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The spread between the t-bills and libor has dropped alot
and could indicate that the interest rate cuts are starting to work. ?
Libor is close to 1% from almost 5% in october.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/cbuilder?ticker1=.TEDSP%3AIND
Obama team looks to revamp financial bailout
Obama economic advisers are redoing financial bailout amid criticism
of its current course
Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press Writer
Friday January 9, 2009, 11:20 am EST
Yahoo! Buzz Print WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama's
economic team is broadening the mission of the $700 billion bailout
for the financial sector, aiming to unfreeze credit for homeowners,
consumers, small businesses and local governments.
The overhaul is aimed at the $350 billion remaining in the Troubled
Asset Relief Program and comes amid mounting criticism from lawmakers
and watchdogs that the Bush administration has administered the money
in an inconsistent way and has not made banks accountable for the
money.
The head of a congressional panel overseeing the $700 billion bailout
program said Friday that lawmakers need to "take a very hard look" at
how banks have used the money and she welcomed Obama's attempts to
better define the program's mission.
Obama's selection for Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, is
developing a "comprehensive set of investment principles," an Obama
transition official said Friday. The official, speaking on the
condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been fleshed out,
said the economic team will include measures to mitigate rising
foreclosures and will place tougher conditions on financial
institutions that receive the money, including limits on executive
compensation.
With 11 days left before Obama is sworn in as the nation's 44th
president, the task of requesting Congress for access to the
remaining funds will now likely fall on the new Obama administration.
Geithner is expected to face a confirmation hearing before the Senate
next Thursday and he can count on being quizzed vigorously on his
TARP proposals.
Though the Obama team is not offering any specifics, the mere fact
that it is setting goals for the money won support from the head of a
congressional panel that is charged with overseeing how the money is
being spent.
"These are powerfully important initiatives," said Harvard law
professor Elizabeth Warren. "I'm very pleased that the incoming
administration is focused on these issues."
She offered no specific advice on how to free up more credit. "It's
going to take a variety of tools," she said. "They may have to move
through multiple approaches."
The Congressional Oversight Panel she heads released a report Friday
featuring questions about how banks are spending taxpayer money, how
the money will combat the rising tide of home foreclosures and
Treasury's overall strategy for the rescue.
But Treasury's Dec. 30 response "did not provide complete answers to
several of the questions and failed to address a number of the
questions at all," said the panel's second report.
The new document cited an Associated Press investigation that found
none of the banks was willing to disclose what they were doing with
hundreds of billions of dollars distributed through direct injections
of federal money.
"For Treasury to advance funds to these institutions without
requiring more transparency further erodes the very confidence
Treasury seeks to restore," it said.
Appearing Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Warren said that
Treasury "didn't put any tracking mechanisms on it."
"They didn't tell the banks what they had to do in order to get the
money. It might be used for lending, it might be used to buy other
banks ... Or it might just be stuffed in vaults and left there," she
said.
"I think that Congress may want to take a very hard look at that
question," Warren added. "Ultimately, we don't have a badge, don't
have a gun. It's up to Congress."
"In my view, the heart of this problem started with the housing
bubble and the mortgage foreclosure mess and in my view, that's where
the solution should start as well," Warren said.
Most of the panel's report argues that better responses to unanswered
questions are "essential" and explains why it believes Treasury's
earlier responses were insufficient.
"Treasury has still not explained precisely what it sees as the
problem," reads one assessment of a response deemed inadequate.
At several points, the report tartly explains the meanings of simple
terms such as "strategy" and "oversight."
Referring to a question of why Treasury has required Citigroup, but
not other firms that got money, to modify mortgages, the report
says: "Treasury's refusal to answer this question is one of the most
troubling aspects of their letter. The panel intends to do more fact
finding on this matter."
Line after line of the column marked "Treasury Response" says
simply, "No response."
The panel repeatedly states its reluctance to take Treasury's
reassurances at face value.
"Treasury may be 'confident' that it is 'pursuing the right strategy
to stabilize the financial system and support the flow of credit to
our economy,' but once again, the function of oversight is to
evaluate that claim," the report reads. "The question remains
unanswered."
Marvell Unleashes Powerful New Applications Processor for Mass-Market Digital Consumer Devices
First in a Family of Products Based on New Innovative Architecture
Thursday January 8, 2009, 8:10 am EST
Yahoo! Buzz Print Related:Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
LAS VEGAS, Nev., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CES 2009 -- Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL - News), an industry leader in storage, communications and consumer silicon solutions, today unveils the Marvell® PXA168, the first in a family of applications processors targeted at new mass market opportunities in computing and digital consumer devices with the potential to reach up to a billion units. The Marvell PXA168 is based on a new innovative architecture that delivers the processing capabilities of an entry-level laptop to instant- on, digital consumer devices by enabling full-featured web surfing, Internet widgets, multi-format video, Adobe Flash-based content playback, image processing, video conferencing and advanced graphical user interfaces (GUIs) -- at consumer price points with ultra-low power for longer battery life.
