Intel Corp (INTC)

[kpf]

Reuters already has an update elaboration on USFTC procedure in this case:
When FTC staff lawyers conclude their investigation, they will send recommendations to the five FTC commissioners to either prosecute or drop the matter, he said.
"At that juncture, the commission will decide what course to take, and that is a decision that will be made by a majority of the commissioners, not by the chairman alone," Rosch said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN2245923020071022?rpc=44&pageNumber=1</a

Also it is clarified why a formal investigation at this point would simply be unwise:
FTC Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch, also a Republican, denied that the commission's staff was being held back from making the probe a formal investigation.
"I have been told by the staff that they are conducting the investigation the way it is being conducted because they believe they are getting better information from conducting it that way than they would get if they used a compulsory process," Rosch told Reuters.

Bottom line, cheering Intels victory in the case is premature. It took the EU FTC couple years to understand the context good enough to get a go for a formal investigation - and another couple years until it came to a conclusion. Last time i looked U.S. bureaucrats are not any faster than anywhere else.

K.