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BenQ faces insider trading probe as CFO gets locked up
If you thought the BenQ Mobile saga ended when Taiwan severed ties with the former Siemens unit and prepared to slice it up and serve it cold, you ain't seen nothin' yet. It's no secret that the struggling handset maker had been losing money ever since the handover, but apparently some company insiders may have used their knowledge of the impending bankruptcy filing to get out while the getting was still good -- selling shares of BenQ prior to the announcement and the inevitable consequences. So far 13 executives have been caught up in the sting -- including CFO and senior VP Eric Yu, who is still being "detained" along with six others in lieu of what is probably well over $100,000 bail -- and although Chairman K.Y. Lee hasn't yet been named as a person of interest, Taiwanese investors were still shaken enough to push BenQ shares down almost 7% to their lowest level in ten years. In a typical response during times of scrutiny, the company itself publicly pledged its cooperation, but with all the top dogs behind bars, we're not sure if anyone will still be around to provide the relevant documents. Either way, you should hold on tight to all that BenQ gear you've been collecting over the years, just in case, you know, they happen to become collectibles.[Thanks, Reg]
Smash my Zune: the Jim Cramer edition
The whole "smash my stuff" campaign was a tad comical at times, but we never really felt it connected with the 40-and-up age group per se. Au contraire, Jim Cramer from CNBC's Mad Money apparently felt that busting open a (cleverly chosen) brown Microsoft Zune would better illustrate how MSFT was a "loser," while AAPL was most certainly a winner. After (quite literally) ranting for a good bit about how Apple has single-handedly changed the way we listen to music, he informs everyone that the Zune was "beat before it hit the market," and proceeds to literally beat the Zune until it was (somewhat) damaged from multiple baseball bat blows. Notably, the Zune stood up fairly well to the torture, and still retained its shape after it took a lickin'. Of course, if you're really interested in whether the Zune or iPod give way to a brighter financial future for either company, you should probably hit up our pals at BloggingStocks for that, but be sure to check out the video of "Jim Gone Wild" after the break.[Via Digg]
Stock Options continue to haunt Apple
With the Macworld keynote still on the horizon, the last thing Apple needs is a few more lawsuits and federal investigations. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Apple faces a new shareholder lawsuit along with twin investigations by the San Francisco's US Attorney's office and by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Apple's internal investigation, led by movie star, former Veep and all around green guy Al Gore, cleared Steve Jobs and his executive team. Apparently the lawsuit names about a dozen complaints including backdating stock options and "spring loading", where options are granted in advance of releasing news likely to drive up prices. The bottom line is that this controversy looks like it will be around for a while longer. Is there a "there" there? It's hard to tell. We're not lawyers and this whole thing looks like it rests on lots of technicalities.
Nintendo versus Sony, in stocks
Sales figures and stock prices are important to any fanboy's repertoire. For some reason, there's a strange assumption that higher sales of a system means better games (something that I'd like to disagree with ... RIP Dreamcast). However, considering how we're all invested (mentally) in the industry, it's still fascinating to see how gamer perception reflects upon stocks--and Digital Battle did the research for us.Sony fanboys know that Sony hasn't done as well as they could've this year, with both the PSP and PS3 launches. Nintendo has been on a roll with the Wii and the DS, and it appears the stock reflects that nicely. However, considering how Sony is a mega-conglomerate corporation, one can't assume the poor performance of the video game devision is to blame for their fiscal stagnation: I'm sure exploding batteries haven't helped them one bit.[Via digg]
Apple takes $84 million charge, defends Steve Jobs in options scandal
While Apple's surely enjoying the perks of having a monumental amount of iPods unwrapped just days ago, everything's not exactly kosher in Cupertino. Aside from the mysterious mouse the firm just patented, the company is facing another bevy of off-the-wall lawsuits, all while trying to fish its CEO out of potentially hot water. After the Securities and Exchange Commission found that ole Steve was granted 7.5 million stock options without the proper authorization of Apple's board of directors in 2001, there was widespread speculation that Mr. One More Thing may suffer the same fate as Apple's former CFO Fred Anderson, who resigned after a similar debacle in 2004. It seems, however, that things just might work out okay after all, as Apple finally filed its required forms with SEC, recognizing a "total additional non-cash, stock-based compensation expense of $84 million after tax, including $4 million and $7 million in fiscal years 2006 and 2005, respectively." Aside from taking the lofty charge, the company also stated that while Jobs was "aware of the favorable grant date recommendations, he did not financially benefit from these grants or appreciate the accounting implications." So all those out there holding your breath to see if Macworld would ever be the same if this went south, it looks like we'll be seeing jeans and a black shirt all over again in just a few weeks.
