Barrick Gold (ABX -1.4%) says it reached a deal with the government of the Dominican Republic over the taxation of the Pueblo Viejo mine, which it owns with Goldcorp (GG -1%). ABX says the new deal will see an almost equal split of cash flow with the Dominican government from the mine between 2012-16. [View news story]
Yes, didn't something similar also happen to D'Anconia Copper?
Microsoft (MSFT +0.7%) roundup: 1) An upcoming Surface tablet will feature a 7.5" high-res display, but mass-production won't start until Q1 '14, says NPD. 2) Acer is apparently set to launch an 8" Windows 8 Pro tablet that will sell for $380; the cheapest iPad Mini goes for $329. 3) R.I.P. Hotmail: Microsoft has migrated all 400M+ active Hotmail accounts to its Outlook.com platform. 4) Walmart will sell Nokia's (NOK) Lumia 521, a U.S. variant of the Lumia 520, for less than $150 unsubsidized. That gives Windows Phone, which has been at a price disadvantage relative to low-end Android gear, a chance to move downmarket. (Surface launch report) [View news story]
I was one of the hotmail users migrated to outlook and I am very happy with the switch.
Microsoft (MSFT -0.7%) roundup: 1) Windows 8 was used on 3.82% of PCs in April, estimates Net Applications. That's up from March's 3.17% and Feb.'s 2.67%, butikely a slower adoption rate that Microsoft was hoping for. An estimated 38.7% still Win. XP, which Microsoft will end support for in a year - there might be a rush of business upgrades ahead of that. 2) An IT worker survey from Dell's KACE found 69% of those upgrading from XP are adopting Win. 7, and just 2% Win. 8. This meshes with past enterprise survey results. 3) Following Microsoft's Azure disclosure, Bernstein estimates the company's total cloud sales are around $2.3B-$2.6B/year. [View news story]
You mean like the ones Apple seems to be considering?
"In addition to losing the complex interface design characteristics from earlier versions of iOS, Apple has been discussing and testing ways to add more ‘glance-able’ information." Sounds like live tiles to me.
Deposits over €100K at the Bank of Cyprus will be taxed at 62.5%, sources tell Reuters. The figure is far greater than officials originally indicated. Customers will get 37.5% of their deposits over the €100K threshold in bank shares while the remainder of their cash "may never be paid back."[View news story]
"Deposits over €100K at the Bank of Cyprus will be taxed at 62.5%"
This already happens in America as inflation. It's just a more gradual process.
"I could see a very quick and violent - and tradable - upward move in rates," says Jim Grant, who is currently short the iShares IG Corporate Bond ETF (LQD). Not having an idea of when this might happen, Grant says there's plenty of "poetic signs and portents" that it will happen. [View news story]
Germany Recalling Gold Reserves Good News For Investors, Bad News For Federal Reserve [View article]
Upon reading that Germany was repatriating its gold reserves, I immediately recalled this event in "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds:"
The first slight alarm that was occasioned was early in 1720. The Prince de Conti, offended that Law should have denied him fresh shares in India stock, at his own price, sent to his bank to demand payment in specie of so enormous a quantity of notes, that three wagons were required for its transport. Law complained to the regent, and urged on his attention the mischief that would be done, if such an example found many imitators. The regent was but too well aware of it, and, sending for the Prince de Conti, ordered him, under penalty of his high displeasure, to refund to the bank two-thirds of the specie which he had withdrawn from it. The prince was forced to obey the despotic mandate. Happily for Law's credit, De Conti was an unpopular man: everybody condemned his meanness and cupidity, and agreed that Law had been hardly treated. It is strange, however, that so narrow an escape should not have made both Law and the regent more anxious to restrict their issues. Others were soon found who imitated from motives of distrust, the example which had been set by De Conti in revenge. The more acute stockjobbers imagined justly that prices could not continue to rise forever. Bourdon and La Richardiere, renowned for their extensive operations in the funds, quietly and in small quantities at a time, converted their notes into specie, and sent it away to foreign countries. They also bought as much as they could conveniently carry of plate and expensive jewellery, and sent it secretly away to England or to Holland.
