And the Beats Go On Apple Crushes Estimates Again

Apple has beaten Wall Street’s consensus estimates in 16 out of its last 17 quarters. Today it beat them once again.

Reporting second-quarter earnings after market close Tuesday, Apple obliterated recent worries that have dragged down its stock price over the past few weeks.

The company posted net income of $11.6 billion on revenue of $39.19 billion. Earnings per share were $12.30, far more than the $10.06 per share analysts had been expecting.

Apple said it sold 35.1 million iPhones for the quarter, up more than 88 percent from the year prior; 11.8 million iPads, up 151 percent; 4 million Macs Buy Windows 7 Product Key, up 7 percent; and nearly 7.7 million iPods, down 15 percent. Big numbers — all of them. And save for lower than expected iPad sales, they beat estimates.

Analysts had expected Apple to report second-quarter earnings of $10.06 per share on revenue of $36.8 billion. And, on average, they had called for iPhone shipments of 31 to 32 million — 32 being the whisper number — iPad shipments of about 13 million and Mac shipments of around 4.4 million.

“We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter Windows 7 activation key,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”

Guidance for the June quarter is a bit lower than expected with EPS of $8.68 on $34 billion in revenue as opposed to the $9.92 on $37.4 billion expected by analysts, but Apple’s guidance is typically comically low.

Apple shares, which closed down 2 percent at $560.28 ahead of earnings, have since spiked well over 7 percent to $602.

Notes from the earnings call

Apple currently has $110 billion in cash, short-term and long-term securities. About $74 billion of that is held offshore.
Expect Mountain Lion to ship in late summer.
IPhone sales in the Asia Pacific doubled. The device is currently available in over 100 countries on 230 carriers.
IPad channel inventory was about 2 million at the end of the quarter, which is below the company’s target range of 4-6 weeks of iPad inventory.
360 million cumulative iOS device sales.
App Store has 600,000 apps, 200,000 of them specifically for iPad.
Retail store revenues jumped 38 percent from last year’s first quarter to $4.4 billion.
“The new iPad is on fire. We’re selling them as fast as we can make them.”
This is the 24th straight quarter that the Mac has outgrown the broader market.
Tim Cook says the lower-priced iPad 2 appears to have unlocked some education demand, but adds that it’s a bit early to make any big conclusions about the lower price change.
Cook: “Just two years after we shipped the initial iPad, we sold 67 million. …It took us 24 years to sell that many Macs, and five years to sell that many iPods, and over three years for that many iPhones.”
Cook:”But I’d also point out that the new iPad was supply constrained last quarter for the full three weeks or so that it was shipping and is actually still constrained.” Cook on tablet-laptop hybrids: “anything can be forced to converge, but the problem is that products are about tradeoffs, and there’s a danger of making tradeoffs to the point where what you have left doesn’t please anyone. You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not gonna be pleasing to the user.”
Cook on iPhone subsidies: The size of the subsidy is not large compared to the sum of monthly payments customers make to carriers over the span of their contract. … Churn from iPhone users is the lowest of any phones in their portfolio and that’s obviously a significant benefit to the carrier. … iPhone is the best smartphone on the planet to entice a customer who is currently using a traditional mobile phone to upgrade to a smartphone.
Cook on Qualcomm shortages: That’s a tough question to answer. We’re aware of the issue. But we don’t use 28 nanometer parts currently and we don’t comment on future products.
Cook on patent litigation: “I’ve always hated litigation, and I continue to hate it. If we could get to a fair settlement McAfee Product Key, I’d prefer that to a battle. … We just want people to invent their own stuff. It’s very important that Apple not become the developer for the world.”

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Tens of thousands protest at Norway Breivik trial

OSLO replica watches, Apr. 26, 2012 (Reuters) — Around 40,000 people gathered in Oslo on Thursday to sing a popular children’s song ridiculed by Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people last July, as a show of protest against the right-wing activist’s anti-immigrant views. Norwegian anti-Muslim fanatic Anders Behring Breivik stands in a courtroom during his trial in Oslo April 26, 2012. REUTERS/Hakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix/Pool

Thousands more joined in song in towns across the country to sing “Children of the Rainbow” replica watches, a song that celebrates the sort of multiculturalism that Breivik said that motivated his killing spree.

The 33-year-old has denied criminal guilt, insisting his victims were “traitors” who deserved death for embracing multicultural values which, in his view replica watches, open Europe to a slow-motion Muslim invasion.

