Tag Archives: oud

Verizon, Yahoo Both At JPMorgan Event — But It’s Not A Date, Yet

Verizon Communications ( VZ ) and Yahoo ( YHOO ) are both slated to appear at the JPMorgan ( JPM ) Technology, Media and Telecom conference in Boston on Tuesday morning, with the phone company still viewed as the front-runner to buy the struggling Web portal. While it’s unlikely either company will comment on any such marriage, either one might comment on their strategy going forward if a deal falls through. Verizon acquired AOL for $4.4 billion last June. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam is scheduled to give the morning keynote address. Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman is expected to take part in a question-and-answer session at 9:20 a.m. EST. McAdam doesn’t appear on Verizon earnings calls, leaving that chore to CFO Fran Shammo, but he did speak at Verizon’s annual shareholders meeting on May 5. When McAdam appear at venues such as Goldman Sach’s annual Communacopia conference in September, there’s usually news. At Communacopia, McAdam touted Verizon’s plans for 5G wireless services. Verizon CFO Shammo last week said that a six-week strike by nearly 40,000 wireline workers is beginning to impact Verizon’s financials . Yahoo’s Goldman might in general comment on Yahoo’s sale process, as he did at a Morgan Stanley conference in March. At that meeting, Yahoo’s Goldman defended the Internet pioneer’s strategy. Yahoo recently added four new independent directors to its board under pressure by activist investor Starboard Value. One question is whether Starboard will still push for a sale if reports prove accurate that bids are coming in lower than expected. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Verizon or private equity firms might offer as little as $2 billion to $3 billion  for Yahoo, when analysts had been estimating bids in the$4 billion to $8 billion range. CNBC’s David Faber on Friday, in a tweet, declared that report “completely wrong.” Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKA ) Chairman Warren Buffet , a noted investor who generally stays away from tech companies, might back a group led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, if it makes a bid. Yahoo stock was up 1% in early afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 37, while Verizon stock was down nearly 1%.

Does iPhone 7 Production Ramp Mark True Turnaround In Apple Stock?

Apple ( AAPL ) is jumping in heavy volume in the stock market today as reports signal the consumer tech giant’s iPhone production is on the rise. Taiwan’s Economic Daily said Apple told its iPhone 7 suppliers to produce 72 million to 78 million units this year, many more than the 65 million units Wall Street has projected. That production target is also the highest in about two years. The iPhone 7 is due out in September and could give Apple the boost it needs after the company reported its first-ever quarterly decline in iPhone sales last month. Shares are up 1.8% in heavy volume, hitting their highest level in nearly a month. But the stock still has a lot of recovering to do after gapping down on its latest quarterly report, as it’s down about 27% from its 52-week high. Chip Suppliers Get A Boost Meanwhile, Apple chip suppliers Taiwan Semiconductor ( TSM ), Broadcom ( AVGO ), Qorvo ( QRVO ) and Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) are also getting a boost from the report. Taiwan Semiconductor gapped up 2.2% in quick turnover, but it’s hitting resistance at its 50-day line. Shares are trading 7% below their March high and a flat-base buy point of 26.72. Broadcom is climbing 1.6% in above-average volume, but it’s also hitting resistance at the 50-day line. The stock is 6% below its April peak and a potential buy point. Qorvo is rising 3% in big volume after having retaken its 50-day and 200-day moving averages in Friday’s session. The stock is nearing a cup-with-handle buy point of 52.05, but it’s trading 42% below its high reached last June. Skyworks is gapping up 2.9% in fast trade, but it’s still 40% below its June high.

Middle Eastern Banks Hacked After $81 Mil Bangladesh Heist: FireEye

FireEye ( FEYE ) researchers say a series of cyberattacks on Middle Eastern banks isn’t related to an earlier digital heist of Bangladesh Bank that netted $81 million, but didn’t say whether it has ties to similar assults on banks in Ecuador and Vietnam. This month, FireEye’s DTI (dynamic threat intelligence) discovered “a wave of emails containing malicious attachments being sent to multiple banks in the Middle East region,” according to a company blog post Sunday. “The threat actors appear to be performing initial reconnaissance against would-be targets,” researchers wrote, “and the attacks caught our attention since they were using unique scripts not commonly seen in crimeware campaigns.” A FireEye spokesman told IBD the Middle Eastern assault doesn’t appear to be related to a recent attack on Bangladesh Bank, but didn’t say whether it could be tied to breaches of banks in Ecuador and Vietnam. The Bangladesh breach is one of the biggest in history. FireEye reportedly was hired to investigate . In the Middle East case, hackers sent malware-infused emails with themes related to IT infrastructure “such as a log of sever status report or a list of Cisco Iron Port Appliance details,” FireEye researchers wrote. Employees forwarded the email on, containing an infected, macros-enabled Microsoft Excel file. Microsoft Office documents are frequently used in crimeware campaigns because default settings require users to order macros to run. “Attackers may convince victims to enable risky macro code by telling them that the macro is required to view ‘protected content,’” researchers wrote. But this campaign took it a step further, hiding the malware in plain sight. “This was done for the purpose of social engineering — specifically, to convince the victim that enabling the macro did, in fact, result in the ‘unhiding’ of additional spreadsheet data,” researchers wrote. Hackers installed a batch file to collect important system data including user and group accounts, network configuration data and running processes. Unusually, the malware used DNS (domain name system) queries to extract the data. “This was likely done because DNS is required for normal network operations,” researchers said. “The DNS protocol is unlikely to be blocked and its use is unlikely to raise suspicion among network defenders.” Users can protect themselves by disabling Microsoft Office macros “and also by being more vigilant when enabling macros,” FireEye said. In morning trading on the stock market today , FireEye stock lifted more than 4.5%, outplaying the IBD Computer Software-Security industry group, which collectively was up a fraction. Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) and Symantec ( SYMC ) stocks were up 2% and a fraction, respectively.