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AA Alcoa is not at an extremely high PPS so if they are charging more for materials prices than it isnt reflected with further investment or increase in pps. It is volatile but really is not "overinflated" as best as I can tell anyways.
MDG Update.
Txxx is up over 30% and Rxxx is down 12% but is recovering so not stopped out just yet.
CAT up 322% from the last base in share price.
REUTERS TABLE-Caterpillar <CAT.N> Q1 earnings rise
April 24 (Reuters) -
CATERPILLAR INC. <CAT.N>
.................................Latest......Yr-ago qtr
EPS (diluted, $/shr).....1.20......0.81
Profit ($ million).........840..........581
Total sales and
revenue ($ million).....9,392......8,339
--For the latest first quarter, analysts on average had
expected the company to earn $1.06 a share, excluding
exceptional items, according to Reuters Estimates.
(Reporting by Srikanth Srinivasa in Bangalore)
(
IBM down 30% from 2000, but revenues are holding steady sooooo pps shouldnt drop much further.
'Silent Hill' horror makes most noise at box office
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES, April 23 (Reuters) - "Silent Hill," a horror
film based on a video game, replaced comedy spoof "Scary Movie
4" as the top choice for North American moviegoers during the
weekend, according to studio figures issued on Sunday.
The new champ, starring Australia's Radha Mitchell as a
mother who loses her troubled daughter in a creepy West
Virginia mining town, sold about $20.2 million worth of tickets
since opening on Friday.
"Scary Movie 4" followed with $17.0 million for the
three-day period, taking its total to $67.7 million after two
weekends. The Sunday portions of the tallies are estimates.
Final data will be issued on Monday.
"The Sentinel," a thriller starring Michael Douglas as a
renegade Secret Service agent who must thwart a presidential
assassination attempt, opened at No. 3 with $14.7 million.
Two animal cartoons rounded out the top five, box office
smash "Ice Age: The Meltdown" with $12.8 million in its fourth
weekend, and the less-successful entrant "The Wild" with $8.1
million in its second.
One other film opened in wide release on Friday, the Hugh
Grant satirical comedy "American Dreamz," which earned just
$3.7 million, tying at No. 8 with the Denzel Washington
thriller "Inside Man."
Also new to the top-10 was "Friends with Money," a distaff
ensemble piece featuring Jennifer Aniston and Frances
McDormand. After two weeks in limited release, it jumped five
places to No. 10 with $3.6 million.
"Silent Hill" was released by TriStar Pictures, a Sony
Corp. <6758.T> <SNE.N> unit specializing in low-budget films.
It paid $14 million for the right to distribute the film
throughout the Americas, and will break even in the mid-$20
million range, said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of domestic
theatrical distribution.
Directed by French filmmaker Christophe Gans from a script
based on the Konami video game, the movie played primarily to a
male audience under 25 years, Bruer said.
Sony, which had a difficult time at the box office in 2005,
has topped the charts three other times this year, but not with
any films produced and marketed by its flagship Columbia
Pictures unit.
"Underworld: Evolution" and "When a Stranger Calls" were
handled by the low-budget Screen Gems arm, while "The Pink
Panther," was only marketed by Columbia when Sony led a group
that bought the picture's developer, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Sony's art-house wing, Sony Pictures Classics, released
"Friends With Money."
"The Sentinel" was released by News Corp.'s <NWS.N>
Twentieth Century Fox, which said it was pleased with the
opening. Almost three-quarters of the audience was aged 30 and
older, the studio said. Fox also released the "Ice Age" sequel,
which has earned $167.9 million after four weeks.
Universal Pictures, which released "American Dreamz," a
satire involving an "American Idol"-like talent show and a
George Bush-like president, said it had hoped the film would
reach the high-single-digit range. The film was modestly
budgeted, though, at $17 million. Universal is a unit of
General Electric Co.'s <GE.N> NBC Universal Inc.
"Scary Movie 4" was released by Dimension Films, a unit of
the Weinstein Co., the nascent studio owned by former Miramax
Films chiefs Harvey and Bob Weinstein.
"The Wild," released by Walt Disney Co. <DIS.N>, has earned
$22 million after two weekends.
(
Loews up 35% from Home Depot, both stocks "tracked" similarly,
until 2000 when Loews took the low road, and HD the high and now Loews has recently surpassed HD in share price by over 30%.
UTX is 8 squared since 95 for a share price of 64, some flatness between 98 and 02 but other than that a great stock pps movement. 800% in 12 years is very good compared to other stocks in the DOW....
AMD building volume and is up 600% from lows however the long term charts show that it typically is a volatile pps stock. Recent gains in volume should hold the price up higher than past low points in pps though.
INTC Intel Corp. Share price flat since 1996. ( why is this no recent innovation ?, AMD is doing better ? ) didnt catch the reasoning from latest INTC interviews.
Wal-Mart's Sam's Club sets sights on Costco
By Emily Kaiser
ROGERS, Ark., April 19 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s
<WMT.N> Sam's Club wholesale chain wants to sell more
"affordable luxuries" such as premium wines and diamond
necklaces, ratcheting up the competition with larger rival
Costco Wholesale Corp. <COST.O>.
