excel86 (99.41)

Yahoo's fate

April 23, 2008 – Comments (0) | RELATED TICKERS: YHOO , MSFT , GOOG

Yahoo earned $542 million, or 37 cents per share in Q1, more than triple of that in Q1 2007. However, most of the profit ($401 million) came from the IPO of its investment in a Chinese e-commerce firm, Alibaba. Excluding that, it leaves Yahoo with a profit of 11 cents a share, about the same as last year. Considering the internet advertising industry is growing at a much faster rate, Yahoo's performance is not impressive at all.  [more]

Thoughts on Initial Public Offering (IPO)

April 16, 2008 – Comments (0)

Initial public offering (IPO) is the first stock sale by private company to the public. The firms usually raise money to fund their operations and expansion or allowing the founders to reduce their holdings in the firm. Since there wasn’t any market price for the private firm, the IPO price is set by investment banks that underwrite the offering.  [more]

Has the U.S. economy hit bottom?

April 15, 2008 – Comments (1)

The ongoing subprime mortgage crisis began when a housing bubble burst in the US and a substantial number of mortgage borrowers started to default on subprime and adjustable rate mortgages. That as since cascaded into numerous problems and the subprime mortgage crisis has resulted in a global financial crisis, with substantial impact on global stock markets, insurance companies, financial institutions, and homeowners. The collapse of giant investment bank Bear Stearns is just one reminder of how grim the situation has become. For more information, please read our special report on the subprime mortgage crisis and our brief timeline of the situation.   [more]

What goes up must come down?

April 15, 2008 – Comments (0) | RELATED TICKERS: CROX

Share price of CROX is down 27% because management has lowered the first quarter guidance to a loss of 5 cent a share, well below the Wall Street consensus of 45 cents profit.   [more]

Overview of the oil industry

April 11, 2008 – Comments (2)

Overview

Most oil reserves worldwide are state-owned, making it difficult for international oil companies to have access to new oilfields. For example, Saudi Aramco, the largest oil and gas production firm in the world, is owned by the government of Saudi Arabia and is the country’s major source of revenue. 40% of the world’s oil production is from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); they are able to control oil prices by changing production levels.  [more]