Steve's Health Report
Will this finally allow Apple (AAPL) investors to sleep nights? After fretting about Steve Jobs' evident weight loss over the past year, they got reassurance in the form of an open letter from the Apple CEO on Jan. 5. Jobs blamed a "hormone imbalance" that is "robbing me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy." Treatment, he said, will be "simple and straightforward," and he will remain on the job. Doctors who treat patients in similar circumstances—Jobs had surgery for a rare, less lethal form of pancreatic cancer in 2004—say he has an excellent prognosis. Apple the next day announced new policies for iTunes, the top online music store. It will now sell songs for as little as 69 cents, and soon they'll all be free of copy protection.
See "Was Apple 'Adequate but Late' on Jobs?"
—Edited by Harry Maurer & Cristinal Linblad
One Big Downturn
Get set for "the first truly global recession of the modern economy." So writes Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia. Roach says that while the crash began with the U.S. subprime meltdown in the summer of 2007, "there were bubble-dependent growth models in a surprisingly large number of countries—all now bursting." Asia's export bubbles, for instance, were inflated by the U.S. consumer-spending bubble. So he expects the recovery to be slow and anemic at best. (Foreign Policy)
—Edited by Harry Maurer & Cristinal Linblad
Scandal at Satyam
Just what Corporate India didn't need right now: an accounting scandal at one of its star outsourcers. On Jan. 7, Ramalingam Raju, chairman of Satyam Computer Services, quit and admitted he had cooked the books. Raju said he had overstated cash on hand by $1 billion and inflated profits and revenues in last year's September quarter. Satyam shares sank 78%, and the benchmark Sensex index lost 7.3% that day, as other outsources fretted about how the news would affect their reputations.
See "India's Madoff? Satyam Scandal Rocks Outsourcing Industry"
—Edited by Harry Maurer & Cristinal Linblad
Natural Gas Face-Off
It's turning into an annual affair: Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine fighting about the price of natural gas. But this time matters got out of hand, and on Jan. 6, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin cut off deliveries to Europe through Ukraine. At one point the two countries weren't far apart—Ukraine said it would pay $235 per 1,000 cubic meters, just $15 less than Russia wanted. So why couldn't they make a deal? Some experts suspect corruption is playing a role.
See "Ukraine and Russia: The Role of a Middleman"
—Edited by Harry Maurer & Cristinal Linblad
Citgo's About-Face
Propaganda is a tricky business. For three cold winters, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez took delight in distributing free or discounted heating oil to poor families in the U.S. while lambasting President George W. Bush. But on Jan. 5, former Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, whose Citizens Energy administered the program for Venezuelan-owned Citgo, announced that falling oil prices had prompted the company to ditch the largesse. Whoops—two days later, Citgo said it would continue the program after all, offering 100 gallons for free.
—Edited by Harry Maurer & Cristinal Linblad
No comments:
Post a Comment