( This should be interesting ). Luxury or percieved luxury items are what made the special trip to Costco interesting.
Walmarts discount clothing and home decor is definately improving and is equalling or bettering Target from what I can see. -dsd
Just as Wal-Mart's namesake discount stores have taken on
Target Corp. <TGT.N> in its strongest categories by adding
trendy clothing and home decor, Sam's Club is taking on Costco
where it excels -- gourmet food, wine and jewelry.
"We don't have as much market share as we believe we should
have," Doug McMillon, Sam's Club president and CEO, said at a
Wal-Mart media conference here on Wednesday. "Affordable
luxuries present a great opportunity for us, if we deliver on
quality.
Sam's Club and Costco constantly compete on prices for
basic items, but Sam's Club has focused on serving small
businesses rather than individual shoppers.
That has given Costco plenty of room to build a faithful
following among affluent shoppers who go there for the typical
warehouse merchandise such as bulk toilet paper, but also buy
$100 bottles of wine or even $10,000 diamond earrings.
Indeed, Costco has developed such a reputation for carrying
good wines that even higher-end retailers are taking notice. At
a Wall Street presentation in March, Whole Foods Market Inc.
<WFMI.O> CEO John Mackey said Costco was its toughest
competitor in the wine business.
UNAFFORDABLE LUXURIES
Upscale merchandise helped Costco drive 11 percent sales
growth in its latest quarter, which ended in February. Sam's
Club posted 6.8 percent sales growth in its most recent
quarter, which ended in January.
Costco's stock carries a loftier valuation too. The shares
trade at 23.7 times' analysts profit forecasts for the current
year, compared with 15.9 times for Wal-Mart. Sam's Club
accounted for about 12 percent of Wal-Mart's global sales last
quarter.
McMillon said Sam's Club is adding upscale items such as
organic produce, fair trade coffee, and pricier wines as it
tries to increase sales to wealthier shoppers. The retailer is
also testing what it calls "unaffordable luxuries."
"We have been selling some high price points and having a
ball with it," McMillon said. "It's amazing to me how much
people will spend."
He knows, for example, that customers will spend $98,800,
because one shopper paid that much for a heart-shaped, 5-carat
diamond necklace, but $700,000 may be a bit too much -- a
necklace at that price failed to sell.
Winning over customers from Costco will be tough. Warehouse
clubs require memberships that cost around $50 per year, which
makes it harder to draw shoppers away from competitors.
McMillon said Sam's Club tries to keep track of how many of its
customers also hold Costco memberships, but declined to
disclose that figure.
He said there have been times when he has seen a shopper at
Sam's Club in the morning, and then at Costco later in the
day.
"I'll go up to him and say, "Hi, I'm Doug. I'm with Sam's.
What are you doing here?"
The answer is usually that Sam's Club did not have a
particular item, and that is what McMillon wants to fix.
19Apr06 19:13 GMT
Symbols:
de;CTO de;CTOF de;CTOS de;CTOX de;WFM de;WFMF de;WFMS de;WFMX de;WMT
gb;COS gb;WAL gb;WFMI mx;WMT pe;WMT us;COST us;TGT us;WFMI us;WMT us;WWT
Source RTRS Reuters News
Costco up 163% ( probably due to alot of product improvements and improved mix ) we'll check it though.
Walmart: In a trading range ( a hi level one though ) since 2000.
Costco has just surpassed Walmart in share price as of Mid 05.
Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports Second Quarter and Year-to-Date Operating Results for Fiscal 2006 and February Sales Results
ISSAQUAH, Wash.--(Business Wire)--March 2, 2006--
Costco Wholesale Corporation (Nasdaq: COST) announced
today its operating results for the second quarter (12 weeks) and first half (24 weeks) of fiscal 2006, both ended February 12, 2006.
Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2006 increased 11% to $13.78 billion from $12.41 billion during the second quarter of fiscal 2005. Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2006 was $296.2 million, or $.62 per diluted share, compared to $305.5 million, or $.62 per diluted share, during the second quarter of fiscal 2005.
Net income during last year's fiscal 2005 second quarter was
positively impacted by a one-time $52.1 million income tax benefit, resulting primarily from the settlement of a transfer pricing dispute between the United States and Canada (covering the years 1996-2003). Additionally, during last year's second quarter the Company adjusted its method of accounting for leases (entered into over the past twenty years), primarily related to ground leases at certain owned warehouse locations that did not require rental payments during the period of
construction, and recorded a cumulative pre-tax, non-cash charge of $16.0 million ($10.0 million after-tax) as a preopening expense. Without these charges net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2005 would have been $263.4 million or $.54 per diluted share. The current quarter's reported earnings per share of $.62 represents a 15% increase over the prior year's adjusted earnings per share of $.54.
