The rancor about police conduct and race relations is still simmering and we have another trouble spot brewing-A South Carolina jury heard arguments on Wednesday in the murder trial of a former police chief who is accused of killing an unarmed man in 2011.
The police chief in Eutawville at the time of the episode, Mr. Richard J. Combs, was indicted for murder charge in early December. This was shortly before he was to stand trial for misconduct pertaining with the death of Bernard Bailey. Mr. Bailey had an outstanding warrant against himself and Mr. Combs tried to arrest him. Mr. Combs attempt to arrest turned into a fight at Mr. Bailey’s Truck and Combs lawyer argued that his client only tried to protect himself.
However the prosecutor David M. Pascoe Jr., contended that there was a simmering feud between Mr. Bailey and Mr. Combs about a traffic citation Mr. Bailey’s daughter received in March 2011.
Mr. Bailey, Mr. Pascoe said as he gestured toward Mr. Combs, was “murdered over a broken taillight, killed because of that man’s poor judgment.”
He further berated the shooting as “an absolutely senseless act of violence” connected to “a trumped-up warrant.”
The smartphone maker from Taiwan, HTC, has said that it estimates its revenue for the incoming fourth quarter to grow by up to 12% as it will soon launch new products like the Nexus 9 tablet of Google for one.
HTC’s revenue goal for the fourth quarter is estimated to be in between TWD 43 billion to TWD 47 billion which when converted to U.S. dollars, amounts to $1.43 billion to $1.57 billion.
This goal is actually higher than what the experts and analysts have forecasted but it’s not the same thing that happened for the third quarter wherein the company earned lower than what was expected by the public. HTC only earned TWD 41.86 billion to be exact.
For the first few weeks of the last quarter of the year, HTC’s sales were looking good as the company was able to go past the forecasted number. This is all because of HTC’s active search for new tactics to grab the attention of customers and look for fresh streams of income with its new products that will be launched soon.
This may be a pretty tough year for the Taiwanese company with it reporting that it experienced its first loss after a decade but it’s positive that the year will still end great.
While analysts have warned that the company would have to go a long way before it would be able to beat its rivals Apple and Samsung, HTC said that it won’t let the competitors get in its way of reaching its goals.
Midas Gold recently reported their third quarter financial results and also provided recent updates regarding the company’s Idaho project, the Golden Meadows. Midas Gold reported a total of 700 thousand dollars profit because of recent mark-to-market gains. In addition, the company announced that the cash and the equal position of 13M dollars, and also a capital position amounting to 12M dollars, is enough to help the company get through recent pre-feasibility study can be a major milestone for the company.
Midas Gold investors recalls that the company was suggested previously by analysts because of compelling speculation stocks, considering the proposed project is actually a low-cost way in producing mine with minimal risk jurisdiction.
It was also stressed that the company stock’s speculative nature will lead to two additional risks, timeline and also financing risk. This project, though still years away before it produces cash-flow after the feasibility study, permits, financing, and also construction will last 3 years before completion.
The company’s financing overall risk is worse because of the 880M dollar capex overall estimate, added to the Midas Gold’s 65M dollar valuation. Until the overall price of gold rises, Midas is almost guaranteed to be searching for a new JV partner or even an acquirer.
This is the right time for Midas Gold to consider a more speculative position, more so if the company is trying to estimate the best time for gold prices to bottom out, which is likely to happen in the near future.
Interested investors who choose to be a bit conservative should consider waiting for the release of the company’s pre-feasibility study before investing.
The creator of “Farmvlle”, the Zynga Inc., posted its quarterly results, higher than expected as the mobile gaming maker pushes forward with further releases like the “New Words with Friends.”
The California-based company’s shares jumped 8% to 2.36 dollars in the after-hours trade ending Thurday on the NASDAQ.
Expected bookings, which indicate future revenue, jumped 15% to 175 million dollars for the quarter ending September 30, beating Wall Street forecast. On average, analysts had estimated bookings to increase to 171.7 million dollars for the quarter, compared to the 152.11 million dollars the same quarter a year ago.
Based on non-GAAP, Zynga narrowed down its quarterly net loss of 7 million dollars, compared to the 16 million net loss a year ago. This result exceeded the analysts’ forecast of 8.09 million net loss based on non-GAAP.
Starting July 2013, the company experienced a chain of layoffs, overhauled its management unit, and instigated measures in controlling costs, while expanding its mobile games as sales from web offerings through Facebook declined last year.
The company’s mobile bookings account for the 55% of its overall quarterly bookings, jumping 111% since last year, and 5% gradually since the previous quarter. This result was helped by the growth in games like the “Hit It Rich!” and the “FarmVille 2″, which were launched during the second quarter.
Zynga emphasized its deferred revenue, or 2014 estimate for bookings ranging between 695 million dollars and 725 million.
AstraZeneca, Britain’s second largest drug maker, increased its 2014 sales estimates for the second quarter as positive cash flows from ulcer and heartburn pill kept coming, caused by the late arrival of its Nexium’s generic copies in America.
