Weekly Wrap Up
Major political news with direct effect on the business environment dominated the news. President Obama entertained visiting Chinese President HU Jintao and discussed various disagreements, including currency valuation and human rights. Obama also named a new leader for his economic advisory in Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Motors (GE: Charts, News, Offers).
In earnings news, both Apple (AAPL: Charts, News, Offers) and Google (GOOG: Charts, News, Offers) reported great quarters, as expected. Despite the great news, Google’s shares sunk after naming co-founder Larry Page CEO, replacing Erik Schmidt. More Market News
Economic News
In a rare concession on a highly sensitive issue, Chinese President Hu Jintao used his White House visit on Wednesday to acknowledge “a lot still needs to be done” to improve human rights in his nation accused of repressing its people. President Barack Obama pushed China to adopt fundamental freedoms but assured Hu the U.S. considers the communist nation a friend and vital economic partner.
Hu’s comments met with immediate skepticism from human rights advocates, who dismissed them as words backed by no real history of action. Hu contended his country has “made enormous progress” but provided no specifics.
Still, his remarks seemed to hearten and surprise U.S. officials, coming during an elaborate visit that centered on boosting trade and trust between the world’s two largest economies. (Source: InvestorGuide.com) Click here to read the full article
The National Association of Realtors on Thursday said existing-home sales rose from November to a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of 5.28 million.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a rate of 4.88 million, and the rate of sales was 2.9% below the rate of December 2009.
November’s sales were revised higher to 4.7 million from the initial 4.68 million reading. The raw, unadjusted figures showed sales rising to 404,000 in December from 355,000 in November. (Source: MarketWatch) Click here to read the full article
Jeff Immelt is pushing the boundaries of his role as CEO of G.E. (GE: Charts, News, Offers) into one of a global figurehead.
He recently gained a powerful position, replacing Paul Volcker as leader of an economic advisory council. The council, formerly called the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, will be renamed the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
The new name is supposed to represent a shift in government focus. It’s more forward looking-emphasizing creating new jobs rather than patching up old problems. (Source: CNN Money) Click here to read the full article
Business News
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM: Charts, News, Offers) shares climbed to their third record in as many days as analysts raised their price estimates for the stock on increasing spending by corporations.
The shares rose 3.4 percent today after IBM posted sales and profit that topped estimates after-market yesterday. More than half of IBM analysts tracked by Bloomberg increased their price targets, including six who predict the stock will reach at least $175.
IBM reported sales growth in every division, as well as a bump in services contracts — the first in a year — and said it is on track to hit a goal of almost doubling operating earnings to $20 or more by 2015. The company has boosted per-share profit for more than 30 straight quarters, and investors are starting to take notice, said Rob Cihra, an analyst at Caris & Co. (Source: Business Week) Click here to read the full article
Google (GOOG: Charts, News, Offers) reported a profit that easily beat Wall Street expectations and stunned investors by announcing that Eric Schmidt will resign as CEO.
The online search and advertising giant said co-founder Larry Page, 37, will take charge of day-to-day operations as chief executive officer starting April 4.
Current CEO Eric Schmidt, 55, will assume the role of executive chairman, focusing on deals and government outreach, among other things.
Google said other co-founder Sergey Brin will focus on strategic products. (Source: InvestorGuide.com) Click here to read the full article
Apple reported results on Tuesday for its best-ever quarter, with revenue of $26.7 billion driven by holiday iPad and iPhone sales that were much better than forecast. Apple’s (AAPL: Charts, News, Offers) profit of $6 billion also set a new record.
The Cupertino, Calif., company sold 7.3 million iPads in the quarter, easily surpassing the expectations of nearly every Wall Street analyst. Those sales essentially matched iPad sales from the previous two quarters combined.
The iPad’s success is coming from multiple sources. While Apple’s Macintosh computers have always struggled for traction in the business world, Apple said the iPad is generating strong crossover interest from business customers. Around 80% of Fortune 100 companies have deployed the tablet for their employees. (Source: CNN Money) Click here to read the full article
Technology Focus
Starbucks (SBUX: Charts, News, Offers) expanded its mobile payments program to more than 7,500 of its US stores on Wednesday, following a successful pilot program in 1,000 company-owed stores plus all of its Target (TGT: Charts, News, Offers) in-store locations. The offering allows customers to use their smart phones to show a barcode that is linked to their Starbucks Card accounts without carrying the actual card.
The coffee retailer initially began offering the app last year as a method to check card balances, reload the card, and check previous transactions. A pilot program for the mobile payments system was later launched in all Target stores as well as select locations in New York, Seattle, and across northern California. (Source: Beta News) Click here to read the full article
Google said in a statement that it is now “communicating with small businesses to enlist their support and participation in a test of a prepaid offers/vouchers program.”
The company added that the Google Offers initiative “is part of an ongoing effort at Google to make new products, such as the recent Offer Ads beta, that connect businesses with customers in new ways.” Google declined to offer further details.
Google had previously disclosed details about its Offer Ads product, which enables companies to place coupon offers in their sponsored search links on Google.com. (Source: InvestorGuide.com) Click here to read the full article
Your Money
Humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries, but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. – Bill Gates
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Passion, intensity, and tenacity. That’s one way to describe Bill Gates.
When I think back to why I joined Microsoft, a very big reason was Bill Gates. Here was a guy with all the money in the world, yet he showed up every day to change the world. Rather than just retire and play with his money, he focuses his time, energy, and resources on making a better world. (Source: Sources of Insight) Click here to read the full article
I’ve long believed that entrepreneurs are different.
We all know successful entrepreneurs who dropped out of school, and people with high IQs that cannot manage a business. I used to call this “street smarts,” but recently I found a better explanation, called multiple intelligences.
Successful entrepreneurs always seem to have several good intelligences. (Source: Business Insider) Click here to read the full article
