Filed under: Business, Windows, E-mail, Office, Productivity, Microsoft, Commercial

Continuing their unmatched success in offering products with gargantuan, hard-to-remember names, Microsoft this day announced that they will sell Microsoft Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager as a stand-alone offering. This is good news for people who want Outlook but don’t need Microsoft’s other office solutions.

Microsoft Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager combines all the functionality of Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with the extended benefits of a contact management application. This combined application also shares the same customer database as Office Bookkeeping 2008, so that changes to customer information in one application are automatically reflected in the other.

If any of you survived that last paragraph, we offer you a picture to help your understanding: think of the various, multi-colored spacecraft coming together to form the behemoth Voltron. Now you’ve got the right idea.

Microsoft Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager will be offered at a stand-alone price of $149.95.

[Via Softpedia]

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Filed under: Business, World wide web, Security, E-mail

Mega-D Botnet would be a fantastic hip-hop name. Rolls of the tongue beautifully, botnet rhymes easily (hot set, caught yet, sought debt), and it’s got a hyphen in it, which rumor has it keeps the children interested. Unfortunately, the name is already tied to one of the greatest spamming machines to ever exist. It’s the Jay-Z (he’s still relevant, right?) of annoying emails.

Mega-D accounts for 32 percent of all spam right now. That’s a disturbingly fat guy’s slice of the spam pie chart. It’s 11 percent more than the high water mark the Storm botnet hit in September 2007. It’s kind of impressive, really. In a horrible way. Like a 500 car pileup on the freeway. Terrible, but you can’t help but be in awe of the sheer capacity.

The botnet uses news headlines to trick people into opening spam. The spam promotes some pharmaceutical products including Herbal King and VPXL. In fact, promotion for VPXL makes up almost 75 percent of all pharma spam. VP of Products at Marshal speculates that it “is possible that the individuals behind the Storm botnet are responsible for one or more of these other botnets.” Storm botnet programmers? Never. This is the handy work of Al-Qaeda. These terrorist won’t rest until every warm blooded American is hooked on VPXL. We’re on to you. You’ll never get away with this terrorists. We’ll find you. Just you wait.

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Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services, Yahoo!

Loosen those belts and belly up to the bar, because Yahoo! Web Hosting has gone all-you-can-eat. Beginning this day, Yahoo! is offering unlimited web hosting for all of its small business customers.

What does unlimited mean? In this case:

• Unlimited disk space
• Unlimited data transfer
• Unlimited email storage
• 1,000 email accounts

Along with the above, Yahoo! Web Hosting offers a wealth of website design tools, a free domain name, and automatic submission of your site to top search engines.

At $11.95 a month, you’ve probably spent more at Sizzler’s buffet bar. Who can resist popcorn shrimp?

All in all, an interesting development by Yahoo! sure to tighten the internet hosting race.

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Filed under: Deals, Private equity

It seems strange to invest in a security that is called “junk.” But it’s a big business that can be quite lucrative. Hey, it made Mike Milken a billionaire. What’s more, junk bonds have become a key financing mechanism for growth companies as well as leveraged buyouts.

The market for junk bonds has been particularly strong over the past few years, with a big spread between junk and high-quality securities was. That is, until the “credit crunch” hit Wall Street in August.

Now, Edward Altman - a professor and a finance guru - is predicting some grim news for junk bonds for this year. Basically, he thinks the default rate will spike to 4.64%, according to a piece in the Wall Street Journal [subscription required]. Keep in mind that the default rate was a paltry 0.51% in 2007.

If Altman’s prediction proves to be true, it will be particularly bad for private equity investors. In the event of a default, the equity holders can get wiped out. Thus, we could see a plunge in private equity returns.

What’s more, the credit crunch will make it tough for companies to refinance their debt loads. Oh, and if the economy slips into a recession, then EBITDA levels will likely fall.

In fact, we’re already seeing defaults, such as the bankruptcy filings at Allied Van Lines, Tousa and Plastech Engineered Products.

Unfortunately, Altman sees the negative trend lasting into 2009, with a default estimate of 5%.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar On the internet Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

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Filed under: Deals, Private equity

It seems strange to invest in a security that is called “junk.” But it’s a big business that can be quite lucrative. Hey, it made Mike Milken a billionaire. What’s more, junk bonds have become a key financing mechanism for growth companies as well as leveraged buyouts.

The market for junk bonds has been particularly strong over the past few years, with a huge spread between junk and high-quality securities was. That is, until the “credit crunch” hit Wall Street in August.

