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• Yahoo's stock: Back to pre-Microsoft levels

  Posted Aug 22 2008, 01:37 AM by Charley Blaine
  Filed under: Investing, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo
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  Here's something the top management of Yahoo may wish nobody noticed.

  The stock is now lower than its $19.18 close on Jan. 31, the day before Microsoft launched its $33-a-share, $44.6 billion offer for the Internet company. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.)

  Yahoo closed Thursday at $19.11. On Wednesday, it closed at $19.17.

  While Yahoo can say it fought off Microsoft and a potential proxy fight from activist Carl Icahn, the victory has been costly. And not just because the company spent $36 million waging the fight   Read More...

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• Did Microsoft offer $40; should Yahoo have disclosed it?

  Posted Feb 13 2008, 05:04 PM by Charley Blaine
  Filed under: Investing, Microsoft, Yahoo
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  In the wake of Yahoo's rejection of Microsoft's $31-a-share, or $44.6 billion, takeover offer, there's been much speculation  about what price Yahoo might accept from Microsoft. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.)

  The figure of $40 a share was mentioned in several news reports last weekend. An Associated Press report cited a source close to Yahoo who said that Microsoft had offered $40 in February 2007.

  Bill Miller, the manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust mutual fund, mentioned it in his quarterly letter to the fund's shareholders, released on Tuesday: "It has been reported that MSFT has been discussing a combination with YHOO for well over a year, and that it had been prepared to pay over $40 per share previously."

  Legg Mason is Yahoo's second-largest shareholder, and Miller believes Microsoft should boost its bid.

  So, at what point does a company have an obligation to report an offer and a dollar figure to its shareholders? And, more important, were Yahoo's shareholders poorly served by the decision not to disclose Microsoft's offer?   Read More...

  Discuss ( 41 comments) 100,227 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Will one man decide if Microsoft wins Yahoo?

  Posted Feb 11 2008, 08:30 PM by Charley Blaine
  Filed under: Investing, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, stocks
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  Chances are you haven't heard of Gordon Crawford, but my guess is that both Microsoft and Yahoo are paying close attention to whatever he thinks of Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money)

  Crawford is a senior vice president at Capital Research and Management, the nation's largest mutual fund company. For years, he has been one of the world's top players in media investing. He helped Ted Turner sell Turner Broadcasting to Time Warner. Turner and Crawford are still pals; they share a passion for fly fishing.

  And Crawford was one of the people who engineered Steve Case's departure from the board of Time Warner, back in those unhappy days when the media giant was AOL-Time Warner.

  More important for our discussion: Capital Research is Yahoo's largest shareholder with 11.6% of the outstanding shares -- nearly twice as many as Yahoo co-founder David Filo. Capital Research boosted its position in Yahoo by 49.4% in the third quarter and, according to The Wall Street Journal, increased its stake in the fourth quarter.   Read More...

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• Gilead: A drug habit worth having

  Posted Nov 06 2007, 04:53 AM by Jon Markman
  Filed under: Investing, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Trading
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  When you think about the surprising success of the Nasdaq 100 index this year, the first things that naturally come to mind are tech powerhouses like Google, Apple and Microsoft. But you’ve got a leave a little room for the love of biotech too, and my favorite name there is Gilead Sciences.

  The immunology specialist has really proven immune to selling for most of its life in the public arena, as it is one of the most successful stocks of any type of the past 10 years, with 2,075% capital appreciation stemming from steadfast invention and marketing of biotech therapies.
  
  Pushing shares to a new high in the past week, though, were positive vibes at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for the Study of Liver Disease currently taking place in Boston. Just in case you couldn’t attend, or haven’t checked out the abstracts, let me be the first to inform you that folks got pretty excited about a previously little-known compound being tested by Gilead with the exotic name GS-9190. It's a polymerase inhibitor therapy for hepatitis C that suddenly shows a lot of promise.   Read More...

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• 'Halo' effect boosts Microsoft

  Posted Nov 02 2007, 02:06 AM by Jon Markman
  Filed under: Investing, Microsoft, Apple, Trading
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  Even though this site is published by Microsoft, there's no reason we can't mention its stellar earnings report last week. I've been urging subscribers to my Strategic Advantage newsletter service to buy the stock since June in anticipation of a strong third and fourth quarter, and we have not been disappointed as fundamentals have improved dramatically and shares are up 25%.

  The key point: Mainstream investors of all stripes simply underestimated the impact of the new Xbox game Halo 3, rising PC sales in developing nations and the slow but steady purchase of the new Windows Vista operating system. Results were actually staggering, especially for an iconic firm which until recently seemed asleep at the wheel. Revenue soared 27% to nearly $14 billion, beating the consensus estimate by more than $1 billion. Earnings roared 23% higher, to $4.3 billion or 45 cents per share. For a company of this size, putting up growth in the 20%-plus range is no easy feat.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 5 comments) 23,540 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this