Six Morningstar Equity Analysts Among Winners of The Wall Street Journal's Annual Best on the Street Analyst Survey …
May 10, 2012
CHICAGO, May 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Morningstar, Inc.
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CHICAGO, May 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Morningstar, Inc. (MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced that six of its equity analysts have been honored in The Wall Street Journal’s 20th annual “Best on the Street” analyst survey, published today. Two Morningstar analysts ranked #1, one ranked #2, and three ranked #3 in their respective industries.
Morningstar analysts who were named Best on the Street for 2012 are:
- Basili Alukos, CFA, CPA, equity analyst, ranked first in the “Airlines” industry, out of 18 analysts;
- David Whiston, CFA, CPA, CFE, senior equity analyst, ranked first—for the second consecutive year—in the “Specialty Retailers and Services” industry, out of 74 analysts;
- Joung Park, equity analyst, ranked second in the “Mining and Metals” industry, out of 98 analysts;
- Matthew Coffina, CFA, senior equity analyst, ranked third in the “Food and Drug Retailers” industry, out of 23 analysts;
- Avi Feinberg, equity analyst, ranked third in the “Oil Equipment, Services, and Distribution” industry, out of 91 analysts; and
- Drew Woodbury, equity analyst, ranked third in the “Life Insurance” industry, out of 19 analysts.
“I’m so proud of our analysts, whose job is to take a long-term view in a market focused on the short term,” Catherine Odelbo, president of global equity and credit research for Morningstar, said. “Our team values the companies they cover as businesses, not as little pieces of paper to trade. This isn’t always the most popular approach, but it really delivers results.”
In 2011, the first year that Morningstar participated in the Best on the Street survey, three Morningstar analysts ranked #1, two ranked #2, and one ranked #5 in their respective industries. Morningstar’s press release about last year’s winning analysts is available at http://corporate.morningstar.com/us/asp/subject.aspx?xmlfile=174.xml&filter=PR4674.
The Wall Street Journal’s Best on the Street survey identifies the top three analysts in each of 44 industries, based on stock-picking skill. The data were assembled by FactSet, a Norwalk, Conn. company that tracks analysts’ recommendations and earnings estimates. To determine the winners, FactSet first identified more than 2,000 analysts at nearly 200 firms who fit the criteria to be counted in the rankings. To be eligible, analysts had to have followed at least five stocks in an industry group during 2011.
Morningstar will feature video interviews with the winning analysts on Morningstar.com at http://www.morningstar.com/goto/stockpickers. Morningstar.com Premium members and financial advisors using Morningstar® Analyst Research Center(SM) will have access to a special report, “Insights from the Best on the Street,” which covers some of the analysts’ stock picks. Institutional investors can access their research and valuation models at Morningstar’s institutional research portal, http://select.morningstar.com/welcome/.
Morningstar provides data on approximately 35,000 stocks and has 120 equity and credit analysts worldwide who provide qualitative analyst coverage on about 1,800 companies globally.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on more than 380,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 8 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment management subsidiaries and has more than $190 billion in assets under advisement and management as of March 31, 2012. The company has operations in 27 countries.
Media Contact:
Carling Spelhaug, 312-696-6150 or carling.spelhaug@morningstar.com
©2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MORN-C
RXi Pharmaceuticals’ Common Stock to Commence Trading under the Symbol “RXII”
May 10, 2012
WORCESTER, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (OTCBB: GALE – News) announced today that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., also known as FINRA, has approved RXi Pharmaceuticals’ common stock for trading under the stock symbol “RXII” on the OTC Bulletin Board. RXi Pharmaceuticals anticipates its stock will be eligible for trading commencing today, May 10, 2012. The listing of RXi Pharmaceuticals’ stock marks the completion of its spin-off into an independent, publicly-traded company from former parent Galena Biopharma, Inc
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WORCESTER, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (OTCBB: GALE – News) announced today that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., also known as FINRA, has approved RXi Pharmaceuticals’ common stock for trading under the stock symbol “RXII” on the OTC Bulletin Board. RXi Pharmaceuticals anticipates its stock will be eligible for trading commencing today, May 10, 2012.
The listing of RXi Pharmaceuticals’ stock marks the completion of its spin-off into an independent, publicly-traded company from former parent Galena Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:GALE). The spin-off transaction was previously announced by Galena in September 2011, and, on April 26, 2012, Galena paid a dividend of one share of RXi Pharmaceuticals common stock for each outstanding share of Galena common stock.
