On-Hudson.com

After A Very Impressive Run Apple Is Acting A Bit Fatigued

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AAPL&t=1y&l=on&z=l&q=c&c=

Gold Speculators Eye Central Bank Purchases For New Highs

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/gold-traders-get-more-bullish-as-billionaire-paulson-says-buy-commodities.html

 

Gold Bulls Expand as Billionaire Paulson Says Buy

 Nicholas Larkin - 

Gold traders are getting more bullish after billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson told investors it’s time to buy the metal as protection against inflation caused by government spending.

Twelve of 22 surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to gain next week and five were neutral. Paulson & Co. is already the biggest investor in the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest exchange- traded product backed by bullion, with a stake valued at $2.9 billion, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Feb. 14 showed. Investors have 2,389.7 metric tons in ETPs, within 0.2 percent of the record reached in December and more than all but four central banks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Speculators in U.S. gold futures are now their most bullish since September after the Bank of England and Bank of Japan said they will buy more assets and the Federal Reserve said it was considering purchasing more bonds. Central banks are also expanding their bullion reserves, adding 439.7 tons last year, the most in almost five decades. They may buy a similar amount in 2012, the London-based World Gold Council said yesterday.

“The appalling state of fiscal finances of most industrial nations does lead to concerns about the possibility of inflation,” said Mark O’Byrne, executive director of Dublin- based GoldCore Ltd., a brokerage that sells everything from quarter-ounce British Sovereigns to 400-ounce bars. “Gold is a crucial diversification given the various risks out there.”

Bank of America

Gold rose 9.9 percent to $1,722.20 an ounce this year on the Comex inNew York. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 commodities gained 6.6 percent and MSCI All-Country World Index (MXWD) of equities climbed 9.7 percent. Treasuries lost 0.5 percent, a Bank of America Corp. index (MXWD) shows.

Hedge funds and other money managers boosted wagers on higher prices by 57 percent since mid-January. They raised their net-long position by 8.6 percent to 173,172 futures and options in the week ended Feb. 7, the highest level since mid-September, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show.

Central banks are keeping interest rates at or near record lows and expanding stimulus measures to spur growth that the International Monetary Fund predicted on Jan. 24 will be 3.3 percent this year, down from a previous forecast of 4 percent. Greece is seeking more aid on top of the 110 billion euros ($145 billion) awarded in 2010 and Moody’s Investors Service cut the ratings of six European nations on Feb. 13.

‘Build a Position’

“By the time inflation becomes evident, gold will probably have moved, which implies that now is the time to build a position in gold,” New-York based Paulson said in a letter to investors obtained by Bloomberg.Armel Leslie, a spokesman for Paulson, declined to comment.

The 56-year-old manager’s SPDR Gold Trust holdings fell 15 percent in the fourth quarter as his $23 billion hedge fund company had its worst-ever year. His Advantage Plus Fund lost 51 percent in 2011, and the firm said in a third-quarter letter that financial services companies were the “primary drag.” Paulson became a billionaire in 2007 by betting against the U.S. subprime mortgage market. Gold rose 10 percent last year in New York trading, an 11th consecutive annual gain.

Europe’s deepening debt crisis may spur some investors to retreat to cash. Bullion dropped 3.4 percent in the three months through December, the first quarterly decline since 2008, as the value of global equities slumped more than $10 trillion from the May peak, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Debt Crisis

“Despite the strong start to global markets this year, the underlying sentiment is still one of fear,” said Chris Weafer, the chief strategist at Troika Dialog, an investment bank in Moscow. “Until the euro zone debt crisis is put to bed, all assets, even gold, are in the risk category.”

Investors should avoid gold because its uses are limited and it lacks the potential of farmland or companies to produce new wealth, Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., wrote in an adaptation of his annual letter to shareholders that appeared on Fortune magazine’s website on Feb. 9.

Vinik Asset Management LP, Tudor Investment Corp. and SAC Capital Advisors LP sold shares in the SPDR Gold Trust in the fourth quarter, filings showed this week. George Soros, the billionaire founder of Soros Fund Management LLC, raised his stake to 85,450 shares from 48,350.

Record investment drove gold demand to 4,067.1 tons last year, the most since 1997, the World Gold Council estimates.