Now, Edward Altman - a professor and a finance guru - is predicting some grim news for junk bonds for this year. Basically, he thinks the default rate will spike to 4.64%, according to a piece in the Wall Street Journal [subscription required]. Keep in mind that the default rate was a paltry 0.51% in 2007.

If Altman’s prediction proves to be true, it will be particularly bad for private equity investors. In the event of a default, the equity holders can get wiped out. Thus, we could see a plunge in private equity returns.

What’s more, the credit crunch will make it tough for companies to refinance their debt loads. Oh, and if the economy slips into a recession, then EBITDA levels will likely fall.

In fact, we are already seeing defaults, such as the bankruptcy filings at Allied Van Lines, Tousa and Plastech Engineered Products.

Unfortunately, Altman sees the negative trend lasting into 2009, with a default estimate of 5%.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar On the web Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

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Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Earnings reports, Deals, Time Warner (TWX), Market matters, Walt Disney (DIS), Toll Brothers (TOL), Economic data, BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP), Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP), Time Warner Cable (TWC), Politics

U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning after they sold off sharply on Super Tuesday on economic worries. This morning, however, hanging on to good news from Disney, futures seem to indicate a rebound in the stock markets for this day.

Stocks sank Tuesday after the Institute of Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index, which measures about 90% of economic activity, plunged to 41.9% in January 2008 from 54.4% in December 2007. The Dow industrials dropped 370 points, or 2.93%m, the S&P 500 fell 44 points, or 3.2%, and the Nasdaq composite declined 73 points, or 3.08%. Tuesday was the Dow’s biggest one-day point loss since mid-October and worst one-day percentage fall since February 27, 2007.

Not much is on the economic docket calendar, but at 8:30 a.m. EST, preliminary fourth quarter productivity report is due with economists expecting a small 0.5% gain.
At 10:30 a.m. weekly crude inventory data will be released. Oil prices fell near $88 a barrel on economic concerns that could curb demand. Traders are also expecting to see an increase in crude supplies last week.

Overseas, Asian markets plunged Wednesday with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closing 5.4% down and Japan’s Nikkei closing 4.7% down.
European stocks, which have fell modestly in early trading, were higher by midday.

Meanwhile, the race for the White Home remained in focus with Sen. John McCain cementing his lead as the Republican Party’s front-runner, while over on the Democratic Celebration side, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama race is dead heat, according to CNN’s projections. Clinton seems to have an edge in the number of delegates.

Several stories are in focus on the corporate side:
The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) reported Tuesday that its first-quarter profit fell 26% from a year earlier, when it benefited from the sale of a magazine and entertainment channel, beating Wall Street estimates. It also posted a 9% jump in revenue across almost all of its business units, led by its media networks division. DIS shares are up 5.7% in premarket trading.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) reported a 41% decline in fourth-quarter profits, but excluding one-time effects, earnings rose on stronger results at the company’s cable TV and movie operations. Net income was $1.03 billion or 28 cents per share, in line with the Street’s expectations. Revenues rose 2% to $12.64 billion. Earnings from Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) rose 19% on a 12% gain in revenues. TWX shares are up almost a percent in premarket trading.

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) sweetened its unwelcome takeover bid for Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) on Wednesday to an all-share offer worth $147.4 billion. BHP Billiton is offering 3.4 of its shares for every one Rio Tinto share, up from the initial informal proposal of three-for-one.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) said Wednesday that revenues fell 22% during the first quarter, and the luxury-home builder is not “seeing much light at the end of the tunnel.”

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Filed under: Deals, Private equity

It seems strange to invest in a security that is called “junk.” But it’s a large business that can be quite lucrative. Hey, it made Mike Milken a billionaire. What’s more, junk bonds have become a key financing mechanism for growth companies as well as leveraged buyouts.

The market for junk bonds has been particularly strong over the past few years, with a big spread between junk and high-quality securities was. That’s, until the “credit crunch” hit Wall Street in August.

Now, Edward Altman - a professor and a finance guru - is predicting some grim news for junk bonds for this year. Basically, he thinks the default rate will spike to 4.64%, according to a piece in the Wall Street Journal [subscription required]. Keep in mind that the default rate was a paltry 0.51% in 2007.

If Altman’s prediction proves to be true, it will be particularly bad for private equity investors. In the event of a default, the equity holders can get wiped out. Thus, we could see a plunge in private equity returns.

What’s more, the credit crunch will make it tough for companies to refinance their debt loads. Oh, and if the economy slips into a recession, then EBITDA levels will likely fall.

In fact, we are already seeing defaults, such as the bankruptcy filings at Allied Van Lines, Tousa and Plastech Engineered Products.

