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 Philadelphia Daily News | Stocks Seesaw As Investors Wait for Fed Houston Chronicle, United States - The Dow Jones industrial average slipped, soared nearly 100 points, and then pulled back to trade in negative territory again _ much as it did Monday, ... Stocks Fluctuate After Economic Reports Stocks Rise After Home Sales Data Stock futures hint at flat start on Wall St |
 Earthtimes.org | US STOCKS-Indexes decline as subprime worries weigh Reuters.uk, UK - The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 10.57 points, or 0.09 percent, at 13341.48. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 2.34 points, ... US STOCKS-Indexes edge down after data US STOCKS-Indexes open up on M&A news, bond yield dip US Stocks Erase Gain; Brokerage, Energy Stocks Lead Retreat |
| MARKET SNAPSHOT: US Stocks To Open Slightly Higher; Data Stream Ahead CNNMoney.com - The futures contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) last was up 21 points at 13500. Futures contracts for the S&P 500 (SPX) and the Nasdaq 100 ... A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP |
While Internet phone company Vonage (VG) faces the prospect of banktruptcy, appeals court judges considering the company’s request to overturn a patent judgment against Vonage were today asking whether a compromise might be reached in the company’s lawsuit with Verizon Communications (VZ). A jury in March found Vonage had infringed Verizon patents and Vonage narrowly escaped a ban on signing up new customers. Today, the three judges hearing Vonage’s appeal of that March ruling asked both Vonage and Verizon whether there might be a compromise between Vonage’s two choices of not using Verizon’s technology at all, or paying Verizon a royalty.
Being banned from using Verizon’s technology could put Vonage out of business, some have suggested, and paying the royalty Verizon asks for could also be a hefty burden.
Over at GigaOm, Om Malik’s take on today’s news is how dire the times are for Vonage, with the company now offering $3.99-per-month phone calling, a move of desperation, he surmizes.
Vonage shares today rose 1.31% to $3.09 but were back down 2.2% in after hours trading. The shares are down 55.5% this year.
Previously:
Vonage Wins Permanent Stay On Order Which Would Have Barred Them From Getting New Customers, April 24, 2007.
Internet wunderkind and Netscape founder Marc Andreessen has found some free time amidst his duties as chair of software company Opsware (OPSW) to pen a new blog that chronicles “nepotism gone wrong” in the corporate world, specifically, the things he’s observed about the venture capital business and how it makes and breaks companies. He’s currently taking submissions regarding the worst cases of nepotism you can come up with. Worth checking out.
Thanks to Portfolio.com tech blogger Kevin Maney for pointing for the heads up.
 Earthtimes.org | DUE DILIGENCE: Bear Stearns Stumble Sends Shockwaves CNNMoney.com - That lesson hit home Friday when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell almost 200 points after Bear Stearns Cos . (BSC) , considered an expert in the ... Another losing session on Wall St. Investors wary of subprime woes AHEAD OF THE TAPE |
| Stock Futures Bid Higher TheStreet.com - On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 185.58 points, or 1.37%, to 13360.26, and the S&P 500 dropped 19.63 points, or 1.29%, to 1502.56. ... US market fall pins down Asian, European equities Stocks Begin Recovery Effort |
| Dow Jones Rehires Lobbyist Forbes, NY - New York-based Dow Jones, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, also develops and licenses indexes, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, ... Sub-Prime Mortgages To Blame For Dow Drop? |
| Behind the Headlines: Avis Budget Group (CAR) Stumbles Below Key ... Schaeffers Research, OH - For more commentary on today's stock-market news from me and my colleagues Elizabeth, Ian, Joe, Beth, and Mark, please visit our Schaeffer's Daily Market ... |
 Earthtimes.org | US Stocks Erase Gain; Brokerage, Energy Stocks Lead Retreat Bloomberg - The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 19.68, or 0.2 percent, to 13340.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 12.6, or 0.5 percent, to 2576.36. ... Stocks post gains |
 Philadelphia Daily News | Stock Prices Climb in Early Trading Philadelphia Daily News, PA - The Dow Jones industrial average is up 36.98 to 13397.24. The Nasdaq Composite has gained 0.23 to 2589.19 and the Standard & Poor 500 index is higher by ... |
| Data Bank Mortgage Crisis Drives Stocks Down Sharply New York Times, United States - For the week, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 279.22 points, or 2 percent, to close at 13360.26. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index lost 30.35 ... MARTS, BANKS, TANK |
| Data Bank Mortgage Crisis Drives Stocks Down Sharply New York Times, United States - For the week, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 279.22 points, or 2 percent, to close at 13360.26. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index lost 30.35 ... MARTS, BANKS, TANK |
| Nervous investors send stocks tumbling Eagle Tribune, MA - The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 185 points. The steep pullback coming a day after a respectable gain was characteristic of the erratic ... |
| Shares set for weak start; eyes on Blackstone Washington Post, United States - Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all pointed to an opening 0.3 to 0.4 percent lower. Resources for anyone who runs a ... US shares set for weak start; eyes on Blackstone |
| Behind the Headlines: JM Smucker (SJM) Rallies on Strong Earnings Schaeffers Research, OH - For more commentary on today's stock-market news from me and my colleagues Elizabeth, Ian, Joe, Beth, and Mark, please visit our Schaeffer's Daily Market ... |
| Seven Summits Research Releases Comments on SBUX, COP, NVDA, DE ... Earthtimes.org - "Our NewsBites strive to go above and beyond other stock market news reports. Along with brief concise stories, each NewsBite provides useful information ... |
| Seven Summits Research Releases Comments on SBUX, COP, NVDA, DE ... Earthtimes.org - "Our NewsBites strive to go above and beyond other stock market news reports. Along with brief concise stories, each NewsBite provides useful information ... |
| Behind the Headlines: JM Smucker (SJM) Rallies on Strong Earnings Schaeffers Research, OH - For more commentary on today's stock-market news from me and my colleagues Elizabeth, Ian, Joe, Beth, and Mark, please visit our Schaeffer's Daily Market ... |
| Wall Street Sinks As Bond Prices Rise; Oil Falls To $68 AHN - The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 146 points to 13489. The Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 26 points to 2599. The Standard and Poor's 500 Index lost 20 ... Wall Street Rises On Tuesday's Session US indexes dip as oil tops $US69/b and home builders sag Stocks go higher |
 Philadelphia Daily News | Dow Jones rises less than .01% Baltimore Sun, United States - Home Depot, one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones industrial average, said it will buy back more than a quarter of its shares and sell its Home Depot ... Stock Prices Climb in Early Trading |
| European Stocks Advance, Led by Allianz, Clariant; Misys Gains Bloomberg - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 percent yesterday, as did the Standard & Poor's 500, after bond yields retreated. Asian stocks climbed for a ... |