Nine of 24 traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect copper to climb next week and seven were neutral. The metal for delivery in three months, the London Metal Exchange’s benchmark contract, rose 7.4 percent to $8,161.50 a ton this year after declining 21 percent last year.

ICE Futures

Ten of 14 people surveyed expect raw-sugar prices to drop next week. The commodity is up 1.8 percent this year at 23.72 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York.

Eleven of 21 people surveyed anticipate lower corn prices next week, while 12 of 22 said soybeans will advance. Corn fell 0.3 percent to $6.4475 a bushel this year as soybeans rose 5.7 percent to $12.77 a bushel.

“By initiating further rounds of quantitative easing, central banks should be one of the supporting factors for commodity prices,” said Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “The high uncertainty and growing risk aversion among market players surrounding the Greek debt saga should depress any meaningful price increases.”

Gold survey results: Bullish: 12 Bearish: 5 Hold: 5
Copper survey results: Bullish: 9 Bearish: 8 Hold: 7
Corn survey results: Bullish: 7 Bearish: 11 Hold: 3
Soybean survey results: Bullish: 12 Bearish: 9 Hold: 1
Raw sugar survey results: Bullish: 2 Bearish: 10 Hold: 2
White sugar survey results: Bullish: 2 Bearish: 9 Hold: 3
White sugar premium results: Widen: 5 Narrow: 6 Neutral: 3

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net.

 

Occupy This

NYSE To Make Transition From Outdated Symbol Of Capitalism To Exclusive Party Venue

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2011/04/10/2011-04-10_renovation_poises_nyse_to_be_new_black_tie_party_destination.html

Renovation poises NYSE to be New York's new black tie party destination

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Honda/Getty

With fewer traders than ever working the floor, it only makes sense to utilize the renovated NYSE site to rent out for unique corporate events.

 

 

What do you do when a cathedral of capitalism becomes antiquated? You turn it into New York's best party space.

The New York Stock Exchange has lost most of its famous shoulder-to-shoulder bustle in the age of computerized trading. So it's hoping its status as an icon of American finance will be a popular draw for cocktail receptions, analyst presentations and other festivities.

The exchange, where traders have nervously watched tickers and shouted orders for more than 100 years, is already available for some events. It wants to expand to 1,000 a year, double the number from three years ago.

Think black tie, not Black Monday.

"Planners are always looking for something that's different and unique, and there's only one stock exchange," said Ken Edwards, an executive at SmartSource Rentals who serves as the president of the New York chapter of a national meeting planners organization. "From an experience standpoint, that it's getting a facelift now is an absolute sign that they think that there's a recovery going on."

In addition to the trading floor, the exchange rents out updated meeting spaces to companies and charities. They include vaulted-ceiling dining rooms and a lounge with gilt-edged walls that used to be a club for stock traders. Company officials wouldn't say what they were spending on the renovations, which are expected to be finished by the end of next year.

It's a renovation borne out of necessity. Hosting meetings is a small part of the company's overall profits, but shows how far the building has come from its days as the center of the daily churn global capitalism. Since the last renovation of the building in 1995, the business model of the stock exchange has changed drastically.

Fewer traders than ever actually work on the floor. Steven Grasso, the director of institutional sales at Stuart Frankel & Co., compared stepping onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for the first time in 1994 to walking out of the dugout at Yankees Stadium. Traders stood shoulder to shoulder on the trading floor, screaming at each other and into telephones, their feet littered with discarded orders.

"Now, I can do more with my hand-held device than I ever could back then," he says, swinging his arms wide on the trading floor.

No other trader was within 10 feet of him.

There are a couple of strategic reasons for the renovation, which comes while the company's future is uncertain. NYSE Euronext Inc. agreed in February to be acquired by a German exchange operator. Last week, however, its longtime domestic rival Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. announced that it had teamed up with derivatives operatorIntercontinentalExchange Inc. to offer a 19 percent higher bid. Both proposals are still pending.

 

NYSE Euronext gets more and more of its profits from companies that list their shares on the exchange or rent out its rooms. The company brought in $3.1 billion in revenue from trading last year, down from $3.5 billion two years ago and the second year of decline. That figure includes both the conventional trading of stocks but also the far more lucrative business of trading more exotic financial instruments like options and futures contracts. At the same time its stock listings business has grown from $395 million to $422 million.