Net sales for the first half of fiscal 2006 increased 11% to
$26.45 billion from $23.75 billion during the first half of fiscal 2005. Net income for the first half of fiscal 2006 increased 3% to $512.0 million, or $1.06 per diluted share, compared to net income for the first half of fiscal 2005 of $498.6 million, or $1.02 per diluted share. Without the impact of the prior year's second quarter tax benefit and the cumulative charge to preopening expenses (above), net
income for the first half of fiscal 2005 would have been $456.5
million, or $.94 per diluted share. Reported earnings of $1.06 per diluted share for the first half of fiscal 2006 represents a 13% increase over the prior year's adjusted earnings per share of $.94.
Well they are not revealing what is "causing" their success but, I am sure that people 'get the idea'.
P&G Declares Dividend Increase for 50th Consecutive Fiscal Year and Confirms Sales and EPS Guidance for Fiscal Third Quarter
CINCINNATI, March 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) declared an increase in the quarterly dividend on its Common Stock and on its Series A and Series B ESOP Convertible Class A Preferred Stock from $0.28 to $0.31 per share, payable on or after May
15, 2006 to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 21, 2006.
P&G has been paying dividends without interruption since incorporation in 1890. Clayt Daley, P&G's chief financial officer, said, "This is the 50th consecutive fiscal year that P&G has increased dividends and reflects the
Board's confidence in P&G's ability to generate strong, profitable growth in line with our long term objectives. Over the past 50 years, compound annual dividend growth has exceeded nine percent."
P&G also confirmed previously announced guidance for sales growth and earnings per share for the January to March quarter. The company narrowed its EPS guidance range to $0.59 to $0.61 per share including $0.07 to $0.10 per share of Gillette dilution and added that sales growth for the quarter is currently trending toward the mid-point of its previous 20% to 23% range.
P&G said it now expects organic sales growth, which excludes the impacts of acquisitions, divestitures and foreign exchange, of five to six percent based on current quarter trends -- at the upper-end of the company's annual organic sales growth target of three to five percent. This compares to the earlier third quarter organic sales growth outlook of five to seven percent. The company said market share is growing in businesses representing about two- thirds of global sales and that the revised organic sales growth range reflects recent customer inventory reductions and tempered outlooks for Asia
and Eastern Europe for the quarter.
P&G added that the contribution to sales growth from the Gillette acquisition is in line with previous expectations as strong results of the new Fusion razor in the U.S. are offsetting high base period comparisons in international markets. In total, acquisitions and divestitures are expected to add 17 percent to 18 percent to sales growth for the quarter. The company also noted that it still expects pricing and mix to add one percent to sales growth and foreign exchange to reduce sales growth by two percent.
SOURCE The Procter & Gamble Company
P&G Media, In the US, +1-866-PROCTER, or +1-866-776-2837, or International,
+1-513-945-9087, or P&G Investor Relations, Chris Peterson, +1-513-983-2414,
all of The Procter & Gamble Company
13Mar06 20:16 GMT
Symbols:
ch;PG de;PRG fr;PG mx;PG pe;PG us;PG
Source PRN PR Newswire
Food is a safe topic and therefore gets alot of help in the IP area, IMOP.
PG Procter and Gamble absolutely Stellar !!!!!!!!
Why, well one reason is LOTS of product improvements anyways, so yeah PG Cincinatti.
182% up from a low that really wasnt much of an out of stride low.
Raw materials trip up car sector's savings drive
By Michael Shields, European Auto Correspondent
( It appears as though an emphasis on raw materials will need to be relieved before these companies can lower costs enough to make pricing more appealing, could just be an excuse though ).
FRANKFURT, April 21 (Reuters) - Spiking raw material prices
are complicating the automotive sector's efforts to slash costs
and defend margins in a ferociously competitive business, and
the pressure may get worse. Squeezing suppliers will help, but wringing out savings on raw materials is a crucial element for enhancing earnings at several car companies.
The market will be scouring next week's first-quarter
numbers from Volkswagen <VOWG.DE>, Renault <RENA.PA>,
DaimlerChrysler <DCXGn.DE> and Peugeot <PEUP.PA> for clues on
their prospects of keeping materials costs under control,
through more efficient manufacturing, leaner designs and hedging future purchases.
Volkswagen aims to cut material costs by more than 4 billion
euros ($4.94 billion) as part of its programme to nearly triple
pretax profit to 5.1 billion euros by 2008.
Renault Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn has made cutting
purchasing costs by 14 percent over three years a key component
of the French carmaker's drive to achieve a profit margin of 6
percent in 2009.
Research by investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein
analysts shows the ratio of materials costs to automotive sales
at Volkswagen was 73 percent last year, substantially ahead of
the sector average of 65 percent for Europe's volume carmakers.
The analysts said Volkswagen's auto designs have not given
sufficient consideration to keeping materials costs low.
BMW <BMWG.DE> recently managed to decrease its material cost
ratio to 54.4 percent from 56 percent despite higher raw
material costs, they added, while DaimlerChrysler's
Mercedes-Benz brand had a ratio of 68 percent.
