November 2012 ~ Investment

Friday, November 30, 2012

Reuters: Global Markets: Groupon shares slump as CEO stays put

Posted by Isabella on 12:22 PM

Reuters: Global Markets

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Groupon shares slump as CEO stays put

Nov 30th 2012, 18:05

Groupon Chief Executive Andrew Mason (L) prepares for the opening bell ceremony celebrating his company's IPO at the Nasdaq Market in New York November 4, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid

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Reuters: Global Markets: Groupon shares slump as CEO stays put

Posted by Isabella on 10:20 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

Groupon shares slump as CEO stays put

Nov 30th 2012, 17:33

Groupon Chief Executive Andrew Mason (L) prepares for the opening bell ceremony celebrating his company's IPO at the Nasdaq Market in New York November 4, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid

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Reuters: Global Markets: Yum's shares tumble after China sales warning

Posted by Isabella on 10:20 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

Yum's shares tumble after China sales warning

Nov 30th 2012, 17:37

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES | Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:37pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Shares of Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N) tumbled 9.5 percent on Friday after the parent of the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains warned that sales at established restaurants in China, the company's biggest market, would fall in the fourth quarter.

The company, which got more than half its third-quarter revenue and operating profit from China, now expects sales at restaurants open a least one year to fall 4 percent this quarter. Analysts were expecting a gain of around 2.5 percent and Yum previously had forecast sales to be flat to up in the low single-digit percentages.

The sales surprise from Yum, the largest Western restaurant operator in the China, landed as economic growth in that country cools. It prompted some Wall Street analysts to downgrade shares of the company, which once seemed insulated from China's economic woes.

Some analysts expect visits to Yum's roughly 4,800 China restaurants to drop sharply in the fourth quarter.

"Traffic appears to have fallen 9 percent," Susquehanna analyst Rachael Rothman said in a client note in which she downgraded Yum shares to "neutral" from "positive" and cut her stock price target to $69 from $76.

Yum faces the daunting task of posting growth on top of the 21 percent same-restaurant sales gain from the fourth quarter of last year. "Value oriented competition" in China also appears to be taking a toll, Rothman said.

J.P. Morgan analyst John Ivankoe said China slowed "significantly" following the Golden Week holiday in early October. That trend appeared to continue into November, affecting all regions and times of day, he said.

"The slowdown has clearly weighed on the business and competition, but indications seem to be that things aren't getting worse," Ivankoe said in a client note.

The slowdown also appears to have hit Yum rivals such as McDonald's Corp (MCD.N), Ajisen (China) Holdings (0538.HK), and Hop Hing Group Holdings Ltd (0047.HK), said Phoebe Tse, a Hong Kong-based analyst with Barclays.

Ajisen is a Japanese-style noodle chain, while Hop Hing's fast food unit has the franchise licenses for the Yoshinoya beef bowl and Dairy Queen ice cream shops in northern China.

Tse said the deceleration has been "quite apparent" in some of China's major cities, which include Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

Yum has broad geographic reach in China, where a growing middle class is attracted to Western brands.

While China remains the world's fastest-growing major economy, American companies ranging from jeweler Tiffany & Co (TIF.N) to blue jeans seller Levi Strauss & Co previously have signaled a slowdown there.

Shares of Yum, which hit a high of $74.74 on November 29, were down $7.06 at $67.41 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Additional reporting by Melissa Lee in Shanghai; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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Reuters: Global Markets: Health Management shares fall ahead of "60 Minutes" segment

Posted by Isabella on 10:20 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

Health Management shares fall ahead of "60 Minutes" segment

Nov 30th 2012, 17:41

Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:14pm EST

(Reuters) - Shares in Health Management Associates Inc (HMA.N) fell nearly 3 percent on Friday ahead of a "60 Minutes" television segment on the hospital chain's admissions practices that will air on CBS on December 2.