| Dow drops; bond yields fluctuate Newsday, NY - The market appeared to be taking a break after last week's sharp rally, when tame inflation data pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to its biggest ... |
| Market indexes edge lower after strong week; Dow off 26 Baltimore Sun, United States - The market appeared to be taking a break after last week's sharp rally, when tame inflation data pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to its biggest ... Garmin doesn’t go in market’s direction THE CLOSING BELL: Garmin locates another record high |
| Dow down slightly; new takeover talk Akron Beacon Journal, OH - The market appeared to be taking a break after last week's sharp rally, when tame inflation data pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to its biggest ... |
| Option Activity Alert: Texas Instruments (TXN) Schaeffers Research, OH - For more commentary on today's stock-market news, please visit our Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog section throughout the trading day. |
| Behind the Headlines: eBay (EBAY) Struggles with Technical Resistance Schaeffers Research, OH - For more commentary on today's stock-market news from me and my colleagues Elizabeth, Ian, Joe, Beth, and Mark, please visit our Schaeffer's Daily Market ... |
| Owning Dow and S&P: Like wearing belt and suspenders USA Today - Your situation, investing in both the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, is a good example. The Dow and S&P are different ... Wall St set to extend gains as rate outlook shifts |
 Scotsman | A new bid for Dow Jones? MSN Money - More broadly, stocks soared on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 86 points to close at 13639 -- wrapping up a three-day gain of 340 ... General Electric and Pearson discussing joint Dow Jones offer Pearson Seeking Partners To Bid For Dow Jones, Report Says |
 Canada.com | Wall St indexes flat as subprime worries offset M&A Canada.com, Canada - The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 10.16 points, or 0.07 percent, at 13629.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 0.66 points, ... US STOCKS-Indexes flat as subprime worries offset takeovers US STOCKS-Wall St. set for higher open on M&A US STOCKS-Wall St set to open higher on deal speculation |
There are signs of strong second-quarter demand for PC-related components, according to Pacific Crest’s Michael McConnell.
McConnell lists six factors contributing to the optimism on demand in the PC sector.
McConnell today raised his price targets on Intersil (ISIL) to $36 from $34; for Nvidia (NVDA) to $43 from $38 and for Texas Instruments (TXN) to $42 from $41. He notes that he has above-consensus Q2 estimates on Intersil, Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Intel and Fairchild Semiconductor (FCS), and asserts that “they are the five best fundamentally positioned companies” that he covers heading into Q2 results.
This morning, Intel is off 25 cents at $23.99; Intersil is down 8 cents at $32.94; Nvidia is down 2 cents at $39.53; Texas Instruments is unchanged at $36.86; Fairchild is up 60 cents at $19.70.
 Earthtimes.org | General Electric and Pearson discussing joint Dow Jones offer Earthtimes.org - Dow Jones and Co, best known for the Dow Jones industrial index and its newspaper, the Wall Street Times, is controlled by the Bancroft family who had been ... Pearson Seeking Partners To Bid For Dow Jones, Report Says Business Highlights |
 Scotsman | Stocks set for higher open on M&A Washington Post, United States - Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 28 points while Nasdaq 100 futures were off 0.25 point. In other takeover news, rival bidders for CBOT Holdings ... US STOCKS-Wall St. set for higher open on M&A US Stock-Index Futures Gain on Acquisitions; Alcoa Advances US STOCKS-Futures point to higher open on deal news |
| WALL STREET OUTLOOK Higher on corporate takeover talk; housing ... Hemscott, UK - According to spread bettors IG Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open up about 21 points at 13660. Separately, S&P 500 futures rose ... |
| Market report: Monday preview This is Money, UK - The Dow Jones Industrial Average in the past three days has surged more than 344 points, the biggest three-day point gain since November 2004. ... Investors set for sharemarket rebound after US gains |
 Canada.com | General Electric and Pearson discussing joint Dow Jones offer Earthtimes.org - Dow Jones and Co, best known for the Dow Jones industrial index and its newspaper, the Wall Street Times, is controlled by the Bancroft family who had been ... Pearson Seeking Partners To Bid For Dow Jones, Report Says Business Highlights |
 Earthtimes.org | London shares outlook; lower on profit-taking after 7-year high Friday ABCmoney.co.uk, UK - The Dow Jones Industrial Average in the past three days has surged more than 344 points, the biggest three-day point gain since November 2004. ... FTSE led higher by ICI |
Here’s a rundown on the tech-related coverage in the June 18 edition of Barron’s (Subscription required for most of these):
 GuruFocus.com | Warren Buffett partnership letter of 1960 GuruFocus.com, TX - A year ago, I commented on the somewhat faulty picture presented in 1959 by the Dow-Jones Industrial Average which had advanced from 583 to 679, or 16.4%. ... |
| Investors set for sharemarket rebound after US gains The Age, Australia - The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 85.76 points to end the week at 13639.48, while the the Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 9.94 points to 1532.91. ... |
| US stocks up on inflation data The Age, Australia - The Dow Jones industrial average added 85.76 points to 13639.48 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 9.94 points to 1532.91. ... Briefcase: June 16, 2007 US stocks finish week strong |
 Servihoo | Pearson Seeking Partners To Bid For Dow Jones, Report Says Trading Markets, CA - ... Dow Jones Newswires, Barron's, several leading market indicators including the Dow Jones industrial average and a group of community newspapers. ... Business Highlights |
| Seven Summits Research Releases Comments on GS, CVX, CMCSA, GILD ... Earthtimes.org - "Our NewsBites strive to go above and beyond other stock market news reports. Along with brief concise stories, each NewsBite provides useful information ... |
| Seven Summits Research Releases Comments on GS, CVX, CMCSA, GILD ... Earthtimes.org - "Our NewsBites strive to go above and beyond other stock market news reports. Along with brief concise stories, each NewsBite provides useful information ... |
| Behind the Headlines: Intel (INTC) Hits New Yearly High But Still ... Schaeffers Research, OH - For more commentary on today's stock-market news from me and my colleagues Elizabeth, Ian, Joe, Jocelynn, and Mark, please visit our Schaeffer's Daily ... |
 Philadelphia Daily News | Wall Street roundup: Rise in Dow Jones, energy, gas prices Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA - NEW YORK - Wall Street surged again Thursday, launching the Dow Jones industrial average to its best two-day advance since last July after data showed that ... Stocks rally on inflation numbers |
Symantec (SYMC) this morning announced a $2 billion share repurchase program. That would be about 11% of the company’s current market cap of $17.5 billion. The curious thing is that the stock has reacted by selling off: Symantec shares at the moment are down 46 cents at $19.55. Maybe the Street wanted more. Maybe they wanted to see an accelerated buyback program, rather than the open-ended program the company announced. Or maybe something unexpected is going on at the company’s analyst meeting, which is taking place today in Las Vegas.