(Writing by Walter Gibbs; Editing by Alison Williams)

A War That Only Women Can Win

Last Wednesday’s car-bomb attack on Kabul – just hours after President Obama’s surprise visit declaring a “new chapter” for the country – underscores how far we are from the goal of achieving a lasting peace.

The visit itself highlighted a number of key issues in the Afghan quagmire, coinciding with a Pentagon report to Congress. The report found that despite an improvement in security across most of Afghanistan, there remain “long-term and acute challenges”, primarily from the militant insurgency operating “with impunity from sanctuaries in Pakistan”, and ongoing “corruption” in the Afghan Government.

Despite assuring NATO troops that “we must finish the job” and “end this war responsibly”, the new strategic partnership agreement President Obama signed with Karzai suggests that US involvement – both military and otherwise – is far from over. Apart from committing the US to supporting Afghanistan’s “social and economic development, security, institutions and regional cooperation” for 10 years, the agreement allows for the continued presence of NATO military forces to “access” and “use” Afghan facilities at will, “for purposes of training Afghan forces and targeting al-Qaida” – hardly a major departure from current policy.

However, the anxiety over the countdown to the withdrawal of troops by 2014 What Are The Best Tattoo Machines, coupled with the ongoing need to maintain security, overlooks the fact that this war can never be won by guns and bombs. Not only do the keys to victory lie in the hearts and minds of the Afghan and Pakistani people – they can be found specifically in the hearts and minds of the region’s women.

So far, the victimisation of women in this conflict has been neglected despite their central role in justifying the rationale for NATO intervention. Over half of all Afghan women are depressed, and 78% suffer from chronic anxiety disorders. According to Human Rights Watch, some 400 women and girls are imprisoned for “moral crimes”, having fled forced marriages or domestic violence. Indeed, violence against women is at epidemic proportions. According to an unprecedented national survey of women in 4,700 households Tattoo Machines For Sale, 87% had experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence or forced marriage. Seventeen per cent reported sexual violence and 11% had experienced rape.

Across the border in Pakistan, where militants operating in Afghanistan still find ample safe-haven, women face similar crisis conditions. The latest report from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan finds that eight million women are employed as unregistered domestic servants, and are therefore unprotected by labour laws.

After the 2010 floods, among the most vulnerable victims were 120,000 pregnant women facing malnutrition in unsanitary conditions. Indeed, the vast majority of the 75% of Pakistanis who live below the poverty line are women. Nearly a thousand women have been brutally murdered by members of their own family in the name of ‘honour’. To add insult to injury, a major domestic violence bill was deferred last month, following strong resistance by opposition parties including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). This begs the question: why should the safeguarding of women’s rights be at the mercy of political whims?

Although it is easy to sink into despair when faced with these problems – and lawmakers’ deeply unsatisfactory responses to them – all is not lost. One of the most empowering responses to these challenges comes in the form of grassroots poverty alleviation work in some of the poorest and most remote areas of Pakistan. The flagship model for this work is the Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN), the country’s largest civil society network of NGOs active in two-thirds of Pakistan’s districts, reaching 30 million people.

The RSPN has trained and enlisted more than two million women into local community organisations Tattoo Of Tattoo Machine, given them access to affordable micro-finance, secured pioneering micro-health insurance plans for them, and delivered skills training to 1.3 million. This is the largest outreach of any Pakistani organisation to women. The goals of RSPN’s gender work are to maximise their opportunities for employment, to ensure their contributions are recognised, to allow them greater freedom and mobility outside the home, and ultimately to facilitate their involvement in decision-making in the local community. Although there remains much work to be done, 72% of women receiving support from the RSPN confirm an improvement in their household status.

The secret of RSPN’s success is two-fold: firstly, a philosophy of community-driven development, and secondly, long-term targets aimed at creating lasting sustainability rather than quick results. The model is based on fostering robust, local civil society organisations through which communities themselves make decisions about what projects they pursue based on identifying their own needs and priorities; and then proceed to pursue, maintain and monitor their execution. As Joshua Foust observes in The Atlantic, “what the RSPN shows is that focusing on the small scale, and on the hyper-local, is actually a more effective way of developing isolated, poor, rural communities”, than larger, more traditional development programmes often funded by international aid.