Cablevision up from recent lows around 300% partly due to an absolute need for Hi Speed internet, and alot of programming and content additions, ( however its hard to tell from the fact that other cable companies are somewhat idle in share price ).
What is Cablevision doing different and better than other companies, I wonder.
Verizon down 194% from highs.... ( There is a hidden issue here that I believe anyways has alot to do with this, also people are relying on their phones less, lets check and compare to the cable companies. ).....
MCDonalds up 261% from recent lows, ( I believe partly due to an entirely revamped menu, ie new products ). These additions I found to significantly boost my opinion of the company and its drive thru process.
If I think that way than Many others do as well. Yeah thats hard to do with such a Mature company......
KO down 200% from highs, ( Coke got KO'd I suppose ). The recent surge in energy drinks was "not allowed" to be dominated by this company. ( I wonder why that is...... I know but I wont say ).
BA Boeing up 290% from recent lows.... Its a decent time for Aerospace.
PFE Pfizer down 188% from highs ( which is not bad but it is a crummy looking chart as of now anyways ).
Are there lawsuits lined up for this company ???
What you Doubt, Me ?..... LOL.
MRK down 257% from highs, due to waiting for the other shoe to drop on Vioxx and those who wonder are there more pharm problems ?
MO Cigarette Maker up over 300% from Lows during 10 years of absolutely nasty negativity on the subject.
This is "wasted energy" for Eliot Spitzer and the Intellectual Property and Fraud Violations issues are "much more important" to the health and well being of America AND the Worlds finances.
I believe that this was a failed attempt to torpedo the tobacco industry and those involved cannot admit to that....
NEW YORK, April 18 (Reuters) - New York state plans to sue
cigarette-makers that disputed $755 million of payments they
owed under the $206 billion settlement with states, a spokesman
for Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said on Tuesday.
"We strongly disagree with the decisions of R.J. Reynolds
and Lorillard to withhold substantial sums from the states,"
said Paul Larrabee, the spokesman.
Noting that Philip Morris <MO.N> had not withheld any of
its full $3.4 billion payment, he added: "We intend to file
suit to recover the amounts that we believe are due and owed to
New York."
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co <RAI.N> has said it put $647
million of its $2.016 billion annual payment in a special
account for disputes. Lorillard <LTR.N> put $108 million of its
$666 million into the escrow account. Spokesmen for those two
companies were not immediately available.
States and municipalities have sold around $32 billion of
bonds backed by payments from cigarette-makers to help pay for
medical care needed by ailing smokers.
The 1998 pact lets tobacco companies cut their payments to
the states if they lose market share to cigarette-makers that
did not sign the settlement. But the states say they still are
owed the full amounts because they met another requirement:
they "diligently" collected escrowed payments from non-signing
companies.
(18Apr06 16:37 GMT
Symbols:
au;AXG ch;MO de;PHM8S de;RQ4 de;RQ4F de;RQ4S de;RQ4X fr;PHM gb;ALA us;LTR
us;MO us;RAI
Source RTRS Reuters News
EXXONMOBIL up 330% from lows. Now here is the confusing part, why wouldnt these 2 dow index stocks, ExxonMobil and GM be dependent on each other and sort of move in synchronicity ?
I Guess the more Fuel costs the less we want to buy cars ?
Seems to be proven here. That should be a good sign for the automakers to possibly either increase fuel efficient gas driven economy cars, support R&D for Ethanol, and further promote and implement the Hybrid concepts so that the Automakers stock prices arent effected so negatively during oil hikes. ( which could be common in the future, hard to say on that one ).
That would be a good "hedge" I would imagine. Peoples psychology will improve towards the Automakers when the 40mpg mark is obtained for some if not many models in the future, I believe.
CHRYSLER down 180% from its Highs, Not a problem as well it already is climbing back the wall of worry.
GM is down 391 % from its Highs. Not a problem. Excellent Buy opportunities.
MDG Momentum 4/28/2006
--------------------------------------
Axxx...........$0.37
Gxx............$3.30
Txxx..........$44.35
Rxxx...........$2.20
Fxxxx..........$1.44
Txxx...........$0.0230
--------------------------------------
1-Travelzoo quarterly profit more than doubles
CHICAGO, April 18 (Reuters) - Internet travel services
company Travelzoo Inc. <TZOO.O> on Tuesday said its quarterly
profit more than doubled on growth in online advertising sales
and a decrease in income tax.
The New York-based publisher of travel sales and specials
said net income was $4.1 million, or 24 cents per share, in the
first quarter, compared with $1.8 million, or 10 cents per
share, a year earlier.
Travelzoo's earnings topped expectations for a profit of 14
cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
The company said its revenue grew 51 percent to $16.9
million.
"Q1 2006 marks our 31st consecutive quarter of growth in
online advertising sales," said Chief Executive Ralph Bartel in
a statement. "Q1 2006 results were also impacted by a lower
than anticipated loss from our Europe business segment and a
decrease in our effective tax rate."
Travelzoo's income tax rate decreased to 43.6 percent in
the first quarter from 48.7 percent in the same quarter in
2005.