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
MRVL 7.22 -0.09
Incorporating Marvell Sheeva(TM) technology, this new class of applications processor is scalable beyond 1GHz to enable converged consumer devices. Devices powered by the Marvell PXA168 can include connected digital photo frames, portable navigation devices, portable media players, automotive dashboard displays and infotainment systems, home automation, portable TVs, digital signage and other devices that utilize Internet connectivity, media processing and touch screen interfaces.
"Marvell prides itself on being at the forefront of innovation, and developing products that give consumers what they want before they even know it can exist," said Roawen Chen, vice president and general manager, Communications and Computing Business Group at Marvell. "For the first time, consumers can utilize the processing power of Marvell's Sheeva technology in their low-power digital devices. With the Marvell PXA168 they get gigahertz plus processor speeds, coupled with a WMMX2 SIMD co-processor, creating the opportunity for whole new markets such as low-cost mobile computing devices."
Until now, digital consumer devices have utilized proprietary real-time operating systems with custom-crafted applications that yielded non-scalable, single-function products. This new innovative architecture enables a new suite of software and applications, such as Adobe Flash and Flash Lite player as well as Internet widgets running on top of full-featured operating systems, such as open-source Linux. Now, Marvell is enabling a powerful, scalable software environment previously not available to developers for mass market digital consumer devices. This platform has the capability to create a new ecosystem and bring a new dimension of functionality to digital consumer devices, just as advanced smart phones have done to the mobile phone market.
The Marvell PXA168 supports high-definition video with hardware graphics acceleration on screens up to widescreen ultra extended graphics array resolution. The PXA168 also includes Marvell's Qdeo(TM) Color Intelligent Color Remapping technology to bring vivid color to displays without hue shifts or clipping while preserving skin tones. Northbridge and southbridge interfaces are integrated for cutting-edge consumer devices, including a 5-in-1 memory card reader, multi-level cell NAND, CE-ATA, DDR2 memory, USB, PCI-e and Ethernet interfaces.
The Marvell PXA168 reference platform supports Linux and Microsoft Windows CE operating systems and a comprehensive media framework for connected consumer devices including all standard video and audio codecs, Adobe Flash and Flash Lite players, advanced GUIs and many third-party applications. Packaging options for the Marvell PXA168 include BGA and a QFP with a 1mm pad pitch to enable use of 2-layer PCBs. Marvell can provide a complete platform solution, including embedded Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and power management.
The Marvell PXA168 applications processor is sampling now, and Marvell is providing complete hardware/software reference platforms to top-tier digital consumer OEMs. Marvell is also working with third-party software and application developers to port their applications to the PXA168
January 7, 2009
Porn industry seeks federal bailout
Posted: 05:27 PM ET
From CNN's Rebecca Sinderbrand and Mark Preston
Larry Flynt is asking for a bailout.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the adult entertainment industry.
“The take here is that everyone and their mother want to be bailed out from the banks to the big three,” said Owen Moogan, spokesman for Larry Flynt. “The porn industry has been hurt by the downturn like everyone else and they are going to ask for the $5 billion. Is it the most serious thing in the world? Is it going to make the lives of Americans better if it happens? It is not for them to determine.”
Francis said in a statement that “the US government should actively support the adult industry's survival and growth, just as it feels the need to support any other industry cherished by the American people."
“We should be delivering [the request] by the end of today to our congressmen and [Secretary of the Treasury Henry] Paulson asking for this $5 billion dollar bailout,” he told CNN Wednesday.
Flynt and Francis concede the industry itself is in no financial danger — DVD sales have slipped over the past year, but Web traffic has continued to grow.
But the industry leaders said the issue is a nation in need. "People are too depressed to be sexually active," Flynt said in the statement. "This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such but they cannot do without sex."
"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind. It's time for congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."
So far, there has been no congressional reaction to the request.
