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After so many initial hiccups and kinks, finally, Rupert Murdoch achieved his decades-long dream of running the venerable Wall Street Journal, as Dow Jones accepted his $5 billion buyout bid.

The board decided to accept the offer at a meeting late night, shortly after News Corp.’s board approved the deal. Murdoch spent the past three months courting the Bancroft family, which has controlled Dow Jones from last 105 years.

With the deal, Murdoch will get a control of Dow Jones’s news arms including The Wall Street Journal, WSJ.com, Barron’s, MarketWatch.com and SmartMoney and will strengthen Murdoch’s intention to expand the company’s presence overseas. The deal will also reinforce News Corp.’s Fox Business Network, a cable channel to launch on Oct. 15, which is eying on CNBC business.

Initially, Bancroft family was against the merger, but the deal got approved when members of the family’s Denver-based trust, with 9.1% of the voting stock, abandoned effort to thwart Murdoch and get a premium price for Bancroft-owned shares. Whereas Jim Ottaway, leader of the family that controls 7% of the votes, criticized family effort to prevent Dow Jones from Murdoch and asserted: “It’s a bad thing for Dow Jones and American journalism that the Bancroft family could not resist Rupert Murdoch’s generous offer.”

The Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees, which represents about 2,000 Dow Jones employees - are still disappointed with the sale to Murdoch.

Dissident members of the Bancroft family feared that Murdoch will use Dow Jones’ properties to advance his business and political interests. To address that concern, Murdoch agreed to create a five-member board, jointly selected by him and the Bancrofts that could veto his choices for the top editorial jobs at The Journal and at Dow Jones Newswires.

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The profit of Toyota seems to have come down as employees with its U.S. plant seek unionization.

Toyota is world’s leading carmaker, which recently grabbed world No. 1 cap from the Detroit-based GM, and is paying an average $47.60 per hour to its workers, whereas Detroit-based automakers viz. GM, Ford and Chrysler are paying $73.26, $75.86 and $70.51 per hour respectively.

Once world leaders, Detroit-based trio are battling for their existence as they lost nearly $15 billion last year in all. To cope up with the losses, automakers are pressing the UAW to sweep concessions that would bring their own hourly labor costs in line with Toyota. Automakers’ concession urge have sparked the debate at the U.S. arm of Toyota Motor Corp.

Union supporters claimed that Toyota has registered $14 billion profit and workers got peanuts out of it. Workers uproar has intensified the pressure on Toyota’s board, while doubters fear unionization would leave Toyota as crippled as its Detroit competitors.

Some senior workers with Toyota don’t want any interference of union as they claim that union provides nothing accept chaos at workplace, however another section is in favor of union to fulfill their much needed demands, which they claim can’t be fulfilled in the absence of any strong union amongst workers.

Union supporting workers are worried about the shrinking pay raises, benefit cuts, injury allowance and the use of temporary workers at the plant and want to sort these problems out immediately, however board is neglecting it since long.

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Via: Washington-Post

Sun Microsystems’s fourth quarter result surprised everyone as it earned $329 million, or 9 cents per share, after reducing workforce and slashing component prices. The company reported a net loss of $301 million a year earlier.

In the quarter, Sun’s revenue increased 18 percent to $3.84 billion from $3.83 billion, as services revenue raised slightly, whereas hardware revenue declined. Operating expenses fell 25 percent to $1.49 billion. Quarterly profit topped Wall Street targets as Sun’s operating profit margin reached 8.5 percent, topping its earlier goal of at least 4 percent.

The company returns to profit after facing five consecutive loss-making quarters, which apparently forced it to slash a huge workforce of 5000 people, reduce device’s prices and implemented longer-term growth plan of at least 10 percent operating margin for the 2009 fiscal year.

Buoyant with the quarterly result, the stocks rose 10% to $5.38; however, later fell 3 cents at $4.89. Shares of Sun, which also sells workstations, software, storage and services, have fallen 9.2 percent this year.

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Via: Bloomberg

Internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan claimed that he has gained the support of five investor groups to thwart Murdoch’s $5 billion buyout bid for Dow Jones.

These five possible investors are Intel Corp’s, Intel Capital, Apex Partners, Jana Partners and Trafelet.

As the five investors showed their interest to invest in Dow Jones, dissident members welcomed them and assured their support. Former Dow Jones board member Dieter von Holtzbrinck, who resigned from the board in protest of Murdoch’s bid, shows his interest in investing in Greenspan’s offer.

It is known that Bancroft family, which owns 64 percent voting shares in Dow Jones, is reluctant to merge with the News Corp. and doing everything possible to prevent it. After Murdoch’s offer, the independent existence of Dow Jones isn’t possible as he has offered hefty money for each share. But board alleged that Murdoch involvement can mar the integrity and independence of Wall Street Journal. To prevent WSJ from the News Corp. acquisition, Dow Jones is seeking an alternative and Brad Greenspan-led group can be competitive enough to counter the media baron.

