Month: May 2012

This nineteenth trading week of 2012 comes to a close with investors shocked and some calling for more regulation within the banking sector after the announcement by JP Morgan (JPM) that it sustained heavy derivative based losses. Hi.

Apple (AAPL) today had its estimates reduced through 2013 by Credit Suisse (CS) as the firm expects US smartphone growth to slow down. A $750 price target was issued with an outperform rating.

Assurant Incorporated (AIZ) announced its quarterly dividend of 21 cents per share, an increase of about 17% over its prior dividend in February of 18 cents. The dividend is will be paid on June 12 to shareholders of record as of May 29.

In trading on Friday, general contractors & builders shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.3%. Leading the group were shares of Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV), up about 4.9% and shares of Beazer Homes Usa (BZH) up about 3.6% on the day.

5-10-12-In its latest effort to grab market share from the current search king Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has redesigned the Bing Internet search engine to make its results more social by listing related functions, content from user’s friends, according to Microsoft’s post yesterday.The new design, which is due to be unveiled over the next few days, will alter the layout of the web page, dividing it into 3 panes, with the third pane showing related content from friends. The new design will also be made available for mobile devices in the coming weeks.

Panasonic (PC) announced on Friday that it was expecting a rebound during the current financial year and that it should turn an operating profit, due to cost cutting bolstering profitability and its television unit. The company lost 772 billion yen in the previous year, and expects to make 260 billion yen this year.

Spain has agreed to commission an independent audit of its financial system, trying to dispel market concerns that a state-funded bank bailout, set to be approved by the cabinet, could strain public finances to breaking point.

5-10-12-The FT said that Facebook’s proposed acquisition of Instagram still faces a FTC probe. FTC has reportedly already begun its investigation of the competitiveness of Facebook’s $1 billion offer for Instagram, citing two unidentified sources familiar with the matter. The routine probe will take about 6-12 months, but the deal should ultimately be approved. However, the investigation could end up delaying the transaction beyond the second quarter projection of FB in its IPO documents. Facebook declined to comment.

When our network broke Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson’s plan to layoff 14% of the company’s workforce on Apr 4, we said it’s all about perception for Yahoo. At that time, we were referring to the company’s brand image in the sense that it doesn’t appeal to internet users in their 20’s and younger. Now it has a bigger problem to worry about. Scott Thompson apparently misrepresented his credential from Stonehill College and did not walked away from the Easton, Massachusetts campus with a degree in computer science.One of the largest investors in Yahoo stock, Third Point, demands the company to dismiss Thompson immediately. Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb said Stonehill College did not begin to offer computer science major until four years after Thompson graduated. Stonehill College spokesperson Martin McGovern verified that Thompson received a bachelor’s of science degree in business administration with a major in accounting on May 20th, 1979.How serious do you think this misrepresentation is? Thompson proved himself to the market when he was at PayPal, where he more than doubled its top line, but do you think his capability can offset this? Please send in your comments to our show or tweet me @juliasun_onair. I’m Julia Sun reporting for the Financial News Network in New York City.

Dollar Thrifty (NYSE:DTG) reported Q1 EPS of $1.35, inline with estimates. Revenues in the quarter came in at $356.3 million, beating estimates of $355.5 million. The company had reported preliminary Q1 EPS of $1.30 – $1.40 on April 23rd with EBITDA of $75 million – $80 million. Dollar Thrifty also reaffirmed its FY EPS outlook of $5.00 – $5.60 given on April 23rd and repurchased 64.2k shares at an average price of $78.19 in the quarter in addition to the previously reported 1.45 million.The company’s earnings did not impress investors this morning though. Currently, the company is down more than 1% to $79.61.