–CNN’s Chloe Melas contributed to this report
Shorting into the 50 cent range will make you money
Apple may add Broadcom to its iPhone supply chain, say Taiwan OEMs
Cage Chao, Taipei; Meiling Chen, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 7 January 2009]
Apple is rumored to possibly be considering adding Broadcom to its iPhone supply chain, according to Taiwan OEMs who have seen Broadcom's baseband and RF chips on PCBs believed to be design-in samples of a new-revision or next generation iPhone. The adoption of Broadcom chips in any future iPhone models could mean the loss of orders for Apple's current chip supplier Infineon.
Both Broadcom and Infineon declined to comment.
Infineon's current major customers are Apple and Samsung Electronics, and its share of the white-box handset market is under pressure from MediaTek and Spreadtrum. The loss of orders from Apple could have a critical impact on Infineon which may even force the company out of the handset market, market watchers commented.
On the other hand, Apple's orders would strengthen Broadcom's development of handset chip products. Broadcom has continued to invest in handset chip development despite not receiving any significant orders for over a year since it won Nokia EDGE orders in the second half of 2007, the market watchers added.
20% of 1 billion equals a potential market of 200 million Indians.
Old news no ?
Again markets movew up, FNM turns sour and goes red
Why are they selling FNM when markets are green ? Don't get it.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/113398-stimulus-plan-includes-tax-breaks-stocks-that-will-benefit?source=yahoo
As for the business tax package, a key provision would allow companies to write off huge losses incurred last year, as well as any losses from 2009, to retroactively reduce tax bills dating back five years. In effect, this would entitle companies to receive cash from the government that they otherwise couldn't have claimed.
This approach was talked about for a while last year and then the noise died down. If it becomes law, it is not too hard to think of a few stocks that would reap large benefits: specifically, that would be companies that incurred huge losses – there are a few of them out there.
One set of beneficiaries would be homebuilders, which have been taking serious write-downs, but made a lot of money in the course of the housing bubble. Many of them have written down their deferred tax assets, but could now carry the losses back 5 years and get refunds. My holdings in Toll Brothers (TOL), Ryland (RYL) and KB Home (KBH) should benefit. Maybe some of the distressed homebuilders would do even better.
Bond insurance companies such as MBIA (MBI) and Ambac (ABK) could also benefit, again because they have taken huge impairment and mark-to-market losses after operating very profitably for the five years running up to the housing melt-down. They have so far been successful in maintaining their deferred tax assets are good, but carrying the losses back would make that potential problem go away.
How about Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddy Mac (FRE)? I seem to recall something about how Freddy Mac's entire shareholder's equity consisted of deferred tax assets which they had no reasonable basis to claim they would ever make enough money to use them. Carry them back another few years, there had to be some profits somewhere in there.
With 2009 losses also included, the opportunities to book losses and turn them into refunds could be substantial. Tax lawyers and accountants very possibly could develop refinements, angles, strategies and tactics to maximize the proceeds of this congressional largess.
I almost feel guilty owning the stocks. But now that I think of it, I have another idea. Maybe the opportunity to carry losses back five years should be extended to private investors too. I have incurred some very distressing losses on owning these types of money losing stocks, but if I could just carry them back to the years where I made money and paid taxes, that would be wonderful and in point of fact only fair, just, right and proper. Everyone deserves a slice of the pie, or a spot at the trough, or a slab of pork, maybe a rasher of bacon: that's for sure, this is America in the 21st century
This s tock behaves almost as if some consider it a defensive play. Monday FNM is down 3-4 % while DOW/NAS is up 3%.
Yesterday it's up 12% while markets are down 1%. WTF ?
Seen this pattern many times
Seagate unveils highest-density hard drive
Hardware
By Wolfgang Gruener
Monday, January 05, 2009 12:44
vote nowBuzz up!
Scotts Valley (CA) – A solid state disk (SSD) drive may be the sexiest mass storage device for notebooks and high-end PCs, but if it is about cheap storage the good old hard drive is still the way to go – and hard drive technology still has room to grow: Seagate today announced a new 3.5” drive that stores 500 GB on a single platter.
Just in time for CES, Seagate has begun shipments of its 12th generation 3.5” Barracuda hard drive, which continues to spin its platters at 7200 rpm. However, Seagate was able to increase the aerial storage densities of its platters, which reduces the number of disks and potentially power consumption as well.
Whereas the previous Barracuda generation used disks with a storage capacity of 320 – 375 GB, the new 7200.12 HD model increases the number to 500 GB per platter or a density of 329 Gb per square inch. That number is especially impressive if we remember than the industry believed that the natural storage density barrier would be about 100 Gb per square inch and even laser-assisted technologies would only reach to 250 Gb per square inch.
