DebbieBaratz

Forget about dodging the cold winters in New York, hedge fund manager John Paulson is looking at Puerto Rico as his new home to leave capital gains taxes behind. In the country’s tax law, new Puerto Rican residents neither pay local nor U.S. federal taxes on capital gains, reported Bloomberg. This compares to the marginal tax rate in New York that may be higher than 50 percent on ordinary income. Paulson, a lifelong New Yorker, has already commenced the search for his Puerto Rico home. Looking at the tony Condado neighborhood, a 8,379- square-foot penthouse comes comes with a $5 million price tag but it is conveniently located close to a private school for Paulson’s two young children. Paulson & Co. would likely stay in New York but in a statement via Bloomberg the firm said, “While we have looked at real estate investments in Puerto Rico, we have not made any investments.” But it is one of the biggest holders in Popular Inc., which owns Puerto’s biggest lender and runs a $300 million real estate fund that has Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii and Nevada properties. Should Paulson and his family move to Puerto Rico, he’ll join a relocation movement that has included a number of wealthy
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On Monday, shares of online social game maker Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) jumped to highs last seen in July on news that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) may be interested in purchasing the company. In mid-morning trading, shares had increased 7.9 percent to $3.85 after hitting $3.90. Year-to-date through Friday, the stock has been up 51 percent. The potential acquisition comes as Wunderlich Securities Inc. analyst Blake Harper wrote in a Monday research report that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) could consider a Zynga purchase as Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer looks to acquisitions to increase the company’s portal’s mobile and social capacities. Since Mayer has been at the helm, Yahoo has given up market share in its display advertising core business thanks to increasing competition from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) currently has a $3 million market value and it could be an attractive option if Mayer is interested in deals valued at greater than $1 billion, wrote Harper. He also suggested that Yahoo may also look at food- review sites including Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), OpenTable Inc (NASDAQ:OPEN), or Millennial Media, Inc. (NYSE:MM), which includes mobile advertising. The above-mentioned companies have not commented on the research report. Just last week, Jackie
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On Monday, General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) announced the nomination of Mary Schapiro to its board of directors. Schapiro left the top spot at the Securities and Exchange Commission in December after a four year tenure. She brings decades of regulatory experience and previously served as the CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). GE CEO Jeff Immelt said in a statement via FOX Business, “Mary Schapiro will bring valuable expertise to General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), particularly with her experience overseeing U.S. financial markets. Her understanding of corporate governance and financial regulation will be of great benefit to GE and its shareowners.” While overseeing the SEC, Schapiro saw it win its greatest penalty in the agency’s history, $550 million against Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS). This came in a settlement by the bank on charges it defrauded investors by selling securities affiliated with subprime mortgages. Other high profile cases included a $150 million settlement with the Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) from charges that the bank failed to tell its shareholders about either Merrill Lynch bankers bonuses or losses that move them to second bailout by the government. Also under her watch, she simplified the SEC enforcement process, hired a new type of
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Just when it seems like there’s not enough smartphones to choose from, rumors of a Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) phone are again making the rounds, muddying up the waters. In new reports, it appears the social media giant could release a mid-market smartphone soon and there are specs to this story to give it some legs. This will follow the first “Facebook” phone, the HTC Cha Cha. Under the code name “HTC Myst,” the new phone will supposedly include a 1.5GHz dual-core MSM8960 SoC QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of non-expandable internal storage, reported TechCrunch. There’s also a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.6 megapixel front-facing shooter; it will also carry the Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2. Taking a look at its screen, it will come in at 4.3 inches, a 720p resolution, 320PPI pixel density and near-Retina resolution. The earlier HTC ChaCha, included a portrait QWERTY keyboard, but this second phone appears to be touch-only, reported CNET. It will come with either 4G LTE or HSPA connectivity along with Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, LTE, and a category 14 HSDPA. The phone is expected to be available through the carrier, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and of course the device will come with a pre-installed
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Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) BlackBerry Z10 phones could hit U.S. shelves on March 22, according to a new Bloomberg report. The story did not cite sources but the phones will allegedly be sold by AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) on this rumored launch date. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) and T-Mobile USA, a Deutsche Telekom AG (FRA:DTE) (PINK:DTEGY) (ETR:DTE) unit, have previously said they’ll carry the phone and begin selling it in March, but they haven’t confirm the sales launch date. Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) will not be joining the Z10 party but will instead sell the upcoming Q10. This model has a physical keyboard and an expected launch date later in the year. In an emailed statement to Bloomberg, BlackBerry wrote of the potential U.S. launch date, “BlackBerry has not announced official launch dates for the BlackBerry Z10 in the U.S. and we are not able to confirm any rumored launch dates on behalf of our carrier partners.” For Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) (now BlackBerry), it receives about 20 percent of its revenue from the U.S. and has high expectations that the Z10 can give the brand a much-needed jump start against its popular rivals including the leading Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone. The new device has already received some
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A judge has ruled that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) must provide details on its compliance with a court order to disclose evidence in a privacy lawsuit. Previously, the company has been providing information to the judge without documentation. U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal made the ruling on Wednesday and issued an order after the plaintiffs’ lawyers had claimed Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) did not turn over documents it had earlier been ordered to produce. This comes as Apple has been accused in a 2011 lawsuit of collecting data on customers’ locations through iPhones, even when the device’s geo-location feature had been turned off. Grewal said that he had “refereed” the dispute and that it was it was “unacceptable” that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had waited over three months to verify whether or not it had complied with the November order to give up the documents. He added in the order, according to Bloomberg, “Luckily for the plaintiffs, Apple has provided more than enough evidence itself to suggest to the court that it has not fully complied with the court’s order. In light of Apple’s performance in this case, the court cannot rely on its representations that this time it really has or will produce all
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On Friday, a German court ruled in favour of Android handset manufacturer HTC Corp (TPE:2498) in the patent case brought against them by Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V). The judges had not been convinced by Nokia’s allegation of patent infringement on two patents. The first one, the EP0812120 patent (the 120 patent) called “Method,” utilizes the services offered by a telecommunications network, a telecommunications system, and a terminal for it; it describes the workings of application stores, explained CIO. The second patent dismissed by the court was the EP1312974 (the 974 patent). It is called “Electronic Display Device and Lighting Control Method of Same” and describes a method for controlling the lighting of a display in an electronic device and when it is determined by ambient light. After the ruling by the District Court of Mannheim, HTC Corp (TPE:2498) released a statement announcing the dismissal of Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V)’s complaints against them for infringing on a “method for using services offered by a telecommunications network, a telecommunications system, and a terminal for it and electronic display device and lighting control method of same,” reported The Wall Street Journal. The company said that while it does respect the intellectual property rights
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While the new Blackberry phone is yet to launch in the U.S. until later this month, Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is already finding success in more 20 other countries with its launch. This is according to CEO Thorsten Heins. On Thursday, Heins said at Communitech Tech Leadership Conference via Reuters, “The feedback is very encouraging. What has been a real surprise for us is that BlackBerry 10 as a platform and product is attracting users that are currently on other platforms.” “We are just five weeks into this. We have just one product out in 21 countries, so it is early indications, but we are encouraged by what we see and hear from our carrier partners.” The BlackBerry 10 operating system is already for sale in countries such as the UK, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, India, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa. More are expected to launch the phone. Heins did not give Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB)’s Z10 sales figures at Thursday’s gathering but said it had already passed the company’s expectations, especially in emerging  markets such as India. This comes as less expensive devices are typically more popular. “I was surprised when we launched in India how well the
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Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V)’s CEO Stephen Elop took a 45 percent pay cut in 2012 as the company faced a loss in the smart phone market to its rivals, Apple and Samsung. The news came to light in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing which disclosed that Elop earned  €4.33 million in 2012, down from 2011′s €7.94 million. His 2012 base salary did jump €59,500 to €1.08 million while his stock and option awards dropped; he did not get a bonus as Nokia did not meet some financial targets. The executive joined Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) in 2010 from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). He was tasked with turning things around in the technology group. He utilized Windows 8 phone platform to assist with this and it hasn’t really made an impact yet. Along with information about Elop’s salary information, the regulatory filing shed some light in the Nokia and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) business arrangement. According to The Financial Times, Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) has to make $500 million net payments to Microsoft from using its Windows operating system as stipulated in a 2011 agreement. How long this lasts hasn’t been disclosed but the deal had been implemented to give both companies some
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The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) reported its fourth-quarter earnings report on Thursday and exceeded expectations. Shares jumped up 3 percent in early morning trading. The grocer, who is the largest U.S. grocery operator from the running of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR), Ralphs, Smith’s, and Food 4 Less chains, reported quarterly net earnings of $461.5 million (88 cents per share). This compares to the previous year when Kroger incurred a $306.9 million loss (54 cents per share) after it saw a big charge after combining its pension plan. Excluding gains from inventory, accounting and taxes, The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) earned 77 cents per share; this is 7 cents better than analysts’ estimates, reported Reuters. Falling in line with estimates was the company’s total sales, including fuel, which jumped 12.8 percent to $24.2 billion in the fourth quarter. Revenue increased 13 percent to $24.2 billion. Kroger CEO David Dillson said of the results via FOX Business, “Our associates delivered an outstanding year that underscores how our growing connection with customers remains the key to shareholder value creation.” Also in the quarter, Kroger’s identical-supermarket, sans fuel, jumped 3 percent in sales. This came in higher than the 0.8 percent increase as reported by its rival Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY) this week.
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Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:HMC)’s updated 2013 Honda Civic received top crash test scores and has earned a Top Safety Pick “Plus” designation. This is the first for a compact car to achieve the honour from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) industry testers. The Civic in two of its models, the two and four-door models, received a ”good” score – the highest one – on the new, challenging offset crash test along with the usual battery of tests. Especially notable is the challenges that small cars face in crashes, as larger vehicles usually come out of them in better condition, according to USA Today. In this new IIHS frontal offset test, it examines when a car smashes into an object that looks like either a pole or a limited head-on collision from both the driver and passenger side. To receive the TSP+ designation, first a car has to pass the usual front, rear, side, and rollover crash tests, before getting through the new “small overlap test” of impact that affects 20% of a vehicle’s front end. Numerous cars have not passed the test (which is not government-mandated) but it exemplifies that engineers are learning how to change new cars
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