In May, the drug maker took over a 118-billion-dollar proposal from Pfizer, now expects a low-single-digit revenue growth in consistent exchange rates within the year. The company’s revenue was seen flat previously.
For the third quarter, company sales performance was better than estimates, driven by its Nexium factor.
Pascal Soriot, company CEO said he will maximize the better fiscal outlook in accelerating new drug investments, thus, Soriot has also been fighting hard and proving the company’s robust independent future since his mandate and onwards. The CEO also rejected the mega-merging deal that Pfizer offered.
This year at consistent rates, AstraZeneca expects a 10% drop in its core earnings per share, excluding some items, which is higher than previous expectations, however, compensated by an expected 5% currency hit.
Mark Clark, analyst from Deutsche Bank said market estimates for EPS will drop a few percent for fiscal 2014, and increase slightly in 2015. Additionally, Soriot is gaining recognition for creating the AstraZeneca’s new drug pipeline.
The King Digital Entertainment Plc, a mobile and social gaming company posted on Thursday its lower profit (non-GAAP) as the company’s sales on its “Candy Crush Saga” game shrink relentlessly.
Based on non-GAAP, the company posted its adjusted income for the third quarter, amounting to 56-cent per share, beating the analysts’ forecast of 47-cent per share, but lesser than the previous 70 cents the same period a year back.
Company shares jumped 4% during the after-hours trade, closing at 13.19 dollars on the NYSE. King also declared a 150 million-dollar share purchase project on Thursday.
Its Candy Crush game continues to decline towards the end of the second quarter, but began to normalize towards the latter half of the third quarter. Thus, sales from the game decline, said CEO Riccardo Zacconi.
In October, the sister game of Candy Crush Saga, the Candy Crush Soda Saga was launched on Facebook, and the mobile version of the said game might be released in the coming weeks. Zacconi stated the launch of Soda would strengthen the Saga’s franchise.
The company reported 514.4 million dollars as revenue during the third quarter, lower than the 621.2 million the previous year. However, the recent figures surpassed the analysts’ forecast of 495 million dollars.
On Thursday, the famous Walt Disney Co posted its quarterly revenue with a 7% increase, higher than expectations, and helped by its films “Maleficent” and the “Guardians of the Galaxy”.
In July, the “Guardians” was released, while the “Maleficent” film starred with Angelina Jolie, who portrayed the black-robed rogue, both movies drove the company’s growth in its film studio unit to nearly 18%.
Company shares dropped 1.8% at 90.35 dollars in the extended trading, and closed at 92 dollars on Thursday, a record high. Additionally, the studio unit similarly benefited from high “Frozen” DVD sales.
Its sports behemoth, the ESPN’s operating dropped because of more costly contract rates both for the Major League Baseball and National Football League games, dragging down Disney’s cable network unit by 1%.
The decline in Disney’s cable network unit’s operating income also drove Disney’s shares lower, according to Brett Harriss, analyst from Gabelli & Company, rating the cable networks as a bit weak.
However, ESPN is expected to compensate the programming costs in the coming quarters with higher charges from affiliates.
The company’s revenue in Media Networks jumped 5.5% because of higher broadcasting profits from certain shows.
Revenue in resorts and parks also jumped 7% because of more costly ticket prices and increased attendance in theme parks.
Company net income, attributed to Walt Disney, increased to 1.50 billion dollars or 86-cents a share in the fourth quarter.
Based on adjustments, earnings were at 89-cents a share, meeting the analysts’ forecast. Company revenue jumped to 12.39 billion dollars, surpassing the average forecast of 12.37 billion.
Up until Thursday’s close, the company stock has gained 20% this year.
The famed banana company Chiquita is now under the hands of the two Brazilian companies Cutrale and Safra after they won the bitter battle against other bidders and sealed the deal with a $1.3 billion acquisition.
It can be recalled that there have been a number of rejections made by Chiquita before the final deal with Cutrale and Safra. There was even a merging offer made by the big company Fyffes but it didn’t the approval of the highly valued banana brand.
Fyffes is one of the famed fruit companies of today with the main goal of bringing the business to Dublin to make sure that its revenues would not be affected by the high tax rates.
Out of the many bidders, Chiquita arranged to sell the 144-year old company to the head of one of the leading orange juice groups in Brazil that is Jose Luis Cutrale and to the billionaire banker Joseph Safra. Each share was sold at $14.50 which valued Chiquita at $1.3 billion with debts already included.
The success of the Brazilian companies in winning the deal with the banana group brings an end to its 3-month long battle against Fyffes of Ireland that intended to close a merger with Chiquita.
Catering to the increasing demand of people who want to eat healthy products will be a big challenge for Cutrale-Safra who won the bid but they are looking out on ways to help them achieve success.
For the side of Chiquita, the acquisition that will complete by 2015 shows a surprise twist for the company which the Latin Americans hated for a long time already as it was long seen as a symbol of US repression and imperialism.