CALDEIRÃO DE BOLSA

carcanhol_II Escreveu:De resto não ficava também nada mal no "of-topic para a descontra"

Apple shareholder proposal to force reveal of Steve Jobs succession plan gains support





An Apple shareholder proposal to force the tech giant to publicly release a succession plan for Chief Executive Steve Jobs has been backed by Institutional Shareholder Services, a company considered to be one of the most highly influential of investor advisors.

The proposal was submitted by the Central Laborers Pension Fund in August, before Jobs announced his indefinite medical leave last month. Jobs handed most of his daily responsibilities over to Apple's Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook but retained his CEO title.

The Central Laborers Pension Fund fund owns about 11,500 shares in Apple, or about a thousandth of 1% of the Cupertino company's outstanding shares, according to the Associated Press.

ISS, a company that consults institutional investors on how to vote on such shareholder measures, also called for Apple's board to release such a plan to shareholders annually.

In a statement on the Central Laborers proposal, the ISS said, "All companies should have succession planning policies and succession plans in place, and boards should periodically review and update them."

The measure will go up for an Apple shareholder vote at the company's annual meeting on Feb. 23.

In its 2011 Investor Proxy Statement, released on Jan. 7, Apple asked shareholders to vote against the measure.

"Not just the CEO, is critical to Apple's success," Apple's board of directors said in the proxy statement. "Accordingly, the Board already implements many of the proposed actions and maintains a comprehensive succession plan throughout the organization."

In the proxy statement, Apple said it commits an annual review of succession planning for its senior management, including its chief executive.

"As part of this annual review, the Board has a formal evaluation process in which it identifies and recommends development of internal candidates for succession based on criteria that reflect Apple’s business strategy," Apple's proxy statement said.

Such a move would "undermine the Company's efforts to recruit and retain executives" and "invites competitors to recruit high-value executives away from Apple. Furthermore, executives who are not identified as potential successors may choose to voluntarily leave the Company," Apple said.

Aside from ISS, the Central Laborers proposition is also supported by the Laborers International Union of North America.

In a statement, Laborers International said: "We're concerned to hear the news about Steve Jobs' health and hope to see him return to full duties soon. However, this news demonstrates the need for Apple to do well by its shareholders, including our members' pension funds."

The group said it has successfully proposed similar CEO succession proposals to companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Verizon and American Express.

Laborers International also said Apple had misconstrued its proposal.

"We do not expect them to provide specific names of future executives, but merely demonstrate they have a plan in place for naming one," the group said. "This proposal would not only benefit our members' retirement savings, but also would give reassurance to other Apple shareholders and help the company."

Finantial Times Escreveu:‘Wave and pay’ technology for iPhone 5

Apple is expected to install “wave and pay” technology for the next version of its iPhone, boosting mobile commerce and potentially giving the company a big piece of the multibillion-dollar transaction industry.

The iPhone 5, due out this year, is likely to incorporate technology called Near-Field Communication, which incorporates financial account information and ties that data to specific devices, according to Asian suppliers and others who have been in talks with Apple.

“I do believe the iPhone 5 will have NFC embedded,” said Bill Gajda, Visa’s head of mobile innovation, one of those in ­discussions with Apple.

Apple declined to comment.

Samsung and other handset makers who use Google’s Android smartphone software are already putting NFC in new models, and Research in Motion and Nokia are embracing the technology as well.

NFC works at a range of four to five inches via point of sale scanners and is considered more secure than RFID and other touchless technologies.

Apple could bring the system to a broad audience rapidly by putting it in all versions of its phones. Owners of iPhones are typically heavy users of data and their upscale demographic makes them a desired target for businesses.

Apple also brings to the table credit card numbers it has on file for more than 100m users of iTunes, the digital storefront for entertainment and software downloads. That could give it the leverage to extract better terms from card issuers, who typically tack on fees of roughly 2 per cent to retailers who accept their systems.

Apple could also decide to go it alone, keeping transactions in-house, said Richard Doherty, an engineering consultant who has spoken with Asian equipment suppliers bidding for inclusion in the next iPhone.

Mr Gajda said he hoped that Apple would adopt an “open” strategy that would allow consumers to decide which accounts to tie to their phone.

Large retailers who do not yet have NFC scanners would have to spend heavily to switch to new terminals, Mr Doherty warned, though it would be easy for smaller outlets that rent such terminals to start leasing NFC-capable machines instead.

US wave and pay trials have, thus far, been small. Visa has been working with some card­issuing banks, for example, who mail small cards with financial credentials that can be inserted into the iPhone and other smartphones.

Elias Escreveu:Pois, mas convenhamos que o SJ escolheu o timing perfeito para anunciar a sua baixa médica, ao fazê-lo na véspera de resultados que sabia serem muito bons.

Apple Price Target Raised to $550 by Ticonderoga Securities Analyst White



Apple Inc. had its price target raised to $550 at Ticonderoga Securities LLC after reporting profit and sales that exceeded analysts’ estimates, even as Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs takes a leave of absence.

The price target by Ticonderoga’s Brian White is the highest among analysts surveyed by Bloomberg and 61 percent more than yesterday’s closing price. The target is 14 percent more than the next highest projection, $483 from Piper Jaffray Cos.

“Despite Monday’s news regarding Steve Jobs’s medical leave of absence, we believe it will be difficult to keep Apple’s stock from reaching new highs given the much stronger than expected quarter and outlook reported by the company last night,” White, an analyst in New York, said in a note today.

A $550 share price would value Apple at $506.6 billion, making it the largest company in the world by market capitalization. Exxon Mobil Corp. currently has the biggest market value, $396.9 billion as of yesterday’s closing price.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, reported first quarter net income of $6 billion, or $6.43 a share, from $3.38 billion, or $3.67 a year earlier. Sales increased 71 percent from a year earlier to a record $26.7 billion.

Jobs announced Jan. 17 he was stepping away from day-to-day responsibilities at Apple to tend to his health, after a liver transplant in 2009. It’s his third leave of absence since 2004.

Apple will likely sell 68.5 million iPhones and 27.4 million iPads this fiscal year, according to Ticonderoga projections. Demand from Chinese consumers will help boost Apple’s future sales, White wrote.

Apple rose $3.25 to $343.90 at 10:09 a.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock rose 53 percent last year.

Elias Escreveu:

Atomez Escreveu:Esta Apple desafia todas as leis da gravidade, nem a má notícia sobre a saúde do Steve Jobs parece afetá-la, durante o dia recuperou praticamente a queda inicial.

Pois, mas convenhamos que o SJ escolheu o timing perfeito para anunciar a sua baixa médica, ao fazê-lo na véspera de resultados que sabia serem muito bons.

Atomez Escreveu:Esta Apple desafia todas as leis da gravidade, nem a má notícia sobre a saúde do Steve Jobs parece afetá-la, durante o dia recuperou praticamente a queda inicial.

nelsonfilipe Escreveu:g.a.

Incrivel a subida de hoje...palavras para quê..

Ulisses Pereira Escreveu:Sinceramente, não gost ode ver tantas pessoas com a mesma ideia de comprar Apple nesta queda. Parece demasiado óbvio e o mercado gosta de magoar o maior número de pessoas...

Um abraço,
Ulisses

Pata-Hari Escreveu:Rocker, não sabemos se é ou não. Isto pode mudar muita coisa. Não te esqueças que a sucessão não está definida e que o senhor tem um cancro do pancreas.