At March 31, Symantec had about $3 billion in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet; the company subsequently closed the acquisition of Altiris for $830 million in cash.
UBS analyst Heather Bellini this morning writes that the size of the buyback is at the high end of expectations. She says the buyback should add 7-8 cents a share to EPS in FY ‘09.
Bellini says she expects management today to repeat its guidance for June quarter revenue of $1.295 billion to $1.325 billion and EPS of 18-20 cents, and FY ‘08 revenue of $5.65 billion to $5.75 billion and EPS of $1.10 to $1.15.
Symantec is down 53 cents at $19.48, one of the few major tech names in the red in an upbeat morning for the tech sector.
| Market News: TradeSignals Dow Jones Industrial Average Morning ... TradeSignals, Ireland - The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the previous session higher reversing the weaker tone seen during the prior session. Trend indicators have moved ... |
| MORNING WATCH, June 14 Optionetics, CA - In addition, profit taking is likely the day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) recorded its best gain of the year. ... |
Rob Sanderson, an analyst at American Technology Research, today raised his EPS estimates and price target for Research in Motion (RIMM).
For the fiscal second quarter ending in August, his EPS estimate goes to $1.20 pro forma and $1.17 GAAP, from $1.18 and $1.15. For the February 2008 fiscal year, he holds at $5.40 pro forma and $5.26 GAAP. For fiscal 2009, he goes to $7.25 pro forma and $7.10 GAAP, from $7.10 and $6.94. Sanderson notes that he is above the Street estimates for all periods: consensus calls for GAAP EPS of $1.11 in the August quarter, $4.80 for fiscal ‘08 and $6.17 for ‘09.
For the May quarter, he remains at $1.11 pro forma, $1.08 GAAP, a few pennies about the consensus.
“Checks suggest subscriber additions were very strong in the quarter, driven by AT&T (T) Wireless and Europe,” he writes. He says Verizon (VZ) “appeared to come on strong” with the 8830 world phone launch late in the quarter. He notes that the Curve launched with AT&T on the last day of the quarter, and should be “another big hit.”
Sanderson also addresses the question of how the company might be affected by the June 29 launch of the Apple (AAPL) iPhone. Sanderson points out that AT&T, which will be the only carrier offering the iPhone, is RIMM’s largest carrier partner. He expects small small impact at the channel shifts focus to the iPhone. But he also sees some off-setting pluses, including higher store traffic. The idea is that some people going in to buy a $499 or $599 iPhone might end up with a $99 or $199 Blackberry.
Sanderson today increased his price target on RIMM to $215 from $175.
Today, Research in Motion shares are up 91 cents at $168.05.
| Jittery Traders Keep Taking Profit Forbes, NY - The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 1%, or 129.95 points, to 13295.01. The Nasdaq composite decreased 0.9%, or 22.38 points, to 2549.77. ... Sell Off Continues On Wall Street |
 Globe and Mail | Heavy Investor Activity Boosts Lehman Forbes, NY - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Tuesday down 1.0%. (See: "Sell Off Continues On Wall Street") Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings ... Lehman Contains Subprimes |
| Seven Summits Research Releases Comments on SBUX, YHOO, CROX, NFLX ... Earthtimes.org - "Our NewsBites strive to go above and beyond other stock market news reports. Along with brief concise stories, each NewsBite provides useful information ... |
| Component Changes Made to Dow Jones China Indexes CNNMoney.com - ... 1996 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the world's most widely quoted stock market indicator. ... Correction On Hold As Market Awaits Data European, Asian markets down |
| Market News: TradeSignals Dow Jones Industrial Average Morning ... TradeSignals, Ireland - The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the previous session higher reversing the weaker tone seen during the prior session. Trend indicators are showing ... |
| Dow Jones up 157 points Mountain Mail Newspaper, CO - The Dow Jones industrial average was down 244 points, or less than 2 percent for the week. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by an 8-to-3 margin on the ... |
| US STOCKS-Modest open seen on deals, Apple inches up Ninemsn, Australia - Dow Jones industrial average futures dipped by 15 points and Nasdaq 100 futures were off 3 points. Owens-Illinois said it will sell its plastics packaging ... US STOCKS-Futures indicate modest rise at open Futures indicate modest rise at open US STOCKS-Modest open seen on deals, Apple inches up |
Pacific Crest’s Mack Bachman this morning cautioned of new headwinds for the semiconductor equipment group, and lowered his estimates on Applied Materials (AMAT), Novellus (NVLS), Cymer (CYMI) and Axcelis Technologies (ACLS). He advises investors who want to stay invested in the sector to focus instead on Varian Semiconductor (VESA) and ASML (ASML).