(18Apr06 12:18 GMT
Symbols:
us;TZOO
Source RTRS Reuters News
This one is for my Sister Deb ....
Oracle and Sun Set New World Record for SAP(R) Transaction Banking Standard Application Benchmark Oracle(R) Database 10g Running on Solaris 10 Significantly Outperforms Microsoft SQL Server 2005
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., and SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 21
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) and Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced a world record result on the SAP(R) Transaction Banking (TRBK) Standard Application Benchmark that surpasses the best result of Microsoft SQL Server 2005(1). This achievement underscores the superior transaction processing power of Oracle(R) Database 10g running on a Sun Fire(TM) E6900 with the Sun Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System (OS) using the SAP TRBK Standard Application Benchmark for SAP for Banking solutions.
The three-tier benchmark focuses on day processing (the number of posting to accounts per hour) and night processing (the number of balanced accounts per hour. Running the SAP Account Management 3.0 application, part of the transactional banking category for SAP for banking products, Oracle Database
10g achieved a world record performance result of 10,012,000 postings to bank accounts per hour on a Sun Fire E6900 with 8 UltraSPARC IV+ 1.5 GHz processors and Sun Solaris 10 OS.
During night processing, Oracle and Sun achieved 6,664,000 balanced accounts per hour. The benchmark scenario consisted of 30,000,000 accounts and 600,000,000 postings in the fact table. With this record, Oracle and Sun exceeded the performance of the nearest competitor, running Microsoft SQL Server, by 21 percent on day processing and 56 percent
on night processing.
"This benchmark further demonstrates Oracle and Sun's leadership in high-transactional throughput systems for the financial services industry," said Richard Sarwal, vice president of Server Performance, Oracle. "Organizations like retail banks are looking for solutions to continuously
improve their processing power to keep pace with increasing demands -- from daily transaction volumes to general account balancing."
"This new world record demonstrates Sun's commitment to support SAP's solutions for the financial services industry with a best in class SAP solution-based infrastructure," said Pieter Heyn, Global Manager of Banking Industry Solutions, Sun Microsystems.
In addition to holding the performance world record for the SAP TRBK Standard Application Benchmark, Oracle and Sun recently set world record performance results with TPC-H three-terabyte(2) and 10-terabyte(3) benchmarks. Today's announcement is proof of Oracle and Sun's commitment to
providing customers with a fast, reliable and scalable technology Infrastructure.
About SAP Standard Application Benchmarks
SAP Standard Application Benchmarks were developed by SAP AG to provide comparative load analysis of SAP solutions. For more details see http://www.sap.com/benchmark .
About Sun Fire E6900 and the Solaris 10 OS
The Sun Fire E6900 servers are powered by 1.5 GHz UltraSPARC IV+ processors and run the most advanced operating system on the planet, Solaris 10. These high-performance servers deliver the industry's only "on the fly" upgrade path that allows customers to leverage the binary compatibility of the
UltraSPARC microprocessor and the Solaris Operating System to quickly and easily take advantage of the latest server technology. With up to 24 UltraSPARC IV+ processors, this enterprise server provides unprecedented utilization, scalability, and resource provisioning, and can save costs
through consolidation.
About Oracle Database 10g
The only database designed for grid computing, Oracle Database 10g delivers superior performance, scalability, availability, security and ease of management on a low-cost grid of industry standard storage and servers. Oracle
Database 10g is designed to be effectively deployed on everything from small blade servers to the biggest SMP servers and clusters of all sizes. It features automated management capabilities for easy, cost-effective operation.
Oracle Database 10g's unique ability to manage data from traditional business information to XML documents and spatial/location information makes it the
ideal choice to power online transaction processing, decision support and content management applications.
About Oracle
Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com .
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
A singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer"(TM) -- guides Sun in the development of technologies that power the world's most important markets. Sun's philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be
found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at sun.com.http://sun.com/ .
Trademarks
Oracle, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, and Siebel are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Sun Fire, Solaris, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
SAP, R/3 and all other SAP product and service names mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and several other countries all over the world.
As of April 19, 2006. For more details, please see
http://www.sap.com/benchmark .
(1) Results on the SAP TRBK Standard Application Benchmark:
-- Sun Fire E6900 DB Server (8 1.5 GHz US-IV+ Processors, 16 cores, 16
threads, 56 GB memory): 10,012,000 Day posts/hr, 6,664,000 Night bal
accs/hr, Solaris 10, Oracle 10g, SAP Account Management 3.0 (64-bit)
Cert #2006018.
-- HP Integrity rx8620 DB server (16 Itanium 2 processors, 16 cores, 16
threads, 64 GB memory): 8,279,000 Day posts/hr, 4,270,000 Night bal
accts/hr, Windows 2003 DE, SQL Server 2005, SAP Account Management
3.0 (32-bit), Cert #2005052.
As of April 19, 2006. Source: Transaction Processing Performance Council
(TPC), www.tpc.org
(2) Sun Fire E25K, (72 chips, 144 cores, 144 threads)
105,430.9/QphH@3000GB, $54.87/QphH@3000GB, available 1/23/06. (World record
TPC-H 3TB result).
