Market Currents

• Monday, December 14, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: XTO +19%. JAVA +10%. CLDX +9%. PWR +8%. CHK +7%. SIGA +6%. TER +6%. HK +6%. UPL +5%. LUV +5%. ANDS +5%. EOG +5%. SM +5%. DVN +4%. SD +4%. COG +4%. V +4%. TKC +4%. APC +4%. KWK +4%. TQNT +4%.
  Losers: AUO -6%. EBR -6%. C -3%. Comment!

• Sunday, December 13, 2009

• 18:29 PM MySQL creator Monty Widenius calls for help in his crusade to derail the Oracle (ORCL) / Sun Microsystems (JAVA) merger and save MySQL. "A weak MySQL is worth about one billion dollars per year to Oracle, maybe more. A strong MySQL could never generate enough income for Oracle that they would want to cannibalize their real cash cow." Comment!

• Wednesday, December 9, 2009

• 08:46 AM Microsoft (MSFT) and SAP will appear before EU regulators tomorrow to air their views on Oracle's (ORCL) plan to buy Sun Microsystems (JAVA) for $7B, sources say. The EC objected to the hook-up, saying the combination of Sun's MySQL database product and Oracle's products could squeeze competition in the database market, and is set to rule on the merger by Jan. 27. Comment!

• Friday, December 4, 2009

• 10:54 AM Oracle (ORCL) denies a New York Post report that says the company is "blinking" in its dispute with EU regulators over acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA) and offering to "quarantine" open-source database unit MySQL, running it as a separate business. "Completely untrue," says an Oracle spokeswoman. [[JAVA]] was up as much as 6%; now +2.1%. Comment!
• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: BIG +13%. SNV +10%. LDK +10%. MRVL +9%. RDN +6%. GT +6%. JAVA +6%. AKAM +5%. RMBS +5%. SEED +5%. STEM +5%. PMI +4%. SOLF +4%. ID +4%. MTG +4%. RF +4%.
  Losers: TTWO -31%. SWHC -14%. GSS -8%. REG -5%. WES -5%. NG -4%. Comment!

• Wednesday, December 2, 2009

• 08:51 AM Sun Microsystems’ (JAVA) server sales continue to crater as it lies in limbo while regulators ponder a deal with Oracle. Sun's market share fell to 7.5% in Q2, down a full two points from a year ago (IDC's server tracker). Windows (MSFT) server sales were $4.5B (-12.8%), good for 43% of the pie; Linux revenue was $1.5B (-12.6%), giving it 14.8% of the market. Comment!

• Monday, November 30, 2009

• 14:26 PM Dana Blankenhorn at ZDNet can think of only one reason Larry Ellison (ORCL) is fighting so hard for MySQL (JAVA): to bury it. He explains Wall Street's aversion (with notable exceptions: GOOG, IBM, MSFT, RHT) to open source: "Wall Street has only one concept of value, namely something it can exploit, sell stock on, take fees on. Open source doesn't fit the mold, so Wall Street figures it's worthless." 1 Comment

• Tuesday, November 10, 2009

• 08:20 AM The U.S. Justice Department, which has already signed off on the ORCL/JAVA combo, reiterated that the merger is "unlikely to be anticompetitive." Oracle, meanwhile, said the acquisition "does not threaten to reduce competition in the slightest," adding that the EC's concerns "reveal a profound misunderstanding of both database competition and open source dynamics." Comment!
• 08:14 AM EU antitrust authorities formally object to Oracle's (ORCL) proposed $7.4B takeover of Sun Microsystems (JAVA) on concerns Oracle ownership of Sun's MySQL database software would reduce competition. The move doesn't necessarily mean the EU will reject the deal, but should delay the process. 1 Comment

• Monday, November 9, 2009

• 17:16 PM The EU's lobbing of red flags at Oracle's (ORCL) planned $7.4B takeover of Sun Microsystems (JAVA) is sowing doubt, pushing Sun's stock down after hours to 15% below the offer price. Oracle says it will "vigorously oppose" the EU's decision, but might it still bail out on the deal? And if so, what next? Comment!

• Thursday, November 5, 2009

• 14:00 PM After Oracle's (ORCL) withdrawal of a Russian antitrust filing and an increase in tension with EU regulators, Alphaville notes it'll be wise of shareholders to look closely at the caveats in the company's planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA) - whose shareholders are effectively blowing in the wind. Comment!

• Tuesday, November 3, 2009

• 17:04 PM Oracle (ORCL) is bracing for formal EU objections to its $7.4B acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA), after refusing to offer concessions to European regulators. One side could yet back down - or it could mean a lengthy legal fight once the EU specifies its issues. CEO Larry Ellison has said Oracle loses $100M each month that Europe stalls. (previously) 2 Comments

• Wednesday, October 21, 2009

• 11:08 AM Sun Microsystems (JAVA -1.1%) moves lower after reports the European Commission was disappointed with Oracle's (ORCL +0.3%) cooperation in its antitrust probe into the proposed $7.4B Oracle/Sun merger. "Oracle failed to produce, despite repeated requests, either hard evidence that there were no competition problems or a proposal for a remedy to the competition problems identified by the commission," a spokesman said. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, October 20, 2009

• 16:47 PM Sun Microsystems (JAVA) says it will cut 3,000 jobs - over 9% of its workforce - in the coming year, across all geographic areas, even as the company continues the process of being acquired by Oracle (ORCL). Comment!

• Tuesday, September 22, 2009

• 14:23 PM Oracle (ORCL -0.1%) chairman Larry Ellison says Sun Microsystems (JAVA -0.5%) is losing about $100M/month while EU regulators debate their merger, as rivals IBM (IBM) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) poach Sun's customers amid uncertainty about its future. Yet another reason to question the wisdom of this combo. Comment!

• Tuesday, September 15, 2009

• 08:24 AM The European Commission's reluctance to rubber-stamp Oracle's (ORCL) purchase of Sun Microsystems (JAVA) is largely due to the deal's implications for open source software - specifically MySQL. Comment!