According to the website for "60 Minutes," the segment will investigate allegations by doctors that the hospital chain pressured them to admit patients regardless of their medical needs.

The Naples, Florida-based hospital company, which operates 70 hospitals in 15 states, said in a statement on its website that it retained "third-party experts" to examine admissions data for individual hospitals and across the company.

"The data simply do not support the allegations," it wrote.

During a conference call on Friday morning for investors, it said its admissions practices were line with industry standards.

"A Health Management review shows there is no basis for an allegation (that) admissions through our emergency department increased," Alan Levine, a senior vice president and Florida group president at Health Management, said during the call.

Levine said he was interviewed by "60 Minutes" for the segment, and in addition to discussing the admissions practices he was questioned about the company's testing procedures.

He defended its testing procedures and said Health Management followed industry standards.

Health Management has a $2 billion market capitalization and is expected to record revenues of about $6.7 billion this year. It was founded in 1977 and is focused on small to mid-sized markets.

Shares in the company fell 3 percent, or 24 cents, to $7.83, in morning New York Stock Exchange trading.

(Reporting by Caroline Humer; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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Reuters: Global Markets: Zynga shares slide after privileged status with Facebook ends

Posted by Isabella on 9:18 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

Zynga shares slide after privileged status with Facebook ends

Nov 30th 2012, 16:17

The corporate logo of Zynga Inc, the social network game development company, is shown at its headquarters in San Francisco, California April 26, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith

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Reuters: Global Markets: SandRidge investor again calls for possible sale, board revamp

Posted by Isabella on 8:16 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

SandRidge investor again calls for possible sale, board revamp

Nov 30th 2012, 15:50

Fri Nov 30, 2012 10:50am EST

(Reuters) - A large investor in SandRidge Energy Inc (SD.N) is again calling for the oil and gas company to consider selling itself or significantly restructuring operations to boost the stock price.

Hedge fund TPG-Axon, which said it owns 6.5 percent of SandRidge shares, sent a second letter to SandRidge on Friday outlining a plan to ask SandRidge shareholders to replace the entire board and de-stagger the board's composition.

Shares of SandRidge rose 1.6 percent to $5.76 in Friday morning trading.

(Reporting By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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Reuters: Global Markets: Verisign's pact with ICANN gets U.S. government nod but with pricing limits

Posted by Isabella on 7:16 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

Verisign's pact with ICANN gets U.S. government nod but with pricing limits

Nov 30th 2012, 14:25

Fri Nov 30, 2012 9:25am EST

(Reuters) - Verisign Inc said the U.S. Department of Commerce approved its agreement with ICANN to run the .com internet registry, but the company will not be able to raise prices as before, sending its stock down 13 percent before the bell.

The company's current pricing of $7.85 per domain name registration will continue for the six-year term ending November 30, 2018.

Previously, the company had the right to increase prices by up to 7 percent four times in the contract period.

The company can increase prices in extraordinary circumstances, including expenses related to security threats, with approval from the Commerce Department, Verisign said.

Verisign maintains the .com domain under a license from the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and charges users and corporations every time they register or renew an existing .com domain name.

Verisign's agreement with ICANN expires on Friday.

The company has been maintaining the .com domain on behalf of ICANN for over 15 years, and its contract with ICANN is reviewed every six years.

Verisign holds separate licenses for .net, .gov, .edu and a number of other domain names.

Shares of the Reston, Virginia-based company were down at $34.17 in premarket trading. They closed at $39.34 on Thursday on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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Reuters: Global Markets: PKN's planned spending hike sends shares tumbling

Posted by Isabella on 5:15 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

PKN's planned spending hike sends shares tumbling

Nov 30th 2012, 11:57

By Pawel Bernat and Adrian Krajewski

WARSAW | Fri Nov 30, 2012 6:57am EST

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's top refiner PKN Orlen PKN.WA said on Friday it would invest more than the company is worth in energy production and shale gas exploration over the next five years, sending its shares down sharply.