(3) Sun Fire E25K, (72 chips, 144 cores, 144 threads)
108,099.7/QphH@10000GB, 53.80/QphH@10000GB, available 1/23/06. (World record TPC-H 10TB result)
TPC-H, QphH, $/QphH tm of Transaction Processing Performance Council
(TPC).
SOURCE Oracle Corporation
Teri Whitaker of Oracle, +1-650-506-9914, or teri.whitaker@oracle.com; or
Amber Rensen of Sun Microsystems, +1-650-786-3566, or amber.rensen@sun.com
21Apr06 12:30 GMT
Symbols:
de;ORC de;ORCF de;ORCS de;ORCX de;SSY de;SSYF de;SSYS de;SSYX gb;ORL
gb;SUW us;ORCL us;SUNW
Source PRN PR Newswire
FORD is down 414% from its highs. I would say that recent recommends just may be needed.
Ethanol looks to be a decent fad or even more than that in terms of duration of need and concern for further refining the process.
Veridium Receives Order from South African Ethanol Producer for Corn Oil Extraction Technology
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--April 20, 2006--
Veridium Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: VRDM) today
announced its receipt of an order from Ethanol Africa for the use of
Veridium's patent-pending Corn Oil Extraction System(TM) at Ethanol
Africa's new Bothaville, South Africa ethanol production facility.
Veridium's proprietary new Corn Oil Extraction Systems(TM) extract
high grade corn oil from an ethanol by-product called distillers dried
grain ("DDG"). Veridium's technology has the capability of removing up
to 75% of the corn oil from within the DDG in two stages.
The first stage extracts 1.1 to 1.3 million gallons per year and
corresponds to about 30% of the corn oil in the DDG for a 40 million
gallon per year facility. The second stage of the Veridium technology
recovers another 30% to 45% of the corn oil in the DDG, corresponding
to another 1.2 to 2.2 million gallons of corn oil per year out of a 40
million gallon per year ethanol facility. 3 million gallons per year
of high grade corn oil converts to 3 million gallons per year of
biodiesel. This equates to a 7% increase in fuel production out of a
40 million gallon per year ethanol facility, and a significant
increase in plant productivity out of the plant's existing
infrastructure.
The new Ethanol Africa order is for the first stage of Veridium's
technology and the system is expected to be installed in line with the
onset of operations at Ethanol Africa's new Bothaville, South Africa
ethanol production facility later this year. Ethanol Africa is
headquartered in Bothaville, South Africa, and intends to build eight
40 million gallon per year ethanol production facilities.
"Rising fuel prices and greenhouse gas emissions are global
issues, and we are hopeful that this order will be our first of many
such international orders for our ethanol process technologies," said
David Winsness, chief executive officer of Veridium's industrial
design division. "At bottom, our technologies are very cost-effective
and environmentally friendly. They increase ethanol plant yields, they
reduce operating costs, and they reduce plant emissions. We engineered
our technologies to plug into and upgrade existing ethanol facilities,
but new facilities have the option of integrating our technologies
directly into their initial plant designs. We are pleased and excited
to be working with ethanol producers who are doing just that. Ethanol
Africa is progressive company and we are grateful for the opportunity
to work with them on their first and future ethanol facilities."
About Veridium's Corn Oil Extraction System(TM)
Currently, the majority of ethanol production is based on a dry
milling technique that utilizes more than 1 billion bushels of corn to
produce 3 billion gallons per year of ethanol (Fuel #1). The dry mill
process converts the starch from the kernel of corn into sugar and
then the sugar into ethanol. The balance of the corn (non-starch
components) then goes through a dewatering and dehydration process
where the byproduct is sold as a commercial feed ingredient called
distillers dried grain ("DDG"). DDG contains the majority of the corn
oil that was present in the kernel. Today, the 1 billion bushels of
corn currently used in the dry mill ethanol process contain roughly
300 million gallons of corn oil that is currently sold for about $0.03
per pound as commercial feed. The new Veridium technology presents
another option - cost effective conversion into Biodiesel (Fuel #2).
Veridium's Corn Oil Extraction System(TM) offers the following
compelling benefits for ethanol producers:
-- Low Operating Costs - the system requires less than $0.05 per
gallon of corn oil produced;
-- High Recovery Rates - the technology is capable of recovering
up to 75% of the corn oil within the DDG;
-- Increased Revenue - the corn oil extracted with Veridium's
technology is readily amenable to refining into biodiesel fuel
which creates a new revenue stream for participating ethanol
facilities;
-- Reduces Current Operating Costs and Emissions - Veridium's
technology improves the drying efficiency of the DDG which in
turn reduces overall plant operating costs and emissions; and,
-- Low Capital Cost - Veridium's oil extraction methods have a
capital cost of less than 15% of traditional corn oil
extraction methods.
Pictures and video of the new Veridium technology are available
online at www.veridium.com - this system is in use today and
efficiently recovers corn oil from concentrated thin stillage.