“We are pleased to announce the public listing of our common stock and the completion of our spin-off into an independent company,” commented Geert Cauwenbergh, Dr. Med. Sc., newly appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of RXi Pharmaceuticals. “With our increased focus as an independent company, we intend to work hard to create value for our shareholders through the advancement of RXi’s robust platform.”
World Trade Financial Corporation is acting as the initial market maker for the trading of RXi Pharmaceuticals’ common stock. World Trade Financial Corporation can be contacted at (619) 325-2620 or at www.worldtradefinancial.com.
About RXi Pharmaceuticals
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (OTCBB: GALE – News) is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative therapies based on its proprietary, next-generation RNAi platform. Therapeutics that use RNA interference, or “RNAi,” have great promise because of their ability to “silence,” or down-regulate, the expression of a specific gene that may be overexpressed in a disease condition. Building on the pioneering work of scientific founder and Nobel Laureate Dr. Craig Mello, RXi’s first RNAi product candidate, RXI-109, which targets CTGF (connective tissue growth factor), is scheduled to commence human clinical trials for scar prevention in 2012. For more information, please visit www.rxipharma.com.
About Galena Biopharma
Galena Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: GALE) is a Portland, Oregon-based, biopharmaceutical company that develops innovative, targeted oncology treatments that address major unmet medical needs to advance cancer care. For more information please visit us at www.galenabiopharma.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about future expectations, plan and future development of RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation’s products and technologies. These forward-looking statements about future expectations, plans and prospects of the development of RXi’s products and technologies involve significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risk that RXi may not be able to successfully develop its candidates, the risk that the development of our RNAi-based therapeutics may be delayed or may not proceed as planned and we may not be able to complete development of any RNAi-based product, the risk that the development process for our product candidates may be delayed, risks related to development and commercialization of products by our competitors, risks related to our ability to control the timing and terms of collaborations with third parties and the possibility that other companies or organizations may assert patent rights that prevent us from developing our products. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. RXi does not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect a change in its views or events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release.
Yahoo confirms misleading info on new CEO’s resume
May 4, 2012
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | Associated Press – SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A disgruntled Yahoo shareholder questioned the qualifications and integrity of recently hired CEO Scott Thompson after exposing a misrepresentation about the executive’s education. The fabrication confirmed Thursday by Yahoo Inc. gives New York hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb more artillery as he tries to topple a board of directors favored by Thompson , who became CEO of the troubled Internet company four months ago.
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By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | Associated Press –
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A disgruntled Yahoo shareholder questioned the qualifications and integrity of recently hired CEO Scott Thompson after exposing a misrepresentation about the executive’s education.
The fabrication confirmed Thursday by Yahoo Inc. gives New York hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb more artillery as he tries to topple a board of directors favored by Thompson, who became CEO of the troubled Internet company four months ago.
Loeb, whose fund Third Point owns a 5.8 percent stake in Yahoo, gained more leverage when he discovered Thompson doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree in computer science from a small college in Easton, Massachusetts, as Yahoo stated in a regulatory filing last week.
Thompson only has an accounting degree from Stonehill College, an accomplishment that Yahoo also listed in the filing. The accounting degree was the only one listed in Thompson’s resume last year by eBay Inc. when he was still running that company’s PayPal payment service. He graduated in 1979, according to Stonehill’s website.
Yahoo confirmed Thompson’s credentials had been exaggerated in the recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, which is based in Sunnyvale, California, brushed off the distortion as an “inadvertent error.”
But Loeb pounced on the misinformation as a violation of Yahoo‘s code of ethics and called for an independent investigation to determine whether Thompson had misled the company’s board about his technology credentials. He also cited the mix-up as an example of Yahoo‘s poor corporate governance.
“If Mr. Thompson embellished his academic credentials we think that it 1) undermines his credibility as a technology expert and 2) reflects poorly on the character of the CEO who has been tasked with leading Yahoo at this critical juncture,” Loeb wrote in a letter to Yahoo‘s board on Thursday. “Now more than ever Yahoo investors need a trustworthy CEO.”
In the past, other companies have suspended or fired executives who were caught lying on their resumes.
Yahoo hired Thompson to reverse years of financial lethargy that set in at the company even as more advertising shifted to the Internet. The funk has weighed on Yahoo’s stock, which has been hovering between $10 and $20 for most of the last three years. Yahoo shares fell 27 cents to close at $15.40 on Thursday. That’s well below the $33 per share that stockholders could have gotten in May 2008 if the board had accepted a takeover offer from Microsoft Corp.