The state-controlled company, which is worth 20 billion zlotys (6.4 billion euros), said it planned to spend 22.5 billion zlotys between 2013 and 2017, with a focus on shale gas exploration and energy production.

PKN shares fell more than 2 percent, the biggest decline on Friday of any of the blue-chip stocks on the Warsaw bourse. The company announced it would resume paying dividends, but that was not enough to ease market concerns.

"Part of the market was may be scared by the planned investment scale," Ipopema Securities analyst Konrad Anuszkiewicz said.

PKN, together with Poland's gas monopoly PGNiG PGN.WA, is at the forefront of the country's drive to tap its shale gas resources. PKN expects its annual gas production to rise from zero to 161 million cubic meters by 2017.

Shale gas is a strategic priority for the Polish state, which is anxious to reduce its dependence on energy imports from Russia. But some people in the sector say that, from a commercial point of view, shale gas carries big risks.

"In the coming years we expect our operating cash flows to be high and we believe that we'll be able to combine dividends with investments," PKN's deputy head Slawomir Jedrzejczyk said.

The refiner has not paid dividends since 2008. It now sees its dividend yield at up to 5 percent, with the joint dividend payout in the five years to come at no higher than 5 billion zlotys.

Jedrzejczyk told a call with analysts that the market should expect the dividend from its 2012 profit in the range of 0-2 zlotys per share, which pegs the payout at up to 855 million zlotys.

PKN wants to close this year with investments of around 2 billion zlotys, rising to 3.6 billion in 2013 - the first year of the group's new strategy.

The refiner added it reached an agreement with General Electric (GE.N) to build its new gas-fired power block in Wloclawek for 1.1 billion zlotys. It plans for the plant to be finished in three years.

PKN also forecasts this year's EBITDA core profit - employing the LIFO (last-in, first-out) inventory accounting method which strips out the effect of oil reserves revaluation -at around 5.1 billion zlotys.

In the five years to come, the group expects average EBITDA LIFO of 6.3 billion zlotys, 58 percent more than in the years 2008-2012.

(Writing by Adrian Krajewski; Editing by Christian Lowe and Mike Nesbit)

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Reuters: Global Markets: Metro sells some hypermarket operations to Auchan

Posted by Isabella on 5:15 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

Metro sells some hypermarket operations to Auchan

Nov 30th 2012, 12:35

FRANKFURT | Fri Nov 30, 2012 7:35am EST

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German retailer Metro AG (MEOG.DE) is selling some hypermarket operations in eastern Europe to French rival Auchan in a 1.1 billion euro ($1.4 billion) deal that will help it cut debt and focus on core activities.

Metro has long stated its wish to sell its Kaufhof department stores and Real hypermarkets divisions and focus on its cash & carry and consumer electronics stores, which it believes have better expansion prospects.

Auchan, controlled by the Mulliez family, one of France's wealthiest, said the deal would double its store presence in central and eastern Europe - a key area for development alongside western Europe and Asia.

Metro is battling problems on several fronts, not least the uncertain spending environment in its home country. Despite consumer confidence remaining solid, shoppers do not seem keen to spend. October retail sales in Germany fell more than expected.

Metro was also demoted from the index of leading German shares in September and downgraded by Moody's and Standard & Poor's following a profit warning in October.

Net debt that is relevant to its ratings would be reduced by 1.5 billion euros following the transaction, Metro said on Friday. Balance sheet net debt stood at 7.7 billion euro at the end of September.

It will receive a cash inflow of around 600 million euros from the transaction, which should be completed next year once it has received approval from the necessary authorities.

Auchan is buying 91 Real hypermarkets in Poland, Russia, Romania and Ukraine. Real has sales of over 2.6 billion euros in those four countries and employs around 20,000 people.

Auchan has 98 hypermarkets with more than 65,000 employees in those countries.