Bachman warns that capital spending by the chip business could “fall significantly” in 2008. “If memory manufacturers continue to expand capacity according to plans,” he warns in a research note, “we see an increasing likelihood of prolonged overcapacity. This scenario could lead to a 5% to 10% reduction in capital spending in 2008, resulting in a prolonged headwind for [semiconductor capital equipment] stocks.”
Bachman notes that spot pricing for DDR2 memory has dropped 70% year to date, and that prices are at or near the cash cost to manufacture the chips in 300 mm fabs. “If price remain low, manufacturers will likely delay or cancel plans for expansion,” he says. Bachman notes that there have been order push outs from both Hynix and Samsung, and that “second-tier DRAM
manufacturers such as ProMOS are at significant risk of reducing spending.”
Over the next two quarters, he warns “negative announcements, such as order push-outs, capital spending cuts or fab delays, are more likely than positive announcements.”
Here are a few details on his calls on the four companies he mentioned in his call:
This morning, Applied Materials is down 12 cents at $18.67, Novellus is up 10 cents at $29.38, Cymer is up 18 cents at $41.16 and Axcelis is down 5 cents at $6.21.
Well, here I am at Moscone West in San Francisco for the Steve Jobs keynote at the Apple (AAPL) Worldwide Developers Conference, or the WWDC, in Mac-speak. I’ll be live blogging, thanks to my trust EVDO card; although to the surprise of my media colleagues, Apple is actually providing a wi-fi network, which is not typically the case at Jobs keynotes. Ergo, I suspect you have a gazillion other live-blogs to choose from.
9:45 a.m. On the stage: a big screen, with the white Apple logo. There are Mac set up on either side of the stage, and various Apple employees walking around in yellow shirts with the word “keynote” on the back. For the moment, that’s all I have for you.
9:46 Google’s (GOOG) Eric Schmidt has been spotted. He’s on the Apple board; there is also speculation about some kind of deal involving Apple and Google involving .Mac.
9:47 Another update: Apparently, they are going to bring down the wifi network when the keynote starts. How sneaky. Betcha Google would never do something that evil.
9:49 Hot topic of conversation: Last night’s Sopranos finale. I was entirely sure that my cable went out right at the last second when Meadow was coming in the front door of the diner.
9:53 Eric Schmidt is going back stage. Aha! Or, Eric is going to the bathroom.
9:57 We just got the two minute, turn off your cell phone warning.
9:59 Update: One Mac stage left, two stage right.
10:00 Let’s go already, Steve.
10:01 We go to dark. Video. PC guy from the Mac ads, comes out and says he is Steve Jobs. (On video.) And he says he quits, and shutting down all of Apple. Vista has sold “tens of dozens of copies.” PC guy has a Brown Zune iPod killer. Oh, and he is wearing a black turtleneck. Now, Mac guy is out. Mac guy says: hello, I’m Phil Schiller. Clapping. Steve walks on stage.
10:03 Steve: Over 5,000 attendees. Biggest WWDC ever. Over 950,000 Apple Developer Connection members, up 200,000 from just a year ago. 159 sessions, 94 hands on labs. 1,200 Apple engineers on site. One for every four attendees.
10:05 A year ago, we were talking about Intel. Very far along in very ambitious project to transition all computers to Intel processors, and we did it. Everybody did an awesome job.
10:06 One group worked extremely hard, that I would like to recognize today, and that is Intel themselves. These guys have done extraordinary work with us. Wanted to kick off today by inviting Intel (INTC) Paul Otellini up here.
10:06 Otellini comes on stage. Steve says I have something for you. Design team made nice award for you guys. Sincere thanks, for our transition to Intel processors. It’s a stainless steel award. They like each other. They are working on more stuff. Paul leaves.
10:08 Electronic Arts (ERTS) coming back to the Mac in a really big way. Bing Gordon co-founder and chief creative officer is invited out and comes on stage. People want to see EA games in an Apple store; here to announced we will rectify situation; starting in July four big titles for Mac - Command and Conquer 3; Battlefield 2142; Need for Speed Carbon; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Now we get a snippet of the Harry Potter game. The game looks really nice.
10:12 Starting August, simultaneous launch on Mac OS With Madden ‘08, Tiger Woods Golf.
10:13 John Carmack CTO of id Software is invited out. They have been working on next generation technology; first time they are showing this whatever it is publicly. Entire world covered in unique textures; they are showing how the tools allow changes in the environment, and surfaces in a game. The technology seems to be called id Tech 5. It looks really nifty. Will Demo at E3; another Mac announcement coming, he says. Nice technology demo, but not a specific game announcement. He leaves.
10:16 On to Mac OSX - 22 million active users. Two-third are running Tiger. Another 23% running Panther, the latest release minus 1. 90% of customers are running the curent or current minus one release, unprecedented.
10:19 Will talk about 10 new features. First, new desktop. With new feature called Stacks. Ooooh. Basically, you can click on an icon on the dock, and up come a stack of documents. There will be new folder called Downloads with anything that gets Downloaded. As a Mac user, let me say, this feels remedial; they should have done that a long time ago.
10:21 Demo time. He is showing now you can see reflections of icons in documents. Cool.
10:21 Showing how Stacks work; Click on movie, up comes list of movies; click on one. The movie he chose is an iPhone ad.
10:23 Jobs mentions that these features use “core animation.”
10:24 New feature to ease download of documents. His demo is downloading PDF of Disneyland Paris.
10:25 Second feature: New Finder. New sidebar cleaned up, more powerful. Search other Macs and servers as well with Spotlight. Now easier to browse and share files on computers on local network. And as .Mac subscriber, can browse files with computers even not on local net. Adds Cover Flow (which is a feature in iTunes.) Showing New Finder: Nicer icons. List view, can see documents in Cover Flow. New sidebar much cleaner. Has smart searches: today, yesterday, past week, all images, all documents, and can add smart folders. Also can see which computers have shared files. And Back to Mac through the cloud for shared systems through .Mac.
10:28 He doing another demo, focused on cover flow view of documents. It really is kind of cool; you can actually flip through pages of a document in PDFs, Keynote application; can play videos/ Even utilities. Even our utilities are beautiful, sayeth Steve. Can actually see files on Windows machines, even.
