It would be a “moral disaster” if the United States were to default on its debts and become unable to pay its obligations, Jamie Dimon said at an appearance in Colorado Thursday evening. The U.S. is the financial linchpin of the world, and the economic effects of the U.S. defaulting could be “potentially catastrophic,” he said at a dinner for the University of Colorado Denver Business School. “It will dwarf Lehman,” Dimon said. [HP]
Article courtesy of Dealbreaker
“I hope something happens before the 2nd of August because if that comes and brinkmanship continues between the Republicans and Democrats, between Congress and the President, that’s a time bomb…You cannot play games with this. This is gambling. This is the United States. You’re leading the whole world, economically-speaking. I hear a lot about China and India. They’re all good run but they’re not the United States. The financial community of all the economies in the world is the United States. This remains for many years to come. You cannot play games with that at all.”
Article courtesy of Dealbreaker
Apple (AAPL) is closer to a deal to sell its iPhone through China Mobile (CHL), the world’s biggest carrier with 600 million subscribers, writes Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White this morning. White was responding to comments made by chairman Wang Jianzhou this morning at China Mobile’s annual investor meeting.
According to a piece this morning by Bloomberg’s Young-Sam Cho, Wang told the assembled that Apple may produce a version of the iPhone that will work on a forthcoming 4G wireless network standard for China, dubbed “TD-LTE,” having decided to bypass the current “TD-SCDMA” that supports only 3G wireless connections, he said.
White writes, “Keep in mind, China Mobile has more wireless subscribers than any carrier in the world with 601 million at the end of March or 69% market share in the country, while China represents the largest mobile phone market on the planet with 876 million subscribers.” China Mobile has the TD-LTE standard up and running in trials in several cities, he notes, and should spread that throughout the country over the next year to a year and a half.
White notes that during a trip to China in December, he observed that 3 million China Mobile subscribers were already using the iPhone via a special SIM card that the carrier offers that can be inserted into the phone, and Wang today said that the total subs using the iPhone on its network is now 4 million.
White says the introduction of the iPad 2 and the white iPhone 4 in China in recent weeks were met with “Apple fever,” meaning long lines and even some “scuffles,” in some instances.
White reiterates a Buy rating on Apple shares and a $612 price target.
Apple shares today are up 64 cents at $340.51.
Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily
Microsoft (MSFT) announced a short while ago that it will pay $8.5 billion in cash to purchase Skype, the Internet calling firm that was bought by eBay (EBAY) in 2005 and spun out in a leveraged buyout in 2009.
The deal is a confirmation of rumors that circulated yesterday on GigaOm, and then were picked up by The Wall Street Journal later in the evening. And it appears that DealBook was right on the money with their $8.5 billion prediction.
Microsoft this morning said Skype’s technology will advance the use of real-time video and voice communications for both consumers and corporations.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that Skype “is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world” and that “together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world.”
Ballmer will hold a press conference on the deal at 8 am, Pacific/11 am, Eastern. You can tune into it live here.
Microsoft shares are currently down 46 cents, or 1.8%, at $25.39 in early trading. Shares of eBay, which stands to reap some of that windfall for its remaining 30% stake in Skype, is up $1.38, or 4%, at $34.50.
Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily
An letter to Albany:
April 28, 2011
New York has rich resources that position our state for continued success in the 21st century – a leading financial center, strong industry clusters, and renowned educational, research and cultural institutions. But major employers know that the single greatest asset New York has to offer is its ability to attract the best talent from around the world. This is crucial, because the size, quality and diversity of the talent pool are the first criteria for business in determining where to locate jobs.
To remain competitive, New York must continue to contend with other world cities to attract top talent. Increasingly, in an age where talent determines the economic winners, great states and cities must demonstrate a commitment to creating an open, healthy and equitable environment in which to live and work.
This is why it is so important that New York State grant full rights to all of its citizens by passing marriage equality. As other states, cities and countries across the world extend marriage rights regardless of sexual orientation, it will become increasingly difficult to recruit the best talent if New York cannot offer the same benefits and protections.
