Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: altair19 who wrote (160259)	2/10/2009 10:34:49 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 362459

"It's scary how isolated these guys are and have no concept of how stupid and sleazy they come across." Yeah. Who do they think they are? Wall St. typhoons?

To: altair19 who wrote (160259)	2/10/2009 10:35:35 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 362459

re It's scary how isolated these guys are and have no concept of how stupid and sleazy they come across. $25 Million per year can create an incredibly Delusioned sense of self...

To: altair19 who wrote (160259)	2/10/2009 11:23:03 AM
From: Cactus Jack	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 362459

a19, Couldn't have said it better myself. A-Rod has destroyed his own reputation. I didn't listen to the entire interview -- did Gammons ask him about lying on national TV last year and calling Canseco a liar? Isn't it ironic that the only guy who has really told the truth about this whole sleazy affair is Jose Fricken' Canseco? I'm ready for Bud Selig under oath where he can't control the questioning and proselytize about the great health of the game. jpg

To: altair19 who wrote (160259)	2/10/2009 12:18:24 PM
From: cirrus	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 362459

It not A-Rod's fault. It's our fault. ... Stop the subsidies. We taxpayers subsidize billion dollar stadiums so owners can throw incredible sums of money at immature jerks who can hit a ball with a stick. That creates the kind of environment where players will do ANYTHING that helps them swing that stick faster. Who wouldn't pop a few pills for the chance at or to keep that kind of money? Sleezy or not, I certainly would, and anybody who's honest would have to admit it's tempting, very tempting and so easy to rationalize. Hell, strippers get surgical boob implants to get better tips. You're sore from a fall so you pop a few Advill so you can ski today. Who you hurting? You pop a few 'roids to get stronger. Who you hurting - besides yourself? ... Forget everything else. Want to make it clear that 'roid use is verbotten? Use fraud statutes to criminalize 'roid use by pro athletes. They now spend the unpaid suspension time on the beach then resume where they left off. Put teeth in enforcement. Void their contracts and toss 'em in prison for a season. End of problem.

To: altair19 who wrote (160259)	2/10/2009 7:13:15 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362459

Cisco Sells $4 Billion of Debt as Credit Markets Ease (Update3) By Joseph Galante and Gabrielle Coppola Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Cisco Systems Inc., taking advantage of loosening credit markets, completed the second bond offering in its 25-year history as it looks for ways to reduce expenses amid a slump in demand for networking equipment. The $4 billion bond sale will be used to repay $500 million of floating-rate notes maturing this month, the San Jose, California-based company said yesterday. Cisco, the world’s largest maker of networking equipment, said the proceeds will also go toward general corporate purposes. Chief Executive Officer John Chambers is taking advantage of a more plentiful supply of credit to lower borrowing costs and boost Cisco’s cash. The company is working to eliminate at least $1 billion in expenses by the end of July. Sales may drop as much as 20 percent this quarter, and analysts don’t expect a rebound until 2010. “They’re making considerable cost cuts in light of reduced revenue,” said Erik Suppiger, an analyst at Signal Hill Capital Group LLC in San Francisco. “They also see an opportunity to refinance at a better interest rate. Debt is going to be less expensive than equity, certainly at these prices.” U.S. companies sold $181.7 billion of bonds this year through yesterday, up 42 percent from the same period last year. Yields over benchmark rates on investment-grade and high-yield debt have dropped to their lowest levels since October as investor demand for corporate debt pushes down borrowing costs. Yields Fall The average yield over benchmark rates on U.S. corporate bonds narrowed almost 1 percentage point to 706 basis points this year through yesterday, according to Merrill Lynch & Co.’s U.S. Corporate & High Yield Master index. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. Lower borrowing costs have prompted creditworthy companies to refinance debt or build up war chests to make acquisitions and protect themselves from the global economic slowdown. Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of bulldozers and excavators, sold $3 billion of bonds last week, its largest ever bond sale. The transaction put the Peoria, Illinois-based company in a better position to cover $14 billion of debt coming due in the next 12 months. Novartis AG, Switzerland’s second-biggest drugmaker, also sold $5 billion of bonds last week to bolster its cash pile for acquisitions. Chief Executive Officer Daniel Vasella said last month that the Basel, Switzerland-based drugmaker is planning to buy smaller companies and invest in research. More Acquisitions At Cisco, the added cash may help fund more acquisitions. The company, which had $29.5 billion in cash at the end of the last quarter, bought at least seven companies last year and currently has a “good pipeline” of potential acquisitions, Chambers said last week on a conference call. The company said in a statement yesterday that general corporate purposes may include stock buybacks, debt repayment, acquisitions, investments, capital expenditure and advances to subsidiaries. Cisco’s main business is routers and switches, which direct and control the flow of data over networks. Cisco’s last debt offering was in 2006. It helped pay for the $6.9 billion takeover of Scientific-Atlanta Inc., a maker of television set-top boxes. Cisco fell 80 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $16.05 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading at 4 p.m. New York time. The shares dropped 40 percent last year. Cisco Bond Sale Yesterday’s sale included $2 billion of 4.95 percent 10-year notes that priced to yield 200 basis points more than U.S. Treasuries of similar maturity. Cisco also sold $2 billion of 5.9 percent 30-year bonds that priced at a spread of 225 basis points over Treasuries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Cisco’s Chambers declined to comment on the company’s debt issue at a press conference today in Mumbai where Cisco and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. announced a plan to jointly develop software services. Moody’s Investors Service rates Cisco’s senior notes A1, the fifth-highest level of investment quality. They carry an equivalent A+ grade from Standard & Poor’s. Cisco hired Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to help sell the debt. To contact the reporters on this story: Joseph Galante in San Francisco at jgalante@bloomberg.net; Gabrielle Coppola in New York at gcoppola@bloomberg.net