The company now brings in nearly 25 percent less money for each 100 shares handled compared with two years ago. At the same time, the number of shares it handles are dwindling. A decade ago, the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange accounted for roughly 80 percent of the volume of the blue chip stocks listed on it like General Electric Co. and Procter & Gamble Co. Now, thanks to regulatory changes and the rise of electronic exchanges such as the Kansas City-based BATS, the figure is closer to 25 percent.

The exchange building is seen as an asset that gives the company a premium brand. The prestige and media attention devoted to its trading floor have long allowed NYSE Euronext to charge companies more for listing their shares than its competitors. "The building itself is a part of our legacy and a big part of our (value)," said Joseph Mecane, an executive vice president at NYSE Euronext Inc. who oversees the listings of U.S.companies.

The building and trading floor are attractive for suitors like electronic-only exchange Nasdaq. "The trading floor is fantastic for marketing," said Michael Wong, an analyst at Morningstar. "Every company would like to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and that's an intangible that BATS or another competitor can't duplicate."

The last physical upgrades to the exchange building were completed in 1995. Since then, NYSE Euronext has devoted more of its resources to upgrading its technology. The company opened a 400,000 square feet data center 30 miles outside of Manhattan in suburban Mahwah, New Jersey last year. Its servers are now at the heart of the exchange, routing trade orders coming from humans and computer programs.

Lou Pastina, the executive vice president of operations, said that the renovations to the building are the next logical upgrade. Each of the 11 brown trading posts in the center of the trading floor will be replaced. New, wider versions will have blue countertops, additional screens, and brighter lighting. The wall of dark glass at the front of the building will be replaced with windows that bring natural light onto the trading floor. And in the middle of it all, a small television set will allow CNBC anchors to conduct interviews from the floor itself.

Traders say the upgrades are part of the evolution of the stock market. Better data screens will make day-to-day orders run more smoothly, while the wider trading booths will make it easier to communicate with other human traders during large market swings, saidRichard Rosenblatt, the head of Rosenblatt Securities who has worked in the building for decades.

"When I started here, the telephone was considered technology," he said. "The market is always moving forward."

 

NYSE Euronext gets more and more of its profits from companies that list their shares on the exchange or rent out its rooms. The company brought in $3.1 billion in revenue from trading last year, down from $3.5 billion two years ago and the second year of decline. That figure includes both the conventional trading of stocks but also the far more lucrative business of trading more exotic financial instruments like options and futures contracts. At the same time its stock listings business has grown from $395 million to $422 million.

The company now brings in nearly 25 percent less money for each 100 shares handled compared with two years ago. At the same time, the number of shares it handles are dwindling. A decade ago, the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange accounted for roughly 80 percent of the volume of the blue chip stocks listed on it like General Electric Co. and Procter & Gamble Co. Now, thanks to regulatory changes and the rise of electronic exchanges such as the Kansas City-based BATS, the figure is closer to 25 percent.

The exchange building is seen as an asset that gives the company a premium brand. The prestige and media attention devoted to its trading floor have long allowed NYSE Euronext to charge companies more for listing their shares than its competitors. "The building itself is a part of our legacy and a big part of our (value)," said Joseph Mecane, an executive vice president at NYSE Euronext Inc. who oversees the listings of U.S.companies.

The building and trading floor are attractive for suitors like electronic-only exchange Nasdaq. "The trading floor is fantastic for marketing," said Michael Wong, an analyst at Morningstar. "Every company would like to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and that's an intangible that BATS or another competitor can't duplicate."

The last physical upgrades to the exchange building were completed in 1995. Since then, NYSE Euronext has devoted more of its resources to upgrading its technology. The company opened a 400,000 square feet data center 30 miles outside of Manhattan in suburban Mahwah, New Jersey last year. Its servers are now at the heart of the exchange, routing trade orders coming from humans and computer programs.

Lou Pastina, the executive vice president of operations, said that the renovations to the building are the next logical upgrade. Each of the 11 brown trading posts in the center of the trading floor will be replaced. New, wider versions will have blue countertops, additional screens, and brighter lighting. The wall of dark glass at the front of the building will be replaced with windows that bring natural light onto the trading floor. And in the middle of it all, a small television set will allow CNBC anchors to conduct interviews from the floor itself.