Seagate offers the new drives as 1-platter and 2-platter models providing up to 1 TB of storage, which is less than the maximum capacity of the 7200.11 drive that tops out at 1.5 GB (4 x 375 GB). At least in theory, the new platters would allow Seagate to come up with a 2 TB hard drive, which may be the case as soon as the company’s rivals are catching up with similar technology. There was no information on the power consumption of the drive, but we would expect the drive to consume less than the 4-platter 1.5 TB model and be in the range of the previous 2-platter 750 GB 7200.11 drive.
Seagate said that the new Barracudas are in production now and are offered in 500 GB, 750 GB, and 1 TB versions. The company did not disclose the suggested retail price of the drives.
His name is Gary Glitter
I'm impressed that you're able to see what the US government does from looking at charts...lol
There's now an estimated $8.9 trillion sitting on the sidelines in cash and money markets," said Stephen Leeb, president of New York-based Leeb Capital Management. "High cash levels and low stock prices historically go hand in hand. The current level as a percentage of the stock market's capitalization matches that at the market bottom in 1990."
He said this huge amount of liquidity "has yet to include the massive amount of money that will be created as a result of the Federal Reserve's recent unprecedented actions to stimulate the economy and financial system." That also could help bolster markets in the coming months.
Leeb and other analysts do not discount that the market may retreat and retest lows seen in November. The next few weeks will go a long way in assessing the market's resiliency, even in the face of abysmal economic news.
All stocks enjoying a green day
except FNM
Short it back to 50-60 cents
Orange may pull BlackBerry BoldRichard Wray guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 January 2009 16.24 GMT Article historyOrange is understood to be considering pulling the BlackBerry Bold from its line-up because of persistent problems with the device.
Return rates are understood to have been uncharacteristically high, with consumers complaining of a number of issues, including dropped calls and poor reception.
Orange had similar problems with the device in October and decided to stop shipping it. It had hoped the issues had been ironed out with a batch of software fixes, but the Bold is still confounding some customers.
The news will be a blow to the device's maker, Research In Motion (RIM), which has also experienced problems with the Bold's successor, the Storm.
After initial enthusiasm about the look and feel of the device – it is RIM's first full touchscreen phone – the Storm has faced a barrage of criticism because of a number of software glitches that make it painfully slow to execute certain tasks that other smartphones, such as Apple's iPhone, carry out with ease.
Complaints include the phone's built-in camera taking far too long to focus, poor sound quality and the overall slowness of the device. The problems were summed up succinctly by Stephen Fry, a self-confessed gadget freak. "Been playing with the BB Storm," he wrote on the social-networking service Twitter. "Shockingly bad. I mean embarrassingly awful. Such a disappointment. Rushed out unfinished. What a pity. iPhone killer? Ha!"
The phone was produced in co-operation with Vodafone, which has exclusive rights to supply it to its customers. The mobile phone operator missed out on the exclusive deal to stock the iPhone in the US and the key European markets of the UK, France and Germany to bitter rivals AT&T, O2, Orange and T-Mobile, and is hoping the Storm will give it a much-needed boost in the fight for high-end gadget-obsessed customers.
But the Storm is proving a headache. Vodafone's US joint venture, Verizon Wireless, has already been forced to issue a number of software patches for the device. The fact that the earlier device, the Bold, is still experiencing problems does not bode well for a swift turnaround in the fortunes of the Storm.
There is also talk that RIM is planning a touchscreen variant of the BlackBerry Bold with rumours that the phone – code-named Pluto – could be revealed in the first half of this year.
A spokesman for Orange refused to comment. RIM, meanwhile, produced a joint official statement saying: "The BlackBerry Bold 9000 smartphone is available to Orange customers both in-store and online via its website."
Markets rallying past few days
FNM being left behind
as expected
http://www.physorg.com/news149952623.html
Smart phones seem to be recession resistant
December 31st, 2008 By Steve Alexander in Electronic Devices / Consumer & Gadgets
As consumers pull back on spending, at least one tech product is staying hot enough that it could defy the recession: smart phones. Overall handset sales are slowing, and some of the biggest makers of the devices are ratcheting down sales projections for 2009.
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But a growing number of cell phone users such as Alexis Walsko of Minneapolis are trading up to smart phones, which offer Internet, e-mail, texting, music, video and sometimes touch screens. Smart phones have accounted for nearly 90 percent of the growth in the number of U.S. cell phone users over the past year.
Walsko loves her BlackBerry Pearl so much that she thinks everybody will eventually want one.
"You can't stop checking them, because it's like having the world at your fingertips," she said. "I wake up in the middle of the night to check e-mail."