The company stood behind Thompson in its statement. “This in no way alters that fact that Mr. Thompson is a highly qualified executive with a successful track record leading large consumer technology companies,” Yahoo said. “Under Mr. Thompson’s leadership, Yahoo is moving forward to grow the company and drive shareholder value.”
Tensions between Loeb and Thompson escalated since late March when Yahoo appointed three new directors to its board. In doing so, Yahoo snubbed Loeb, who had been lobbying for a board seat along with three allies who he believes have the skills necessary to help Yahoo rebound from its long-running struggles. At the time, Thompson made it clear that he and the Yahoo committee overseeing the search for new directors had concluded Loeb wasn’t the best candidate.
Loeb is waging a campaign to persuade Yahoo’s shareholders to elect him and his allies to the board at the company’s annual meeting. The date of that meeting still hasn’t been set.
Besides ripping Thompson, Loeb also sought to discredit Patti Hart, one of the Yahoo directors he wants bounced from the board. Hart led the committee that recommended Yahoo’s new appointments to the board.
In his letter, Loeb noted that Yahoo’s recent SEC filing says Hart holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and economics from Illinois State University. In its response, Yahoo clarified Hart received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with specialties in marketing and economics.
Thompson, 54, has mostly cut costs to boost profits since taking over as Yahoo’s CEO. Last month, he laid off about 2,000 employees, or 14 percent of the workforce, in the biggest payroll purge in Yahoo’s 17-year history. He also disclosed plans to close about 50 Yahoo services that haven’t been attracting enough users or generating enough revenue.
He has made modest progress on other financial fronts. Yahoo registered its first year-over-year increase in quarterly net revenue since 2008 during the three months ending in March.
Even though he doesn’t have a computer science degree, Thompson has a background in technology. He served as PayPal’s chief technology officer for three years before being promoted to the payment service’s president in 2008. He also previously worked as chief technology officer at credit- and debit-card processor Visa USA.
Stock Market News for April 30, 2012
April 30, 2012
Stronger-than-expected corporate earnings results negated concerns sparked off by dismal economic data to lift the benchmarks higher on Friday. Even though Friday’s gains were anything but robust, they were sufficient to take the Dow into the positive zone for the month. Corporate results not only pushed the benchmarks higher on Friday, but lifted the benchmarks to their best weekly performance since mid-March
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Stronger-than-expected corporate earnings results negated concerns sparked off by dismal economic data to lift the benchmarks higher on Friday. Even though Friday’s gains were anything but robust, they were sufficient to take the Dow into the positive zone for the month. Corporate results not only pushed the benchmarks higher on Friday, but lifted the benchmarks to their best weekly performance since mid-March. These gains are also attributable to encouraging housing data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 0.2% and closed the day at 13,228.31. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500) also gained 0.2% and finished Friday’s trading session at 1,403.36. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.6% to move up to 3,069.20. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) edged up 0.5% and settled at 16.32. Consolidated volumes on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the American Stock Exchange were 6.2 billion shares, lower than this year’s daily average of 6.76 billion shares. Advancing stocks enjoyed an upper-hand over the decliners; as for every two stocks that gained on the NYSE, only one stock moved lower.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Expedia Inc. (EXPE) both reported robust results that breezed past the Street estimates. For instance, Amazon reported earnings that were over 300% higher than what analysts had projected. This whopping earnings surprise helped Amazon end 15.8% higher at $226.85 a share. Expedia too came out with encouraging figures, beating earnings and revenue forecasts. Shares of Expedia soared 23.5%. These solid gains were well reflected by the broader markets as investors chose to ignore a dismal first-quarter GDP report.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported the “advance” estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) growth, where it stated: “Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012”. Consensus estimates had projected an increase of 2.5%. The less-than-expected increase could have been a drag on the sentiment, but the earnings results negated the concerns.
Corporate results have been largely positive so far. Thomson Reuters data confirms that roughly 73% of the companies have topped estimates till now. Considering the week ending on April 27, earnings have played a big role in boosting the benchmarks’ weekly performance. Justifying the earnings’ strength during the week, data from Thomson Reuters showed that S&P 500 earnings growth had moved to 7.2% during the week, up from 3.2% at the beginning of April.