10:31 He is demoing how the Back to Mac feature works, to access documents remotely via .mac. Kind of cool, although one of my fellow reporters is wondering how it works with a VPN. Good question.
10:32 Steve is demonstrating how you can search on multiple computers with Searchlight.
10:33 Number 3: Quick Look. Preview files without opening applications. Live file previews. Here comes to demo. Can look through PDF without viewer app; keynote presentation, can click through slides; can even do them full screen. Excel documents. Video. (Trailer of Ratatouille, natch.) To rapidly look at files.
10:36 Number 4 feature: Leopard is 64 bit top to bottom. The first time 64-bit goes mainstream. One version runs 32 and 64 apps side by side; not two versions; one version, runs every app, 32 and 64 bit applications. He is demonstrating comparative advantages of 64 bits over 32 bits. Shows you benefits of 64 bits top to bottom in the system, says Steve.
10:40 5: Core animation. Already had core audio, core image. Automatic animation. Text, images, video, OpenGL. Very high production values. Compose scenes of layers. A demo: graphics team took movie from start of Apple TV, made it into interactive application, lots of video playing, think wall of 100s of videos, and zoom into anyone you want. Can search for anything tagged. He is searching for videos of water, videos pop out in front, a little like Cover Flow. Looks very impressive; but this is about the technology, not the application.
10:43 6: BootCamp. Since last March, over 2.5 million downloads of the Beta. With Leopard, will be built in; run XP and Vista, native speed, complete compatibility; 3 ways to run windows on Mac; BootCamp; Parallels, VMware, for side-by-side. Three solutions for running Windows on your Mac. BootCamp now built into Leopard.
10:45 7: Spaces. To group applications into Spaces; can switch between Spaces, and move applications into different Spaces. Here comes the Demo. Basically a series of different desktops. You can drag apps from one space to another, or re-arrange the Spaces. Clap, clap.
10:47 8: Dashboard. Already 3,000-plus widgets. Adding one more, to look up movie times. Movie Theater widget; can use it to buy movie tickets on Fandango; or to watch trailers. It will ship with Leopard. Shipping technology called Web Clip; let’s user make Widgets out of almost anything on the Internet. Demo: he goes to Yahoo home page. There is scissors icon; and boom, now it is a widget. Another example, Rotten Tomatos, the movie review aggregation site; makes a widget from movie ratings. Another clip, the latest Dilbert. Another one: Google Trends widget. Another one: National Geographic photo of the day. That really is impressive and useful. Dashcode is the code to build professional widgets.
10:53 9: iChat. Gotten so much feedback on video conferencing. Shipped Photo Booth in Macs. Bring some of that fun to iChat; better AAC codec; tabbed chats; Photo Booth effects in iChat; iChat theater, to have applications displayed at the same time as the chat window. Demo time: video chat with Phil Schiller. Can show photos in iChat is the first demo; nice feature. Can also do the same thing with Keynote presentation. Also movies. Excel. Also can choose any back drop. He is standing in front of movie of fish, and then waterfall. Effects: the Princess Leia effect. Upside down. Another up is picture of George Washington, replacing GW’s mouth with Phil’s mouth. Now instead of George, it is Steve Ballmer. Crowd is very amused.
10:59 Stock update: Apple up 38 cents.
11:01 Feature 10: Time Machine. Almost no one backs up computer automatically. We are walking time bombs waiting to happen. Time Machine let’s you set-up back-up with one click. Backs up to local hard drive; even wirelessly; even with multiple drives. You can search back in time; preview them with Quick Look; can restore individual files; or whole Mac. Demo time: the image looks like a series of windows heading back into a glowing sun, Star Wars style.
11:06 He is summing up all the features he demonstrated in Leopard. Over 300 new features all told. Giving copy today to developers. Intend to ship in October. Basic Version $129. Premium Version, $129. Business Version $129. Enterprise Version $129. Ultimate Version $129. Very nice attack on the multiple SKUs of Windows. No, just one version, it is $129.
11:08 One more thing…
11:08 One other thing we want to tell you about that we thought you might like. Safari now has over 18 million users. Climbed from 0 market share to 5% across the entire Internet. IE is 78%. Firefox 15%. Safari 5%; Others 2%. We would love Safari market share to grow substantially. Mac market share is growing; creating version of Safari that runs on Windows. That is exactly what we have done. Safari 3.0 running on Leopard, XP, and Vista. They exist today. Bringing all Safari innovations to Windows. He claims it is much faster than IE or Firefox on various benchmarks. The most innovative browser in the world. 2x as IE. 1.6x faster than Firefox 2. Google and Yahoo search built in.
11:12: Safari in Windows demo. It has tabs. He is doing the iBench shootout. Safari vs. IE 7. 6.64 seconds for Safari vs. 13.56 seconds for IE 7, running both on Windows. Safari is fastest browser on Windows.
11:13 How will we distribute this? Firefox 500,000 downloads a day. Over 500 million iTunes downloads to Windows machines. Three versions. Leopard version. XP Version. Vista version. Releasing on beta today on Leopard. Also beta on Tiger and Windows today. Apple.com/safari. You can go get it today.
11:15 One last thing…iPhone ships June 29 at 6 p.m. in the evening. 18 days. What about developers? We have been trying to come up with a solution to expand capabilities by letting developers create great apps. Come up with very sweet solution. Innovative new way to create applications on mobile devices. Has full Safari engine in iPhone. Gives tremendous capability. So you can write amazing Web 2.0 and Ajax apps for iPhone. Instant distribution; really easy to update, change code on own server; secure, same as transactions with Amazon or a bank. And they run securely on the iPhone. No SDK required. You have everything you need. You can go live on June 29. Scott Forstall, VP iPhone Software comes out, to give a demo. Kind of unusual to have any Apple guy on stage other than Steve. Apps will run in Safari. You can build customer applications for the phone. Built up called Apple Directory, for corporate address book database. Took less than one person month to do this. Under 600 lines of code. Touch interface. Running in Web application; same look-and-feel as built in applications.