Shares in Metro were up 2 percent at 22.02 euros at 6:56 a.m. EDT, outpacing a 0.6 percent rise in the MDax for medium-sized German companies .MDAXI.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan, Matthias Inverardi and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford)

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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Reuters: Global Markets: Chow Tai Fook shares fall 5 percent after first-half profit down

Posted by Isabella on 8:14 PM

Reuters: Global Markets

Chow Tai Fook shares fall 5 percent after first-half profit down

Nov 30th 2012, 03:14

A woman walks past a Chow Tai Fook Jewellery store in Hong Kong in this December 15, 2011 file photo. Shares of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd, the world's biggest jewellery retailer by market value, fell more than five percent on November 30, 2012 after posting a disappointing slump in six-month profit due to slower sales and hedging loss. The stocks, which rose 5.4 percent on Thursday prior to the release of the earnings, fell to as low as HK$10.30, down 5.2 percent. That lagged a 0.2 percent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

Credit: Reuters/Tyrone Siu/Files

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Reuters: Global Markets: Supervalu says sale talks ongoing with several parties

Posted by Isabella on 5:12 PM

Reuters: Global Markets

Supervalu says sale talks ongoing with several parties

Nov 30th 2012, 00:03

Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:03pm EST

(Reuters) - Supervalu (SVU.N) said it remains in talks with several parties, after its shares slumped more than 18 percent on a Thursday report that Cerberus Capital Management was having difficulty obtaining financing to buy out the troubled grocery chain.

Supervalue, in a statement, said it is in "active discussion with several parties," but it remains uncertain whether the talks will result in any transaction, or change in overall structure or business model.

Bloomberg reported earlier on Thursday that potential lenders were concerned about Supervalu's ability to manage its debt load.

Reuters reported last month that buyout firm Cerberus was preparing a takeover bid for Supervalu, the third-largest U.S. supermarket chain.

If Supervalu does not sell to Cerberus, it may have to restructure on its own or sell off individual assets, which could have big tax consequences, Bloomberg said.

Cerberus officials could not be reached immediately for comment.

Shares of Supervalu closed down 18.6 percent at $2.28.

Supervalu announced in July it was working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Greenhill & Co Inc (GHL.N) to explore strategic alternatives.

(Reporting By Olivia Oran, additional reporting by Lynn Adler; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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Reuters: Global Markets: Hitachi, Mitsubishi Heavy up after combining thermal power ops

Posted by Isabella on 5:12 PM

Reuters: Global Markets

Hitachi, Mitsubishi Heavy up after combining thermal power ops

Nov 30th 2012, 00:14

TOKYO | Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:14pm EST

TOKYO (Reuters) - Shares of Hitachi Ltd (6501.T) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (7011.T) rose sharply on Friday after the two companies said they would combine their thermal power businesses to compete against bigger overseas rivals such as General Electric Co (GE.N).

Hitachi shares, the most traded on the main board by turnover, rose 2.8 percent to 470 yen, a two-month high.

Mitsubishi Heavy climbed 3 percent to 383 yen, hitting a seven-month high. It was the second-most traded stock.

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Reuters: Global Markets: Zumiez revenue misses estimates as same-store sales growth slows

Posted by Isabella on 3:11 PM

Reuters: Global Markets

Zumiez revenue misses estimates as same-store sales growth slows

Nov 29th 2012, 22:08

Thu Nov 29, 2012 4:24pm EST

(Reuters) - Teen-focused retailer Zumiez Inc (ZUMZ.O) reported a drop in third-quarter profit, hurt by weak sales in Europe.

Shares of the company fell as much as 11 percent in after market trading. They closed at $20.75 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

Net income fell to $12.7 million, or 40 cents per share, from $14.1 million, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier.

Net sales rose 16.9 percent to $180.0 million.

