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Technology Stocks : Renren -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (62)	5/26/2011 10:02:39 AM
From: Savant	Respond to of 310

The market to borrow another closely watched technology IPO has been much tighter. Chinese social network Renren Inc. (RENN) has more than two-thirds of lendable supply out on loan, figures from securities-financing tracker Data Explorers showed. --- UPDATE: LinkedIn One Of Most Costly Stocks To Short - Astec Last Update: 5/25/2011 5:27:42 PM (Adds further LinkedIn shorting details in the second paragraph, closing stock price in the fourth paragraph, and Renren comparison in the ninth paragraph.) By Brendan Conway Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--LinkedIn Corp.'s (LNKD) stock is immediately one of the U.S. market's most talked-about "shorts"--and one of the most costly. Brokers borrowed 1.17 million shares in the newly listed Internet stock Tuesday, or about 15% of the entire float, data from SunGard Data Systems Inc.'s Astec Analytics unit show. Although the float represents only about 9.5% of total shares in the company, the figure shows a healthy appetite for LinkedIn negativity. "If short interest as a percent of float is in the double digits, many investors consider that to be significant," said Andrew Shinn, director of research for Astec Analytics. "For LinkedIn, it's immediately a stock with a lot of short interest." The data are the market's first glimpse into investors' desire to go bearish on LinkedIn's stock, which posted a first-day price surge of 109%. Analysts had predicted a substantial effort to short the stock, given the vigorous debate over LinkedIn's valuation and the memories of the heady Internet bubble of the late 1990s, evoked by LinkedIn's initial public offering last week. Shares closed 1.2% lower at $94.33 in trading Wednesday. Investors who want to short shares borrow the stock and then sell it, betting that the price of the shares will fall and that they can buy them back at a lower price, for return to the lender. In order to borrow the shares, investors have to pay the owner a fee, normally an annualized percentage of the stock's value. The small float of LinkedIn's stock had many market analysts predicting it would be difficult--and--costly to sell the stock short. The princely lending rates this week bear that prediction out. The average wholesale rate to borrow LinkedIn shares was 86% Tuesday, Astec's data show. This means that hedge funds seeking to sell the stock short may have had to pay as much as 181% on an annualized basis to borrow shares, according to the company's estimates. LinkedIn is the fourth-most expensive stock in the U.S. to borrow at present, the same data show. Unlike similarly priced shorts, there are still more LinkedIn shares to go around. LinkedIn borrowers have tapped only about 22% of available shares, Astec's data show. Very high rates usually correspond with a scarcity of stock to borrow, with utilization rates like 90% to 100%. The high cost versus a relatively ample supply was read as a sign that shareholders were capitalizing on the publicity and strong interest in bearish LinkedIn positions. "It seems like the securities lenders were saying, 'Let's charge the maximum amount we can for this, since it's in the news and it's such a popular short'," Shinn said. LinkedIn is the only well-known name among the costliest U.S. shorts. The three pricier, as of Tuesday morning, were over-the-counter shares in Kunekt Corp. (KNKT), as well as China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources Inc. (SHZ) and Dearborn Bancorp Inc. (DEAR), according to Astec's data.

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (62)	8/24/2011 10:09:53 AM
From: zax	Respond to of 310

Renren and MSN China Announce Strategic Cooperation finance.yahoo.com Press Release Source: Renren Inc. On Wednesday August 24, 2011, 6:00 am EDT BEIJING, Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN - News) ("Renren" or the "Company"), the leading real name social networking internet platform in China, and Shanghai MSN Network Communications Technology Co., Ltd. ("MSN China"), who runs the online business for Microsoft in China, today announced a strategic cooperation between the two companies to offer users a seamless integration of their respective social networking services platforms, bringing social networking to a new level of user convenience and interest. According to the strategic agreement, Renren and MSN China will share a wide range of applications and services across the two platforms, including unified account log-in, content synchronization, finding and communicating with friends, among others. "We are very excited to be the SNS partner of choice for MSN China. The strategic cooperation with MSN China is a great example of how we continue our commitment to offer our users the unrivalled social networking experience. Both Renren and MSN users will enjoy the convenience and enhanced services brought by the cross-platform cooperation," said Mr. James Liu, Chief Operating Officer of Renren. "MSN has always been very selective in choosing our partners in China to ensure we consistently deliver secure, reliable and innovative online services. Today's partnership with Renren is another strategic decision we made to keep that promise to our users, as we benefit from each other's competitive strengths and complementary user bases," commented Mr. Jiarong Chen, Deputy General Manager of MSN China. About Renren Inc. Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN - News) operates the leading real name social networking internet platform in China. It enables users to connect and communicate with each other, share information and user generated content, play online games, listen to music, shop for deals and enjoy a wide range of other features and services. Renren's platform includes the main social networking website Renren.com, the online games center game.Renren.com, the social commerce website nuomi.com, and the newly launched professional and business social networking service website jingwei.com. It had approximately 124.2 million activated users as of June 30, 2011. About MSN China In April 2005, Microsoft and Shanghai Alliance Investment Co., Ltd. co-founded Shanghai MSN Network Communications Technology Co., Ltd. in Shanghai. It operates a full range of online services and software products offered by the Microsoft Online Services Group. These online service brands include MSN, Windows Live and Bing. In China, through in-depth cooperation with local partners and continuous innovation, it provides Internet users with comprehensive integrated Internet services, including an MSN Chinese portal ( http://cn.msn.com), instant messaging (Messenger), Bing search, mobile Internet service and client-end applications. Renren Inc.—Safe Harbor Statement This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from Renren's management in this announcement, contain forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Renren's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. For more information, please contact: Renren Inc. Margaret Shi Investor Relations Manager Renren Inc. Tel: (+86 10) 8448 1818 ext 1300 Email: margaret.shi@renren-inc.com Caroline Straathof IR Inside Tel: (The Netherlands) +31 6 5462 4301 Tel: (China): +86 136 9310 5055 Email: info@irinside.com MSN China Viola Wang PR Director, MSN China Tel: +86 10 5896 6899 Email: yan.wang@microsoft.com Joyce Wu PR Manager, MSN China Tel: +86 10 5896 6804 Email: joyce.wu@microsoft.com Penny Peng Account Manager, H-line Ogilvy Tel: +86 10 8520 3310 Email: penny.peng@h-line.com