Month: January 2012

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) and Halifax Media Holdings closed the sale of The New York Times Company Regional Media Group to Halifax for $143 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments.The Times Company will record an after-tax gain on the sale in the Q1 12 and estimates the net after-tax proceeds from the sale, including a tax benefit, will be approximately $150 million. The Times Company will use the net sale proceeds for general corporate purposes, the company said.The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) has potential upside of 2.7% based on a current price of $7.79 and an average consensus analyst price target of $8.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security announced January 4 that FedEx Express (NYSE:FDX), Memphis, TN, has agreed to pay a $370,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that it committed six violations of the Export Administration Regulations relating to FedEx’s provision of freight forwarding services to exporters.BIS alleged that on two occasions in 2006, FedEx caused, aided and abetted acts prohibited by the regulations when it facilitated the attempted unlicensed export of electronic components from the United States to Mayrow in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.FedEx (NYSE:FDX) has potential upside of 15.8% based on a current price of $85.59 and an average consensus analyst price target of $99.08.

Shares of Dendreon (NASDAQ:DNDN) are trading 9.5% higher Friday, up for the second consecutive session on optimism on sales of the firm’s premier and only product Provenge will rise. Revenues from its Provenge drug more than tripled in the fourth quarter to $82 million from the year-ago period. The report eased concerns that had sparked in early August when the company withdrew its 2011 guidance after demand for the drug didn’t peak as quickly as they projected.

A 47-year old woman that has been identified as the former News of the World (NASDAQ:NWSA) executive Rebekah Brooks has been arrested by U.K. police, reported the Wall Street Journal.The arrest is part of long-running probe into alleged wrongdoing at the defunct tabloid.News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) has potential upside of 14.6% based on a current price of $18.37 and an average consensus analyst price target of $21.06.

LOVEFiLM, an Amazon company (NASDAQ:AMZN), has partnered with BBC Worldwide in a deal that will give its members streaming access to world-renowned content from the BBC’s vast archive of shows, plus celebrated programs commissioned by other British broadcasters.Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has potential upside of 30.3% based on a current price of $184.26 and an average consensus analyst price target of $240.08.Amazon.com is currently below its 50-day moving average (MA) of $195.52 and below its 200-day MA of $201.66.

Best Buy posted a same-store sales drop in December that was in line with analysts’ estimates. Sales at stores open at least 14 months fell 1.2 percent in December, company officials said today in a statement. Total revenue in the month was $8.4 billion, about the same as last year. Chief Executive Officer Brian Dunn stepped up holiday discounts to keep customers from going to its main competitors: Amazon and Wal-Mart. However, Web sales gained 26 percent. Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) has potential upside of 27% based on a current price of $24.41 and an average consensus analyst price target of $31.

Asia’s second-largest smartphone maker, HTC Corp., reported its first decline in quarterly profit in two years as competition from competing models from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung cut down demand for its products. The firm’s Q4 net income fell 26% to $364 million (USD), the Taiwan-based firm said today. Analysts expect the company’s revenues and shipments would see further declines this quarter as the company lowered its top line outlook in the last three months of 2011.

Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) voice recognition software Siri has caused owners of the iPhone 4s to use almost two times as much data when compared with the smart phone’s prior model.Apple rolled out Siri, now called the virtual personal assistant, in its latest iPhone model update last October.The application helps its users write text messages, check local weather, search the internet and schedule appointments.

Investors are ringing in the new trading week cautiously and are likely to spend the week focusing on the outcome of a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding Europe’s ongoing debt issues. Good morning and Happy New Year, this is Sayoko Murase with the Week Ahead Market Report for Monday January 9, 2012.

In trading on Monday, music & electronics stores shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.5%. Helping drag down the group were shares of Gamestop (GME), off about 4.6% and shares of Hhgregg (HGG) down about 4% on the day.