will no longer fight anti-charges against him (and The Wall Street Journal on Saturday distastefully repeated a joke from one comic on Lance that he now doubts “Amstrong’s story that he walked on the moon” even though Neil Amstrong had just died);
  • The Dow declined for the week despite a Friday rally to end to close down 0.9 percent to 13,157;
  • “The Office” announced that it this was its last season and that Dwight no doubt will end up a beet farmer;
  • Phyllis Diller, American comedienne died, and Augusta National admitted its first two female members (In interesting juxtaposition, a Diller tribute on the front page of The New York Times Tuesday showed a picture of Ms Diller pointing right and apparently laughing to the neighboring story on Masters story on finally admitting women;
  • The U.K. economy shrank less than initially estimated in the second quarter after construction and production output were revised to show a smaller slump;
  • Thousands of Aviva's UK employees are in fear for their jobs after the FTSE 100 insurer released a statement warning it could currently guarantee only 70pc of their jobs;
  • Standard & Poor's has downgraded its outlook for HSBC Holdings from stable to negative. HSBC has already set aside $700m (£442m) to cover potential fines for channeling funds from countries such as Iran, Mexico and Syria, in breach of US anti-money laundering regulations; and
  • Diageo, the world's biggest producer of spirits, has reported a big jump in annual profits, thanks in part to strong sales and acquisitions in emerging markets. End of Story
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No Comments » Written on August 27th, 2012 by
Categories: From the News, Media Navel Gaze
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The Week Unpeeled

The US jobs report was mostly positive with non-farm payroll adding a stronger-than-expected 163,000 jobs while the unemployment rate edged up to 8.3 percent in July from 8.2 percent in June. The news sent US stocks soaring, with the Dow ending up 0.16 percent for the week to 13,096, a three-month high.  As many analysts commented from the rally positive economic data trumps Euro news, at least for least week.

Elsewhere:

  • Knight Capital continued to dig itself out from severe trading glitches last week that cost the brokerage firm $440 million and perhaps its financial independence as it searched for capital;
  • Hotmail is out as Microsoft is replacing the once-popular email service with guess what? Outlook.
  • Jonah Lehrer, a staff writer at notoriously fact-finding accurate The New Yorker, admitted to making up Bob Dylan quotes in his bestselling book on creativity. Beyond ironic.
  • Gore Vidal, the American “man of letters,” died (and oddly, The New York Times did not reference its one-page obit on its front page;
  • The NASA rover Curiosity was scheduled to land on Mars by Monday;
  • Olympic fever took over as the London 2012 games got underway. Top headlines:
    • As public anger grew at the number of empty seats at events The London Olympic Organizing Committee had to draft in solders, teachers and students to fill spaces, tickets still remain largely unavailable to book through the official site;
    • China became embroiled in the first doping controversy of the Olympics after American John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, said swimmer Ye Shiwen's gold medal performance in the 400m individual medley was “unbelievable” and “disturbing”;
    • American swimmer Michael Phelps officially became the most decorated Olympian in history after winning his 22h  Olympic medal at the 2012 London Games and went to win at least one more by press time;
    • Eight players from China, Indonesia and South Korea were disqualified from the women's doubles badminton tournament having been accused of trying to lose their group matches to face easier opposition in the next round; and
    • The streets of London were left deserted with as many as 1.5 million people working from home and people staying away from London resulting in a fall in sales for many of the Capital’s retailers. End of Story
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No Comments » Written on August 6th, 2012 by
Categories: From the News, Media Navel Gaze
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The Week Unpeeled

US media were captivated by the horrific one-man shooting spree at an Aurora, Colo., 12-midnight showing of Batman’s “Dark Night Rises,” where 12 died and some 50 were injured. In fact, CNN seemed to cover the story almost nonstop since Friday.

Elsewhere:

  • Fighting intensified in Syria, with rebels killing key military leaders and the regime staging new attacks that sent refugees fleeing the capital;
  • Google’s profits rose 11 percent in the quarter, while Microsoft recorded a rare loss based on a charge for its Internet business;
  • Marissa Mayer from Google was named chief of Yahoo, reportedly awarded as much as $60 million, making her one of if not the largest paid female executive;
  • The New York Times named Margaret M. Sullivan from the Buffalo News as its public editor, fifth in a line and first woman in the role;
  • Morgan Stanley saw its second-quarter profit slide 54 percent as trading revenues slumped amid a downgrade;
  • Barton Biggs, a well-known market guru and former Morgan Stanley money-management executive, died;
  • UK inflation reached its lowest level since November 2009 as the wettest June on record deterred many shoppers forcing retailers to slash prices;
  • An official report for the G20 warned that it is likely motorists have been overcharged for petrol because banks and other traders may have manipulated oil prices in the same way they rigged interest rates;
  • And with less than one week until the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, a few interesting fact:
    • Up to 5,500 border guards are set to strike next Thursday on the eve of the Olympics in a dispute over job cuts and pay, causing disruption for nearly 130,000 passengers;
    • Some train drivers are also planning a three-day strike during the Games which will affect people travelling into London;
    • Olympic traffic restrictions have come into effect in parts of London, resulting in queues and delays for motorists and thousands of drivers are facing a fine of GBP130 after being caught in a newly-activated Olympic Games lane; and
  • “Brand police” have been deployed across Britain to protect sponsors from firms using “ambush marketing” or illegally associating themselves with the Olympics at the expense of official sponsors. End of Story
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No Comments » Written on July 23rd, 2012 by
Categories: From the News, Media Navel Gaze
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The Week Unpeeled

Scientists overtook Scientologists on the headlines front last week with big news from physicists (sorry, Tomkat fans) that after an exhaustive search they have discovered a new subatomic particle seen as the “key to the universe,” (New York Times, front-page headline, July 5).  The Higgs boson helps explain diversity and life, among a few other things. It was kind of refreshing to read about such an historic event that really mattered (no pun intended) versus lots of other headlines elsewhere:

  • The US unemployment rate remained at 8.2 percent in June and payrolls added just 80,000 jobs;
  • As a result, the Dow ended down 124 points on Friday to close at 12, 772;
  • Duke Energy’s newly anointed CEO Bill Johnson (post merger with Progress where he was chief) was dismissed by its board within hours on the jobs, with Duke’s CEO Jim Rogers taking the helm (Still with me?  No matter. Lots of Progress shareholders certainly will cry foul, no doubt.);
  • Yikes!  Microsoft booked a $6.2 billion charge for its money-pit Internet division, a sure bing ding;
  • Barclays CEO Diamond said he was “sorry” for allegedly rigging interest rates and then resigned;
  • Anderson Cooper came out and the announcement sort of explains the CNN ratings slump; that’s not really news;
  • Seventeen magazine launched a “Body Peace Treaty” (way too much PR spin for me) and vow to not retouch its photos and instead “celebrate every kind of beauty”. . . and maybe even the Higgs boson kind; and
  • Andy Griffith died, the actor who played the sheriff on “Mayberry RFD” and remembered in an unusually long “appraisal’’ in the New York Times July 4 that ran to nearly a full page it seemed. CJP
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No Comments » Written on July 9th, 2012 by
Categories: From the News, Media Navel Gaze
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