Meanwhile, bellwethers like AT&T, Inc. (T), United Technologies Corp. (UTX) and 3M Co. (MMM) came out with strong results and lifted the broader sentiment. On Wednesday, tech-bellwether Apple Inc. (AAPL) joined the list after its earnings soared 92.2% year-on-year, while revenues jumped 59.0% year over year, and surpassed the Street’s estimates by a wide margin. The iPhone and iPad maker’s robust results powered the Nasdaq to its best performance this year, and eventually the tech-laden index posted its best weekly gains in almost three months. Encouraging housing data on Thursday also added to the benchmarks’ gains for the week and the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq jumped 1.5%, 1.8% and 2.3%, respectively, for the week. The Dow and S&P 500 had their best weekly run since March 16.
Weekly gains can also be attributed to e the Federal Reserve Chairman’s comments on Wednesday that the central bank “would not hesitate” to bolster the economy if needed. After a meeting with Federal Open Market Committee in Washington, Ben Bernanke had said: “We remain prepared to do more as needed to make sure that this recovery continues and that inflation stays close to target”. As investors hoped for a third-round of bond purchases, Bernanke fuelled optimism by saying: “Those tools remain very much on the table and we will not hesitate to use them should the economy require that additional support”.
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US STOCKS-S&P 500 rallies for week on Amazon, Expedia results
April 27, 2012
By Caroline Valetkevitch | Reuters – (Updates close with details, quote) * Amazon , Expedia surge after results beat forecasts * First-quarter U.S.
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By Caroline Valetkevitch | Reuters –
(Updates close with details, quote)
* Amazon, Expedia surge after results beat forecasts
* First-quarter U.S. GDP misses forecast
* Procter & Gamble drops after earning
* Indexes up: Dow 0.2 pct, S&P 0.2 pct, Nasdaq 0.6 pct
NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks advanced on
Friday and posted their best weekly gains in a month as
stronger-than-expected earnings from Amazon.com and
Expedia Inc reinforced confidence in corporate
performance.
Wall Street managed a fourth day of gains as the strong
earnings season outweighed a surprisingly weak reading on
first-quarter economic growth.
Online retailer Amazon climbed 15.7 percent to $226.85 and
contributed half of Nasdaq’s gain for the day. An S&P retail
index rose 3.5 percent and hit an all-time high. Shares
of Expedia, the Web-based travel provider, surged 23.5 percent
to close at $40.31, after hitting a new high at $43 on record
volume.
Growth in S&P 500 earnings rose to 7.2 percent this week
from 3.2 percent at the start of the month, according to Thomson
Reuters data. About 73 percent of the companies that have
reported so far have beaten expectations.
“So far the numbers have been pretty good, and we’re happy
about that, but I think we have to wait to where we’re done with
the earnings season to really make judgments,” said David James,
senior vice president of James Investment Research in Alpha,
Ohio.
“Going forward, the big key for people especially looking at
tech is what happens with the dollar. I think the dollar will
probably be stronger than people expect on a relative basis.
Historically that usually means tech is the sector that gets hit
the hardest.”
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 23.69 points,
or 0.18 percent, at 13,228.31. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index
was up 3.38 points, or 0.24 percent, at 1,403.36. The
Nasdaq Composite Index was up 18.59 points, or 0.61
percent, at 3,069.20.
The S&P 500 posted its best weekly percentage gain since
March and the Nasdaq its best gain since February.
Earlier this week, a blowout quarter from Apple Inc
gave the Nasdaq its best day of the year .
With one more trading day left in the month, the S&P 500 is
slightly lower so far in April but still up 11.6 percent for the
year. The S&P is well above its 50-day moving average.
The earnings news overshadowed the day’s economic news. The
Commerce Department reported the U.S. economy expanded at a 2.2
percent annual rate in the first quarter, below economists’
expectations for growth of 2.5 percent.
Among other companies reporting results, Ford Motor Co
surpassed expectations as its North American unit reported the
best profit in at least 12 years. But the stock fell 2.3 percent
to $11.60 after executives said Ford lost U.S. market share in
April, suggesting that second-quarter .
Also on the downside, Procter & Gamble Co shares fell
3.6 percent to $64.44 after the world’s biggest consumer
products maker cut its full-year profit view and posted lower
quarterly earnings.
Starbucks Corp fell 5.3 percent to $57.43 and was
one of the biggest percentage decliners on the Nasdaq 100
after the coffee chain operator reported results late on
Thursday. Investors focused on weakness in European sales, even
though its quarterly profit topped estimates.
