20/11/08 Journey Southward: Sirius Shares Hit 20 Cents
20/11/08 Journey Southward: Sirius Shares Hit 20 Cents
When is a stock officially a dog? On Monday, shares of Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) hit a bottom-scraping 20 cents, an all-time low for the company. The depressed valuation comes alongside a string of fundamental problems, including a massive $4.8 billion write-off and future loan obligations crossing into the billions.
Others continued to limp on Wall Street. The broader Dow improved 151.17 points, or 1.83 percent, to land at 8,424.75 after a late-stage bounce. During the day, traders digested news of falling wholesale prices, a sign that inflation is not a near-term threat; and a surprisingly positive forecast by Hewlett-Packard. Elsewhere, American automakers made their case for a bailout in Congress, and investors adjusted for a deeper recession.
That created a volatile day, one that see-sawed music-related shares. Apple (AAPL) inched upward 2.01 percent to $89.91; Live Nation (LYV) dropped 4.06 percent to $4.73; Ticketmaster (TKTM) gained 3.93 percent to $6.08; Warner Music Group (WMG) jumped 10.83 percent to $2.66; and The Orchard dropped 12.99 percent to $2.21.
20/11/08 Cuban Bites Back Against SEC Charges...
20/11/08 Cuban Bites Back Against SEC Charges...
In the face of a Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) insider trading investigation, most would assume a low-key demeanor. But brash billionaire Mark Cuban is pursuing a more confrontational route, one that uses the pulpit of the blog.
The SEC recently filed suit against the broadcast.com founder, alleging that Cuban illegally dumped shares in Canadian search engine Mamma.com after acquiring confidential information related to an upcoming dilution.
At first, Cuban declined to delve into specifics. But Cuban now appears ready to battle through Blog Maverick. In a Tuesday post, Cuban acknowledged that Mamma relayed information related to an upcoming offering. But Cuban denied that there were confidentiality aspects attached. "The SEC knows their case centers on one telephone conversation between two individuals - 4 years ago," a posted letter from attorney Stephen A. Best stated. "There was no agreement to keep information confidential."
20/11/08 French Labels Suing Limewire, Morpheus, Others
20/11/08 French Labels Suing Limewire, Morpheus, Others
A consortium of French labels is now suing file-sharing applications Limewire, Morpheus, and Vuze, according to details revealed by Torrentfreak. The action also includes Sourceforge, an open-source repository that offers hosting to Shareaza. The lawsuits are being coordinated under the Société Civile des Producteurs de Phonogrammes en France, or SPPF.
The lawsuits are being delivered under the DADVSI copyright law. An amendment to DADVSI prohibits any company from distributing software that facilitates the illegal transfer of content, and penalties ramp towards three years in jail and a 300,000 euro fine ($378,780). That contrasts with the United States, where copyright holders can only pursue application developers for overtly encouraging and driving profits from copyrighted content.
Earlier, French courts were grappling over issues of jurisdiction, specifically whether a foreign company could be sued for distributing applications that are inherently global. That placed previous lawsuits on hold, though courts have now authorized the actions.
20/11/08 Mexican Tycoon Grabbing Major Circuit City Stake
20/11/08 Mexican Tycoon Grabbing Major Circuit City Stake
Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego is now purchasing a large percentage of Circuit City shares, according to recent regulatory filings. Pliego grabbed allotments of 5.3 million, 5.2 million, and 19.8 million shares starting last week, on top of an existing stronghold of 16.8 million. That makes Pliego the largest shareholder of Circuit City, at roughly 28 percent.
The purchasing activity started November 12th, just two days after the company declared bankruptcy. In Mexico, Pliego controls a diversified portfolio of companies that span retail, consumer electronics, mobile, and media sectors. He is the chairman of Grupo Elektra SA, a consumer electronics retail giant; TV Azteca SA, a massive television broadcaster in the region; and Grupo Iusacell SA, a major mobile group.
Pliego is ranked as the fourth-richest Mexican, and one of the richest individuals in the world. Circuit City is currently closing stores and restructuring amidst a serious consumer spending downturn.
17/11/08 Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind: More Rockiness Awaits
17/11/08 Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind: More Rockiness Awaits
A difficult rearview is now prelude to more turbulence ahead, and investors are exercising caution. Instead of heady optimism and bottom-scraping scrappiness, most are girding for another rollercoaster week, including those carrying music-related shares.
That includes Warner Music Group (WMG), a company that bottomed an all-time low of $2.74 last week, only to resuscitate to $2.77 by Friday. Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) also tested the trough by landing at 26 cents at the end of the week, a depressed valuation that betrays a host of serious ills.
Those companies have fundamental issues, though broader headwinds remain unfriendly. On Friday, the Dow shed 337.94 points to 8.497.31, a 3.82 percent drop on Friday. Overall, the Dow dropped 4.2 percent on the week, based on a bearish mix of bad earnings, layoffs, tightening consumer confidence, and pending meltdowns of mega-corporations like GM.
Other music-related stocks felt the pressure. Live Nation (LYV) landed at $5.50, a 36.6 percent drop on the week, based on negative analyst projections related to concert attendance. Irving Azoff-helmed Ticketmaster Entertainment (TKTM) also ended sharply down, dropping 24.7 percent to $5.87. The Orchard edged downward 1.9 percent, landing at $2.54; and Apple (AAPL) slipped 5 percent to $90.24.