Traders say the upgrades are part of the evolution of the stock market. Better data screens will make day-to-day orders run more smoothly, while the wider trading booths will make it easier to communicate with other human traders during large market swings, saidRichard Rosenblatt, the head of Rosenblatt Securities who has worked in the building for decades.

"When I started here, the telephone was considered technology," he said. "The market is always moving forward."

 

Border Chief Denies Allegations Of Rinky-Doodling Arrests Of Illegal Immigrants

                                           

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/06/fed-chief-writes-arizona-sheriff-claimed-lax-border-patrol-enforcement/%20/?test=latestnews

Border Chief Writes Arizona Sheriff Who Claimed Lax Border Patrol Enforcement

Mike Levine & Jana Winter

AP

Nov. 1, 2010: Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, left, speaks about illegal immigration at an event in Arizona also attended by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.

Three days after an Arizona sheriff said Border Patrol agents were ordered to turn back -- rather than arrest -- illegal immigrants trying to cross the Southwest border, the head of the U.S. Border Patrol has asked to meet with the sheriff and offered a "ride-along" with federal agents for a firsthand look at Border Patrol activities.

In a letter sent Monday to Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, U.S. Border Patrol chief Michael Fisher wrote that he felt "enormous disappointment and concern" over the "recent allegation."

"That assertion is completely, 100 percent false," Fisher wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News. "That it comes from a fellow law enforcement official makes it especially offensive."

Last week, Dever told FoxNews.com that a Border Patrol supervisor and others recently alerted him that the federal agency's office on Arizona's southern border was under orders to keep apprehension numbers down during specific reporting periods. Those orders included, at times, an all-out halt to arrests of illegal immigrants caught trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border.

"The senior supervisor agent is telling me about how their mission is now to scare people back," Dever said. "He said, 'I had to go back to my guys and tell them not to catch anybody, that their job is to chase people away. ... They were not to catch anyone, arrest anyone. Their job was to set up posture, to intimidate people, to get them to go back.'"

 

Sir Richard Branson Calculating A Partnership To Slay Goliath

 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-06/branson-seeks-virgin-atlantic-partner-as-he-stays-major-holder.html

Branson Seeks Virgin Atlantic Partner as He Stays ‘Major’ Holder

Ryan Flinn and Mary Jane Credeur

U.K. billionaire Richard Branson is studying the sale of his 51 percent stake after hiring Deutsche Bank AG to review options. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Richard Branson said his Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. needs a partner to compete with British Airways and that he plans to stay a “major shareholder” as his bankers review the airline’s future.

“It makes sense for Virgin Atlantic to have a partner as well,” the U.K. billionaire said today in an interview in San Francisco. “I will certainly still be extremely involved in the airline, whatever we decide to do, and I will still be a major shareholder. We are in discussions with various people and will see what comes out of it.”

Branson is studying the sale of his 51 percent stake after hiring Deutsche Bank AG to assess options, a person familiar with the matter has said. Virgin Atlantic isn’t in an airline alliance, while British Airways, a rival at London’s Heathrow airport, belongs to the Oneworld group.

Asked whether Crawley, England-based Virgin Atlantic has received any offers, Branson said: “We have received offers, but it’s too soon to say more.” He wouldn’t say what the offers were for or provide any other details.

Singapore Airlines owns 49 percent of Virgin Atlantic, which it bought in 1994. It belongs to the Star Alliance, which includes United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) and Deutsche Lufthansa AG. (LHA) Singapore Airlines said last month that it hadn’t made a decision about any “immediate divestment” of its stake.

Branson, 60, was in San Francisco to mark the opening of a new terminal for Virgin America Inc., the low-fare airline that started flying in 2007 in which he holds a minority stake.

Virgin Atlantic confirmed Deutsche Bank’s review in December and said then it had gotten a “number of lines of enquiry.” That study includes a sale of Branson’s stake, the person familiar with the issue said last month, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

Joining an alliance such as Oneworld, Star or the SkyTeam group led by Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and Air France-KLM (AF) would bolster Virgin Atlantic by letting fliers book seats on its planes as well as on those of its partners on routes it doesn’t serve. Oneworld’s members include AMR Corp. (AMR)’s American Airlines.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at rflinn@bloomberg.net; Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at mcredeur@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net.

