HMV boss leading ITV CEO race July 28, 2009 SIMON Fox, the boss of music retailer HMV, is leading the race to take over from Michael Grade as chief executive of troubled broadcaster ITV. Fox, who is credited with turning HMV around since taking over in September 2006, has emerged as ITV’s top choice after it held final interviews for the role last week. [...]
Apple to launch tablet computer July 27, 2009 Apple is set to unveil a portable tablet-sized computer that can surf the web and may also serve as an electronic book reader in time for the Christmas shopping season. The device will be able to connect to the internet and, like the iPod Touch, will have the ability to play movies. But it will [...]
SPOTIFY JOINS THE BIG APPLE July 27, 2009 Spotify, the music streaming website, yesterday said it will launch an application for Apple’s iPhone. Premium subscribers to Spotify will be able to search for new music and store over 3,000 songs, even when the device doesn’t have a signal, putting it in direct competition with Apple’s own music store, iTunes.
AT&T beats expectations July 23, 2009 American telecoms giant AT&T yesterday reported a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit and strong sales of Apple’s iPhone, which brought new customers to the carrier but hurt its mobile profit margin. The results, which sent AT&T shares up 1.65 per cent, underscored the importance of the Apple relationship to the firm, which heavily subsidises the [...]
The tech sector recovery will leave some behind July 23, 2009 WHEN Apple sneezes, the whole technology industry catches a cold. That’s why its stunning results earlier this week saw analysts reaching for their rose-tinted spectacles. With the news coming hot on the heels of a bullish outlook from chipmakers Intel and Texas Instruments, several pundits called an end to the technology sector’s woes. Yesterday’s Gartner [...]
Nasdaq up despite bad day for banks July 22, 2009 THE Nasdaq rose yesterday for the 11th straight day, buoyed by solid profits from Apple and Starbucks, while disappointing bank results and declining energy shares weighed on the broader market. The Dow Jones industrial average declined, halting a seven-day winning streak, as investors sold some of the market’s recent winners to take profits, and the [...]
Apple iPhone boosts profit July 21, 2009 APPLE’S profits jumped by 15 per cent in its third quarter, the firm said yesterday, thanks to sales of its iPhone, which topped five million in the period. The firm, which recently welcomed chief executive Steve Jobs back to work following liver transplant surgery, said profits rose to $1.23bn (£747m), or $1.35 a share, in [...]
Bernanke warning fails to curb cheer July 21, 2009 THE Dow rose yesterday as a solid profit from Caterpillar eclipsed unease about the company’s outlook for the current quarter, while both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 clung to tiny gains after a round of profit-taking. Trading was choppy, with the broader market initially charging higher after the open and the benchmark S&P 500 [...]
US EARNINGS WILL GIVE THE MARKET FRESH DIRECTION July 20, 2009 MARTIN SLANEYHEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT THE fate of the markets over the coming weeks hangs on the second-quarter results being announced daily by US companies. The market’s take so far has been positive – approximately 80 per cent of earnings have beaten or were on a par with consensus, and last Wednesday Intel was proof [...]
US corporate news continues to rule July 19, 2009 BEN Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, will make his semi-annual report on monetary policy tomorrow at 2pm London time. It’s expected to take a fairly upbeat overall tone on the state of the economy, but the markets will be focussing on the implications of his thoughts on inflation, and the merest hint of [...]