A new Greek poll shows the anti-bailout Syriza party gaining support, now garnering 30% of the vote against 26% for 2nd place New Democracy. The poll also shows 85% of Greeks prefer to stay in the euro. Another poll has Syriza and ND neck and neck with 23.5% of the vote. [View news story]
No, they want to get rid of the crooks who run the country.
Nothing was accomplished at today's EU summit as officials play for time - hoping Greek (and French legislative) elections in June bring more political support for the bailout regime and a move towards "economic union." The trouble is the pace at which not just Greece, but the EU economy is unraveling. Can they wait another month, and what happens if the elections don't go the right way? [View news story]
The problem for the Greek public is that they want to stay in the Euro but they don't want the same crooks running the country anymore. There are two families that have run the country for the last 50 years and the corruption is legendary.
As concerns grows on the economic front, former Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Martin Feldstein says the dangers are all too real. We're stumbling along right now, Feldstein says, and the folks forecasting 3% growth are far too optimistic. "We'll be lucky if we have 2%." As for the "economic cliff" we're facing in 2013, if everything that's due to expire expires, it will in fact be an economic disaster. (video) [View news story]
I Told You So: Facebook's Ugly IPO Debut [View article]
If FB had popped to 48-50 and then started down ala GRPN and others, nobody would be making such a big deal about it. It would have done so were it not for Nasdaq's inability to process and report orders and executions. The first few days of an IPO are all about momentum traders who need quick confirmations. They all fled the scene.
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would raise U.S. gasoline prices, according to the National Resources Defense Council: The pipeline would divert crude oil from the U.S. Midwest to Gulf Coast refineries geared to producing diesel fuel for export, which would reduce gasoline produced for U.S. consumers and raise production costs, making the fuel more expensive. [View news story]
Well, we don't and won't likely export crude. We do export diesel. If the gulf refineries prove to be the next choke point, then we'll build more refineries, If not, then we'll just run at somewhat higher capacity but won't need new facilities. Port capacity seems sufficient and there are limits to Latam demand for imported diesel. LNG is coming, hopefully. We have six or seven planned facilities and several permitted with construction slated to begin soon, despite opposition from Dow and other chemical firms who rightly claim that cheap NG is a huge US advantage and have proposed regulations to inhibit LNG exports. The number of jobs is speculation but cheap, abundant domestic energy can drive our economy. The XL is really for the tar sands crude, where production is scheduled to increase a lot in three years. We really need a pipeline from the Bakken where light sweet Bakken crude sells at a $20 or so discount to WTI because it's stranded. Even the old east coast refineries can handle it. As far as gas prices. You can only get so much diesel from a barrel of oil. Some gasoline gets produced. So much so that we actually have a surplus of the stuff, along with all time record storage at Cushing. The reasons for high gasoline prices are very questionable indeed. More oil to the gulf refineries will make more gasoline and, in theory, prices would decline. The theory of supply and demand apparently doesn't function very well in this industry. On the other hand, if the global economy continues to slow, so will the demand for US diesel and we could end up floating in cheap distillates and tar sands crude.
Bill Gurley defends Facebook's (FB -9.3%) weak post-IPO showing by pointing out Amazon (AMZN) fell below its IPO price shortly after its 5/17/97 offering, and didn't move above until 7/6. Of course, Amazon was worth less than $1B at the time, whereas Facebook is worth $95B today. TechCrunch founder-turned-VC Mike Arrington says he just bought some Facebook shares. (earlier) [View news story]
At the time, few thought AMZN's business model of selling books on the internet would work. FB does have a model, heck they had EBITDA of over two billion bucks and GAAP earnings of over 600 million in the last twelve months. It's really Google's model. Advertising, extremely targeted advertising, word of mouth advertising. What the company is trying to figure out isn't how to capitalize on their users, it's trying to figure out how to maximize their mobile usage.
Henry Blodget sets a target range of $16-$24 for Facebook (FB -11%), based on a valuation of 20x-30x a 2013 EPS estimate of $0.80. Blodget's retort to those bullish due to Facebook's growth potential: Facebook has already been working on monetization for years; Mark Zuckerberg cares more about Facebook's "social mission" than its business; and the company's next billion users, weighted towards emerging markets, will be much less valuable than its first billion. (previous) [View news story]
So far a subscription model hasn't worked well for the internet. It's all about advertising for a revenue and profit model.