Brian Ulrich recently upgraded from an ordinary cell phone to a BlackBerry Storm because he thought it was cool - and because, as a finance manager for UnitedHealth Group Inc., he needed remote access to his corporate calendar and e-mail. His wife got a BlackBerry Pearl with a conventional keyboard at the same time.
"Now she's doing Web, e-mail and text and doesn't know how she got along without it," Ulrich said. His only major complaint: Updating the BlackBerry's software online can be time-consuming.
The migration of smart phones from the corporate suite to the home is helping to take the sting out of slowing cell phone sales. Manufacturers are expected to ship 177.2 million phones in 2009, down from a projected 186.5 million in 2008, according to Strategy Analytics of Boston.
From October 2007 to October 2008, smart phones went from 5 percent to 10 percent of U.S. cell phones, according to market research firm ComScore Inc. of Seattle. And Apple's iPhone just dethroned the venerable Motorola Razr as the top-selling consumer handset in the United States, according to the NPD Group.
Some experts believe that as cell phone prices continue to decline, the percentage of smart phones will continue to rise. Strategy Analytics projects that 30 percent of cell phones will be smart phones by 2012.
That's great news for cell phone companies, which can charge more for data services and Web surfing.
"There's really been an advertising push to get consumers on these more sophisticated phones," said Jaimee Steele, a ComScore spokeswoman. "That makes sense for cell phone service companies because they get more revenue if consumers use more online content."
Chip distributor inventories rising, analyst warns
Dylan McGrath
EE Times
(12/30/2008 10:33 AM EST)
SAN FRANCISCO—Thanks to weaker-than-expected shipments in November, inventories for Asian semiconductor distributors have grown far beyond desired levels, something likely to have a negative impact on overall chip shipments in the first half of 2009, according to a Wall Street analyst.
Chip distributors could end the year with up to 60 days inventory on hand, higher than the desired level of 40 to 45 days, according to Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets. November distributor shipments were "very weak," increasing distributors' inventories by three to five days from October, Berger wrote.
Earlier this month, market research analyst iSuppli Corp. warned that the semiconductor market should brace for a flood of excess inventory that could further depress sales in 2009 as equipment manufacturers across the high-tech industry slash component demand amid a downturn in end demand.
Citing recent checks with Asian chip distributors, Berger said aggregate Asian distributor chip shipments fell 27 percent month-to- month in November. The weak shipments were driven by softer-than-expected PC, consumer, and Chinese white box handset shipments, Berger said. Distributors are also limiting shipments to certain customers due to concerns about those customers' credit worthiness, he said. Berger noted that netbooks and flash cards outperformed other sectors in November.
Shipments from Texas Instruments Inc., Microsemi Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. declined as much as 20 to 30 percent from October to November, Berger wrote.
Berger said contacts expect DRAM pricing to continue to decline through the spring, and said that further production cuts need to come from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Micron Technology Inc. in order for pricing to stabilize in the second half of 2009.
Last week, Taiwanese DRAM clearing house DRAMeXchange reported that spot prices for some DRAM chips are on the rebound thanks to production cuts by several vendors.
Contacts believe that December revenues will decline in aggregate 17 percent from November, four points below the 5-year historical average, due to poor holiday demand, Berger said. Contacts expect a 15 to 20 percent sequential decline in distributor shipments for the first quarter of 2009, Berger said.
LOL....
Only up 5 %
Reverse split coming ....
Global demand for handset solutions to decline over 30% in 1Q09
Cage Chao, Taipei; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 31 December 2008]
Demand for handset solutions from global handset vendors is likely to decline at least 30% in the first quarter of 2009 as gauged by current order visibility, according to sources at handset solution providers.
The top-five branded handset vendors have all revised downward order visibility from their customers, with market watchers believing that it will still take one to two quarters to clear the current global handset inventory.
Slow end-user demand may have a significant impact on Nokia, as the top vendor had a relatively high level of inventory built up at the end of the third quarter, indicated the sources. High Tech Computer (HTC) might also see a sequential decline of 20-30% in revenues in the first quarter of 2009, the sources added.
With regard to respective markets, the chance is low for the US market to stage a major uptick in the first quarter, or even the entire year, of 2009 because of declining economic activity which has dampened consumer spending, said the sources.
Regarding handset systems, sales of CDMA handsets could be hit especially hard due to weakening demand in South Korea and the US, as well as in emerging markets, the sources added.