About Veridium Corporation
Veridium Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: VRDM) is a publicly
traded industrial waste recycling company and holds the rights to more
than a dozen proprietary universal processing, water purification,
emissions control and waste recycling technologies.
Veridium's business model is based on the engineering and
marketing of green innovations and processes that enhance
manufacturing efficiencies, improve resource utilization and minimize
waste. Veridium's mission is to deliver consumer oriented Natural
Solutions(TM) based on an array of green technologies and applied
engineering expertise that reduce waste at the source and make it
easier for people and businesses to recycle and reuse resources.
Veridium plans to focus on the continued acquisition, development and
marketing of benchmark green technologies and products that accomplish
the following key goals:
-- Reduce the volume of waste generated by residential and
commercial consumers;
-- Increase the convenience and decrease the cost of recycling by
residential and commercial consumers; and,
-- Increase the cost-efficiency of processing certain types of
industrial wastes.
Veridium is about 70% owned by GreenShift Corporation (OTC
Bulletin Board: GSHF), a publicly traded company whose mission is to
develop and support companies and technologies that facilitate the
efficient use of natural resources and catalyze transformational
environmental gains.
CEOcast, Inc. for Veridium
Ed Lewis, 212-732-4300
Copyright Business Wire 2006
20Apr06 14:48 GMT
Symbols:
us;GSHF us;VRDM
Source BW Business Wire
Categories:
MST/I/ICS MST/I/OIS MST/I/POL MST/L/EN MST/R/NME MST/R/US MST/R/US/NY
TGT/BWB
Lots of coverage on a term "protectionism", isnt that more of an IP concern as well ???
<ABE.MC> <AUTS.MI>, Abertis pledges dividend rise after Autostrade buy
By Stefano Bernabei and Carlos Ruano
ROME/MADRID, April 24 (Reuters) - Spain's Abertis <ABE.MC>
has promised to raise dividends after its multibillion-euro
buyout of Italy's Autostrade <AUTS.MI>, boosting shares in both
companies despite worries over opposition from politicians.
Italy's centre-left coalition which won elections this month has criticised the deal announced at the weekend to create the world's largest toll road operator with a combined market value of about 25 billion euros ($31 billion).
Francesco Rutelli, who heads one of the centre-left
coalition parties, said he had severe doubts and was concerned
"a monopolist would strike such an important deal in the absence of a government with full powers," Italian newspapers quoted him as saying on Monday.
The new coalition under Romano Prodi has yet to form a
government and does not want a sale of a former state jewel to
foreigners to be the first major deal under its leadership.
Autostrade was privatised in 1999 and has thrived on high
road tolls and a dominant market position.
Abertis plans to raise its dividend by 5 percent a year
after the merger, it said in slides prepared for a presentation
on Monday.
Autostrade shares opened almost 9 percent higher at 24.7
eurose, while Abertis rose 3.5 percent to 21.67 euros.
But for many observers, politics were the focus. "In our view, during the coming weeks the Autostrade-Abertis prices' spread is likely to be affected by ... the political reaction to the deal in Italy, with the main risk of a protectionist intervention acting as a negative catalyst," Credit Suisse wrote in a research note.
The bank said there was also the risk the deal would not be
approved by the necessary two-thirds of shareholders.
PROTECTIONISM
A debate over protectionism swept through Europe in recent
weeks after the French government hindered a bid by Italian
utility Enel <ENEI.MI> for France's Suez <LYOE.PA>.
But many Autostrade investors like the idea of a
Spanish-Italian toll-road giant.
"The agreement seems definitely positive to me," a trader
said.
"It would become the number one group in Europe and one of
the biggest in the world, and (Autostrade's controlling
shareholder) Schemaventotto would be the top shareholder, so
indirectly that's an advantage for Autostrade," he added.
Newspapers said Autostrade, which concentrates on road
maintenance and administration, was keen to use Abertis's
engineering expertise to win multibillion-euro European Union
contracts for roads linking eastern and western Europe.
Autostrade shareholders will be paid an extraordinary
dividend of 3.75 euros per share -- almost a billion euros in
total. This comes on top of a 1-for-1 share swap.
The potential windfall for key shareholders was criticised
by media and politicians as a way of making a quick profit on a
former public entity to the detriment of Italy's industry.
Benetton family holding company Schemaventotto, which has
50.1 percent in Autostrade, will have a 24.9 percent stake in
the merged group. Abertis shareholders savings bank La Caixa and building giant ACS will hold 11.7 percent and 12.5 percent of the new company respectively.
Autostrade is expected to hold a news conference later on
Monday.
FOR A FACTBOX ON THE DEAL DOUBLE CLICK ON [nL23721395]
FOR A FACTBOX ON THE COMPANIES DOUBLE CLICK ON
[nL23604010]
24Apr06 04:57 GMT
Symbols:
be;LY ch;LYO de;AU9 de;AU9F de;AU9S de;AU9X de;ENL de;ENLF de;ENLS de;ENLX
de;LEM de;LEMF de;LEMS de;LEMX de;LYO de;OCI de;OCIF de;OCIS de;OCIX
es;ABER es;ACS fr;SZE gb;AAD gb;ANT gb;AOE gb;ENE gb;SUE it;AUTO it;ENEL
lu;SLE us;LEH
Source RTRS Reuters News
.................