Volume was 6.2 billion shares on the New York Stock
Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE Amex, below the daily average
this year of 6.76 billion.
Advancers outpaced decliners by a ratio of about 2 to 1 on
the NYSE as well as on the Nasdaq.
(Editing by Leslie Adler)
Gamechangers: 5 Social Entrepreneurs with Big Ideas
April 21, 2012
By Lauren Drell | Mashable – In our social entrepreneurship series, The World at Work, Mashable interviews the faces behind the startups and projects that are working to make a global impact. By harnessing the power of digital technology, these five companies have offered resources to women in need and used technology to make microfinance more streamlined
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By Lauren Drell | Mashable –
In our social entrepreneurship series, The World at Work, Mashable interviews the faces behind the startups and projects that are working to make a global impact.
By harnessing the power of digital technology, these five companies have offered resources to women in need and used technology to make microfinance more streamlined. While the companies are diverse, they share a common thread: a passionate leader who’s devoted to improving lives.
[More from Mashable: Mobile Advertising: 5 DIY Tips for Small Businesses]
Here’s a roundup of featured projects from the last week, including exclusive video interviews with the founders of these innovative startups. To read more and watch the videos, click through to the full story, and follow the series to learn about more breakthrough companies.
1. Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action
Big Idea: Providing new and expectant mothers in need with free health information via mobile phones.
[More from Mashable: How George Takei Went From Star Trek to Social Media Superstar]
Why It’s Working: In 2008, India had the most maternal-related deaths out of any other country, according to the Indian government. Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA), works with low-income and at-risk mothers and families in India — as well as Bangladesh and South Africa, which are countries with high populations of mobile phone users — to provide vital health information through SMS text messaging and simple voice messages.
Read the full story here.
2. re:char
Big Idea: Utilize organic waste to create carbon-negative charcoal, a substance that pulls CO2 from the air and helps crops grow taller and stronger.
Why It’s Working: re:char’s mission is about providing farmers — both at home and in developing countries such as Kenya — with conservation-oriented soil-boosting complexes that can double food output compared to traditional farming methods. The startup raised $6,000 and spread awareness on Kickstarter, and the 102 purchasing funders will be contributing data for re:char to analyze.
Read the full story and see the video here.
3. Mifos
Big Idea: Mifos is an open-source, back-end operating system — built and backed by a community — to track the many loans and payments involved in microfinance.
Why It’s Working: Mifos is a platform used by more than 30 microfinance institutions, which offer small loans to nearly 825,000 clients. Think of Mifos as Quicken for microfinance — it’s a streamlined, organized system, and it can help the sector scale and get people out of poverty. Mifos makes microfinance more fair (since it’s data-driven) and transparent, and it’s helped Grameen Koota grow its client base by 40%.
Read the full story here.
4. ARCHIVE
Big Idea: ARCHIVE (Architecture for Health in Vulnerable Environments) is an international 501(c)(3) charity that brings awareness to the relationship between poor housing and poor health.
Why It’s Working: By designing and implementing housing improvements, ARCHIVE can bring down rates of tuberculoisis, HIV and AIDS — a healthier community means a healthier economy. And it all started with a blog. “I felt that as an architect, I could do more than speak about important, thought-provoking issues — I could mobilize people and communities to act,” says Peter Williams, founder of ARCHIVE.
Read the full story here.
5. Project Noah
Big Idea: Project Noah harnesses the power of mobile to let users contribute to real scientific data and research.
Why It’s Working: Nature Deficit Disorder, the idea that children’s behavioral patterns are changing because they are spending less time outside, was introduced in Richard Louv’s 2005 book Last Child in the Woods. In short, screens replace the wonders of the natural world that used to provide children with hours of entertainment, leaving kids to wither indoors. Project Noah thinks that spending time exploring nature and time attached to screens don’t need to be mutually exclusive. The startup hopes to mobilize a new generation of nature lovers in a digital experience that’s entirely current. “Project Noah is what would have happened if Charles Darwin had created Foursquare,” says co-founder Yasser Ansari.
Read the full story here.