It might run into the 80 or 90 cent range
but probably won't move much higher
and even if it does hit 1.00
it won't stay oer long enough
to avoid a reverse split or delisting
Reverse split
will no doubt happen
as they cannot get this POS stock
over $ 1.00
December 30, 2008, 2:13 pm
RIMM: Despite Decline in US, Avian Sees Hope
Posted by Tiernan Ray
Combing through Research in Motion’s (RIMM) 6-K filing with the SEC dated December 19, which covers the company’s third fiscal quarter ended in November, Avian Securities wireless anlayst Matthew Thornton writes that the company’s prospects are still intact as it moves past product delays to introducing new BlackBerries, including the Curve 8900, also known as the “Javelin,” along with November’s lineup of Storm, Flip and Bold.
Thornton trolls through various stats from the filing, including the fact that U.S. sales, which are 58% of revenue, were down 9% in Q3 from the prior quarter, though up 62% year over year. The vast bulk of those sales — 49% — were from Verizon Communications’s (VZ) Verizon Wireless Business (14%), AT&T (T) (13%), Deutsche Telekom’s (DT) T-Mobile (12%), and Sprint (S) (10%), says Thornton, speculating. Amongst those, sales to AT&T were down 40% from the prior quarter thanks to the delay in the introduction of the Bold, while sales to Verizon were flat despite the late release of the Storm; and sales at T-Mobile and Sprint were either flat or slightly up.
At any rate, Thornton’s takeaway is that, “we expect RIMM’s share to be supported in the coming months by the continued ramp of new products.”
RIM shares today are down 8 cents, or .2%, at $38.73.
Needham: Chip Sales to Climb in 2009, Start Buying Now
Posted by Tiernan Ray
Needham & Co. semiconductor analyst Quinn Bolton this morning offers his swan song for the 2008 and his outlook on next year. While 2009 will be tough for semi sales, it’ll be better for semi stocks than 2008 has been. The S&P Semiconductor exchange-traded fund (XSD) is down 49% this year, ditto for the more popular Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (^SOXX), both worse than the 42% or so decline in the Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC).
Here’s the good news: With this quarter being the worst-ever Q4 for semis, and probably steeper-than-expected sales to come in Q1 of ‘09, they’ve had enough pain at this point that the semi stocks should be able to notch up some sequential growth starting in Q2. Also, investors expect very little at this point, and valuations are below previous trough valuations in 1998 and 2001 to 2002. That means semi stocks will probably not set new lows over the coming months, he thinks.
Bolton is modeling a 10% decline quarter-to-quarter for semis in Q1 of ‘09, which is 1 percentage point worse than he surmised back at the beginning of this month. Then, he thinks, we’ll see 1% growth in Q2 of 2009, 5.5% in Q3, and 4% growth in Q4. That’s a sharper recovery than Bolton was originally expecting: he thought semi sales growth might not come back until Q3. Bolton says that means the trough in year-over-year semi growth will happen in August of next year.
So what should you do? Buy! Accumulate shares of Broadcom (BRCM), Cogo Group (COGO) ( a Chinese maker of components for handsets, based in Shenzhen, China), Marvell Technology (MRVL), and video-chip maker Techwell (TWLL).
Today, Broadcom shares are up 80 cents, or 5%, at $17.07, Cogo shares are down 13 cents, or 2.7%, at $4.61, Marvell shares are up 12 cents, or 2%, at $6.39, and Techwell stock is up 19 cents, or 3.3%, at $6.
HTC forecasts G1 handset sales to top one million units in 2008, third Android handset already in development, says paper
EDN, December 22; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES [Monday 22 December 2008]
High Tech Computer (HTC) expects sales of the Android-powered G1 handset to top over one million units in 2008, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) recently quoted HTC CEO Peter Chou as saying.
While there are slightly conflicting rumors circulating that either T-Mobile is going to launch an Android-based G2 handset in January and HTC is planning the worldwide launch of a second Android handset in April, EDN said that HTC is actually developing its third Android-based handset now.
In addition, HTC is expected to launch its second Android handset in the first quarter of 2009 at the earliest, with Android-series handsets to be a growth driver for HTC in the coming year, the paper quoted sources at Taiwan-based securities houses as indicating
FPCB makers Career and Unitech to see smartphone segment continue driving sales 1Q09
Ingrid Lee, Taipei; Meiling Chen, DIGITIMES [Monday 22 December 2008]
Although the global financial crisis has impacted overall handset demand, the smartphone segment is performing relatively better. Thanks to healthy orders from the smartphone segment, Taiwan flexible PCB (FPCB) maker Career Technology and Unitech Printed Circuit Board have strong visibility for the first quarter of 2009, according to market sources.