Weather Patterns Could Send Food Prices Skyrocketing Further

http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/china-us-wheat-crops-face-serious-trouble-20110401-1crfq.html

China, US wheat crops face 'serious trouble'

April 1, 2011 - 5:36PM

Wheat crops in China, the world's biggest consumer, and the US, the largest exporter, face “serious trouble” if La Nina weather patterns linger, extending damage to the nations' harvests, British Weather Services said.

The two countries will be the last to emerge from the dry conditions linked to the weather event, which has also caused heavy flooding in Australia and Canada and drought in Argentina.

Dry weather will linger for the next two months, parching wheat crops that have already deteriorated in Texas and Oklahoma, and are preventing much-needed rains from reaching northern China, British Weather Services and forecaster Telvent DTN Inc. said.

Advertisement: Story continues below

“If it takes another two months, we're going to be in serious trouble,” Jim Dale, a senior risk meteorologist at British Weather, said in an interview. “Time is of the essence. If you lose time, you're losing money, quantity and quality.”

Sustained dry conditions in China and the US may slash the next harvest, extending global food prices that according to a United Nations index surged to a record in February. About 44 million people have been pushed into poverty since June by the “dangerous levels' of food prices, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in February.

"Weather is going to be key," Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, an analyst at Barclays Capital, said in an interview in Singapore yesterday. "Even if we have a move up in acreage, it doesn't automatically translate to an increase in production."

Winter-wheat represents 71 per cent of the current US crop, according to the country's Department of Agriculture. The crop is harvested from June. The variety accounts for 22 per cent of China's national grain output, Chen Xiwen, the State Council's deputy director of agricultural affairs, said last month.

Worst drought

Wheat futures jumped 5 per cent yesterday, even as the US Department of Agriculture estimated that the area planted by the nation's farmers this year will increase 8.2 per cent from a year earlier to 58 million acres (23.5 million hectares). May- delivery wheat dropped 0.8 per cent to $US7.5725 a bushel at 11:24 a.m. Singapore time.

Texas, the second-largest winter-wheat-growing state in the US, is having its worst drought in 44 years, according to the state climatologist, and the dry weather is stretching to Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas.

Southeastern Oklahoma into most of central and eastern Texas are having extreme drought conditions, which could intensify "if rains don't materialize soon,” according to the weekly Drought Monitor report released by the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska for the week ended March 29.

'Acreage abandonment'

The wheat crop in the US southern plains is “likely to be reduced because of acreage abandonment - farmers plowing up ground that has virtually nothing for production - and yields on the wheat that is harvested will likely be low as well,” Bryce Anderson, an agricultural meteorologist at DTN, said in an e-mailed response to Bloomberg questions. “The wheat areas of the US and China are in line to be the last to recover.”

China's average wheat yield may decline at least 1 per cent because of the drought, Michael Ferrari, vice president for applied technology and research at forecaster Weather Trends International, said February 22.

The country produced about 115.1 million tons last year, representing 17 per cent of the global harvest, according to USDA data.

“There is no sign in China yet of prolonged rain that will help with the drought there for the next 10 days,” said Dale, who correctly predicted Argentina's drought and the UK's coldest December on record. “China and the US are likely to come out of it last,” he said, referring to La Nina.

'Going to sleep'

The weather event, which is caused by a cooling of the Pacific Ocean, may resurface after eight months, threatening the next plantings, British Weather's Dale said.

“We have got to be guarded,” Dale said yesterday. “La Nina is not dead. It's just going to sleep for a time. We're not sure if its nap is going to be prolonged.”

A return of La Nina may derail efforts by farmers to ramp up production of corn, wheat and other crops, triggering another rally in prices.

Wheat futures in Chicago jumped 62 per cent in the past year, climbing to a 30-month high in February. Corn more than doubled in the same period, while soybeans advanced 49 per cent.

Food demand

US corn acreage this year will be about 92.178 million acres, the second-largest since 1944, as farm profits rise while growing demand for food and biofuel cuts world stockpiles.