Liberty Media exchanges shares of News Corp. for DirecTV
While DirecTV tends to garner a lot of negative attention, all the fuss apparently doesn't bother Liberty Media's CEO John Malone, as the firm has recently signed a deal to swap its 16.3-percent stake in News Corp. for "shares of DirecTV, three regional sports networks and $550 million in cash." Liberty, who already controls several other TV networks such as Starz, is hoping to jump back to the forefront of television by assuming News Corp.'s three seats on DirecTV's board of directors. Interestingly, Malone stated that the new investment would "create financial, operating, and strategic flexibility," which could eventually freshen up the previously stale merger talks between DirecTV and Echostar -- but considering Liberty Media still won't have a controlling stake in the company, we're not holding our collective breath.
Stock options investigation delays Apple SEC filing
Apple's ongoing investigation into its stock option grants has delayed its SEC 10-K filing. The filing, which was due yesterday, may be delayed for as much as a month. If you recall, Apple admitted that employee stock options may have been been backdated. Companies use backdating in order to lower the apparent value of the issued stocks. Although news reports suggest this isn't illegal, the backdating has to be accounted for and disclosed to investors and so forth. CEO Steve Jobs was reportedly aware of the backdating and Apple's investigation is ongoing.
PS3 delay leads to publisher stock dip
Wall street reacted to yesterday's big news about the PS3's European delay and component shortages by lowering the stocks of some big video game publishers. Shares of Electronic Arts, Activision, THQ and Take Two fluctuated down one to four percent yesterday as investors and analysts took into account the delay's effect on near-term overseas profits. Despite the one-day drop, analysts are predicting that the delay will not affect the medium to longer-term prospects for the companies as they move resources to the next-generation of systems.
SEC investigates Take-Two
There is no peace for Take-Two Interactive. Seeing as the now-infamous publisher of some of the most reputable (Civilization) and disreputable (Grand Theft Auto) does not have enough trouble on its hands, it will now be investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC notified the company that it was launching an informal probe into how the publisher has granted stock options from 1997 until present. Take-Two has confirmed its intentions to cooperate with the non-public investigation. The Associated Press reports that Take-Two is one of many companies being investigated by the SEC for having "backdated stock option grants to time them at share price lows, thus boosting gains on the sale of the stock."[via GamesIndustry.biz]
Prince & WoW Boost Vivendi's Stock
As Reuters reports today, Vivendi Universal, the big, scary parent behind Blizzard, has reported a 5.7% rise in 1st-quarter sales this year, spurred on mainly by the enormous cash cow that is WoW & it's six million subscribers, and from recording artists such as...Prince? Ok, I grew up with Prince, and I'm a fan, but I have to admit, I had no idea he had made a single note of music in years; last thing I heard, some basketball player was suing him for renting his house to Prince, only to return & find it painted purple inside & out. At least I can just type his name & not have to find a character for that stupid symbol...
Pod2go 1.6 released
That beta version of Pod2go we mentioned last year (ok, a month ago) has gone official. The new version boasts a wealth of upgrades to the way it handles lyrics, Mail, iCal information, backup, news and apps, as well as support for multiple iPods. A number of usability enhancements are present as well, such as holding down the option key to change the "Sync" option in the menu bar icon to "Sync and Eject." Check out the lengthy list of release notes to catch up on the massive amount of changes in this unassuming point upgrade.[via Hawk Wings]