Many employers have adopted non-discrimination policies and extended domestic partner benefits long before most cities and states passed them into law. As New Yorkers and business leaders, we believe that attracting talent is key to our state’s economic future. We strongly urge New York State to enact marriage equality legislation to help maintain our competitive advantage in attracting the best and brightest people the world has to offer and to reaffirm our commitment to both freedom and fairness.
Candace K. Beinecke
Tom A. Bernstein
Lloyd C. Blankfein
Kevin Burke
Philippe P. Dauman
Daniel L. Doctoroff
Patrick C. Dunican, Jr.
Thomas Glocer
Jonathan N. Grayer
Klaus Kleinfeld
Rochelle B. Lazarus
Daniel S. Loeb
John J. Mack
Alan J. Patricof
Ronald O. Perelman
William C. Rudin
Kevin P. Ryan
Paul E. Singer
Jerry I. Speyer
Jes Staley
Stuart Match Suna
Kathryn S. Wylde
Strauss Zelnick
Mortimer B. Zuckerman
NY’s Business Leaders Want Marriage Equality, Too [Gothamist]
Article courtesy of Dealbreaker
Paul Argenti is a professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, who has been teaching Buffett every year in his corporate responsibility class…Argenti says he is considering taking Buffett out of his syllabus and putting him in his new book: Fallen Icons. He told MarketPlace, “If you set yourself up as a paragon of virtue in this world, you can expect to fall really hard when something bad happens to you. [MarketPlace]
Article courtesy of Dealbreaker
In addition to Galleon Group, one firm whose name has popped up a whole bunch as it relates to the Feds’ Insider Trading Fest(ivus) is McKinsey. Until they resigned, the consulting firm employed two partners, Rajat Gupta and Anil Kumar, who have both been accused to sharing material non-public information about various companies with their buddy Raj Rajaratnam (Kumar pleaded guilty last year and has been cooperating with the government, while Gupta, who was called out by the SEC in February, has vowed to fight thing thing to the death). Know who doesn’t have any senior executives on staff who may or may not have traded hot tips for money? Bain Chairwoman Orit Gadiesh can think of one.
Gadiesh, chairman of Bain, said her company had not received a single question from the firm’s clients following the scandal, nor did she see the need to do anything differently. She said Bain has had a strong culture of risk management for the past thirty years, including compulsory training, spot checks, weekly reminders and restrictions about the types of investments its employees can make.
“When I became chairman, just for myself, I said I would never trade in stock directly anywhere in the world because I don’t know where in the world we might be working,” she told the Financial Times.
Just thought you’d like to know.
[FT]
Article courtesy of Dealbreaker
One of the more interesting trends sweeping the world of private finance is the notion of micro-funding, where a mob of people pledge funds to a Web site, in return for rewards, recognition, etc.
These sites have multiplied rapidly, although the the most well-known is still Kickstarter.com. Others include Ahhha.com, Profounder.com, and PayPal’s MicroPlace.com, each with their own twists.
The approach is simple: someone puts up a web page about a project needing funds. People who want to support it commit a specified amount of money, and everyone watches what develops.
Think of the old PBS telethons, but less annoying.
The most evident dimension of such sites’ appeal is that they’re an event, a happening: “people power” to make possible projects that would otherwise be stranded without funding, a phenomenon known as “crowdsourcing.”
Ahh-hah distinguishes itself as being more of an ideas factory.
Rather than a specific project, people can post something as simple as the grain of an idea. Wouldn’t it be great if there was some kind of thing that kept the toothpaste from getting all encrusted around the mouth of the tube?
Others can then chip in with suggestions, with the most dedicated contributors earning a partial share in the project.
Sometimes this kind of approach can fuel creative competition. One project on Ahhha recently was an idea for RedBull-flavored tea, which then spawned a separate project for RedBull-flavored coffee.
Ahhha’s founder and CEO Matthew Crowe tells me the force behind his site is “social ideation.”
