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MARKET CURRENTS

  • 10:25 PM Shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China fall nearly 2% in Hong Kong following Goldman's sale of its remaining stake in the bank. (previous) Comment! [Financials]
  • 10:18 PM "It would no doubt come as some surprise to many … that S&P's repeated assurances that its ratings were objective … were entitled to no more weight than an infomercial hawker's claim that his knife will outlast any other," the Justice Department says, referencing S&P's (MHFI) assertion that because statements about the independence of its ratings were described as "mere puffery" in a previous judgement, they can't form the basis for a lawsuit. The Justice Department asked a federal judge to allow a suit against the ratings agency to move forward Monday, after S&P filed for dismissal last month. Comment!
  • 7:53 PM TiVo (TIVO): Q1 beats across the board on narrower losses as the TV set-top box maker continues to boost its subscriber rolls and rack up stronger revenue. The company has now posted subscriber increases for seven straight quarters, following a four-year streak of declining subscriber numbers. In the latest period, TiVo added a net 255K subscribers, compared with the 206K subscribers gained in the prior year period. Shares +1.1% AH. Comment! [Earnings, On the Move, Tech]
  • 7:36 PM More on Urban Outfitters (URBN): Q1 beats on a per share basis but comes up short on revenue. Net profit rose 39% Y/Y as the clothing retailer posted record revenue and margins widened to 36.8% from 35.6% on fewer markdowns at Anthropologie. Comp retail sales, including catalog and online businesses, rose 9%, including 6% growth at its namesake brand, 8% at Anthropologie and 44% at Free People. Direct-to-consumer comp net sales were 14% higher, while sales at the company's wholesale business jumped 16%. Shares -4.1% AH. Comment! [Consumer, Earnings, On the Move]
  • 7:07 PM Loopholes allowed Apple (AAPL) to avoid $44B in U.S. taxes from 2009-2012, claims a Senate report released shortly after Apple's official statement. Though peers have also been accused of using offshore havens, the report argues Apple went further by creating a subsidiary (responsible for ~1/3 of profits from 2009-11) that used differences in U.S. and Irish law to have no residence whatsoever. Sen. Carl Levin calls this "the Holy Grail of tax avoidance." Also, while Apple claims $6B in FY12 federal tax payments, the report claims the real number is $2.4B if one backs out deferred payments on foreign cash (only paid if/when the cash is repatriated) 39 Comments [Tech]
  • 6:55 PM Rockwood Holdings' (ROC) pigments businesses have attracted offers from buyout firms including Blackstone (BX) and Advent International, Reuters reports. ROC is packaging its Sachtleben titanium dioxide unit with its color additives units and is hoping to sell or spin off the businesses by the end of the year for as much as $2B. 1 Comment [Commodities, M&A]
  • 6:50 PM Google (GOOG) roundup: 1) YouTube's video upload rate has passed 100 hours per minute. That's up from 72 hours last year, and 48 the year before. The milestone comes as YouTube expands live streaming support, and announces plans to unify its design across devices/platforms. 2) In July, Dell (DELL) will begin selling Project Ophelia, a $100 USB flash drive-shaped device that allows any monitor with an HDMI port to be turned into an Android PC. Dell is also working on "a keyboard-like technology for users to type when Ophelia is docked to a screen." 6 Comments [Tech]
  • 6:47 PM Enbridge Energy Partners (EEP), which had threatened to close an oil rail loading terminal in North Dakota unless the content of potentially deadly sulfide gas in Bakken crude shipments was reduced below 5 ppm, now says it will accept shipments if it is notified in advance but may seek reimbursement for damages caused by any unauthorized delivery. Comment! [Energy]
  • 6:29 PM Southern Co. (SO) replaces the head of its Mississippi utility amid growing concern about the cost of its Kemper coal power plant whose estimated price tag has ballooned to $4.3B. General counsel Ed Holland is named CEO of Mississippi Power following the sudden retirement of Ed Day, who had headed the utility since 2010. SO took $540M in charges against earnings related to Kemper in Q1. 1 Comment [Energy]
  • 6:19 PM Intuit (INTU) unveils a big restructuring a day before its FQ3 report arrives. Starting Aug.1 (the beginning of FY14), Intuit will be split into 6 units: Small Business Financial Solutions (QuickBooks, Intuit Payments), Small Business Management Solutions (employee management, Demandforce), Consumer Tax (TurboTax), Consumer Ecosystem (Quicken), Accounting Professionals, and Financial Services (online banking). Kiran Patel and Alex Lintner, currently the respective chiefs of Intuit's Small Business and Global Business units, will be leaving. (tax season results) Comment! [Tech]
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