More on the plunge (worst since 1986) in the NFIB small business index: "Something bad happened in November ... and it wasn't Hurricane Sandy," says the NFIB's Bill Dunkelberg. A "stunning number" of owners expect conditions to worsen over the next 6 months." Note: The NFIB excluded responses from those in Sandy-affected states from the final tally. [View news story]
The "something bad in November" was small businesspeople learned that their taxes are going up and they are going to have to work until they die in order to fund entitlements, public employee retirements, and interest payments to China.
Nokia Scores Big Win With China Mobile Partnership For Lumia 920T [View article]
It's amazing to watch iPhone owners jaws drop when they see my red Nokia 920. everyone who sees it loves it. it's like pulling a Ferrari out of my pocket. style baby!
U.S. kids again want iPads for Christmas ... and so do a lot of their parents. A Nielsen survey found 48% of kids aged 6-12 and 21% of kids aged 13+ are interested in buying an iPad (AAPL) over the next 6 months. That's similar to last year's numbers. Meanwhile, an Ipsos poll found 1/3 of U.S. consumers to be interested in buying a tablet this holiday season. 25% of them want a regular iPad, 15% want a Kindle Fire, another 15% a Samsung tablet, and just 8% an iPad Mini. NPD's Richard Shim estimates Q4 North American tablet shipments will total 21.5M, easily outpacing notebook shipments of 14.6M. [View news story]
I'd say the emphasis is on "everyone has it." No one dares to be an individual any more. I'm reminded of the Dr. Seuss story about the star-bellied sneetches.
When Apple (AAPL -2.2%) last traded at its current level of $514, MLB spring training hadn't started and the 3rd-gen iPad was still a mystery. Outside of the poor sales figures for Dell's PC business, which Mac/iPad sales are partly responsible for, there doesn't seem to be any major news to trigger today's sharp decline. Shares now trade at just a little over 7x FY13E EPS exc. cash - the Street seems to be pricing in expectations of limited growth and ongoing margin pressure. [View news story]
Still a $500 billion market cap and phone that is boring in comparison with the competition.
U.S. carriers are doing what they can to try to give Windows Phone (MSFT) a mass following. Verizon Wireless (VZ) says it will offer a Windows Phone model for free with contract by year's end, but doesn't say from whom. Big Red currently offers HTC's high-end 8X for $199, and Nokia's (NOK) mid-range Lumia 822 for $99. Sprint (S), meanwhile, promises to introduce WP models next year. [View news story]
I pre-ordered and am still waiting as well. It's a great deal and the free wireless charger seems to have persuaded a lot of people to pre-order. Hopefully this means demand is solid.
Barrick Gold (ABX -1.4%) says it reached a deal with the government of the Dominican Republic over the taxation of the Pueblo Viejo mine, which it owns with Goldcorp (GG -1%). ABX says the new deal will see an almost equal split of cash flow with the Dominican government from the mine between 2012-16. [View news story]
Microsoft (MSFT +0.7%) roundup: 1) An upcoming Surface tablet will feature a 7.5" high-res display, but mass-production won't start until Q1 '14, says NPD. 2) Acer is apparently set to launch an 8" Windows 8 Pro tablet that will sell for $380; the cheapest iPad Mini goes for $329. 3) R.I.P. Hotmail: Microsoft has migrated all 400M+ active Hotmail accounts to its Outlook.com platform. 4) Walmart will sell Nokia's (NOK) Lumia 521, a U.S. variant of the Lumia 520, for less than $150 unsubsidized. That gives Windows Phone, which has been at a price disadvantage relative to low-end Android gear, a chance to move downmarket. (Surface launch report) [View news story]
Microsoft (MSFT -0.7%) roundup: 1) Windows 8 was used on 3.82% of PCs in April, estimates Net Applications. That's up from March's 3.17% and Feb.'s 2.67%, butikely a slower adoption rate that Microsoft was hoping for. An estimated 38.7% still Win. XP, which Microsoft will end support for in a year - there might be a rush of business upgrades ahead of that. 2) An IT worker survey from Dell's KACE found 69% of those upgrading from XP are adopting Win. 7, and just 2% Win. 8. This meshes with past enterprise survey results. 3) Following Microsoft's Azure disclosure, Bernstein estimates the company's total cloud sales are around $2.3B-$2.6B/year. [View news story]
"In addition to losing the complex interface design characteristics from earlier versions of iOS, Apple has been discussing and testing ways to add more ‘glance-able’ information." Sounds like live tiles to me.