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Via: Yahoo!

Finally, ABN AMRO bows to RBS-led consortium’s competitive bid and decided against recommending RBS and Barclays to shareholders.

Earlier, ABN Amro was formally backing Barclays’ €67.5 billion ($92.07bn) takeover bid, but RBS-led consortium outclassed it with €71 billion, ($96.84bn) offer and forced ABN to change its stance for the suitable seeker.

ABN Amro’s spokesperson said:

Board further engages with both parties with the aim of continuing to ensure a level playing field and minimising any of the uncertainties currently associated with the offers with a view to optimising the attractive alternatives available to shareholders

Although, RBS-led consortium’s proposal is money spinning, yet the board didn’t endorse it as they found that the proposal don’t satisfy its apprehensions over significant unresolved questions, therefore they could not currently recommend either to shareholders.

ABN Amro’s move is a direct blow to Barclays, whose previous support from ABN’s board was seen as a crucial factor in helping it to overcome the higher RBS bid. Dutch bank’s decision also looms over market as while trading in London, Barclays’ shares fell nearly 1%.

To lock the deal, Barclays recently secured backing for its bid from the China Development Bank and Singapore investment firm Temasek, which enabled it to increase the amount of cash for ABN shareholders. Earlier, Barclays had made its bid conditional, but after the board’s decision, it changed its stance, saying their support would merely be needed to complete the deal. After losing the board’s support, Barclays still believes that its offer would prove attractive to ABN shareholders and will endorse it.

Until now, the fate of ABN Amro isn’t clear, but the successful merger will create one of the world’s largest banks.

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Boeing is spending additional hundred million dollars on research-and-development to ensure its 787 Dreamliner delivery on time.

Earlier, the American plane maker has postponed its test flight to the end of September from August, which raised apprehensions about delivery delay for its most ambitious 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing management has acknowledged the problem, but ensured delivery of its first 787 to All Nippon Airways in schedule time of May 2008.

Boeing Chairman and Chief Executive James McNerney said, ‘We are spending more than originally planned to ensure we make our commitments.’

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner stole the air show in Paris and bagged good orders, but any delay in its delivery may put it on backfoot. Boeing’s rival Airbus also faced technical problems earlier, resulting in delivery delays and loss of customers.

Despite development program problem, the 787 still looks set to become the most successful jet launch in the history of the aviation industry and have already booked 683 firm orders from 47 customers.

Amid the delivery apprehensions, Boeing reported healthy bounce in its second quarter profits and buoyant with it, has raised its guidance for the full year. In the second quarter, Boeing has earned $1.1 billion, or $1.35 a share, and its revenue surged to $17 billion - up 14 percent.

By gaining strength in second quarter, Boeing raised its 2007 profit forecast to $4.80 to $4.95 per share, from $4.55 to $4.75. It projected sales of $65 billion, up from a previous forecast of about $64.5 billion. The company also raised its 2007 operating cash flow by $2 billion, to more than $6 billion, largely reflecting the strength of new order deposits. The company maintained its 2008 earnings forecast at $5.55 to $5.75 a share.

News of profitable quarter send Boeing’s shares up by 3.3 percent, to $107.83 - a new 52-week high - July 25 on the New York Stock Exchange, before settling at $107.23.

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Via: Gulf News

Akzo Nobel, the Dutch chemicals company, has improved its offer for British chemicals group, Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) to more than $15.49 billion (£7.6bn) or 635 pence a share.

Earlier, Akzo Nobel had approached British company with $15.28 billion (£7.5bn) or 600p a share offer, but ICI rejected it saying it was too low. After discarded by the ICI, a Takeover Panel had fixed a deadline of August 9 to revive the bid, but company filed its bid before the allotted time limit, which shows its strong determination to merge with British chemicals group.

It is understood that many Akzo shareholders would have supported management to offer 625p a share and that virtually all of the larger shareholders would withdraw support for any offer over 660p. Leading ICI investors, including Standard Life, which holds about 6 percent of the British manufacturer of the Dulux paint range, have stated their opposition to any offer pitched below 700p.

Akzo-Nobel has hired Morgan Stanley for advice, wherein ICI is working with Merrill Lynch and UBS. Both the companies have declined to comment on the latest development, but the deal seems to take few other oscillations before reaching any conclusion.

After ICI, other bidders like BASF of Germany and Dow Chemical of the US have shown their interest in the British company, but neither has projected any offer yet.

This week, Akzo reported second-quarter net profit of $371.02 million (£182m), compared to $376.68 million, down by 25 per cent last year, mainly due to the impact of a divestment program. Akzo’s plans are unlikely to be affected by ongoing concerns about the lack of availability of credit, as it would largely be financed by cash, much of it from the £11bn it raised in March from the sale of its pharmaceuticals business to Schering-Plough, the US Company.

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Via: Telegraph

Finally, WestLB has sacked its chief executive Thomas Fischer, along with the chief risk officer Matthijs van den Adel, for there alleged involvement in the stock trading scandal that has rocked the German landesbank.