Sina (SINA), the Chinese Internet portal, today announced that it will begin embedding Google (GOOG) into the search box on its site. Sina also said it will provide its advertisers access to “Google’s proven online advertising system.” Also, Sina said that “in the near future, Google and SINA will expand their cooperation into news and other content areas to provide Chinese users with an ever improving search experience.”
The announcement did not provide many details. Nonetheless, Sina shareholders seem to be pleased. In pre-market trading, Sina shares are up $1.36 at $40.50. Google is down 49 cents at $515.
| Market volatility is making some investors nervous Buffalo News, United States - Every single component in the Dow Jones industrial average flashed red on Thursday, the single worst day for stocks in almost three months. ... |
| Should You Sell This Pullback? Schaeffers Research, OH - The broad market has taken a beating during the past 3 trading sessions, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA – 13266.7) shedding more than 400 points, ... Dow Stumbles to a Triple-Digit Loss Daily Wrap-up - Little Reprieve from the Pressure Daily Wrap-up - A Close on the Lows |
| MARKET SNAPSHOT: US Stocks Fall Sharply On Concerns About Rates, Oil CNNMoney.com - US stocks fell sharply on Thursday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down by nearly 200 points, as the yield of a key benchmark bond surged above 5% ... MARKET SNAPSHOT: US Stocks Fall Sharply On Concerns About Rates, Oil Stocks end sharply lower amid rate, oil worries Wall Street investors on bond alert |
The Street’s excitement about the Apple (AAPL) iPhone continues to grow. Earlier this week, Credit Suisse analyst Rob Semple raised his EPS estimate on the company, projecting even higher sales for the new phone than the company has.
Today, UBS analyst Ben Reitzes weighs in. Reitzes today raised his price target on Apple to $160, from $133, citing higher expectations for the iPhone. “After evaluating our model,” he writes, “we believe AAPL’s iPhone and free cash flow potential is even greater than investors realize.” He lifted his EPS estimate for the September 2007 fiscal year to $3.55 from $3.53; for 2008 he goes to $4.12 from $4.10.
Reitzes boosted his forecast for fiscal fourth quarter iPhone unit sales to 800,000 from 600,000. He sees FY ‘07 units at 950,000, up from 850,000. For FY 08, he sees 8.1 million units, up from 7.4 million, and says that number “could still prove conservative given build plans and customer demand indications.”
Apple today is up $3.25 at $126.89.
Blue Nile (NILE) is a dominant force in online sales of diamond jewelery, with more than 50% of the market. But there are growing concerns on the Street that the company’s success will attract formidable new competitors. Last month, I noted in a post that Lehman analyst Douglas Anmuth had downgraded the stock on concerns that Amazon.com (AMZN) might enter the diamond market, perhaps with a stand-alone site, like Shopbop.com (an Amazon-owned site that sells women’s clothes) and Endless.com (an Amazon site which sells shoes and handbags.)
This morning, American Technology Research analyst Tim Boyd points out that the diamond mining giant DeBeers this week launched its own online diamond retailing site. Boyd says this “marks the arrival of a true ‘800-lb. gorilla’ onto the online diamond retailing scene.”
Boyd also notes the threat from Amazon, and in fact asserts that it poses an even greater near-term threat to Blue Nile than DeBeers, Tiffany or other offline diamond sellers.
“NILE’s monumental success has caught the full attention of an industry that, quite frankly, never really though the Web would ever amount to much as a diamond retail channel; the big dogs are now on the move,” he writes. Boyd also sees a threat from small- and medium-sized diamond wholesalers, who he says can use Internet search engine marketing and “cherry pick” business from Blue Nile.
Boyd today repeated his Sell rating and $45 price target on the stock.
Blue Nile shares today are down 10 cents at $58.27.
Activision (ATVI) is now the subject of a formal Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into its past stock-options grading practices, the company revealed in filings with SEC. The video game company yesterday filed its delayed 10-Qs for the September and December quarters, as well as an amended version of the June 10-Q; the filings follow the completion of the company’s internal options backdating probe.
Activision said it learned of the conversion of what had been an informal inquiry into a formal investigation earlier this month. The comments also suggest some interest in the situation from the Justice Department. Here is the specific description of the situation from the Activision filings:
On July 27, 2006, the Company received a letter of informal inquiry from the SEC requesting certain documents and information relating to the Company’s historical stock option grant practices. In early June 2007, the SEC informed us that the SEC has issued a formal order of non-public investigation, which allows the SEC, among other things, to subpoena witnesses and require the production of documents. The Company is cooperating with the SEC’s investigation, and representatives of the Special Subcommittee and its legal counsel have met with members of the staff of the SEC on several occasions, in person and by telephone (as has the Company’s outside legal counsel), to discuss the progress of the Special Subcommittee’s investigation and on February 28, 2007 to brief the SEC staff on the Special Subcommittee’s findings and recommendations following the substantial completion of the Special Subcommittee’s investigation. A representative of the U.S. Department of Justice has attended certain of these meetings and requested copies of certain documents that we have provided to the staff of the SEC. At this time, the Company has not received any grand jury subpoenas or written requests from the Department of Justice.
Activision today is down 31 cents at $19.26.
| Seven Summits Research releases comments on MCD, COP, MNST, IMCL ... PR Newswire (press release), NY - "Our NewsBites strive to go above and beyond other stock market news reports. Along with brief concise stories, each NewsBite provides useful information ... |
| Inflation and interest-rate worries batter US indexes Reuters South Africa, South Africa - The Dow Jones industrial average slid 129.79 points, or 0.95 percent, to end at 13465.67.The Dow is now down 226.33 points from its lifetime high of ... |
 Philadelphia Inquirer | Inflation fear sinks stocks Chicago Tribune, IL - NEW YORK—Inflation concerns took their toll on Wall Street Wednesday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average down nearly 130 points and sending stocks to ... Dow drops as labor costs rise Economic worries trip up the Dow Stocks Fall After Labor Report Stokes Concern About Inflation |
| ASIA MARKETS: Asian Stocks Trim Early Losses CNNMoney.com - The declines in Asia followed a second straight day of losses on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) closed down almost 130 points ... Panera Bread, Whole Foods Slide |
| US stocks fall sharply amid rate fears MarketWatch - NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- US stocks fell sharply Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting a loss of more than 100 points, after news that ... MARKET SNAPSHOT: US Stocks Fall Sharply As Bernanke, Data Weigh On ... MARKET SNAPSHOT: US Stocks Fall Sharply Amid Rate Fears |
Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck today raised his rating on Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) to Outperform from Peer Perform, asserting that the proposed merger of the company with rival XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) “has overly weighed on the stock, creating attractive risk/reward levels.”
