According to people familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) is again talking to Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX), this time about taking over AOL, with Time Warner taking a stake in the combined entity. News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) has its eye on any Yahoo moves. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is considering what its next move against Yahoo might be and is talking to News Corp.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that, as part of the company's plan to cut costs, Tribune Co's Los Angeles Times newspaper may look to cut about 250 jobs, including about 17% of its news staff.
The Financial Times reported that Chrysler, which has been searching for foreign partnerships, signed with China's Great Wall Motor a memorandum of understanding to explore long-term business ties in areas that include technology, distribution and components.
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According to the Dallas News, AMR Corporation's (NYSE: AMR) American Airlines informed its flight attendants' union that is may lay off 900 flight attendants on August 31.
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Yonhap reported that LG Electronics will release "Dare," a new touch-screen mobile phone in the U.S. that will compete with Apple Inc's (NASDAQ: AAPL) latest iPhone models.
Stock futures were mixed early Thursday morning, the last and shortened day of trading this week -- markets will close at 1 p.m. EDT. Oil, again, has reached new highs as investors awaited the ECB decision on interest rate. Wall Street is also anxious about the upcoming jobs report, especially after Wednesday the ADP employment figures were worse than expected. Today's session will likely be choppy.
Despite starting the day on a positive note Wednesday, U.S. stocks ended sharply lower after the ADP employment figures damped mood on the Street. Also, crude oil prices rose sharply and an analyst warned that General Motors (NYSE: GM) may have to consider bankruptcy at some point; GM stock closed below $10 a share. The Dow industrials tumbled 166 points, or 1.46%, entering bear territory -- down over 20%, the Nasdaq Composite lost 53 points, or 2.32%, and the S&P 500, fell 23 points, or 1.82% - the only major index still not in bear territory.
Soon, at 7:45 a.m. EDT, the European Central Bank will announce its decision on interest rates. The ECB is widely expected to increase rates, which in turn could further weaken the dollar, driving oil prices higher.
Then, at 8:30 a.m., the Labor Department will release the June payroll figures. Economists expect the unemployment rate to fall to 5.4% from 5.5% last month, but job losses are expected to rise to 60,000 positions, up from 49,000 in May, according to Briefing.com.
At 10:00 a.m., the June ISM services index will be released, and another decline is expected.
In a PowerPoint-style presentation intended to rebuke criticism of its commitment to enhancing shareholder value, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) attacks Carl Icahn's recent track record as an investor.
One slide points out that 11 of Icahn's 15 most recent investments in public companies have declined in value since he took his position. But what exactly is Yahoo!'s point? That Icahn is a lousy investor and probably wrong for investing in Yahoo! too? If that's the case, then they'd better sell the company while they can before it turns into another Icahn dud!
Brand-Name Stocks Uner $10: Buyer Beware These well-known names in the bargain bin may look appealing, but experts advise laying off until their earnings picture is clear. Among the stocks to be weary of are Sprint Nextel, Motorola, Ford Motor, Qwest, Washington Mutual, Northwest Airlines, Del Monte, Rite Aid, Chico's, Crocs, United Airlines, Palm, Sealy, Blockbuster, Circuit City and Orbitz. Brand-Name Stocks Under $10: Buyer Beware
According to people familiar with the discussions, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) has held discussions with Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX) and News Corporation (NYSE: NWS), among others, about joining it in a deal that could lead to the breakup of Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO). Some of the sources said the preliminary talks are unlikely to result in a deal with Yahoo!
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is reportedly in exclusive talks to sell its wound-care business Ethicon to the private-equity arm of JP Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), according to the Wall Street Journal. Terms of the potential deal were not disclosed.
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Sources familiar with the inquiry said that the Justice Department has opened a formal antitrust investigation into a deal that would allow Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) to provide some search advertising for Yahoo!. The Washington Post reported that investigators will demand documents from Google and Yahoo!, as well as other large companies in the media and Internet industries.
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Reuters reported that regulators in the European Union are looking at the long-term effects of BHP Billiton Limited's (NYSE: BHP) $170B bid for Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RTP). Sources familiar with the EU questionnaire said regulators have asked competitors and customers about effects of the deal on their businesses through 2015.