Spain says it may have to once again revise its 2011 budget deficit upward. Spending by the four regional Spanish governments exceeded forecasts, driving up the national deficit for a second time. The government now projects a possible deficit that is equal to 8.9% of GDP, nearly three times the recommended maximum for nations using the euro. [View news story]
Best chemists in the world. Germany, however, has benefited from being in the Euro dis proportionally because it gives them a currency that is much lower than it would be if Germany had it's own currency. That gives them a huge current account balance that they have used to fund their own social programs, health care etc. Germany is almost as socialist as their neighbors but they are extremely nationalistic and protectionist. No country can balance their budget when their current account balance is extremely negative. Floating currencies help a lot. Currency pegs fuel distortions and economic upheavals. Bretton Woods anyone?
France and Germany fail to move the ball forward on the prospect of eurobond issuance at a meeting of their respective finmins today ahead of a EU leader summit on Wednesday. The Germans remain adamant against such a move, and it remains to be seen if Hollande, along with Monti and Rajoy, can shift the center of EU power out of Berlin. [View news story]
Perhaps a solution would be to toss Germany out of the Euro. Germany could go back to the Mark, which would appreciate quickly and drastically, making German exports very expensive but raise the competitiveness of the remaining Euro members. Just an idea.
Leveraging the patents the companies acquired last year from Nortel, AAPL, MSFT, RIMM, SNE, and ERIC have officially entered the patent-trolling business via the Rockstar Consortium. Funded by the aforementioned companies and owning 4,000 ex-Nortel patents, Rockstar examines tech products for evidence of infringement, and demands licensing fees when it's found. Since Rockstar, unlike its owners, doesn't make anything, it can't be countersued. [View news story]
Not what the industry needs. More sand in the gears.
Henry Blodget sets a target range of $16-$24 for Facebook (FB -11%), based on a valuation of 20x-30x a 2013 EPS estimate of $0.80. Blodget's retort to those bullish due to Facebook's growth potential: Facebook has already been working on monetization for years; Mark Zuckerberg cares more about Facebook's "social mission" than its business; and the company's next billion users, weighted towards emerging markets, will be much less valuable than its first billion. (previous) [View news story]
Mark Zuckerberg cares more about Facebook's social mission than the business (i.e.profits). The folly of youth. God bless him. I'm tempted to buy some stock at some price. Do no evil. A wonderful business principle from a set of kids at Google. Also a profitable business principle.
Bill Gurley defends Facebook's (FB -9.3%) weak post-IPO showing by pointing out Amazon (AMZN) fell below its IPO price shortly after its 5/17/97 offering, and didn't move above until 7/6. Of course, Amazon was worth less than $1B at the time, whereas Facebook is worth $95B today. TechCrunch founder-turned-VC Mike Arrington says he just bought some Facebook shares. (earlier) [View news story]
900 million users are all women bragging about how well off they are? I think you should become a little more familiar with Facebook. If I recall correctly and maybe I don't, Amazon wasn't profitable when it went public. Facebook was incorporated in 04, had an EBITDA of $2.13 billion, GAAP of $649M and is projected to be making well over $1 billion this year. Pretty impressive for an 8 year old company. I don't own Facebook and I'm not telling you it's a good investment at this price, but I am telling you not to ignore Facebook or social media in general.
Spain says it may have to once again revise its 2011 budget deficit upward. Spending by the four regional Spanish governments exceeded forecasts, driving up the national deficit for a second time. The government now projects a possible deficit that is equal to 8.9% of GDP, nearly three times the recommended maximum for nations using the euro. [View news story]
Northwestern Europe's turn is coming as they lose their export customers.
One of the reasons for Facebook's (FB) less-than-stellar performance today may be due to the fact that the system became so clogged that traders backed away, says CNBC's David Faber. The big mid-day drop - from $40 to $38 - apparently happened because the Nasdaq temporarily stopped taking orders at one point, which created enough uncertainty that traders on many desks stopped trading the shares altogether. The SEC has launched an investigation into the issue. (video) [View news story]
Traders on desks doesn't refer to retail investors. These are traders at hedge funds and institutional desks trying to scalp a few nickels. The underwriters supported the stock at the IPO price. They do that with high profile IPO's. They used to do it with all of them. One trading strategy for the people on the desks was to use the underwriters as a backstop. Buy near or at $38 and scalp a nickel. That's what the best and brightest do for our economy and our markets.