In terms of women’s participation, recent research carried out by Shaheen Rafi Khan and Shahrukh Rafi Khan reveals that women have been more effective in running local support organisations than men. Not only have they successfully challenged a conservative culture, they have effectively filled in spaces vacated by men.

Zohra Bibi is a case in point. Hailing from Chaho Labano, a village in northern Sindh which is known for its high rate of honour-based violence, she was forced to stay illiterate. A few years ago, a public leadership role would have seemed out of the question. Today, she is the leader of 22 community organisations (COs) comprising 323 women from the nearby areas. Zohra Bibi has negotiated key improvements to her neighbourhood, with help from the Village Organisation. After a young boy was killed during a cattle robbery, she persuaded them to set up a community-based security system for Chaho Labano. Zohra Bibi is also passionate about education, having restored functionality to the only school in the village.

The proven success of the RSPN model has been carried over into Afghanistan, through the vehicle of the National Solidarity Programme (NSP), where over 100,000 women have been enrolled into Community Development Councils in rural communities in all of the country’s 34 provinces. Again, the results are dramatic. In conservative Pashtun communities, women are empowered to participate in development initiatives outside the home, to make key collective decisions through women’s shura councils, to learn new skills, and to access education.

Arguably, development aid has been far more effective in building resilience to extremism than the war. By generating “significant improvement in villagers’ economic wellbeing”, the NSP’s work has transformed “their attitudes towards the government”, according to an independent assessment, thus “reducing the number of people willing to join the insurgents.”

As NATO troops prepare to withdraw, we must recognise that the real work in Afghanistan and Pakistan has just begun. The imperative now is not to revel in a questionable military victory, but to throw renewed efforts – and international aid – into pioneering rural development programmes like the RSPN and the NSP. These have undoubtedly boosted long-term stability, by empowering women and their families. Once these programmes are scaled up on a national level, the region will have its best chance of making a lasting recovery.

Gov. Christie Sees No Rush For Romney on VP Pick

(Image Credit: Noah K. Murray/Pool/Getty Images)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, pressed by reporters to comment on when he thinks Mitt Romney should choose a running mate, said it should be when the presumptive GOP nominee is “comfortable.”

“When he’s confident that he has vetted and identified the appropriate person then I think he should ask that person, whenever that is and however long that takes,” Christie told reporters Thursday. “Now I assume it’s going to take a while because he just named Beth Myers to lead his V.P. search and I’m sure they have got a lot of work to do to make sure that they put before Gov. Romney a set of fully vetted and acceptable alternatives for him and then I’m sure he’s going to want to think about that a good amount.”

The Republican governor answered the question, but told reporters at a press conference after an event about job opportunities for residents with developmental disabilities that he’s “so outside that loop, I’m not going to be giving opinions about when it should be, when he’s comfortable.”

“You’re picking the person next in line for the presidency and for him, knowing the way Gov. Romney works, he’s picking a governing partner for the next eight years and you are going to want to pick that person really carefully so I don’t know how long it will take…but that’s up to Gov. Romney Glitter Tattoo Kits,” Christie said, before adding that he thinks Romney will be “somewhat dependent” upon Myers because she has “been a trusted aide of his for most of his career in politics.”

Despite speculation that the always outspoken Christie will be on Romney’s list he said earlier this week he’s “not looking to become vice president.” However, he did leave the door open to a conversation about being Romney’s running mate if the presumptive GOP nominee does come calling.

“I love this job (governor) and I’m not looking to do it,” Christie said. “But I also think it is extraordinarily arrogant for you to say you won’t even listen to the nominee of your party – especially for me. It’s someone who I’ve been supporting since last October vigorously around the country – that I wouldn’t take a call from Mitt Romney.”

The colorful governor’s style was on full display Thursday. When asked if a week of social services events meant a softer approach for the governor he replied tongue firmly in cheek, “the kindler Best Tattoo Gun, gentler Christie is here every day.”

“But, sometimes things happen in this state where you’ve got to be tough and it’s still amazing to me that some folks don’t think that the two can co-exist,” Christie said. “Ask anybody, well not anybody Rotary Tattoo Machines, most ask most people. I’m a nice guy, but I’ve got a job to do.”

Facebook’s Zuckerberg kicks off investor show in N

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg fielded questions about the No. 1 social network’s slowing revenue growth and its $1 billion purchase of Instagram as he kicked off a cross-country roadshow to promote the company’s $10 billion initial public offering.