Peck says the company’s fundamentals alone support his upgrade; he also things the probability of the deal closing is higher than the stock prices suggest. Peck has approached this from an extremely conservative point of view: he is starting with the assumption that the merger will fail and that the company will need to raise money; he has below-consensus estimates, and much lower free cash flow expectations than previous company guidance.
His $4 price target on the stock is based on his discounted cash flow model; it includes zero in merger synergies. An approved merger, he says, is “a free call option for investors.”
Peck says his model shows the company will need to raise about $200 million in the next 9 months, and $300 million more to refinance a convertible due in the in the first quarter of 2009. He says the funding requirement should not be an issue for the stock, however, since the markets are already aware of the company’s capital requirements “and would be very receptive to a funding.”
Back in December, Peck had downgraded the stock in part on the theory that estimates were too high; he notes that they have since come down significantly. Meanwhile, he says, the merger has been hanging over the stock, and investors bave “become blase on satellite radio.”
“We think investors with stronger risk appetites can take advantage of the indifferent sentiment, basing their investment thesis on a conservative model that supports significant upside potential,” Peck writes. “While we believe near-term that XM and Sirius likely will trade in tandem driven more by merger expectations, we think current valuation offers an attractive entry point…regardless of which way the regulatory decision regarding the merger goes, we think the stock likely will trade higher once the decision is digested by the investment community.”
Sirius today rose 1 penny to $2.89; XM fell 9 cents to $11.19.
J.P. Morgan’s Christopher Danely this morning raised his rating on National Semiconductor (NSM) to Overweight from Neutral, asserting that rising capacity utilization rates “should result in upward revisions to estimates” in the second half.
“We believe National Semi has the highest amount of leverage in our coverage universe primarily due to increasing utilization rates,” he wrote in a note this morning. “Utilization rates are the biggest driver of gross margins, and we believe National’s gross margins have at least seven points of upside, and its operating margins have at least 10 points of upside.”
Danely says the company has “over $1.65 in earnings power in [calendar] 2008,” compared to the current consensus of $1.28. (For the May 2008 fiscal year, the Street sees $1.14 a share.)
Danely finds that National “is one of the few companies in our coverage that has an improving business model, as evidenced by its consistently higher trough and peak margins over the past few cycles.” He thinks a “secular increase in margins will continue,” which he believes “should result in a richer multiple for the stock.”
National this morning is up 32 cents at $27.01.
Cable stocks are too cheap.
At least, Credit Suisse cable analyst Bryan Kraft thinks so. Kraft today upgraded his rating on the cable sector to Market weight from Underweight, “based on our bullish view toward cable fundamentals, cable’s solid long-term strategic position, attractive valuations on 2008 estimates and our view that cable industry consolidation will continue.” He says that based on his 2008 estimates, “current valuations are unsustainably low,” with the stocks trading in EV/EBITDA multiples comparable to the much slower growing RBOCs.
Kraft today upgraded shares of both Mediacom (MCCC) and Charter (CHTR) to Outpeform; he has price targets of $14 on Mediacom and $6 on Charter. He also raised his price targets on both Cablevision (CVC) and Time Warner Cable (TWC), to $36 and $43, respectively; he is Neutral on both. He maintains an Outperform rating on Comcast (CMCSA), with $32 target price.
Kraft notes that the Street has been concerned that the industry could see cap ex ratchet up next year; but he thinks the fear is misplaced, and that cap ex next year should be in a range of down 5% to up 5%.
On the consolidation front, Kraft thinks Charter could eventually be a seller. “We could envision parts of Charter being sold to Time Warner Cable and other parts to other cable operators, including rural operators,” he writes. Meanwhile, he thinks Mediacom “could combine with one of the private-equity based rural operators such as Suddenlink or Bresnan, “and could be used as a vehicle for taking those entities public.”
Kraft says he prefers Mediacom over Charter, since Mediacom trades at a discount to the sector valuation, while Charter trades at a premium. But Charter could provide more bang for the buck: he says Charter’s stock will move in either direction 5x as much as Comcast’s in response to a change in enterprise value.
A couple of other notes from Kraft on consolidation. He says Comcast is not likely to buy Sprint (S) in the next two years; he says it is “the last thing Comcast management really wants to do.”
He also thinks that more consolidation is needed in cable. He says Time Warner is interested in buying Cox, Brighthouse, Insight and Cablevision, as well as some of Charter’s systems. He says Comcast is is likely to acquire systems on a smaller scale to improve clustering opportunistically. He says Suddenlink and Mediacom “will likely ne key players in rural cable consolidation.”
Finally, Kraft also says concerns about cable being disintermediated by the Internet are overblown. Here are his top three reasons not to worry about the issue:
Meanwhile, Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield today repeated his Buy rating on Charter, and raised his price target on the stock to $5.25 from $4.50. He says most investors still think of Charter as a company with too much debt and bad subscriber demographics. “Therein lies the opportunity in CHTR shares,” he writes. “While the stock has significantly outperformed its peers over the past 18 months, most investors are still not focused on the CHTR story. Yet we believe the groundwork laid by a new management team is just beginning to bear fruit, with growth set to accelerate notably over the coming 12-24 months.”
Today:
Here’s a weird twist to the Dow Jones (DJ)/News Corp. (NWS) saga.
The Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America, which represents 2,000 Dow Jones editorial employees (including yours truly) today announced that it has “has retained advisors to explore alternatives to the proposed News Corp. bid.”
