Over 40 years, John C. Malone has made his name through countless displays of shrewd deal-making that transformed the telecommunications industry

July 1, 2013 Leave a comment

JUNE 30, 2013, 8:54 PM

Talk of Mergers Stirs the Big Players in Cable TV

By MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED and BRIAN STELTER

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Over 40 years, John C. Malone has made his name through countless displays of shrewd deal-making that transformed the telecommunications industry. Now Mr. Malone, the chairman of Liberty Media, appears to be trying to drum up a new round of consolidation in the sector where he first made his fortune.

This time, he is weighing a deal for Time Warner Cable, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. In this deal, Charter Communications, a cable operator in which Liberty owns a 27 percent stake, would buy Time Warner Cable. Should he reach a deal, he will most likely use the combined company to roll up other cable operators, upending a status quo dominated by giants like Comcast. Read more of this post

Filed under TMT Trends

Detroit, Embracing New Auto Technologies, Seeks App Builders

July 1, 2013 Leave a comment

June 30, 2013

Detroit, Embracing New Auto Technologies, Seeks App Builders

By JACLYN TROP

DETROIT — After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1998, Brian Mulloy followed the path of many of his classmates, fleeing his home state for a job in a bustling city. But after 10 years of working in technology start-ups in San Francisco, he has returned as founder of a company in Detroit’s budding technology sector.

Mr. Mulloy is part of a group of workers that Detroit is suddenly hungry for — software developers and information technology specialists who can create applications for the next generation of connected vehicles. Read more of this post

Filed under TMT Trends

What kind of problem does Oracle have exactly? The secular shift to cloud computing may mark a permanent move away from the high-margin business model that Oracle built its fortunes on (installing and maintaining suites of software) to the more utility-like, pay-as-you-go service model of most cloud-software sellers.

July 1, 2013 Leave a comment

What kind of problem does Oracle have exactly?

June 28, 2013: 10:52 AM ET

Concern that the headwinds hitting Oracle are not cyclical but secular are growing.

By Kevin Kelleher, contributor

FORTUNE — What do you do when you are the best company in your industry, but your industry is mired in a slump of mediocre performance? That’s the dilemma faced by Oracle (ORCL), the enterprise software giant that has long been the most feared player in the competitive market for business software. Last week, Oracle reported that revenue grew to $37.2 billion in its fiscal year ended May 31, 2013. That was up from $37.1 billion in the previous fiscal year. Oracle is still growing, but just barely.

Read more of this post

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Samsung’s $25 Billion Slide In Market Cap Equivalent of Sony as S4 Sales Disappoint

July 1, 2013 Leave a comment

Samsung Slides Equivalent of Sony as S4 Sales Disappoint

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) lost $25.3 billion in market capitalization last month, more than the value of competitor Sony Corp., as sales of its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone fell short of investor expectations.

Since the handset was released April 26, the company that sells nearly one of every three mobile phones has plunged 9.7 percent as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley lowered sales forecasts and cut profit estimates. Fifteen analysts cut second-quarter net income estimates for Samsung in June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company declined to comment on its share price and S4 sales. Read more of this post

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Merck KGaA’s Oschmann Sees U.S. as New Emerging Market as competitors focus on emerging economies in Asia and South America

July 1, 2013 Leave a comment

Merck KGaA’s Oschmann Sees U.S. as New Emerging Market

Merck KGaA (MRK), the German drugmaker whose U.S. unit was expropriated almost a century ago, is turning back to that market as competitors focus on emerging economies in Asia and South America.

“For us, the U.S. is an emerging market,” Stefan Oschmann, head of pharmaceuticals, said in an interview. “We have huge growth potential in the U.S.”

Merck KGaA is focusing on one of the world’s most profitable drug markets as sales of its best-selling medicines slow and as a late-stage drug pipeline dries up. The Darmstadt-based company hasn’t had a treatment approved since the go-ahead in 2003 for the cancer drug Erbitux, which it sells under license outside North America. Its next market candidate won’t be considered by regulators until 2016. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

Private Banks Leave Switzerland as End of Secrecy Hurts Profits

July 1, 2013 Leave a comment

Private Banks Leave Switzerland as End of Secrecy Hurts Profits

For European lenders with private-banking aspirations, a presence in Switzerland used to be a must. Now, with bank secrecy eroding and rising compliance costs chipping away at profits, more are saying adieu.

The number of foreign-owned Swiss banks fell to 129 by the end of May from 145 at the start of 2012, according to data from the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland. Assets under management slid by a quarter to 870.7 billion Swiss francs ($921 billion) in the five years through 2012 as clients withdrew money or paid taxes on undeclared accounts, the data show. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

Brazil’s Rousseff May Skip Cup Final as Her Popularity Sinks

July 1, 2013 Leave a comment

Brazil’s Rousseff May Skip Cup Final as Her Popularity Sinks

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff may sit out today’s Confederations Cup final match after the biggest plunge in popularity since ex-President Fernando Collor confiscated savings accounts in 1990, as protesters take to the streets for a fourth week.

Rousseff’s approval rating fell to 30 percent, down from 57 percent before protests began three weeks ago and a high of 65 percent in March, according to a survey by Datafolha published yesterday in the daily newspaper Folha. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

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