Still, corn futures jumped as much as 5.7 per cent to $US7.33 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade today, after surging by the most allowed by the exchange yesterday.

US corn stockpiles at the beginning of March dropped to 6.52 billion bushels, the lowest at that time of year since 2007, the USDA said yesterday. Prices of corn, soybeans, wheat and rice climbed last month to the highest since 2008, when surging food costs spurred riots from Haiti to Egypt.

It would take “perfect weather this year” just to keep corn stockpiles at current “tight” levels, said Mark Schultz, the chief analyst at Northstar Commodity Investment Co. in Minneapolis.

“The new crops are not expected to replenish inventories to any meaningful extent, keeping prices in the new season high,” according to a Rabobank Agri Commodity Markets Research report e-mailed today.

Bloomberg News

 

British Icon MG Now Owned By China's State-owned SAIC Motor Corp To Launch MG6 In UK July 2011

http://blogs.motortrend.com/mg-7-rolls-out-in-china-tf-roadsters-uk-launch-delayed-1120.html

MG 7 rolls out in China, TF roadsters UK launch delayed

Nanjing MG, the Chinese automaker that owns the rights to the famous British nameplate, has officially launched the MG 7 in China. The car is available in three trim levels and an extended-wheelbase MG 7L variant. Powering the standard-wheelbase models is a 1.8-liter turbo four that makes 160 horsepower and 158 lb-ft of torque. The flagship MG 7L is 7.87 inches longer, comes with more standard features, and is powered by a 2.5-liter V-6 making 177 horses and 177 lb-ft of torque.

Although the 7′s exterior styling is attractive –;if slightly dated –;on the inside, it;looks;as though;Nanjing came across a warehouse full of late ’90s Pontiac components and forced its designers to make use of the newfound cache. Nanjing;says the vehicle retains the character of the British-built MG ZT in design and quality, though it remains to be seen if that’s actually a good thing. And of course, we’ll have to wait to see how it performs in crash tests. Prices will range between $25,400 and $44,885.

It is not known when;or if;Nanjing will begin selling the car in other markets. There have been long-standing rumors of the company’s desire to sell vehicles in the U.S.;as well as;build a factory here, although nothing has come to fruition as of yet.

Speaking of other markets, production of the TF roadster –;Nanjing’s first MG-related effort –;at the automaker’s U.K. facility in Longbridge has been delayed until early next year, according to a story in Britain’s Birmingham Post. Nanjing officials,;who;initially targeted a fall;launch of the vehicle in the U.K.,;have;produced a number of preproduction TFs at;Longbridge (pictured below), but supply and;vehicle testing issues have forced the delay. TF production is underway;at Nanjing’s Chinese facility.

 

Read more: http://blogs.motortrend.com/mg-7-rolls-out-in-china-tf-roadsters-uk-launch-delayed-1120.html#ixzz1GkTXRxo3

ipad 2 Sales Outpace Origional ipad....Flying Off The Shelf !

http://www.pcworld.com/article/222026/ipad_2_sold_out_newbies_go_on_buying_spree.html

iPad 2 Sold Out: Newbies Go on Buying Spree

 Ian Paul

Weekend sales of Apple's iPad 2 were stellar with as many as 500,000 tablets sold to mostly new tablet owners, according to Piper Jaffray, an independent market research firm. Sales of the iPad 2 were up 67 percent compared to the launch of to original iPad when Apple sold 300,000 tablets.

 

The figures reinforce Apple dominance in tablet sales as first-time tablet owners flock to the iPad 2 and not tablets such as Motorola's Xoom tablet based on the Android mobile operating system.

(See Related Video: Unboxing the iPad 2 and Smart Cover)

Piper Jaffray says it spent the weekend calling Best Buy, Target and Apple Store locations to get a handle on availability for the iPad 2. It discovered most stores were sold out. "We were unable to find any availability," wrote Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray analyst, in a research note Sunday.

 

It's unclear how many stores Piper Jaffray called to determine iPad 2 availability. Apple's online store currently indicates new iPad 2 orders will take three to four weeks to ship. On Friday, the iPad 2's shipping window was one week.