What do you think of the efforts of these startups and foundations? Let us know in the comments below.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
Oracle trial against Google turns into CEO day
April 18, 2012
By Dan Levine and Edwin Chan | Reuters – SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The chief executives of Oracle Corp and Google Inc took center stage in court on Tuesday as Google ‘s lawyers argued Oracle is trying to hitch a ride on Google ‘s success after abandoning the idea of building its own smartphone. Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison and Google CEO Larry Page both appeared on the stand in Oracle’s high stakes lawsuit against Google over the Android operating system
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By Dan Levine and Edwin Chan | Reuters –
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The chief executives of Oracle Corp and Google Inc took center stage in court on Tuesday as Google‘s lawyers argued Oracle is trying to hitch a ride on Google‘s success after abandoning the idea of building its own smartphone.
Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison and Google CEO Larry Page both appeared on the stand in Oracle’s high stakes lawsuit against Google over the Android operating system. Ellison, 67, is a Silicon Valley veteran while Page, 39, cuts a younger and more unpolished figure.
Oracle sued Google in August 2010, saying Google‘s Android mobile operating system tramples its intellectual property rights to the Java programming language. Google says it does not violate Oracle’s patents and that Oracle cannot copyright certain parts of Java – an “open-source” or publicly available software language.
“I think we did nothing wrong,” said Google CEO Larry Page as he testified for about 20 minutes toward the end of day two of the jury trial. He is expected to continue on Wednesday.
Oracle acquired Java when bought Sun Microsystems in 2010. In 2009, Oracle considered the feasibility of buying Blackberry maker Research in Motion and Palm to make a foray into the mobile device market, Ellison testified.
But Ellison said Oracle ultimately decided against pursuing its own phone after weeks of analysis.
He told the packed federal courtroom in San Francisco that Google was the only corporation he knew of that had not taken one of three types of Java licenses. He said other companies ranging from Samsung Electronics to Amazon.com Inc had taken licenses.
“Just because something is open-source doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want with it,” Ellison testified.
Billionaire Ellison, clad in a conservative dark blue suit and red tie, was relaxed on the stand as Oracle attorney David Boies asked him to outline the attractions of Java for programmers. Ellison is no stranger to court, having testified in 2010 against SAP AG in a copyright lawsuit.
Ellison was then repeatedly questioned by Google‘s lawyer, who zeroed in on his idea to build an Oracle smartphone to battle Apple Inc and Google.
Ellison denied ever having approached Google about building smartphone software together, and said smartphones turned out to be “a bad idea” of his.
“The idea was building the smartphone using Java FX and then charge carriers like Verizon for it,” he said. Ellison said that they had debated the merits of every option to crack the smartphone market, including buying RIM, which he said was too expensive at the time, and Palm, which Hewlett-Packard ended up acquiring.
Ellison contends that in 2010, he tried to persuade Google‘s then-CEO Eric Schmidt and current CEO Page to take on a newer version of Java in Android, and make Android more compatible with industry standards. Those talks proved fruitless.
Ellison kept a straight face under cross examination, while Page rarely looked at Oracle attorney David Boies but instead consistently smiled at the jury as Boies delivered his questions. At one point, Boies asked Page, who was wearing a charcoal suit, if he ever inquired whether Google copied Java code for Android.
“I don’t recall asking anyone that,” Page said.
NO INROADS
Google attorney Robert Van Nest acknowledged on Tuesday that Google executives had once negotiated for a potential partnership with Sun, before Oracle acquired it, to develop Android.
“When those negotiations failed, Google engineers built Android on their own without any Sun technology whatsoever,” Van Nest said in his opening argument.
The lawyer said Oracle tried but failed to make inroads into the smartphone market around 2009 or 2010 and is now trying to grab a slice of Android, which is built partly with the open Java software language pioneered by Sun.
Van Nest played a video of Ellison telling former Sun Microsystems Chairman Scott McNealy at a public event that he welcomed Google’s “Java devices” and saw no reason Oracle-Sun should not have several of its own.
The trial before U.S. District Judge William Alsup is expected to last at least eight weeks.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Oracle America, Inc v. Google Inc, 10-3561.
(Reporting By Dan Levine; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Maureen Bavdek, Tim Dobbyn and Daniel Magnowski)
Twitter to limit use of patents in lawsuits
April 17, 2012
By Alexei Oreskovic | Reuters – SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Twitter said on Tuesday that it would structure its patents so they could not be used for offensive litigation purposes without permission from the people who developed them. Twitter said the move would give inventors more control over their creations and ensure its patents are not used to “impede the innovation of others,” the company said in a post on its official blog. “It is a commitment from Twitter to our employees that patents can only be used for defensive purposes.
Read more:
By Alexei Oreskovic | Reuters –
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Twitter said on Tuesday that it would structure its patents so they could not be used for offensive litigation purposes without permission from the people who developed them.