The supervisory board has decided to dismiss these two board members after it found that his management team didn’t inform about risk positions taken by the bank’s proprietary equities trading business. WestLB confirmed that it would not dismiss any other members of the management board.

The decision has been taken in the bank’s supervisory board meeting, in which the board could not find out whether internal information rules had been violated, but alleged that why board were kept in the dark about compromising share-trading activities.

WestLB traders of stock held by the bank are suspected of manipulating daily closing prices of preference shares in companies including BMW and Volkswagen. By doing so, they inflated the bank’s profits on paper, securing hefty bonuses for themselves. In this scandal, the bank is supposed to face losses of about $343.08 million (€250m), but German press reports claim the real figure could be between $548.93 (€400m) and $648 million (€500m).

Earlier in the April, WestLB had fired two traders for breaching internal risk limits. The propriety desk had lost about $137.23 million (€100m) in botched speculative deals in Volkswagen shares.

The scandal has ruined the reign of Mr. Fischer, who was appointed in 2004 to steer the bank out of a deep financial crisis. After ending the tarnished episode, the bank has confirmed that Alexander Stuhlmann, the former head of HSH Nordbank, will replace Thomas Fischer as the chief executive, but didn’t appoint the chief risk officer yet.

The management crisis had spurred the takeover speculations and LBBW seems to be a frontrunner for the WestLB. However, after sacking the chief executive and chief risk officer, the bank will be looking to improve its tainted image and seeks to regain its customer’s confidence, which perhaps is lost to some extent.

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Via: Financial Times

Apple’s third quarter profits surged 73 percent on higher demands for its Macintosh notebook computers and iPhone.

Net income mounted to $818 million or 92 cents a share for the last quarter that ended June 30, compared with $472 million, or 54 cents a year earlier. Sales rose 24 percent to $5.41 billion, topping analysts’ estimate of $5.32 billion. Revenue advanced 24% to $5.41 billion from $4.37 billion. Gross margins widened to 36.9% from 30.3%.

The results beat the Thomson Financial estimates, who expected Apple to earn 72 cents a share on $5.29 billion in sales.

During the quarter, the company shipped 1.76 million Macintosh computers, driven by the MacBook and MacBook Pro, up by 33 percent same time a year ago. PCs accounted for majority of the quarter’s revenue. Apple’s foray in the mobile market also responded well as it sold around 270,000 iPhones in the first two days (29-30 June) of the product launch, which in fact were also the last two days of Q3, beating all expectations.

After receiving buoyant response for iPhone in US, Apples is planning to introduce it in the other markets too. The iPhone is expected to arrive in Europe later this year and will be available in Asia by 2008.

Apple expects to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, capturing 1 percent of the market. That goal depends on winning customers away from Nokia, Motorola, Palm and Research In Motion.

After posting a blockbuster quarter, Apple’s shares jump to an all-time high, while the rest of the market fell sharply. Apple’s shares soared $8.88, or 6.5 percent, to $146.14. The stock peaked at $148.50, a new record high.

Overwhelmed with the third quarter result, Apple expects to spell its magic again in the fourth quarter as company expects to earn $5.7 billion revenue.

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Via: Reuters

Amazon.com has registered buoyant profits in the second quarter amid strong sales of books, music and electronics worldwide.

In the second quarter, the net earning surged to $78 million or 19 cents a share, from $22 million, or 5 cents a share during the same period last year. Revenue increased by 35 percent to $2.88 billion, compared to $2.14 billion a year earlier. Results beat analysts’ expectations by extracting $2.81 billion sales.

Worldwide sales of books, music and other media-category products grew 27 percent to $1.83 billion. Revenue from electronics and general merchandise improved 55% to $970 million.

Sales in the U.S. and Canada increased 38 percent to $1.6 billion. The company registered buoyant revenue surge in its U.K., German, Japanese, French and Chinese sites, where it increased by 31 percent to $1.28 billion, thanks to the weaker dollar.

The company’s revenue from third-party merchants increased to 30% of total unit sales on the site. Amazon’s spending to help third parties sell items on its site, storage and computing power for software programmers increased by 10 percent to $201 million, which depicts that Amazon is progressing constantly and adding more customers to it.

Amazon asserts that it has successfully added huge number of subscribers to its $79-per-year unlimited shipping membership program, but did not disclose a total.

Buoyant with the results, the retailer is confident for the current third quarter and expecting revenue between $3 billion to $3.18 billion. The company has also increased its forecast for the full fiscal year as it is hoping to earn $13.80 billion to $14.30 billion, earlier it expected only $13.4 billion to $14 billion.

Overwhelming results gave boost to Amazon’s shares, as prior to the quarterly result they were looming by $2.49, or 3.5%, but dramatically gained momentum as news hit the market. In an hour trading, company’s shares strengthen by $8.72 to $77.07.

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Via: Mercurynews