U.S. Stocks Retreat After Google Earnings Miss Estimates; Microsoft Drops

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks retreated after Google
Inc. posted profit below analysts' estimates and Microsoft
Corp. said Xbox sales fell short of its own forecast.

Google, the most-popular Internet search engine, and
Microsoft, the biggest software maker, led the Standard &
Poor's 500 Index down from a record. Caterpillar Inc. declined
after the largest maker of earthmoving machines said profit
dropped due to the housing slump. Its shares pushed the Dow
Jones Industrial Average lower a day after it closed above
14,000 for the first time.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Microsoft profit up on Office, swallows Xbox charge

(Reuters) - Microsoft also slightly raised full-year earnings and revenue forecasts citing demand for new software products like its Windows Server 2008.




The company said on Thursday net profit was $3.04 billion, or 31 cents per diluted share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, up from $2.83 billion, or 28 cents per diluted share, a year earlier. Sales rose 13 percent to $13.4 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Rise; IBM, Microsoft, Motorola Climb in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures gained as
investors speculated a flurry of second-quarter earnings reports
today will show profits are holding up amid an economic slowdown.

International Business Machines Corp. advanced in Europe
after the world's biggest computer-services company increased its
annual earnings forecast after beating analysts' quarterly
estimates. Microsoft Corp., the largest software maker, and
Motorola Inc., the second-biggest mobile-phone maker, rose before
posting earnings.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

AQuantive-Microsoft antitrust waiting period ends

(Reuters) - Microsoft in May agreed to pay $66.50 per share for
aQuantive, in the software maker's largest acquisition ever.
Shares of aQuantive closed Thursday at $64.87 on the Nasdaq.




Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Apple IPhone Buzz Takes On `Life of Its Own,' Topping Mustang, Windows 95

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc.'s campaign to build
excitement about its iPhone may be the most successful marketing
effort ever, surpassing the drive to promote Ford Motor Co.'s
1964 Mustang and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95.

The combination mobile phone and music player has generated
more pre-sale media coverage than any other product, says Al
Ries, chairman of Ries & Ries, an Atlanta marketing strategy
firm. Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at JupiterResearch in New
York, estimates Apple will spend about $100 million on the
introduction, roughly half what Microsoft spent for Windows 95.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

U.S. Stocks Rise, Led by Energy Shares; Oil Rises, Dollar Falls

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. stock market posted its
first advance in four days after a rally in oil prices improved
earnings prospects for fuel producers and better-than-expected
profit at Oracle Corp. ignited shares of software makers.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. helped
carry the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to its biggest gain in two
weeks. Oracle, the world's third-largest software company,
jumped the most in three months after saying sales may grow 21
percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.S. Stocks Rise, Led by Energy, Technology Companies; Oracle, Exxon Jump

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. stock market posted its
first advance in four days after a rally in oil prices improved
earnings prospects for fuel producers and better-than-expected
profit at Oracle Corp. ignited shares of software makers.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. helped
carry the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to its biggest gain in
two weeks. Oracle, the world's third-largest software maker,
jumped the most in three months after saying sales may rise 21
percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - June 20

(Reuters) - * Two Bear Stearns hedge funds were close to being
shut down as a rescue plan fell apart. Lender Merrill said it
would move to seize collateral and sell it.




* Microsoft Corp. has agreed to make changes to
Vista following complaints by Google Inc. to antitrust
officials that the software hampers rival desktop search
programs.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Microsoft renames its IPTV platform "Mediaroom"

(Reuters) - The television push by the world's largest software maker aims to deliver TV over high-speed Internet networks and hopes the software will eventually open up the TV to a world of services already on the Web.




Microsoft said Mediaroom will also enable some applications that access the Internet without a Web browser, so users can view streaming online video or look at photos uploaded onto the Internet.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Regulators look at two online ad takeovers: report

(Reuters) - So far, the FTC has not made "second requests" for extra
information from either Microsoft or Yahoo, the newspaper
reported. Those requests would suggest a closer level of
scrutiny.




A Microsoft spokesman told the Journal that the company is
"cooperating fully" and it looks "forward to addressing any
questions the FTC may have."


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

U.S. backs Microsoft against Google complaint: NYT

(Reuters) - The complaint, which is tied to a consent decree that monitors Microsoft's behavior, has not been made public by Google or the judge overseeing the consent decree, the article said.




State officials told the newspaper that a memo by Thomas Barnett, an assistant attorney general, rejected the Google complaint, repeating legal arguments made by Microsoft.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Microsoft deal cuts chances of Yahoo merger: analyst

(Reuters) - "Microsoft may be more interested in piecemealing together
the highest-quality franchises that replicate what Yahoo
already has," Devitt said in a phone interview.




Earlier this month, several newspapers reported that
Microsoft was considering a deal worth an estimated $40 billion
to $50 billion to acquire Yahoo. A source close to the
situation subsequently said that any talks had cooled.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Microsoft pays 85 pct premium to buy aQuantive

(Reuters) - Microsoft of Redmond, Washington said it would acquire
aQuantive based in nearby Seattle to expand the software
giant's push into Internet advertising through its tools for
managing the buying and selling of online ads.




Aquantive shares closed at $35.87 on Thursday on Nasdaq.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News