Twitter said the move would give inventors more control over their creations and ensure its patents are not used to “impede the innovation of others,” the company said in a post on its official blog.
“It is a commitment from Twitter to our employees that patents can only be used for defensive purposes. We will not use the patents from employees’ inventions in offensive litigation without their permission,” Twitter said on the blog.
Twitter, which launched its microblogging service in 2006, does not currently have any patents, but sources said the company has applied for many.
Patent litigation involving tech companies has exploded during the past two years. Yahoo Inc sued Facebook in March for infringing ten of its patents, and smartphone manufacturers such as Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp are engaged in a fierce legal war against rivals such as Motorola Mobility.
Some patent holders are derided as “patent trolls” by critics, a term the holders say unfairly paints them as villains for helping inventors make money.
Twitter said that the limits on the use of its patents, which it dubbed the Innovator’s Patent Agreement, will apply to patents even after they are sold.
Eric Goldman, an associate professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, said Twitter’s announcement will burnish the company’s standing among software engineers, some of whom have grumbled at seeing their patents used to sue other companies.
“Unquestionably, it’s an effort to define Twitter’s brand in the marketplace and to signal that its perhaps more engineering-friendly than companies that wouldn’t make such a promise,” said Goldman.
(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
Oracle CEO mulled expansion into smartphones
April 17, 2012
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | Associated Press – SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Oracle CEO Larry Ellison wanted to compete against Google ‘s Android software in the smartphone market before deciding instead to sue his potential rival for copyright and patent infringement. Ellison acknowledged Oracle’s interest in diversifying beyond its main business of database software while testifying Tuesday on the second day of a trial pitting two high-tech bellwethers
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By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | Associated Press –
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Oracle CEO Larry Ellison wanted to compete against Google‘s Android software in the smartphone market before deciding instead to sue his potential rival for copyright and patent infringement.
Ellison acknowledged Oracle’s interest in diversifying beyond its main business of database software while testifying Tuesday on the second day of a trial pitting two high-tech bellwethers.
Before backing off the idea, Ellison said Oracle considered buying a smartphone maker, including Palm Inc. and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. Palm ended up getting sold to Hewlett-Packard Co. for about $1 billion two years ago, while RIM is trying to recover from huge losses that have piled up as the BlackBerry got battered by Apple Inc.‘s iPhone and handsets running on Android.
“I had an idea that we could enter the smartphone business and compete with everyone in the smartphone business,” Ellison testified under questioning from a Google lawyer. “It was an idea I wanted to explore. We explored it and decided it was a bad idea.”
Ellison, a colorful CEO who ranks among the world’s richest people, took the stand after Google sought in opening statements to frame the case as Oracle’s response to its own failure to build mobile software.
Google CEO Larry Page also took the stand toward the end of Tuesday’s session. The trial was expected to last up to 10 weeks.
The dispute before a 12-person jury in U.S. District Court in San Francisco is over whether Google built its widely used Android software by improperly taking some of the technology from Java, a programming platform that Sun Microsystems began developing 20 years ago. Oracle acquired the rights to Java when it bought Sun for $7.3 billion in January 2010.
Although Oracle has spent more money buying other companies, Ellison depicted Java as the company’s most cherished prize.
“Of all the things we have ever purchased, by far the most important we ever purchased was Java,” Ellison crowed during his roughly 80-minute appearance on the witness stand.
Ellison is renowned for making bombastic statements like that.
There were other times during his testimony, though, when he looked slightly bamboozled. At one point, Google lawyer Robert Van Nest reminded Ellison about all the nice things that he had to say about Android and Google during an onstage appearance in 2009, when Oracle was still awaiting regulatory approval to buy Sun.
With Sun co-founder Scott McNealy standing by his side, Ellison assured the crowd then that he was “excited” and “flattered” about Android’s reliance on Java. Ellison hailed his “friends from Google” and said he looked forward to many more mobile devices running on Android.
Before Ellison took the stand Tuesday, Van Nest also tried to persuade the jury that Sun Microsystems had encouraged and endorsed Google’s use of Java in Android. That contrasted with opening statements Monday by Oracle lawyer Michael Jacobs, who focused on emails indicating that Google’s top executives knew for years that they should be paying to license for some parts of the Java technology that helped create Android.