Deposits over €100K at the Bank of Cyprus will be taxed at 62.5%, sources tell Reuters. The figure is far greater than officials originally indicated. Customers will get 37.5% of their deposits over the €100K threshold in bank shares while the remainder of their cash "may never be paid back." [View news story]
This already happens in America as inflation. It's just a more gradual process.
"I could see a very quick and violent - and tradable - upward move in rates," says Jim Grant, who is currently short the iShares IG Corporate Bond ETF (LQD). Not having an idea of when this might happen, Grant says there's plenty of "poetic signs and portents" that it will happen. [View news story]
Apple's Growth Story Is Over [View article]
Is Apple Taking The Microsoft Path? [View article]
Germany Recalling Gold Reserves Good News For Investors, Bad News For Federal Reserve [View article]
The first slight alarm that was occasioned was early in 1720. The Prince de Conti, offended that Law should have denied him fresh shares in India stock, at his own price, sent to his bank to demand payment in specie of so enormous a quantity of notes, that three wagons were required for its transport. Law complained to the regent, and urged on his attention the mischief that would be done, if such an example found many imitators. The regent was but too well aware of it, and, sending for the Prince de Conti, ordered him, under penalty of his high displeasure, to refund to the bank two-thirds of the specie which he had withdrawn from it. The prince was forced to obey the despotic mandate. Happily for Law's credit, De Conti was an unpopular man: everybody condemned his meanness and cupidity, and agreed that Law had been hardly treated. It is strange, however, that so narrow an escape should not have made both Law and the regent more anxious to restrict their issues. Others were soon found who imitated from motives of distrust, the example which had been set by De Conti in revenge. The more acute stockjobbers imagined justly that prices could not continue to rise forever. Bourdon and La Richardiere, renowned for their extensive operations in the funds, quietly and in small quantities at a time, converted their notes into specie, and sent it away to foreign countries. They also bought as much as they could conveniently carry of plate and expensive jewellery, and sent it secretly away to England or to Holland.
http://bit.ly/Syt4Ny
More on the plunge (worst since 1986) in the NFIB small business index: "Something bad happened in November ... and it wasn't Hurricane Sandy," says the NFIB's Bill Dunkelberg. A "stunning number" of owners expect conditions to worsen over the next 6 months." Note: The NFIB excluded responses from those in Sandy-affected states from the final tally. [View news story]
Nokia Scores Big Win With China Mobile Partnership For Lumia 920T [View article]
Berkshire Hathaway Is Loaded For Long-Term Appreciation [View article]
3 Key Metrics That Show Why We Can't Avoid Recession [View article]
U.S. kids again want iPads for Christmas ... and so do a lot of their parents. A Nielsen survey found 48% of kids aged 6-12 and 21% of kids aged 13+ are interested in buying an iPad (AAPL) over the next 6 months. That's similar to last year's numbers. Meanwhile, an Ipsos poll found 1/3 of U.S. consumers to be interested in buying a tablet this holiday season. 25% of them want a regular iPad, 15% want a Kindle Fire, another 15% a Samsung tablet, and just 8% an iPad Mini. NPD's Richard Shim estimates Q4 North American tablet shipments will total 21.5M, easily outpacing notebook shipments of 14.6M. [View news story]
When Apple (AAPL -2.2%) last traded at its current level of $514, MLB spring training hadn't started and the 3rd-gen iPad was still a mystery. Outside of the poor sales figures for Dell's PC business, which Mac/iPad sales are partly responsible for, there doesn't seem to be any major news to trigger today's sharp decline. Shares now trade at just a little over 7x FY13E EPS exc. cash - the Street seems to be pricing in expectations of limited growth and ongoing margin pressure. [View news story]
U.S. carriers are doing what they can to try to give Windows Phone (MSFT) a mass following. Verizon Wireless (VZ) says it will offer a Windows Phone model for free with contract by year's end, but doesn't say from whom. Big Red currently offers HTC's high-end 8X for $199, and Nokia's (NOK) mid-range Lumia 822 for $99. Sprint (S), meanwhile, promises to introduce WP models next year. [View news story]