For many years AMD was more of a nuisance than competition for Intel (INTC), but in recent years AMD has provided some pretty good competition for Intel. AMD recently warned it would not meet its projected revenue for the first quarter of 2007, mostly a result of Intel putting significant pressure on AMD’s profit margins. AMD recently acquired graphics and chipset semiconductor maker ATI hoping to gain a competitive edge over Intel through integration of the two company’s products, but positive results from the merger will take time to come to fruition, so AMD’s short term prospects are looking pretty grim.
Month: March 2007
Oracle (ORCL) Acquires Hyperion (HYSL) in Competitive Move Against SAP AG
In a move widely seen as an attempt to aggressively weaken rival SAP AG’s market position, Oracle announced today it would by Hyperion (HYSL) for $3.3 billion in cash.
Merck Raises Earnings – Drug Companies – Merck (MRK) & Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)
On the heels of an announcement the company would no longer actively lobby for Cervical Cancer Vaccine Laws, Merck (MRK) announced it is raising its first quarter earnings estimates.
Dow Stumbles – Concerned Investors – ACH
Tuesday was a rough day on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average took a nearly instantaneous 200-point hit at 3 pm yesterday amid news of uncertainty in Shanghai, Iran, and Afghanistan.
El Paso (EP) – Natural Gas – Covered Calls
In a previous article, “Texas Utilities (TXU) Merger & Jim Cramer: Opportunity in Coal”, we analyzed the private equity acquisition of Texas Utilities and some of the potential ramifications of the deal. As part of the deal, Texas Utilities (TXU) will forgo building 11 new coal fired electric power plants. Another potential fallout from this deal is an increase in the demand for other sources of electrical energy, natural gas in particular. Electric energy consumption is not decreasing, so the electrical energy, which was to be generated by the 11 scuttled TXU coal fired power plants, has to come from someplace, and one potential avenue could be from natural gas.