In his counterpoints Tuesday, Van Nest said most of the emails cited by Oracle’s attorneys were sent in 2005 and 2006, when Google and Sun were discussing a partnership to create Android. Those discussions unraveled, Van Nest said, when Sun insisted on charging on Android. Google wanted to give away the software to help get it on as many mobile devices as possible so it could make money selling digital advertising.
Android now powers more than 300 million smartphones and tablet computers. Google hasn’t specified how much money it makes from the ads and mobile applications sold on Android-powered devices. The company is fighting to keep that figure out of the trial proceedings. U.S. District Judge William Alsup has indicated that he will allow that sensitive information to be publicly revealed if it becomes a point of contention in the trial.
Van Nest told the jury that after it became clear that Google wasn’t going to partner with Sun, Google spent hundreds of millions of dollars and devoted thousands of engineering hours to create the 15 million of computer code that guide Android. He said former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz will testify that he fully supported what Google did with Java.
It wasn’t until Ellison couldn’t figure out how Oracle could get into the smartphone market that the allegations of copyright and patent infringement surfaced, according to Van Nest.
“They want to share Android’s profits without having done a thing to bring that about,” Van Nest said.
Objet drops IPO, to merge with Stratasys
April 16, 2012
By Sayantani Ghosh (Reuters) – Israel’s Objet Ltd dropped plans for an IPO and instead will merge with fellow 3D printer maker Stratasys Inc (NSQ:SSYS – News) in a stock deal valuing the combined companies at about $1.4 billion. The new concern, which will be 55 percent owned by Stratasys shareholders, will be headed by Objet CEO David Reis. Stratasys CEO Scott Crump will become full-time chairman.
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By Sayantani Ghosh
(Reuters) – Israel’s Objet Ltd dropped plans for an IPO and instead will merge with fellow 3D printer maker Stratasys Inc (NSQ:SSYS – News) in a stock deal valuing the combined companies at about $1.4 billion.
The new concern, which will be 55 percent owned by Stratasys shareholders, will be headed by Objet CEO David Reis. Stratasys CEO Scott Crump will become full-time chairman.
Shares of Stratasys rose as much as 26 percent to $45.48 on the Nasdaq while those of rival 3D Systems Corp (NYS:DDD – News) rose 12 percent to $27.44, the highest for both stocks in nearly a year.
Objet filed with U.S. regulators on March 22 to raise up to $75 million in an initial public offering.
At the time, Objet was already in talks with Stratasys but wanted to keep its options open, Reis said in a telephone interview.
As of April 13, Stratasys had a market valuation of about $766 million.
Stratasys shareholders will receive one share of the combined company for each share they own.
The new company will operate under the name Stratasys Ltd and continue to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker “SSYS.”
“The combined marketing and sales capabilities will provide extensive geographic reach, which should help grow customer awareness of the many opportunities to employ 3D printing and rapid prototyping techniques,” the companies said.
There will be very little overlap in products, Reis said.
Objet and Stratasys both make 3D printers, which are used to make prototypes of products or three-dimensional objects from a digital file and can be used to manufacture everything from phones to cars using a computer-controlled printer.
Stratasys counts Caterpillar Inc (NYS:CAT – News), Xerox Corp (NYS:XRX – News) and Honeywell International Inc (NYS:HON – News) among its customers while Objet serves Adidas, Intel Corp (NSQ:INTC – News), 3M Co (NYS:MMM – News), and car makers such as Jaguar, Bentley and Mercedes.
Both companies sell to Apple Inc (NSQ:AAPL – News), Autodesk Inc (NSQ:ADSK – News) and Chrysler Group LLC (FIA.MI).
In a separate statement, Stratasys said it had adopted a limited-duration shareholder rights agreement that would pay a dividend of one right to buy one common share of the company for each outstanding common share held.
The poison pill would kick in if anyone became the beneficial owner of, or planned to buy, 10 percent or more of Stratasys’s common stock. This would block unsolicited bids while the companies closed their deal.
The companies said they expected the transaction to be completed in the third quarter of 2012 and add to per-share profit within 12 months.
Objet’s revenue jumped 38 percent to $121.1 million in 2011, while net income rose 42 percent to $14.7 million, according to its IPO filing.
Stratasys also forecast first-quarter results ahead of analysts’ estimates. It expects a profit of 27 cents to 29 cents per share, excluding items, versus a profit of 21 cents last year. It expects revenue to rise 31 percent from the year-ago period, to about $45 million.
Analysts expected an adjusted profit of 26 cents and revenue of $41.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Supriya Kurane and Ted Kerr)