U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning, as Wall Street could try to having yet another positive session. While Starbucks news of store closing and reports Microsoft may still be interested in Yahoo helped lift sentiment, UnitedHealth already issued a warning this morning. Employment data is also on tap before the market opens.
U.S. stocks finally ended higher on Tuesday. Surprisingly, it was car sales that helped the mood on the Street as as June sales came in not as bad as expected. The Dow industrials ended 32 points higher, or 0.28%, the S&P 500 added 4 points, or 0.38%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 11 points, or 0.52%.
Today, investors will have the ADP June private sector employment figures to chew on ahead of the government's report tomorrow. The employment report is expected to be released at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Then, at 10 a.m., May factory orders are due out.
Also on the docket today is weekly crude inventories, usually released at 10:30 a.m. EDT. While oil came off highs Tuesday due to a slightly stronger dollar, it again rose above $141 a barrel Wednesday, due to persistent supply concerns that has analysts warning of higher prices yet. An IEA report saying supplies will remain tight and demand will likely grow despite higher prices helped push prices higher.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may try to buy Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) again, but it does not want the whole company. It finds the search business useful as part of its battle with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). The content portal business does not have much attraction, and Redmond wants a company like Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) to pick up that piece. According toThe Wall Street Journal, Microsoft "approached other media companies in recent days about joining it in a deal that would effectively lead to Yahoo's breakup."
The new deal just might work. Yahoo! dropped below $20 yesterday, putting its stock back where it traded before the first buy-out offer. The No. 2 search company's shares reached as high as $33. Investors, especially Carl Icahn, are steamed that Yahoo! did not grab all of that extra money.
Even if Microsoft cannot find a partner to take the Yahoo! content business, it may move ahead. It only has 10% of the US search business. Yahoo! has about 20% and Google around 60%.
Microsoft still needs Yahoo!, and with its stock down by a third, Yahoo! needs a buyer.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
Six months of 2008 are now behind us and the stock market has not been a friendly place to most investors. Stability that was once found in household names that were industry giants is gone, and they have now been brought to their knees.
Many of them were the stocks we might have looked to in the past for stability, so you can be sure I put forward my five candidates with a little trepidation, but forward I go anyway. First a little review is in order.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) dropped from around $53 per share last year to around $30 in January and we can buy it today for around $17. Even at that price Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) has downgraded it to a sell and thinks there is more bad news to come. Citigroup was the largest bank in the world. Not any more.
General Motors (NYSE: GM) was the largest car maker in the world. That was before the stock tumbled from $43 to its current $11 range. A crushing blow to long time investors hoping that someone in the company could stop the ship from sinking.
Yahoo's (NASDAQ: YHOO) embattled management and board have one month left to prove to shareholders that they made the right call in rejecting Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) bid. With shares trading at about $20, they are going to have to do some fancy footwork to show why rejecting a $31to $33 per share offer was actually good for shareholders.
Yahoo is trying to convince investors that a proposed 'search' deal with Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) will provide the growth needed to restore Yahoo to previous glory. According to an AP report: " By relying on Google's superior technology to show some of the ads alongside its search results, Yahoo believes it can increase its annual revenue by about $800 million and generate another $250 million to $450 million in annual cash flow."
Keep in mind that since the Microsoft deal fell apart, Yahoo has lost more than $16 billion in market cap. It is going to have to generate a lot more in revenues to show that they made the right choice.
My other problem is that I have many friends who over the last week have told me they can't access their Yahoo mail or open up their saved stock portfolio's on Yahoo Finance. I, personally, have been locked out for two days.
Rhapsody, a music download service owned by Real Networks (NASDAQ: RNWK) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA), will make yet another run at Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iTunes. According toReuters, "Digital music seller Rhapsody is launching a $50 million marketing assault on Apple's iTunes, offering songs online and via partners including Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Verizon Wireless."
Why the venture thinks it will have real success is anyone's guess. Downloading to Verizon Wireless phones is not exactly the kind of novelty that is likely to draw customers. The service will have one important new feature, though. Rhapsody subscribers have not been able to play their music on iTunes. Under the new push, that will change.
Memo to Rhapsody: The horse has already left the barn. Keeping the service off of the iPod for so long has helped iTunes move into a unassailable position.