Unfortunately, Altman sees the negative trend lasting into 2009, with a default estimate of 5%.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

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Filed under: Before the bell, International markets, Earnings reports, Deals, Time Warner (TWX), Market matters, Walt Disney (DIS), Toll Brothers (TOL), Economic data, BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP), Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP), Time Warner Cable (TWC), Politics

U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning after they sold off sharply on Super Tuesday on economic worries. This morning, however, hanging on to good news from Disney, futures seem to indicate a rebound in the stock markets for this day.

Stocks sank Tuesday after the Institute of Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index, which measures about 90% of economic activity, plunged to 41.9% in January 2008 from 54.4% in December 2007. The Dow industrials dropped 370 points, or 2.93%m, the S&P 500 fell 44 points, or 3.2%, and the Nasdaq composite declined 73 points, or 3.08%. Tuesday was the Dow’s biggest one-day point loss since mid-October and worst one-day percentage fall since February 27, 2007.

Not much is on the economic docket calendar, but at 8:30 a.m. EST, preliminary fourth quarter productivity report is due with economists expecting a small 0.5% gain.
At 10:30 a.m. weekly crude inventory data will be released. Oil prices fell near $88 a barrel on economic concerns that could curb demand. Traders are also expecting to see an increase in crude supplies last week.

Overseas, Asian markets plunged Wednesday with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closing 5.4% down and Japan’s Nikkei closing 4.7% down.
European stocks, which have fell modestly in early trading, were higher by midday.

Meanwhile, the race for the White Home remained in focus with Sen. John McCain cementing his lead as the Republican Party’s front-runner, while over on the Democratic Celebration side, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama race is dead heat, according to CNN’s projections. Clinton seems to have an edge in the number of delegates.

Several stories are in focus on the corporate side:
The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) reported Tuesday that its first-quarter profit fell 26% from a year earlier, when it benefited from the sale of a magazine and entertainment channel, beating Wall Street estimates. It also posted a 9% jump in revenue across nearly all of its business units, led by its media networks division. DIS shares are up 5.7% in premarket trading.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) reported a 41% decline in fourth-quarter profits, but excluding one-time effects, earnings rose on stronger results at the company’s cable Television and motion picture operations. Net income was $1.03 billion or 28 cents per share, in line with the Street’s expectations. Revenues rose 2% to $12.64 billion. Earnings from Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) rose 19% on a 12% gain in revenues. TWX shares are up nearly a percent in premarket trading.

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) sweetened its unwelcome takeover bid for Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) on Wednesday to an all-share offer worth $147.4 billion. BHP Billiton is offering 3.4 of its shares for every one Rio Tinto share, up from the initial informal proposal of three-for-one.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) stated Wednesday that revenues fell 22% during the first quarter, and the luxury-home builder isn’t “seeing much light at the end of the tunnel.”

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Filed under: Deals, Alcoa Inc (AA), BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP), Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP)

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) raised its bid for fellow metals company Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) from three shares to Rio’s one to 3.4 shares. RTP never made a counter to the original offer. It simply said it was too low.

BHP management says it can get $3.4 billion in cost savings and revenue gains out of a business combination. “It’s a lot fairer than the offer we’ve had before, (but) it’s by no means a knock-out offer,” said Bertie Thomson, a fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management according to Reuters.

RTP shares are up over 100% during the last year. Fellow metals company Alcoa (NYSE: AA) shares are only up 5%. It would be hard to make the case that Rio Tinto is that much superior off. RTP trades at almost six times revenue.

Metals prices, which are the largest factor in an ongoing share price rally in stocks like Rio, are based to a very significant extent on global demand. That, in turn, is based on the health of the global economy. A massive downturn in the global economy could swiftly undermine commodity prices, especially metals.

In much less than four years, RTP’s share price has quadrupled. It is a very, very long bet that the price of metals can keep that kind of momentum going.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Filed under: Deals, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Technology, Israel

News that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is adding more e-mail security and storage products for businesses helped send the stock of Commtouch Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CTCH), an Israeli email security firm, higher by 7%. The tools to be introduced Tuesday build upon technology that Google acquired last year when it bought e-mail specialist Postini Inc. for $625 million. The package of products are designed to weed out junk mail and potential viruses as well as protect against leaks of confidential information sent through e-mail. Google also is offering to retain e-mail data for longer periods.

This move into email security is seen by some as a salvo against rival Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT). Why does this impact Commtouch? Because the firm has some of the most slicing edge email security out there, and could be an acquisition target by Microsoft, or even by Google to help enhance their offerings. For Microsoft this buy would come with a price tag of less than $45 billion, as Commtouch trades with a market cap of just $120 million.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer has a position and is long CTCH stock. He has no positions in any other stock mentioned as of 2/5/08.

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