Research In Motion (RIM)'s better-than-expected sales for its fiscal lthird quarter implies that related component suppliers were also benefited, the sources indicated. Research firm IDC also forecasts the smartphone market to grow 8.9% in 2009, while the general handset market will decline.
Career, Unitech, as well as Unimicron Technology, Compeq Manufacturing and Flexium Interconnect, are benefiting from strong orders of high-density interconnect (HDI) boards for smartphones, the sources said. Unitech's and Career's sales have been driven by orders from RIM and High Tech Computer (HTC), both of which are expected to be smartphone growth drivers in 2009, the sources added.
Career's utilization rate in October and November reached 80-90%, and the company is optimistic about sales in smartphone segment in the first quarter of 2009, according to the sources.
Career has reported record sales in November, and its combined consolidated sales for October and November reached NT$2.03 billion (US$62.38 million), already surpassing its third-quarter consolidated sales of NT$2.02 billion.
Although Career's December sales will decline from November since customers have been clearing inventories, they may still have a double-digit growth compared to the same period last year, said the company. Career expects its consolidated sales to grow 40% in the fourth quarter.
Unitech's sales are also driven by strong orders from the smartphone segment, and the company's handset proportion has increased to over 20% from 10%, said the company.
Point is that you have been receiving money from Fannie
Bankrupt Mortgage Giants Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Give Thousands to Homosexual Groups
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae hurtled to financial ruin, their charitable foundations continued to pour money into homosexual causes.
According to its records, the Freddie Mac Foundation gave over $125,000 to gay-activist groups since 2005. The Fannie Mae Foundation donated about $80,000 to these groups over the last decade.
Their largest one-time gifts came in the last year -- just months before both companies collapsed and were taken over by the government.
Freddie Mac gave more than $20,000 to the 2008 fundraising gala of the Washington, D.C., chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG-DC). Fannie Mae gave between $10,000-$19,000 to the same event.
Both foundations gave money to PFLAG-DC for years.
Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), stated, "We support individuals' rights to self-determination. We support families who have homosexual loved ones. We support those who have come out of homosexuality. We provide outreach and educate teens on same-sex attractions."
To Freddie and Fannie, Griggs says, "We would like equal money. We want the same financial opportunity that gay groups enjoy."
Shawn Flaherty, a spokeswoman for Freddie Mac, said she was not sure PFOX would meet the grant guidelines, adding the foundation focuses on three priorities -- stable homes, foster care and adoption, and youth development.
The grants have not focused on the gay community, she said. "It's a piece of it."
Yet the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), one of the nation's largest gay-activist groups, also benefited from the generosity of the government sponsored mortgage giants. During the last two years, Freddie Mac gave $65,000 to HRC to help homosexual couples adopt children, while Fannie Mae funded the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Since 1998, Fannie Mae sponsored at least five GLAAD events, giving a total of nearly $40,000.
iSuppli estimates broad downturn for semiconductor market in 2009, downgrades forecast
Press release, December 18; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Thursday 18 December 2008]
The deck appears to be stacked against the global semiconductor industry, with six separate market forces conspiring to cause revenues to decline by nearly a double-digit margin in 2009, according to iSuppli.
Worldwide semiconductor industry revenues are set to decrease by 9.4% in 2009 to US$241.5 billion, down from US$266.6 billion in 2008. Previously, iSuppli predicted 6.8% growth.
"The semiconductor industry's growth cycle is shaped by six primary, interrelated forces—global economic health, electronic equipment production, chip supply/demand balance, capital investment, industry and individual company profitability and competition," said Dale Ford, senior vice president for iSuppli. "All six of these areas will present challenges for the semiconductor industry in 2009, but the global economic crisis is obviously the most significant factor pushing chip revenue growth into sharply negative territory. Given our assessment of the current status of the key forces that shape the semiconductor cycle, iSuppli is projecting semiconductor revenues will decline by 9.4% in 2009. However, there is strong downward pressure on this forecast and there is a possibility that the market decline could be even worse than expected
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20081218PR201.html
Excess semiconductor inventory to triple, says iSuppli
Press release, December 17; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Wednesday 17 December 2008]
Excess semiconductor stockpiles in the global electronics supply chain are likely to nearly triple in the fourth quarter of 2008, spurring iSuppli to issue a red alert regarding chip inventory levels.
Excess semiconductor inventories are projected to balloon up to US$10.2 billion in value during the fourth quarter of 2008, up 268% from US$3.8 billion at the end of the previous quarter. This rise is having a deleterious impact on semiconductor pricing, revenues and profitability, and could delay the semiconductor industry's recovery from the current downturn—even when demand rebounds.
