My News Today » Financial Markets

AT&T ♥ iPhone and can’t live without

Kyle — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:51:30 +0000

Gizmodo – AT&T’s quarterly earnings came out yesterday and touted that, as always, AT&T picked up over a million new customers—1.4 million, to be exact. It also revealed how badly they need the iPhone.

Of AT&T’s 1.4 million new customers, around 800,000 came aboard with the iPhone (given that of the 2.4 million iPhones they moved, “more than a third” were customers new to AT&T), continuing a long-running trend . That is, growth heavily fueled by the iPhone.

Also, AT&T moved a total of 3.5 million integrated 3G devices (that is phones with 3G + QWERTY keyboards), including the iPhone. That means the iPhone accounted for roughly 68 percent of those sales. Okay, but that includes smarter dumbphones like the LG Neon or Samsung Magnet. Meaning it forms an even higher percentage of legit smartphones sales—like vs. BlackBerry or Nokia’s E71 or Windows Mobile.

Which translates directly into money: Wireless revenues were up 37.2 percent, driven by “messaging, internet access, access to applications and services,” or precisely those phones. That has to frighten them at some level—they’re deeply dependent on the iPhone.

Overall, AT&T stands at 79.6 million subscribers, up 6.7 million from last year. Verizon’s not releasing their full earnings breakdown until next week, but they did report that they stand at 87 million customers, adding 1.1 million this past quarter. Verizon’s an interesting contrast, since they’ve maintained a similar (but slightly slower) growth clip as AT&T even since the latter became the exclusive iPhone carrier in the US.

Personally, I’m most curious to see Sprint’s earnings for a glimpse at what effect (if any) the Palm Pre has on the continuous slide they’ve been on for what feels like forever now.

Microsoft’s Last Financial Quarter Could’ve Used a Service Pack

Kyle — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:00:17 +0000

Gizmodo – Results for last quarter are in, and with revenues reported well below already cautious estimates, it was a nasty few months for Microsoft. It’s almost as if they’re sitting on new generations of products in every single space they inhabit.

But analysts were well aware of Microsoft’s cage of not-quite-released hardware and software, and their revenue estimates were still more than a billion dollars long. Months that were supposed to see $14.3bn pass through the company’s accounts ended with just $13.1bn, which is a full 17% down from the same quarter last year. That globbed onto an also-tough Q3 to round out their financial year with a 3% decline in revenue overall—the first time they’ve seen a yearly decline in company history.

Mississippi asks “Does my ass look fat in these jeans?” Answer is ‘Yes!’

Kyle — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:01:36 +0000

National Post – Obesity rates continued to climb in the past year with 23 U.S. states reporting adults in their states are fatter now than they were a year ago, two advocacy groups said on Wednesday.

Obesity rates did not decrease in a single state last year, and the groups warned that the U.S. obesity epidemic must be addressed as lawmakers reform the nation’s health system.

“Our health care costs have grown along with our waistlines,” said Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America’s health, which released the report along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

He said the obesity epidemic is contributing to skyrocketing health costs, and said the problem has to be addressed at the highest levels of government.

Being overweight or obese raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, arthritis and other conditions.

The annual ranking of obesity rates in U.S. states found Mississippi continues to be the state with the fattest residents, with nearly a third of adults — 32.5 percent — considered obese. The state has topped the list for the past five years.

Three other states — West Virginia, Alabama, and Tennessee — now have obesity rates above 30 percent, they found.

The iPhone 3G S explained in detail video!

Kyle — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:23:56 +0000

Here is a video from Apple explaining all the details about the new iPhone 3G S. It’s pretty much what you expected from Apple and after today’s announcements of all the exciting stuff on the way it’s just ‘one more thing’ to wet your technologic appetite. Enjoy. (Link goes to Engadget post in which you can get to the video) Source

Bought anything from Sony lately? Yeah, neither has anyone else

Kyle — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:33:30 +0000

Business Week – Sony Sees a Second Year of Losses and will close eight factories, centralize procurement, and revamp its supply chain, but it also needs some great new products.

For months, Sony’s (SNE) management has been taking an ax to its operations. Back in December, as the yen’s unfavorable surge and a drop-off in global demand for electronics wreaked havoc on Japan’s tech industry, Sony announced that it would slash costs, eliminate 16,000 jobs and close a handful of its 57 factories around the world. A month later the electronics and entertainment company was at it again, adding asset sales to boost its savings.

Optimism Boosts Stocks 200 Points

Kyle — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:26:39 +0000

The Daily Beast – To buy or to sell? That is the question. Across the board, stocks rallied today—with the Dow up 214.33 points, to close at 8,246.74, and the S&P surging 3.39 percent, putting it in positive territory for 2009—spurred by statistics showing that construction spending and pending home sales were on the rise.

Stocks tumble on news that investors no longer take banks at their word when they say things are going well

Kyle — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:35:44 +0000

Yahoo News – Investors are back to worrying about banks.

Long-present unease about soured loans bubbled over on Monday after Bank of America Corp. said it set aside $13.4 billion to cover lending losses even as it posted earnings that beat expectations. Other big banks have also increased loss provisions in the past two weeks.

Major market indicators tumbled more than 3 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which fell 290 points. Bank of America shares plunged 24.3 percent.

What Do They Know That We Don’t?

Kyle — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:00:16 +0000

The Daily Beast – Even as he talks up the stock market, a Daily Beast exclusive shows the president’s top economic advisor trounced the indexes (and Tim Geithner) by putting most of his millions into municipal bonds.

CNBC Hearts Apple

Kyle — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:48:37 +0000

TUAW.com – A panel on CNBC’s Fast Money was recently remarking on AAPL’s apparent invulnerability to the recession that’s currently affecting the United States, noting that it’s jumped 40% so far this year, outperforming the NASDAQ. J.P. Mark of Farmhouse Equity Research suggests that the excitement that persists among Apple’s retail employees customers is a part of that performance.

As for the stock’s immediate future, the panel and Mr. Mark point to this summer’s concurrent release of iPhone OS 3.0 and a likely new iPhone model as a powerful stimulus. Finally, Mr. Mark notes that it isn’t often that an electronic gadget becomes more useful and valuable over time.

I definitely agree with that. My iPhone is now almost two years old and it does much more than it did when I first opened its box. Also, if a new iPhone does appear this summer just as my current contract is expiring, I’ll almost certainly buy it.

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Bank stocks are rallying because Wells Fargo is going to make a $3 billion profit in actual real money they can use to buy stuff

Kyle — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:19:29 +0000

Wall Street Journal – Shares of bank stocks rallied in premarket trading Thursday after Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) projected its first-quarter results well above analysts’ expectations, boosting sentiment for a sector that has been plagued by worries.