Apple loses juice: Profits miss

Although iPad sales have sagged lately, don’t worry about an iPad recession.  Sales of Apple’s blockbuster tablet device totaled 14 million units in the three months ended Sept. 30, missing Wall Street expectations and falling short of the previous quarter’s tally of 17 million.

The iPad sales disappointment — which may have been the result of some Apple fanatics’ putting off a purchase in anticipation of the iPad Mini — coupled with higher-than-expected costs brought on by Apple’s all-out sprint to bring new products to stores in time for the holiday season, led the tech titan to forecast lower-than-expected profits in the current quarter.

For the current quarter, Apple warned it expects earnings of about $11.75 a share — sharply below the Street’s forecast of $15.41 a share…..

Read more at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/apple_loses_juice_VqvLAxHasdje84nsTYnyOL

A Profound Shift In Mark Zuckerberg's Attitude Toward Facebook

According to BI, during yesterday's conference call, Zuckerberg announced a big change at Facebook over the past few months.

Teams that once built their products for users only, and left monetization for someone else to worry about later, are now required to build mobile monetization in from the ground up.

"We’re building a lot more integrated ad products now," said Zuckerberg. “Historically, most of the ad inventory was in this right-hand column. It was a separate experience. We had this ad team and their job was to kind of drive that service, and they could provide that service to every other product team.  Now, we’ve told every product team that they’re responsible for the advertising experience within each of their products."

Zuckerberg said the first team given these new marching orders is the News Feed team.  The results are already stunning.  Two quarters ago, Facebook generated zero revenues from its mobile News Feed. Now, CFO David Ebersman says it's generating $3 million per day, pushing the annual run rate over $1 billion.

Back in 2004, Zuckerberg said he wasn't worried about making money because he was "content to make something cool."  Finally, he's figured out he doesn't have to make that choice……

Read all about it at http://www.businessinsider.com/profound-shift-in-zuckerbergs-attitude-2012-10

Meet The Man Who Knows All Romney's Investment Secrets (And Who Could Lose The Job in 2 Weeks)

The man who knows all of Mitt Romney's investment secrets might be out of that job in less than two weeks. Meet R. Bradford Malt, also known as the Republican nominee's investment manager for his blind trust.

For the last nine years, Malt has been the eyes behind Romney’s blind trust, which is estimated to be worth as much as $250 million. But should Romney win the election come Nov. 6, the candidate has said he will terminate his current blind trust and create a new, federal blind trust. The new trust will potentially be much stricter than his current one, with neither Romney nor the American public able to get a peek at what's inside. And it likely won't allow Malt to qualify as an independent overseer….

But for now, Romney's millions are in the hands of this Boston-based lawyer, who is also the chairman for corporate law firm Ropes & Gray……

P.S. Photo is totally bogus.  Among other things Mormons are serious homophobes!  ! 

Find out more at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/romney-blind-trust-financial-secrets_n_2011638.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular.

Is the iBloom Off the iRose at Apple?

From NY Magazine: Corporate earnings are confusing things. Sometimes you'll see headlines like "Apple Profits Rise 24% on iPhone 5 Sales," and you might be like, Wow, Apple is amazing! And then you'll click another story and see "Apple Misses Wall Street 4Q expectations" and be very confused, because that doesn't sound good at all. It's all very Rorschach-y.

Today, Apple managed to both wow and disappoint investors. The company reported third-quarter revenue that slightly beat expectations, and profits that topped last year's numbers, but its earnings per share came in below expectations, and the company cut its earnings guidance for next quarter…..

Read all about it at http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/the-ibloom-off-the-irose-at-apple.html

Mein Kampf owning UBS’s Investment Banking Head May Have To Slash His Own Expenses “Like A Jewish Shopkeeper”

Dealbreaker’s own Bess Levin reports: As those of you keeping up with the many trials and travails of UBS know, the last couple years have been fairly brutal for investment banking chief Carsten Kengeter. Pre-tax IBD profit was down 55 percent YoY through June, employees are constantly on his ass about getting paid, the comments he made in attempt to “rally the troops” re: “slashing expenses like a Jewish shopkeeper” were totally taken the wrong way, some guy perpetrated a $2 billion fraud (which was partially to blame for CK getting passed over for the promotion he was gunning for), and to top it all off, the higher-ups accepted his offer to forgo a bonus for 2011, which he would never have put out there if he thought they’d actually go for it.

And now, as a thanks for all his hard work, management is publicly mulling the idea of lightening his load and paycheck, which could not come at a worse time considering he just put a down payment on a signed first-edition copy of Mein Kampf.

Read all about it at http://dealbreaker.com/2012/10/ubss-investment-banking-head-may-have-to-slash-his-own-expenses-like-a-jewish-shopkeeper/

Deep Thoughts (Thursday Insight Edition) Why Rajat Gupta Did It

According to John Carney, Senior Editor, CNBC.com

“….A few people I talked to on Wall Street after the sentence came down had the same reaction as Judge Jed Rakoff: why had someone as intelligent, hard-working and successful as Gupta risked — and now lost — everything to participate in an illegal scheme from which he saw no material benefit.

When Gupta was first charged, I answered this question with these words:  It was something close to sociopathic narcissism—perhaps a belief that he was somehow above the law, immune to the rules that govern the rest of us. The sort of thing we see in Madoff.

I've now been led to believe, though numerous conversations with people connected with Gupta and some of the other players in the insider-trading case, it was something else. (Read more: Rajat Gupta: Bigger Than Madoff?)

Gupta needed to feel like he was, in the words of one of his former friends, "a real player." He intensely desired to been seen as a great man, someone important, someone in the know. Leaking secret information was a way of demonstrating this.  To mangle a phrase, pride goeth before the insider-trading telephone call.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49541592

Hedge Fund Boxers Tame Their Animal Instincts in H.K. Fight Night

From Businessweek: “….The event at the Indian Recreation Club in Happy Valley, organized by IronMonger Events Ltd., seeks to raise HK$1 million ($129,022) for Operation Smile, which funds surgery for children with facial deformities, and Operation Breakthrough, which combats crime and juvenile delinquency in low-income and immigrant communities. Standard tables of 12 cost HK$24,000 with the ringside version pulling in HK$50,000.

“Steve Taw, the oldest competitor at age 53 in the history of Hong Kong’s sixth annual Hedge Fund Fight Nite, competed four years after his son’s victory in the same charity event.

“I’m the only one ever following in his son’s footsteps,” said the white-haired Taw, known in the ring as “The Wizard of Wanchai” after the commercial area of bars and clubs made popular in “The World of Suzie Wong,” the 1960 William Holden movie, before the event.

“His son Thomas, 27, who sports the same square jawline and broad wry smile, works in electronic trading at Macquarie Group Ltd. He said gets more nervous watching his father, a director at South Ocean Management Ltd., fight than he does stepping into the ring himself. The senior Taw said before the event that while he’s “in it to win it,” his focus will be on putting on a good show when facing off against Blair “The Bear” Crichton, an associate vice president in business development at HSBC……..

“….Andrea “Glynn-sanity” Glynn, 28, and Danielle “Steely” Midalia, 30, will face off in the only women’s bout of the evening. They are the final two of 10 women who tried out for the event this spring….

Read all about it at http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-24/hedge-fund-boxers-tame-animal-instincts-in-hong-kong-fight-night