Real Networks, which dominated the multimedia market with its Real Player from the late 1990s until about five years ago, was slaughtered by Apple when it offered a device coupled to a music store with the launch of the iPod.
There is no catching up now. The race is over.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
I read an article over the weekend about Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and its reorganization attempts. Make no mistake about it, this company needs to alter its DNA if it intends to survive in a world without a Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) taking it over.
In a nutshell, it looks like Yahoo! wants to retool its divisions so that it can more efficiently react to changes in the online marketplace. Yahoo! apparently feels that its current organizational structure inhibits growth and is looking to create new teams dedicated to developing products that will capture eyeballs and advertising opportunities as quickly as possible. The company also wants to focus on cloud computing, a technology that is important to the business sector.
Well, from the point of view of an investor looking at Yahoo!, I don't see anything here that persuades me to buy the stock. Synthesizing a new plan of corporate attack is pretty much par for the course for any company that is doing terribly and is looking to get back on the good side of Wall Street. But is there anything really exciting in the plan? No. It's just Yahoo! doing something. There's nothing too revolutionary going on. Centralizing this and that might add value. It also might not. It's all in the execution, and I'm not sure I want to trust a company that rebuffed Microsoft's reasonable buyout offer to execute anything at this point.
U.S. futures indicate a mixed to lower opening Monday morning.
Oil prices continue to serve as a powerful market mover, as oil surged past the $143 mark in Monday trading on the ICE Futures exchange in London. On Friday, oil futures charged to a record $142.99 before closing at $140.21.
Inflation in Europe rose to 4% for the month of June, higher than the estimate of 3.9%. Higher inflation comes even as economic growth is slowing, and makes an increase in interest rates by the European Central Bank more likely.
The U.S. Federal Reserve, however, is less likely to respond to higher inflation with a rate hike. Accordingly, the dollar continues to weaken as traders continue to move into the euro and yen.
Some analysts are now saying that the current market will likely resemble the 1974 bear market before all is said and done. Higher inflation and lower liquidity show no signs of changing direction, and the main question now is how long the bear market will last. Some pessimists are saying it could be a decade.
In stock news, Carl Icahn is planning to file a definitive proxy in his battle for Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) this week. The proxy should inform investors of just how far Icahn wants to go in shaking up Yahoo!'s management. For those wishing to keep up with Icahn's latest moves, be sure to check his blog regularly.
It should be no surprise to anyone that despite all the ranting and raving to the contrary Mr. Carl Icahn, billionaire investor, shareholder white knight and corporate raider is heating up things in the Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) boardroom.
It has been reported that he purchased a sizable chunk of the company in the neighborhood of $25 per share, hoping to make another fortune pushing Yahoo back to the negotiating table with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).
This morning AP reported that Jerry Yang, CEO and company are lobbying major shareholders to rally support for their position that Yahoo! should get a higher offer or stand alone as an independent company. It seems to me that they are standing on lose ground given that many large and small shareholders alike have already spoken, and they would have taken the deal.
The market has spoken as well, with Yahoo stock losing over a third of it's value recently and nearing $20 per share this morning Icahn is losing 20% of his investment as things look today. This is turning into the battle of the billionaires.
I think this whole saga might make a cute Neil Simon play if they would let him into the meetings to take some notes.
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I do not own shares in the stocks mentioned in this story.
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MAJOR PAPERS:
Stock futures were mixed early Thursday morning, the last and shortened day of trading this week -- markets will close at 1 p.m. EDT. Oil, again, has reached new highs as investors awaited the ECB decision on interest rate. Wall Street is also anxious about the upcoming jobs report, especially after Wednesday the ADP employment figures were worse than expected. Today's session will likely be choppy.
In a 
U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning, as Wall Street could try to having yet another positive session. While Starbucks news of store closing and reports Microsoft may still be interested in Yahoo helped lift sentiment, UnitedHealth already issued a warning this morning. Employment data is also on tap before the market opens.
Six months of 2008 are now behind us and the stock market has not been a friendly place to most investors. Stability that was once found in household names that were industry giants is gone, and they have now been brought to their knees. 
I read an 
U.S. futures indicate a mixed to lower opening Monday morning. 
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