 

iPad 2 Customers Mostly New to Tablets

 

Piper Jaffray says it surveyed 236 prospective iPad 2 buyers in line at Apple Stores in New York and Minneapolis. Piper Jaffray determined that about 70 percent of iPad 2 buyers didn't own the original iPad, suggesting the iPad's user base is growing.

 

It may also signal that original iPad owners are less interested in buying the latest and greatest version of their tablet compared to iPhone owners. During the iPhone 4 launch Piper Jaffray determined an overwhelming 77 percent of people lining up for the new smartphone were already iPhone customers.

 

It's easy to see why sales were stronger than the original iPad. When Apple released its original iPad it was only sold at Apple stores, unlike the iPad 2 sold by Apple and retailers AT&T, Best Buy, Verizon Wireless, and Wal-Mart.

 

The Analyst Who Cried Bull

 

It's entirely possible that Apple sold as many as 500,000 iPad 2 devices this weekend, but it should be noted Munster is usually bullish on his predictions for Apple product launches. In 2010, Munster predicted iPad sales would hit 600,000-700,00 in its first weekend of availability, but Apple sold only half that amount. In June, however, Munster's bullishness paid off when he said he expected Apple to sell as many as 1.5 million iPhone 4's in its first three days of sales. Apple later announced it had sold 1.7 million devices during that time.

 

While regular users may be excited to get their hands on the new iPad 2, DIY-minded folks might want to stay away. The teardown masters at iFixit scored Apple's new device as a 4 out of 10 for reparability, and said the tablet's front glass can shatter easily when trying to repair it yourself.

 

If you missed out on iPad 2 mania over the weekend, but would still like to experience the thrill of seeing a new iPad 2 for the first time. Check out PC World Editor Ed Albro's iPad 2 unboxing.

 

Connect with Ian Paul ( @ianpaul ) and Today@PCWorld on Twitter for the latest tech news and analysis.

Tough All Over : Somali Pirates Lower Ransom Demands By 20% To Clear Excess Inventory

http://af.reuters.com/article/somaliaNews/idAFLDE72C0EG20110313

Somali pirates cut ransoms to clear hijacked ships

ohamed Ahmed and Abdi sheikh

MOGADISHU, March 13 (Reuters) - Somali pirates said on Sunday they would lower some of their ransom demands to get a faster turnover of ships they hijack in the Indian Ocean.

Armed pirate gangs, who have made millions of dollars capturing ships as far south as the Seychelles and eastwards towards India, said they were holding too many vessels and needed a quicker handover to generate more income.

"I believe there is no excuse for taking high ransoms. At least each of our groups holds ships now," pirate Hussein told Reuters from Hobyo on the Somalian coast. He said the pirates were holding more than 30 ships at the moment.

"We have lowered the ransom only for the ships we have used to hijack other ships. We sometimes release these ships free of charge for they generate more (money). But we shall not lower the ransom for the bulk ships we are sure can bring bulk money."

Using captured merchant vessels as launchpads for new hijackings, the pirates have grown bolder despite a loosely coordinated global response, and insurance premiums for shipping lines have rocketed.  

Pirates hold seized ships for an average of up to 150 days before freeing them for ransoms, some as high as $9.5 million for the release of Samho Dream, a South Korean oil supertanker. [ID:nLDE7210Y5]

Abdullahi, another pirate, said any decrease in ransom would be calculated by the ship's value, its cargo and the length of time it had been held.

"We have changed our previous strategies. We have altered our operations and ransom deals with modern business deals," he said from the port town of Haradhere.

"We want to free ships within a short period of time instead of keeping them for a long time and incurring more expenses in guarding them. We have to free them at a lower ransom so that we can hijack more ships."

Attacks have grown since 2007 when young Somalis in small skiffs with AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades took to the water is to seek their fortunes. [ID:LDE726070]

But since late February, the pirates have had to share their spoils with the Al Shabaab Islamist rebels, who profess loyalty to al Qaeda. The insurgents -- who have been waging a four-year insurrection against the country's Western-backed government -- struck a deal to get a 20 percent cut of ransoms in Haradhere.

Pirates said the rebels had no say in their plan.

"Al Shabaab has nothing to do with our plan to lower ransoms. We agreed on a fixed 20 percent cut. Low or high ransom, the agreement is fixed," said Abdullahi. (editing by Elizabeth Piper)