An Amazing Source of Inspiration.
AMEP is back rising again.
(Pink Sheets:RLTR) Imperia Entertainment Signs Worldwide Distribution Deal with ReelTime TV to Distribute Growing Library of Films and TV
SEATTLE--(Business Wire)--April 20, 2006--
ReelTime Rentals, Inc. (Pink Sheets:RLTR) has just
entered into a Worldwide Distribution Agreement with Imperia
Entertainment, Inc. (Pink Sheets:IPRE) for their entire library of
feature length films and television series to be available on-demand
or by subscription at www.reeltimetv.net. Some of Imperia
Entertainment's properties include their recently completed feature
film, "Say It In Russian," starring Faye Dunaway, an award-winning
celebrity interview series entitled "Autograph" and the recently
released theatrical film, "All That I Need." This agreement will make
it possible for over 95.5 million home broadband users in the U.S. and
almost 450 million users worldwide to visit ReelTimeTV.net and access
all of Imperia's library.
"With the film industry's domestic box office revenue at its
lowest level since 2001, we've explored new ways of getting our
programming to consumers, who by all reports are increasingly using
the Internet to view movies and TV series," said James Hergott,
President of Imperia Entertainment, Inc. "Digital media is the future,
and it's here today. We looked at all the VOD sites and many different
broadband platforms and found ReelTime Rentals was the obvious choice
to bring our shows to the widest possible audience, while giving them
exactly what they want -- the ability to Point, Click & Watch a movie
at home that's DVD quality. Plus, from a provider's standpoint,
broadband distribution is the latest emerging area and truly part of
the hi-tech revolution. ReelTime brings with it the greatest
opportunity of generating brand new revenue streams, at exponential
rates of growth never seen before. That's definitely something we want
to be part of."
"Imperia Entertainment is fast becoming known as one of the
premier independent film and television producers in the industry,"
commented Beverly Zaslow, ReelTime's VP of Acquisitions and Business
Development. "Their award-winning programming continues to win
accolades from audiences around the globe, and we're thrilled to be
able to make it available to our viewers through our worldwide
network."
About ReelTime Rentals, Inc.
Headquartered in Seattle, Wash., ReelTime Rentals' mission is to
deliver diverse media content to consumers over its specialized
network, enabling them to view the media content that they choose,
whenever they would like to see it. The Company's cutting-edge
technology, called Intelligent Rapid Delivery System (IRDS), streams
full-screen media content directly to consumers, while implementing
security measures to combat the threat of piracy. Subscribing
customers of ReelTime's service will have access to an extensive
library of quality full-screen movies and other programming without
the hassles of going to the video store or mailbox, nor the added
expense of late fees. For more information on ReelTime Rentals, Inc.,
you may visit our web site at www.reeltimetv.net.
About Imperia Entertainment, Inc.
Imperia Entertainment, Inc. (IPRE) is located in Beverly Hills,
Calif., and has emerged as a top player in the area of independent
film production and distribution, an area once monopolized by the
major film studios. In conjunction with its distribution subsidiary,
Imperia International Distribution, the company invests in, produces
and distributes full-length feature films, and has amassed an
impressive television library, including the long running and
award-winning "Autograph" series (http://www.autograph.tv), which airs
on the Colours Television Network, and the newly acquired "Faces and
Names" television series. The Company's feature films include "All
That I Need," released in theaters and on DVD February 2006; family
movie "Whiskers," produced by Jordan Klein ("Flipper," "Jaws,"
"Splash"); "Brothers," by Tarquin Gotch ("Home Alone"); and Imperia
has just finished production on the feature film "Say It In Russian,"
written by Larry Gross ("True Crime," "48 Hours," "Another 48 Hours"),
directed by Jeff Celentano ("Primary Suspect," "Gunshy") and edited by
David Rawlins ("Saturday Night Fever"). For more information on
Imperia Entertainment, Inc., you may visit their website at
www.imperiaentertainment.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: This press release may contain certain
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities and Exchange Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of
the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are
intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors
are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties. Although ReelTime Rentals, Inc. believes that the
assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein
are reasonable, any assumption could be inaccurate, and therefore,
there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included
in this press release will prove to be accurate. In light of the
significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements
included herein, the inclusion should not be regarded as a
representation by ReelTime Rentals Inc or any other person that the
objective and plans of ReelTime Rentals will be achieved.
Imperia Entertainment Inc.
James Hergott, 310-275-0089
or
ReelTime Rentals, ZA Consulting Inc.
Nicolas Torrens, 800-596-8388 or 212-505-5976
Copyright Business Wire 2006
20Apr06 13:30 GMT
Symbols:
us;IPRE us;RLTR