This represents the first time that iSuppli has issued a red alert on semiconductor inventory levels. iSuppli issued a yellow alert warning on semiconductor inventory in July of 2004, in light of a major surge in stockpiles in the third quarter of that year
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20081217PR202.html
Western Digital warns on revenue, will cut jobs
Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:32am - Western Digital Corp (WDC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said quarterly revenue would fall short of Wall Street estimates due to slack demand for disk drives, and it announced plans to cut about 5 percent of its workforce to trim costs.
The world's second-largest maker of computer disk drives said on Wednesday that demand for hard drives in the second quarter ending on Dec. 26 was significantly below expectations.
The company forecast revenue of $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion for the period. Analysts surveyed by Reuters Estimates had on average expected $1.97 billion.
Back in October, the company, which competes with Seagate Technologies (STX.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), had anticipated revenue of $2.03 billion to $2.15 billion.
"Industry pricing is also significantly more competitive than forecasted," the company added in a statement.
To cut costs, Western Digital will halt the majority of its manufacturing operations from Dec. 20 through Jan. 1, reduce worldwide headcount by about 2,500 people, and pare compensation of its executive officers, board and senior management.
The company expects to complete the actions by the end of March and to take combined charges of $150 million in the December and March quarters as a result. It estimated savings of $150 million annually. (Reporting by Franklin Paul; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
HDD vendors to offer low-cost 2.5-inch HDDs for netbooks in 2009, say Taiwan makers
Jimmy Hsu, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES [Tuesday 16 December 2008]
Seagate Technology, Western Digital and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, in response to the calls for cost reductions from PC vendors, are developing low-cost 2.5-inch hard disk drives (HDDs) for use in netbooks and other low-cost PCs. The HDDs are targeted to be 40-50% less expensive than existing 2.5-inch entry-level HDD models. Availability could start as early as the second half of 2009, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
As the consensus among PC vendors is that low-cost PCs will dominate the global market in 2009, they are under pressure to reduce production costs by all means possible, the sources indicated. For netbooks, the cost of key components including CPUs, LCD panels, optical disc drives and batteries mostly fall between US$20 and US$25 each while a 2.5-inch HDD can cost as high as US$43-45, thus making them the target for cost reduction, the sources pointed out.
The three HDD vendors will focus on minimizing the cost of drive ICs, magnetic platters, and pick-up heads, the sources pointed out. The storage capacity of such HDDs will be 80GB based on a single platter initially and may be increased to 100GB or 120GB if cost control proves effective, the sources indicated.
The availability of low-cost 2.5-inch HDDs is expected to have a negative impact on the promotion of SSDs by companies such as Samsung Electronics, Toshiba and Intel, the sources analyzed.
Reverse split drawing nearer
What happened with the MASSIVE short squeeze some of you
morons prediticted would happen yesterday ?
More mobile phone makers back Google's Android
12.10.08, 06:42 PM EST
By Jennifer Martinez
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Fourteen of the world's largest mobile phone and chip makers, including Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people )Ericsson (nasdaq: ERIC - news - people ), Vodafone Group Plc (nyse: VOD - news - people ) and ARM Holdings Plc (nasdaq: ARMHY - news - people ) , joined the Open Handset Alliance on Tuesday to support the Android mobile device platform developed by Google Inc The new members' pledge to back the Android software is a significant feat for Google in the mobile phone industry, as its T-Mobile G1 phone takes on rival Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) Inc popular iPhone 3G.
But despite the big-name additions to the Open Handset Alliance, analysts say what matters is whether the new members introduce more Android-supported smartphones in 2009 and 2010 to compete with rivals such as Symbian, used by Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ).
'It's great to get these folks on board...now (the Open Handset Alliance) has to make sure these licenses actually ship products,' said research firm Jupitermedia (nasdaq: JUPM - news - people )'s vice president of mobile strategy, Michael Gartenberg.
The first company of the fourteen new members set to introduce a mobile device that uses the Android operating system is Sony Ericsson, a joint venture of Japan's Sony Corp and Sweden's Ericsson . Ericsson said on Tuesday it plans to introduce the Android-supported platforms in mid-2009.
'Android is set to become a significant application framework for mobile phones,' Ericsson's head of mobile platforms, Robert Puskaric, said in a statement.
The "POS' is up
How can that be ?
What's irresponsible about that post ? I didn't read his message as anything else than pure speculation...
But of course, if it turns out to be NOK, it would be VERY interesting to know how Lakers knew
Excuse my ignorance, but what is ESH9 ?
"I'm playing it via the ESH9"