To: altair19 who wrote (160259)	2/10/2009 7:16:28 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362459

Phillips Exeter Academy’s Endowment Falls 22% dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com February 10, 2009, 1:06 pm From Geraldine Fabrikant, a DealBook colleague: Phillips Exeter Academy, one of the nation’s wealthiest prep schools, told the Exeter community this week that its endowment — which held more than $1 billion at the end of 2007 — lost 21.8 percent in calendar 2008 and that it was instituting a series of budget adjustments. While the loss is less than the 37 percent drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index last year, much less than the broader ravages within the financial sector, it is still a setback for the New Hampshire school, whose endowment financed a broad financial aid program. Exeter joins many other schools, including giants like Harvard and Yale, whose endowments have been hit hard by the flagging economy. In a letter to the Exeter community, Tyler C. Tingley, the principal, said that the academy intended to keep up its commitment to providing full financial aid to students whose families earn $75,000 or less. He also said the school was committed to retaining the staff which are at the “heart of what makes Exeter Exeter,” as he put it. Still, he added that the school would reduce its spending in the coming years by $6 million, or roughly 8 percent of its current operating budget, resulting in a wage freeze. Mr. Tingley said it was not clear just how many people would be affected and in what ways and areas. He said the school would delay a plan to build a new heath and wellness center. The trustees approved a 2 percent increase in tuition for the next school year. That is the lowest increase in 35 years, the school said.

To: altair19 who wrote (160259)	2/10/2009 7:55:55 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362459