Basically, many profound, worthwhile innovations are conceived by multiple people around the world almost simultaneously. Your great shower-head idea may already have been conceived by someone else. There’s no point in either of you hoarding the idea, because on your own, you’ll probably never do anything with the it anyway.
But by spending some time in a place focused on cultivating collaboration, you might actually make something of your brainstorm through working with others who are passionate as well.
The site is not for serious inventors who already know the patent and trademark process, and who have deep and unusual intellectual property, Crowe concedes.
MicroPlace is a kind of good causes incubator, where contributors’ money goes to fund micro-loans to the working poor. The site’s users become shareholders and earn interest on their investments, with a cash-out down the road.
One of the advantages of Kickstarter and its ilk is that it can finding funding for offbeat or oddball projects that professional investors might reject.
Another plus is that such sites offer alternatives to the traditional entrepreneur’s bind of having to give up ownership to a well-heeled backer.
For example, my friend Larry Moss, a world’s record balloon sculptor, chose Kickstarter because it let him raise a bunch of money without having to sell a single share in his great idea.
Larry’s put up a page about the book he’s making: a collection of children’s fairytales where all the illustrations are photographs of characters Larry has made out of balloons — The Three Little Pigs, etc.
People who contribute money get varying levels of prizes, such as a copy of the finished book, a framed print, etc.
“We’re not asking for people to throw money at us. We’re basically asking people to pre-order a product they think is really cool,” says Larry.
“So if we get funded, we’ve already done our marketing and we know people are interested in what we’re offering.”
There are downsides to this, of course. In the case of Kickstarter, nothing is actually raised until the projected reaches its funding target. And if a project doesn’t reach the target by a set deadline, then no money goes through.
It’s all or nothing.
Larry confesses the prospect that weeks of marketing will either pay off or flop leaves him a bit on the edge of his seat.
I suppose we’ll have to wait until we see the first really big projects come out of these sites to know whether they’ll have the ability to become a lasting part of the funding practice, or if they’re just a flash in the pan.
A brave new world, to be sure.
If you’re interested in finding out more, Dowser.org has a good run-down of a number of sites.
Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily
During a conference call with analysts this morning to discuss Q1 results, announced this morning, Verizon Communications (VZ) management remarked that the next version of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone will be a “world phone,” capable of working with other carriers’ networks.
Verizon CFO Fran Shammo, asked about the sluggishness of the company’s ARPU growth in Q1, when the iPhone was introduced — growth was just 2.2%, compared to 2.5% in Q4, remarked:
The fluctuation, I believe, will come when a new device from Apple is launched, whenever that may be, and that we will be, on the first time, on equal footing with our competitors on a new phone hitting the market, which will also be a global device.
The iPhone 4 that Verizon carries, based on the “CDMA” technology standard, does not have nearly as broad support by network operators throughout the world as does the “GSM” standard used in the AT&T model of the phone, which Apple sells in numerous countries throughout the world.
Apple COO Tim Cook said during Apple’s conference call last night that Apple had signed only two other carriers in the world to use the CDMA iPhone, SK Telecom in South Korea, and Saudia Arabia’s Saudi Telecom. Cook said Apple was considering other carriers to whom it might distribute the CDMA unit. But a world phone at Verizon, presumably using the 4G standard dubbed “Long Term Evolution,” would allow Verizon to sell a phone that can roam on networks in Europe and other parts of the world just as AT&T’s model does.
That would presumably be of special interest given that Vodafone (VOD) in Europe owns a stake in Verizon’s wireless business.
Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily
Yahoo! (YHOO) reported 17 cents in earnings beating analysts expectations for 16 cents. Revenue came in $1.06 billion in line with expectations. Shares were up 3% immediately after the report came out.
“We are solidly executing toward our plan for returning Yahoo! to sustainable revenue and profit growth,” said CEO Carol Bartz. “During the quarter, we beat the midpoint of revenue guidance while continuing to deliver on the bottom line. We continued to extend our lead as the world’s premier digital media company with users to Yahoo! branded properties increasing 15% year over year and minutes spend increasing 17%.”
Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily