JP Morgan
Latest
Feds indict seven Iranians for hacking banks, NY state dam
Just days after accusing Syrian hackers of a wide range of crimes, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch unsealed an indictment against seven Iranian nationals on Wednesday, charging that the men launched dozens of denial of service attacks against targets beginning in 2011. These included the cybersystems of numerous US banks including JP Morgan, PNC and Capital One, as well as the NYSE and AT&T. They are even accused of trying to take control of a small dam in Rye, NY at one point.
J.P. Morgan reduces Zynga ownership to less than one percent
Multinational banking conglom-o J.P. Morgan has reduced the amount of Zynga stock in its possession from 6.7 million shares to 2.6 million, All Things D reports. This represents a shift in its ownership of the developer/publisher from 6.7 percent to less than half of one percent, with the whole of its Zynga stock currently worth $6.73 million, based on Friday's closing value of $2.59 per share.When J.P. Morgan actually sold 4.1 million of its shares is unclear, as the last official announcement regarding the scope of its investment in Zynga was released in January of last year. By extension, the price that J.P. Morgan received per share is also unknown.In just the last few months, Zynga has shut down 11 games and closed studios in Japan and Boston, among other various events that haven't boded especially well for the value of its stock. J.P. Morgan's reduced ownership isn't a particularly strong vote of confidence either, though trading was up last week due to Zynga's hawkish acquisition of online gambling patents.
JP Morgan: Apple is a sector unto itself
JP Morgan's hardware analyst Mark Moskowitz has laid bare exactly how huge Apple has become lately, calling the company an actual "sector," not just a company any more. Of course, on paper, Apple is competing with other computer and device manufacturers like Dell and Samsung, but the numbers just don't make that comparison meaningful any more, says Moskowitz. Apple's stock is by far the largest single stock in the S&P 500 index, and when you compare the company's income to other tech sectors like Pharmaceuticals and Software as a whole, Apple's take actually lines up within the top 10. I'll say that again, because it's important: Apple's income and operations actually compete with whole industries, not just the rest of the PC market. This isn't just the iPhone or the iPad being a new class of device, it's Apple as a whole company creating a tech sector of its own. That's pretty incredible, and if you haven't yet realized how big Apple has gotten in the past few years (as if the $98 billion in cash wasn't clear enough), maybe that's your wakeup call. Now, this may all seem like financial types just making much ado about numbers, but it actually holds quite a bit of meaning, both for Apple and its competitors going forward. Apple's huge growth in the past few years will have lots of consequences, both for the company and the technology industry at large, and we still haven't figured out just what a lot of those consequences will be.
Ralph de la Vega 'laughs' when asked about AT&T iPhone exclusivity expiration date, says most customers will stay
We still have no idea what's going on with Apple, Verizon, and the iPhone, but it sounds like AT&T isn't sweating it -- speaking at a J.P. Morgan conference today, Ralph De La Vega reportedly "just laughed" when asked when Ma Bell's iPhone exclusivity would run out, and indicated he wasn't worried about other carriers potentially getting the phone. According to Ralph, some 80 percent of AT&T iPhone customers are on family or business plans, and they're generally less likely to switch, so AT&T thinks it can hang onto them if Apple's phone hits another carrier. That certainly sounds like AT&T's been giving the issue some thought -- another piece of kindling for our ever-smoldering Verizon iPhone Rumor Fire, or just tough talk to keep Apple in line? We might never know -- but we do know that it'll be much harder to keep those iPhone customers if AT&T's service quality continues to suffer, and Ralph acknowledged the troubles, saying that AT&T's biggest issue right now is simply getting enough equipment built in China and put into place. We'll see what happens -- we're not going to believe that a Verizon iPhone is real until Steve asks if we can hear him now. Update: AT&T just sent us a tiny snippet of de la Vega's comments: Having said that, all the improvements that we have seen are not just driven by the iPhone. The non-iPhone customer churn has seen the same reductions as the overall total postpaid customer churn improvement levels. So we've seen improvements in churn that are driven by the iPhone and by non-iPhone customers. And so we view that having a great portfolio of devices and services has been the key to our success and will continue to be. And I think the iPhone will be a part of our portfolio. And I think that customers are still going to come to us, like they've done in the past, looking for great choices, great devices and great services. Interesting -- it certainly doesn't sound like he's betting too heavily on keeping the iPhone exclusive, but we'd like some more context here. We're looking for the full transcript (or better yet, video), so stay tuned. Update 2: And here's the followup question specifically regarding exclusivity: Q: I thought you might share with us the exclusivity end date, Ralph. A: No, I don't think I'm going to be able to do that, Mike. (laughs) Pithy!
MMOs for kids are just good business
According to an Internet Investment Guide released by JP Morgan, and graciously digested for us by the fine folks at Virtual World News, the wide world of the massively multiplayer is not one large mass of gaming goodness as we typically believe. According to JP, from the perspective of potential investors, there are two segments of the MMO market worth looking at; there's the part of the industry aimed at adults with which we typically concern ourselves, and there are virtual worlds aimed at children. While adult MMOs are likely to be an area of growth in the new year, they recommend that investors be "bullish" on children's MMOs because they're already incredibly mainstream, and represent a surer avenue for growth.If you've ever witnessed the ravenous hunger with which 'tween girls pursue Webkinz, the collectible stuffed animal - MMO crossover, you'll immediately recognize the salience of JP's findings. Parents support these sorts of games because they represent closed areas of the internet where kids can safely entertain themselves on the computer without much concern about illicit content or child predators. Kids like the games because they're usually specifically tailored to their tastes and age level. And developers support them because they're comparatively easy to develop and, with the appropriate retail tie-in a la Webkinz, make companies money hand over fist. So if you're looking for a good investment, look past an Activision Blizzard, and pick up a kid-oriented company instead.
JP Morgan retracts iPhone nano insinuations, hints at 3G flavor in 2008
Oh c'mon, it did sound too good to be true, did it not? To just about everyone's chagrin, the hope-filled comments made yesterday by Kevin Chang have now been retracted by JP Morgan, and it looks like the iPhone nano will return to the depths of our imagination for the moment. According to a rebuttal put forth by the North America Equity Research division, the firm "has not been able to independently confirm" his comments with a second source, and also mentions that "a lower-end iPhone appearing in the near-term would be unusual and highly risky." Notably, putting the rumors to rest wasn't the only order of business in the writeup, as it was suggested numerous times throughout the document that JP Morgan believes a "high-priced, non-subsidized 3G model" will surface "in the first half of 2008." Squashing one piece of scuttlebutt whilst conjuring up another (entirely more probable) report, now that's the way we like it.
JP Morgan retracts. Now says "No" to near term "Nano" iPhone
JP Morgan has just issued a note retracting Kevin Chang's earlier projection about a near term iPhone Nano. The new report says that the majority of Chang's assumptions appear to have come from a review of the patent that was published last week, adding that a near-term launch of an iPhone-nano product would be "unusual and highly risky". TUAW brings you the entire report in this exclusive online gallery. Thanks Jeff %Gallery-4710%