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Reuters: Global Markets: Supervalu sale talks with Cerberus stall: report

Posted by Isabella on 3:11 PM

Reuters: Global Markets

Supervalu sale talks with Cerberus stall: report

Nov 29th 2012, 21:10

Thu Nov 29, 2012 4:10pm EST

(Reuters) - Supervalu (SVU.N) shares slumped more than 18 percent on Thursday after a report that Cerberus Capital Management was having difficulty obtaining financing to buy out the troubled grocery chain.

Bloomberg reported that potential lenders were concerned about Supervalu's ability to manage its debt load.

Reuters reported last month that buyout firm Cerberus was preparing a takeover bid for Supervalu, the third-largest U.S. supermarket chain.

If Supervalu does not sell to Cerberus, it may have to restructure on its own or sell off individual assets, which could have big tax consequences, Bloomberg said.

Supervalu declined to comment. Cerberus officials could not be reached immediately for comment.

Shares of Supervalu closed down 18.6 percent at $2.28.

Supervalu announced in July it was working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Greenhill & Co Inc (GHL.N) to explore strategic alternatives.

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Reuters: Global Markets: Goldman Sachs boosts rating on RIM, shares surge

Posted by Isabella on 6:06 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

Goldman Sachs boosts rating on RIM, shares surge

Nov 29th 2012, 13:41

A logo of the Blackberry maker's Research in Motion is seen on a building at the RIM Technology Park in Waterloo April 18, 2012. Picture taken April 18, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Mark Blinch

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Reuters: Global Markets: Metro shares rise on talk of hypermarkets sale

Posted by Isabella on 6:06 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

Metro shares rise on talk of hypermarkets sale

Nov 29th 2012, 13:43

FRANKFURT | Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:43am EST

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Shares in German retailer Metro (MEOG.DE) rose as much as 3.5 percent on Thursday, with traders pointing to talk the group was on the verge of selling its hypermarket operations in eastern Europe.

Metro, which runs hypermarkets via its Real division, declined to comment.

Its shares then pared gains and were up 1.7 percent at 8:26 a.m. EDT.

Metro is in talks with several parties over the sale of the assets, with French rival Auchan as the frontrunner, sources familiar with the situation had told Reuters at the weekend.

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Reuters: Global Markets: EDF hit by fears of big power bill reimbursement

Posted by Isabella on 4:08 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

EDF hit by fears of big power bill reimbursement

Nov 29th 2012, 11:29

PARIS | Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:29am EST

PARIS (Reuters) - EDF (EDF.PA) shares fell to an all-time low on Thursday after a newspaper said the French power group may have to pay back 8.8 billion euros ($11.4 billion) to customers because of a court ruling that overturned part of its pricing plan.

The issue relates mainly to part of the electricity bill calculated by France's CRE energy regulation commission amounting to more than 30 percent of the total sum paid by consumers.

France's Council of State, the country's top administrative court, on Wednesday overruled the way these tariffs had been set for the period from mid-2009 to mid-2013.

State-owned EDF's ERDF unit, which delivers electricity sold by suppliers to end-users, may have to reimburse 1.9 billion euros for each year as a result, Le Parisien newspaper said, without specifying how it calculated the number.

ERDF has also received 1.2 billion euros too much towards investments during the period, the paper added, bringing the total to 8.8 billion.

"The figure seems huge and won't help the stock to recover," said Renaud Murail, a portfolio manager at Barclays Bourse. "If it is confirmed, it risks creating great uncertainty surrounding the group's outlook."

EDF stock fell as low as 13.39 euros and was down 3.3 percent at 13.805 euros at 6:15 A.M. EDT. It has fallen by nearly a quarter since mid-September.

The CRE said on Thursday it was too soon to understand the impact of the ruling. It planned to start work on a new tariff level in the coming weeks, which will apply retroactively.

The head of ERDF, Michele Bellon, said in an emailed statement that she was "unaware of any possibility of reimbursement."

The final decision on tariff levels rests with the government.