Here’s an excerpt from their statement:
IAPE believes that the best safeguard to the independence and integrity of Dow Jones would be the continued stewardship of the Bancroft Family, but if the Family is persuaded that a sale of Dow Jones is necessary, IAPE believes that there are alternatives to Mr. Murdoch. We are hopeful that the Bancroft Family, with its long-standing commitment to the integrity of Dow Jones, will consider these alternatives.
Working with our advisors, Ownership Associates of Cambridge, Massachusetts and with the resources of our affiliate union organizations, the Newspaper Guild and the Communications Workers of America, IAPE has begun reaching out to substantial investors that we believe could serve as partners in our effort to maintain the editorial independence of Dow Jones & Company and preserve the unquestioned journalistic integrity of all of its publications and products.
The web site for Ownership Associates says the firm “provides strategic and technical advice to groups exploring employee ownership and offers extensive “after the transaction” services to shared ownership companies.”
This would seem to imply that the union wants to help BUY the company? I’m speechless.
Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch today was scheduled to meet with members of the Bancroft family.
The Observer is reporting that there could be an employee walkout if News Corp. succeeds in buying Dow Jones. (I’m in a rather remote outpost of the company here in Palo Alto, but no one has asked me to walk out, FWIW.)
Dow Jones today is down 75 cents at $60.45.
Disclosure: I work for Dow Jones, which publishes both Barron’s magazine and this blog; I am a Dow Jones shareholder; and I am a member of the IAPE, although I have no role in setting its policies, and certainly no one from IAPE has asked my opinion on how it should respond to the current situation.
Expectations continue to ratchet higher for Oracle’s (ORCL) results for the fiscal fourth quarter ended last week. Citigroup’s Brent Thill today raised his fourth quarter EPS estimate to 35 cents from 34 cents, boosting his full year estimate to $1 from 99 cents. For fiscal 2008, he goes to $1.16 from $1.15.
Thill also theorizes that Oracle could follow-up on its recent Hyperion Solutions acquisition by acquiring more business intelligence functionality, such as Informatica (INFA); he considers Business Objects (BOBJ) and Cognos (COGN) less likely targets for Oracle’s affections. But he also thinks other players could make acquisitions in the business intelligence sector; he lists Business Objects, Cognos, Informatica, Actuate (ACTU) and MicroStrategy (MSTR) as possible sellers, and IBM (IBM), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and SAP (SAP) as possible buyers.
There have been similarly bullish comments on Oracle recently from analysts at JMP, Pacific Crest and Cowen.
Today:
Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck today raised his rating on Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) to Outperform from Peer Perform, asserting that the proposed merger of the company with rival XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) “has overly weighed on the stock, creating attractive risk/reward levels.”
Peck says the company’s fundamentals alone support his upgrade; he also things the probability of the deal closing is higher than the stock prices suggest. Peck has approached this from an extremely conservative point of view: he is starting with the assumption that the merger will fail and that the company will need to raise money; he has below-consensus estimates, and much lower free cash flow expectations than previous company guidance.
His $4 price target on the stock is based on his discounted cash flow model; it includes zero in merger synergies. An approved merger, he says, is “a free call option for investors.”
Peck says his model shows the company will need to raise about $200 million in the next 9 months, and $300 million more to refinance a convertible due in the in the first quarter of 2009. He says the funding requirement should not be an issue for the stock, however, since the markets are already aware of the company’s capital requirements “and would be very receptive to a funding.”
Back in December, Peck had downgraded the stock in part on the theory that estimates were too high; he notes that they have since come down significantly. Meanwhile, he says, the merger has been hanging over the stock, and investors bave “become blase on satellite radio.”
“We think investors with stronger risk appetites can take advantage of the indifferent sentiment, basing their investment thesis on a conservative model that supports significant upside potential,” Peck writes. “While we believe near-term that XM and Sirius likely will trade in tandem driven more by merger expectations, we think current valuation offers an attractive entry point…regardless of which way the regulatory decision regarding the merger goes, we think the stock likely will trade higher once the decision is digested by the investment community.”
Sirius today rose 1 penny to $2.89; XM fell 9 cents to $11.19.
Expectations continue to ratchet higher for Oracle’s (ORCL) results for the fiscal fourth quarter ended last week. Citigroup’s Brent Thill today raised his fourth quarter EPS estimate to 35 cents from 34 cents, boosting his full year estimate to $1 from 99 cents. For fiscal 2008, he goes to $1.16 from $1.15.
Thill also theorizes that Oracle could follow-up on its recent Hyperion Solutions acquisition by acquiring more business intelligence functionality, such as Informatica (INFA); he considers Business Objects (BOBJ) and Cognos (COGN) less likely targets for Oracle’s affections. But he also thinks other players could make acquisitions in the business intelligence sector; he lists Business Objects, Cognos, Informatica, Actuate (ACTU) and MicroStrategy (MSTR) as possible sellers, and IBM (IBM), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and SAP (SAP) as possible buyers.
There have been similarly bullish comments on Oracle recently from analysts at JMP, Pacific Crest and Cowen.
Today:
Goldman Sachs’ Brantley Thompson this morning trimmed his estimate for Motorola’s (MOT) second quarter handset unit shipments to 41 million from 44.5 million, and said even that number could be too high “depending upon the amount of channel inventory that needs to be worked through. Thompson said he also sees further restructuring at the company related to its non-handset business segments - networks and enterprise - suggesting “risk beyond mobile devices.”
“The underlying message here is that the core handset business continues to remain challenged and continued market share losses in mobile devices places risk on the company meeting Street top-line estimates for 2007/2008,” he wrote in a research note this morning. He now sees the company with 15.6% market share this year and 15.0% next year, down from previous estimates of 17.3% for each year.
“While many investors believe Motorola will turn the corner in 2008 and begin to show significant margin improvement based on a new product lineup and successful implementation of its cost-cutting strategy, we believe investors are likely to be disappointed with the outcome,” he wrote. “Inability to meaningfully drive product and distribution costs lower, in our view, will hinger the company’s ability to ne aggressive in emerging markets.”
Thompson cut his 2007 revenue estimate to $39.257 billion from $41.010 billion; for 2008 he goes to $41.782 billion from $44.660 billion.
Thompson maintains a Neutral rating and $16 price target on the stock.