Top 10 Global Business Trends for 2009 _______________________________________________________________ Noted futurist Dr. James Canton says complexity, connectivity and sustainability are three of the trends that will shape the coming year. By Dr. James Canton Institute for Global Futures Jan. 26, 2009 Each year since 1990, I’ve published my top forecasts for the next year in the Global Trends Report 2009 ©. These trends and predictions are designed to give people and business a heads-up on what's next in the economy, technology and society. As featured in my keynote, The Extreme Future, this year's Global Trends Report is your wakeup call on the key trends that will shape the coming year. Predictions for 2009 Dr. Canton identifies the coming year's top global trends as follows: 1. Managing Complexity - This year, more than ever, the top skill that everyone will need is managing complexity. The complexity of dealing with immense and fast changes, the economic crisis, the job market, global competition and new technologies will require a high level of complexity management. Survival may well be dependent on how well a Complexity Manager you are. 2. High Agility Enterprise - Fast to change. Anticipatory of what's next. Exceeding expectations. New innovations to serve customers, find profit, accelerate transactions, release creativity and empower employees and customers will transform business in 2009. Innovations like customer care portals, Wikis, Mashups, Predictive Analytics, Social Networking, Web 2.0 processes and products will drive competitive advantage this year. Business agility will be propelled by elegant, integrative Clouds, adaptive and innovative business IT processes. This is the year to migrate to more web-centric business transformation. 3. Global Connectivity - Information will find you. The pervasive mobile Internet is coming in 2009 and will connect everyone in business, customers—everywhere, and all the time, across borders, supply chains and industries. Entirely new business models, supply chains, customer care networks, markets and industries will be born from this always-on global connectivity. New business models that deliver real-time value, all the time anywhere and everywhere, will redefine markets—get ready now for this shift. 4. Blended Reality - The convergence of TV, computer, Net, wireless, telephony across interactive fast real-time broadband networks with GPS information will become a Blended Reality lifestyle in 2009. Rich media interactivity, real-time messaging, rich media and virtual worlds are coming. This lifestyle cuts across geography, markets and cultures. Blended Reality is the new global lifestyle and demographic that will emerge. 5. Navigating the New Risk Landscape - Here comes the Post-Economic Meltdown—OK let's get on with it. Every business and everyone will need a new strategy to deal with navigating risk and opportunity this year. It will change everything and touch everyone in 2009. Dealing with the aftershocks to the economic meltdown, which started in 2008, will be top of mind for every business and individual. Smarter moves and greater risk management will be prudent advice for this coming year. Navigating the new risks, new challenges and new threats will be key. We will look differently at risk—even missing some opportunities. Understanding how to navigate the changes and challenges of the new risk landscape will be essential this year. Know when to risk and when to hold on. 6. Personalized Medicine - People are living longer and spending more to enhance their cognitive, emotional and physical performance. Radical new choices are coming that will challenge our values and laws. From prevention, to mapping your personal genome, to life-extension, longevity medicine is coming fast. This global marketplace will be the largest in the 21st century, driven by Boomer's wealth and biotech's future innovations in stem cells, synthetic biology, and cloning that will transform health care making it boldly predictive and personalized. How about a new kidney for Christmas? 7. The MegaCity Consumer - From China to India, to Latin America and the EU, there is a new consumer demographic that is emerging driven by massive urban migration. They live in megacities, are highly mobile and are transnational. The MegaCity Consumers are the new middle class, tech savvy, highly mobile and entrepreneurial. They are driving up demand for products and services that could reach over 120 countries, generating billions by 2035. This new global middle class is being born and they want the prosperity and quality of life that is defined by the consumer marketplace. 8. Beware Dark Networks - Security will be an increased risk factor for business in 2009 given the vulnerability of computer networks that increasingly connect us all. From hackers to identity thieves, to terrorists and criminals, the future is bright for the Dark Networks. Business needs to invest in deeper innovations in security and take it to the next level. More sophisticated and complex fraud, theft and terror attacks will threaten modern society, so be prepared and invest now in prevention. 9. Green & Clean Sustainability - Billions will be invested in alternative energy, clean tech and climate change in 2009. The new administration will embrace, whole hog, the sustainability trend. We will capitalize on cleaning up the planet, reducing foreign oil dependence and reducing global warming. Customers are going green. Consumers will want increased corporate accountability in protecting and saving the environment. Smart companies will now leverage Green & Clean policies, products and services—and be held accountable if they are not. 10. Strategic Vision: Future Readiness - Most businesses are not ready for the future. Witness the economic beating of this past year. Each business needs to develop a predictive awareness—a sensing capability of what is next. Developing a capacity to see what's next and prepare by monitoring trends, developing business foresight with an eye towards the longer more strategic view will be essential to success in 2009. New profit opportunities will come from those companies that see the future first and become Future-Ready—anticipating, adapting and evolving before the competition. Download the full PDF version may of the Global Trends Report 2009... globalfuturist.com Dr. James Canton is founder of the Institute for Global Futures. Contact Dr. Canton at 415-563-0720 or Info@GlobalFuturist.com To view other keynote descriptions, trends lists and video of Dr. Canton, please visit globalfuturist.com.