(Reporting by Benjamin Mallet and Alexandre Boksenbaum-Granier; Writing by James Regan; Editing by Lionel Laurent and Mark Potter)

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Reuters: Global Markets: RIM shares climb as fund manager doubles stake

Posted by Isabella on 3:08 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

RIM shares climb as fund manager doubles stake

Nov 29th 2012, 10:30

A logo of the Blackberry maker's Research in Motion is seen on a building at the RIM Technology Park in Waterloo April 18, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Mark Blinch

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Reuters: Global Markets: Workday foresees strong Q4, shares climb

Posted by Isabella on 4:06 PM

Reuters: Global Markets

Workday foresees strong Q4, shares climb

Nov 28th 2012, 22:43

SAN FRANCISCO | Wed Nov 28, 2012 5:43pm EST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Workday Inc (WDAY.N) forecast better-than-anticipated quarterly revenue growth as the provider of Internet-based corporate software accelerates the growth of its widening client portfolio, helping drive a gain of 4 percent in its shares.

Workday, which sells human resources and financial tools to help manage companies, doubled fiscal third-quarter revenue and is predicting sales growth of 74 percent to 83 percent in the current three months, to between $75 million and $79 million.

That exceeded Wall Street's average prediction for $70.7 million.

The fast-growing company vies with larger rivals Salesforce Inc (CRM.N) and Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) in the rapidly expanding field of cloud software but has yet to turn a profit.

It debuted in October in the biggest technology listing since Facebook Inc went public in May. Its shares have almost doubled since it debuted at $28.

The company, headed by ex-PeopleSoft executives David Duffield and Aneel Bhusri, remains among the most richly valued of cloud computing plays on Wall Street, favored by analysts for its growth potential and flexible software.

Last quarter, it added DuPont (DD.N) and Johnson Controls (JCI.N) to its growing stable of major corporate clients, the company said in its results filing.

Revenue leapt to $72.6 million in the fiscal third quarter. For the current three months, Workday is forecasting revenue growth of 74 to 83 percent.

The company posted a net loss of $41.3 million or 67 cents a share, more than double the $19.7 million or 66 cents of a year earlier, before the issuance of IPO stock. Stripping out certain one-time items, its non-GAAP loss came to 39 cents a share, smaller than the loss of 59 cents expected on average by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Cloud computing technology, which lets customers access data from remote servers, is thought to be faster and cheaper than traditional in-house infrastructure. Internet-based software is deemed easier to update, maintain and customize.

Workday and peers like Cornerstone OnDemand Inc (CSOD.O) are thus grabbing market share from larger tech players like Oracle, SAP AG (SAPG.DE) and International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) as these larger companies digest recent acquisitions in the human resources software sector.

Workday's stock was up 4 percent at $55.20 in after hours trade, from a close of $53.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Edwin Chan; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Reuters: Global Markets: RIM shares climb as fund manager doubles stake

Posted by Isabella on 2:07 PM

Reuters: Global Markets

RIM shares climb as fund manager doubles stake

Nov 28th 2012, 20:50

TORONTO | Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:50pm EST

TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of Research Motion Ltd (RIM.TO) rose over 3 percent on Wednesday as investors focused on a move by a U.S. fund manager to expand its holding in the smartphone maker ahead of next year's launch of the make-or-break BlackBerry 10 line.

Yacktman Asset Management Ltd more than doubled its stake in RIM to 23.47 million shares, up from 11.24 million shares at the end of June, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission early this month. RIM has 524.16 million shares outstanding.

The investment stands as another vote of confidence for the embattled smartphone maker as the company prepares to launch its new line early next year. The BB10 will vie against Apple's (AAPL.O) iPhone and Android-based smartphones, which have decimated BlackBerry's market share in recent years.

"Anytime you're got somebody taking an active stake, I think people will say at least there's some buying support," said James Faucette, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities in Oregon.

"I think, generally speaking, the stock had gotten beaten up the last couple of days," he added. "Whatever you think is going to happen, good or bad, probably primarily hinges on BlackBerry 10."