A new Greek poll shows the anti-bailout Syriza party gaining support, now garnering 30% of the vote against 26% for 2nd place New Democracy. The poll also shows 85% of Greeks prefer to stay in the euro. Another poll has Syriza and ND neck and neck with 23.5% of the vote. [View news story]
Nothing was accomplished at today's EU summit as officials play for time - hoping Greek (and French legislative) elections in June bring more political support for the bailout regime and a move towards "economic union." The trouble is the pace at which not just Greece, but the EU economy is unraveling. Can they wait another month, and what happens if the elections don't go the right way? [View news story]
As concerns grows on the economic front, former Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Martin Feldstein says the dangers are all too real. We're stumbling along right now, Feldstein says, and the folks forecasting 3% growth are far too optimistic. "We'll be lucky if we have 2%." As for the "economic cliff" we're facing in 2013, if everything that's due to expire expires, it will in fact be an economic disaster. (video) [View news story]
I Told You So: Facebook's Ugly IPO Debut [View article]
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would raise U.S. gasoline prices, according to the National Resources Defense Council: The pipeline would divert crude oil from the U.S. Midwest to Gulf Coast refineries geared to producing diesel fuel for export, which would reduce gasoline produced for U.S. consumers and raise production costs, making the fuel more expensive. [View news story]
Bill Gurley defends Facebook's (FB -9.3%) weak post-IPO showing by pointing out Amazon (AMZN) fell below its IPO price shortly after its 5/17/97 offering, and didn't move above until 7/6. Of course, Amazon was worth less than $1B at the time, whereas Facebook is worth $95B today. TechCrunch founder-turned-VC Mike Arrington says he just bought some Facebook shares. (earlier) [View news story]
Henry Blodget sets a target range of $16-$24 for Facebook (FB -11%), based on a valuation of 20x-30x a 2013 EPS estimate of $0.80. Blodget's retort to those bullish due to Facebook's growth potential: Facebook has already been working on monetization for years; Mark Zuckerberg cares more about Facebook's "social mission" than its business; and the company's next billion users, weighted towards emerging markets, will be much less valuable than its first billion. (previous) [View news story]
Spain says it may have to once again revise its 2011 budget deficit upward. Spending by the four regional Spanish governments exceeded forecasts, driving up the national deficit for a second time. The government now projects a possible deficit that is equal to 8.9% of GDP, nearly three times the recommended maximum for nations using the euro. [View news story]
France and Germany fail to move the ball forward on the prospect of eurobond issuance at a meeting of their respective finmins today ahead of a EU leader summit on Wednesday. The Germans remain adamant against such a move, and it remains to be seen if Hollande, along with Monti and Rajoy, can shift the center of EU power out of Berlin. [View news story]
Leveraging the patents the companies acquired last year from Nortel, AAPL, MSFT, RIMM, SNE, and ERIC have officially entered the patent-trolling business via the Rockstar Consortium. Funded by the aforementioned companies and owning 4,000 ex-Nortel patents, Rockstar examines tech products for evidence of infringement, and demands licensing fees when it's found. Since Rockstar, unlike its owners, doesn't make anything, it can't be countersued. [View news story]
Henry Blodget sets a target range of $16-$24 for Facebook (FB -11%), based on a valuation of 20x-30x a 2013 EPS estimate of $0.80. Blodget's retort to those bullish due to Facebook's growth potential: Facebook has already been working on monetization for years; Mark Zuckerberg cares more about Facebook's "social mission" than its business; and the company's next billion users, weighted towards emerging markets, will be much less valuable than its first billion. (previous) [View news story]
Bill Gurley defends Facebook's (FB -9.3%) weak post-IPO showing by pointing out Amazon (AMZN) fell below its IPO price shortly after its 5/17/97 offering, and didn't move above until 7/6. Of course, Amazon was worth less than $1B at the time, whereas Facebook is worth $95B today. TechCrunch founder-turned-VC Mike Arrington says he just bought some Facebook shares. (earlier) [View news story]
I Told You So: Facebook's Ugly IPO Debut [View article]
Spain says it may have to once again revise its 2011 budget deficit upward. Spending by the four regional Spanish governments exceeded forecasts, driving up the national deficit for a second time. The government now projects a possible deficit that is equal to 8.9% of GDP, nearly three times the recommended maximum for nations using the euro. [View news story]
One of the reasons for Facebook's (FB) less-than-stellar performance today may be due to the fact that the system became so clogged that traders backed away, says CNBC's David Faber. The big mid-day drop - from $40 to $38 - apparently happened because the Nasdaq temporarily stopped taking orders at one point, which created enough uncertainty that traders on many desks stopped trading the shares altogether. The SEC has launched an investigation into the issue. (video) [View news story]