Saturday, November 21, 2009

“Business associate: NY’s Bruno hired for contacts - LoHud.com” plus 4 more

“Business associate: NY’s Bruno hired for contacts - LoHud.com” plus 4 more

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Business associate: NY’s Bruno hired for contacts - LoHud.com

Posted: 20 Nov 2009 06:19 PM PST

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Prosecutors ended their case against former state Senate leader Joseph Bruno with testimony Friday from a friend and business associate who said he hired the longtime Republican lawmaker as a consultant for his contacts and the ...

UPDATE 1-Dell bets on corporate spending for recovery - Forex Pros

Posted: 19 Nov 2009 09:12 PM PST

* Comfortable with current industry growth forecast - exec

* Expects PC demand pick up following Windows 7 launch

* Says revenue in Asia to resume growth in near future (Adds details, quotes)

By Kelvin Soh

SINGAPORE, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Dell, the world's No.3 PC brand, said on Friday that its core business of selling computers to companies was returning, after a sharp drop-off during the global downturn led to disappointing quarterly results.

Dell's commercial business has traditionally made up the bulk of its revenue, and is an area where it continues to hold some advantage over recent upstarts such as Acer of Taiwan.

"A lot of the recovery this time has been in the consumer sector, so it's not surprising to see Dell's recovery is a bit slower," Steve Felice, president of Dell's small and medium business, told reporters during a telephone conference.

Earlier, Dell announced that its third-quarter net profit plunged 54 percent from a year earlier on lower-than-expected sales as it lost market share to competitors amid a wider price war in the sector.

Felice said he was comfortable with market forecasts for PC shipments in 2010, and said the company would be working to outpace the market.

"We know how these figures were derived, and we're comfortable with the way IDC sees the world going," Felice said.

Research firm IDC says PC shipments are likely to climb above 9 percent to nearly 310 million units in 2010 from this year, and an additional 13 percent in 2011 from 2010.

Asia would continue to drive much of the company's growth, Felice said, with revenue likely to return to positive growth in the near future. He declined to give details.

Much of this growth came from emerging markets such as China, where Dell said it saw its revenue grow by about 20 percent in the third quarter from the preceding three months.

Demand for computers also picked up following Microsoft's launch of its new Windows 7 operating system on Oct. 22, but the bulk of demand is likely to come from companies looking to upgrade their aging PC systems.

"Windows 7 will have some positive effects on overall PC demand, but the larger effect will come from the older base," Felice said.

Other rivals, such as Lenovo and Acer, have also been similarly upbeat on the effect of Windows 7 on PC sales, betting that the new operating system will spur commercial demand for computers.

Dell shares tumbled 6 percent following the weak results, which stood in contrast to larger rival HP's market-beating preliminary earnings this same week. (Reporting by Kelvin Soh; Editing by Chris Lewis)

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EBay completes sale of Skype - Economic Times

Posted: 20 Nov 2009 05:28 PM PST

SAN FRANCISCO: EBay Inc said on Thursday it had completed its sale of its Skype unit, as it had vowed to do before the end of the year.

A settlement reached earlier this month over pending litigation involving the web telephone services' founders, eBay and the buyers cleared the way for the sale. Some analysts had worried that the litigation could have derailed the deal.

The deal, which values Skype at $2.75 billion, gives eBay approximately $1.9 billion in cash and a note in the principal amount of $125 million, eBay said in a statement.

EBay, which operates its marketplaces business and also owns Web payment unit PayPal, retains an about 30 percent stake in Skype. As part of a Skype debt financing, eBay purchased senior debt securities with a face value of $50 million, it said.

The buyer of Skype is an investor group that includes private equity firm Silver Lake, Joltid Limited, investment firm Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

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Report: NBC's Owners Argue Over Valuation - OfficialWire

Posted: 21 Nov 2009 06:50 AM PST

U.S. cable giant Comcast's bid to acquire NBC Universal has been delayed by disagreements over the value of the company, sources say.

Citing unnamed "people close to the negotiations," the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday that NBC Universal's U.S. and French owners are fighting among themselves over arriving at a valuation for the French firm's stake in the television and movie company.

NBC Universal's owners include General Electric Co., which holds 80 percent of the media company, while France's Vivendi controls 20 percent. Sources told the Times they are arguing over the value of the minority position held by Vivendi, and are still $500 million apart in reaching an agreement.

Another source indicated the two sides could be as far as $900 million apart in value.

Times sources said G.E. has placed a total value of $27 billion to $30 billion in NBC Universal, which would put Vivendi's share at about $5.4 billion.

State's jobless rate climbs to 11.2 percent - WTVF

Posted: 19 Nov 2009 03:21 PM PST

Associated Press - November 19, 2009 6:24 PM ET

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The state's jobless rate climbed to 11.2 percent in October despite signs that the economy is improving.

Chief labor market analyst Justine Detzel said 7 of 11 nonfarm employment sectors added jobs in October, resulting in more jobs being added than lost in the state.

The professional and business services sector added 5,000 positions in October. The government sector added another 1,200.

The services sector lost 2,200 jobs and manufacturing lost 2,000.

The October jobless was up from September's 10.9 percent despite the employment gains.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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