The rise on Wednesday followed a surge in the share price last week on growing optimism about a successful BB10 launch, fueled by a show of support by industry analysts.

But there was a hiccup on Tuesday when the stock retreated 10 percent on a research report saying RIM's share of the U.S. smartphone market had dropped to 1.6 percent from 8.5 percent a year earlier. That compared with Apple's 48.1 percent share, according to the report by Kantar Worldpanel.

Weighing against the gains on Wednesday, an arbitration panel ruled against RIM in a patent dispute with Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE). The decision has the potential to lead to a halt in the sale of RIM products - should the Canadian company fail to reach a new royalty deal with the Finnish company.

A source close to RIM said the arbitration ruling was unlikely to have any immediate ramifications, as Nokia still has to fight a number of legal battles for the arbitration panel's ruling to be recognized in different countries.

Analysts said RIM would likely seek a royalty agreement with Nokia to avert any risk of sale bans.

The Swedish panel ruled RIM was not entitled to make or sell mobile devices which can hook up to WiFi networks - using technology known in the trade as WLAN or wireless local access network systems - without first agreeing royalties with Nokia.

RIM's shares rose 38 Canadian cents to C$11.08 in late Wednesday afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. On Nasdaq, the U.S.-listed stock was up 3.1 percent at $11.05.

(Reporting by Julie Gordon and Alastair Sharp; Editing by Frank McGurty and Tim Dobbyn)

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Reuters: Global Markets: SNC-Lavalin shares slide after report of ex-CEO's arrest

Posted by Isabella on 10:06 AM

Reuters: Global Markets

SNC-Lavalin shares slide after report of ex-CEO's arrest

Nov 28th 2012, 17:41

Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:41pm EST

(Reuters) - Shares of SNC-Lavalin Group (SNC.TO) dropped on Wednesday after Canadian broadcaster CBC reported that the former chief executive of the engineering and construction company had been arrested on three fraud-related charges.

CBC said Pierre Duhaime, who resigned from the Quebec-based company in March, was arrested by Quebec's anti-corruption squad.

SNC's shares were down 2.35 percent at C$39.95 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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Friday, November 30, 2012

Reuters: Global Markets: Groupon shares slump as CEO stays put

Reuters: Global Markets: Groupon shares slump as CEO stays put

Reuters: Global Markets: Yum's shares tumble after China sales warning

Reuters: Global Markets: Health Management shares fall ahead of "60 Minutes" segment

Reuters: Global Markets: Zynga shares slide after privileged status with Facebook ends

Reuters: Global Markets: SandRidge investor again calls for possible sale, board revamp

Reuters: Global Markets: Verisign's pact with ICANN gets U.S. government nod but with pricing limits

Reuters: Global Markets: PKN's planned spending hike sends shares tumbling

Reuters: Global Markets: Metro sells some hypermarket operations to Auchan

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Reuters: Global Markets: Chow Tai Fook shares fall 5 percent after first-half profit down

Reuters: Global Markets: Supervalu says sale talks ongoing with several parties

Reuters: Global Markets: Hitachi, Mitsubishi Heavy up after combining thermal power ops

Reuters: Global Markets: Zumiez revenue misses estimates as same-store sales growth slows

Reuters: Global Markets: Supervalu sale talks with Cerberus stall: report

Reuters: Global Markets: Goldman Sachs boosts rating on RIM, shares surge

Reuters: Global Markets: Metro shares rise on talk of hypermarkets sale

Reuters: Global Markets: EDF hit by fears of big power bill reimbursement

Reuters: Global Markets: RIM shares climb as fund manager doubles stake

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Reuters: Global Markets: Workday foresees strong Q4, shares climb

Reuters: Global Markets: RIM shares climb as fund manager doubles stake

Reuters: Global Markets: SNC-Lavalin shares slide after report of ex-CEO's arrest

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