IBM plans a $5bn buyback October 27, 2009 IBM said yesterday it plans to spend another $5bn (£3.1bn) on share repurchases, boosting its total outstanding stock buyback programme to $9.2bn in a reflection of its strong cash flow. IBM said it will repurchase shares on the open market or in private transactions, depending on market conditions. It also said it expects to request [...]
Google and IBM surpass expectations October 15, 2009 US technology companies were upbeat last night, with Google declaring that the worst of the recession is over and IBM raising its full-year outlook. Google, the world’s number one search engine, said that its net income rose by 27 per cent in the third quarter to $1.64bn (£1bn), or $5.13 a share, compared with $1.29bn, [...]
Tech and industrial shares tick up on earnings hopes May 12, 2010 US stocks capped their best three-day run in 10 months yesterday boosted by technology and industrial shares, after Spain unveiled an austerity plan that reassured investors Europe was addressing its fiscal ills. Spain said it will slash civil service pay and cut public-sector jobs, just a few days after EU finance ministers approved a €750bn [...]
Tories in desperate fight for survival April 19, 2010 POLITICS has not returned to normality and may never do so; unless the Nick Clegg bubble is pricked in the next few days, the Liberal Democrats are about to overthrow the established order and hand Gordon Brown an astonishing opportunity to remain in Downing Street. Few investors and voters have properly digested the revolutionary implications [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES POKER PROVES TOUGH GAMBLE FOR 888 888 Holdings took a near 30 per cent hit on poker revenues last year, but the online gambling operator said it was confident of tapping into its well of social players and predicted a return to poker growth in the second half of 2010. Poker was the [...]
Goldman Sachs shares sell-off was overdone April 18, 2010 UK AND EUROPEAN stock markets are expected to recover some of Friday’s Goldman Sachs-inspired losses on the open this morning. Whilst the markets are still digesting the implications of the SEC fraud charges, our call is that Friday’s knee-jerk sell-off was overdone – exagerrated by profit-taking following a winning streak for the Dow of six [...]
Sovereign debt risk sparks worry over banks May 9, 2010 HEADING into last week, the markets were still primarily focused on politics. Would Greece receive aid money from fellow European countries? Would politicians come together and back fiscal measures to stem Greek debt contagion? Who would win the general election in Britain? Previously peaceful anti-austerity protests in Greece took a turn for the worse, investors [...]
IBM in US probe over claims it unfairly abused dominance October 8, 2009 IBM, the computer hardware giant, is facing a US Department of Justice (DoJ) investigation over allegations it abused its dominance of the mainframe market to squeeze out its rivals. The anti-competition probe was announced yesterday by Ed Black, chairman of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which had urged the DoJ to step in. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 19, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES HCL FUELS DEBATE The head of one of India’s biggest IT outsourcing companies has waded into the debate on UK public sector efficiency savings, complaining of an “old boys’ network” in government procurement. Vineet Nayar, chief executive of HCL Technologies, hit out at the “stranglehold of a few companies” in Britain’s £17bn market [...]
Start-ups secure funding as recovery kicks in April 26, 2010 For those of us on the ground building businesses, a new reality is emerging as the recovery sets in. Ariadne has won funding for five companies in 2010 including Everyclick, which has secured a hefty sum from new and existing investors. Why are so many start-ups getting funded – in our portfolio and elsewhere – [...]