Wearing his trademark “hoodie” sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers, the 27-year-old chief executive said he would do the Instagram deal again if he had to, according to attendees at the event.

Hundreds of investors showed up for the presentation at New York’s Sheraton Hotel Replica Christian Audigier Clothing, which was closed to the media, on Monday.

The world’s largest social network aims to raise about $10.6 billion, dwarfing the coming-out parties of tech companies like Google Inc and granting it a market value close to Amazon.com Inc’s.

The 8-year-old social network that began as Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room project indicated an IPO range of $28 to $35 a share on Thursday, which would value the company at $77 billion to $96 billion.

The size of the IPO reflects the company’s growth and bullish expectations about its money-making potential as a hub for everything from advertising to commerce. Many investors say they expect Facebook to raise its offer price-range as the roadshow progresses from New York to major cities such as Chicago, Boston and San Francisco.

Amid the hoopla of one of the most closely watched IPOs in years are persistent concerns about Facebook’s longer-term growth and Zuckerberg’s majority control.

Zuckerberg Cheap BCBG Dresses, who will have roughly 57 percent voting control after the IPO, personally forged the deal to acquire mobile app maker Instagram in a matter of days last month with little involvement from Facebook’s board of directors, according to media reports.

Asked about the deal by an attendee at the event, Zuckerberg said Facebook’s management had discussed a possible Instagram acquisition at length in several meetings. Facebook decided to act when it saw Instagram’s user data cross a “tipping point” from which they believed it would grow significantly, he said.

He said Facebook moved quickly to strike a deal when it became clear that Instagram was open to being acquired.

Zuckerberg was accompanied by finance chief David Ebersman, who was wearing a suit and tie, and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.

Investors managed to ask five questions during the event on Monday, including a query about Facebook’s potential plans to enter China, the world’s largest Internet market by users.

Zuckerberg noted that Facebook was blocked in China – a situation experienced by several popular U.S. websites such as YouTube and Twitter. Sandberg added that the company would be willing to sit down with Chinese government officials and discuss partnerships in the country.

Facebook’s emergence as a cultural phenomenon whose beginnings were depicted in the fictionalized 2010 film “The Social Network” added a palpable level of energy and buzz to Monday’s event.

One investor was overheard joking that the event should have been held in New York’s Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks basketball team and a standard venue for rock concerts.

Investors had formed a line outside the Sheraton Hotel about an hour before the roadshow started on Monday morning, as a nearby media throng awaited the arrival of Facebook executives and elicited inquiries from curious passers-by.

“This is unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” said another investor who was at the event.

Morgan Stanley banker Michael Grimes took the stage to begin the formal presentation as the audience of investors lunched on Cobb salad, ice tea and cookies, attendees said.

With 900 million users, Facebook is challenging established Web businesses such as Google Inc and Yahoo Inc for consumers’ online time and advertising dollars.

Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Herman Leung said in a note to investors on Monday that he expected Facebook’s revenue to grow 40 percent this year and 33 percent in 2013.

He said the $28 to $35 range for Facebook shares was an “attractive” valuation that provided a “compelling entry point” for investors.

In a separate note published Sunday, Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser put a $30 price target on shares of Facebook.

“Our conversations with investors to date suggest that concerns around revenue growth and the absence of mobile monetization will linger for some time,” said Wieser.

But, he added, “we would not be surprised if the stock trades up above the IPO price on retail interest in the company over the near term.”

(Reporting by Nadia Damouni and Olivia Oran, with additional reporting by Alexei Oreskovic and Alistair Barr in San Francisco; Editing by Richard Chang)

Tech Media Facebook Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News

Chrysler officially hops on board 12-state credit

Last week, GM partnered with credit unions in four states to offer up to $10 billion in new car loans and incentives. Not one to be left shivering alone in the cold, and with November sales down nearly 28% compared to last year, Chrysler LLC has just announced their own 12-state credit union program allowing its customers access to upwards of $12 billion in auto loan financing. The partnership (also called “Invest in America”) gives participating credit union members additional $500 to $1 Tattoo Supplies,000 rebates on most Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge vehicles. Steven Landry, Chrysler’s executive VP of North America sales, says Tattoo Supplies, “We are confident that the Invest in America program and credit union member cash will provide significant value for our customers and the economy as a whole during these challenging times.” While additional cash on the hood of a new Chrysler sounds appealing, we really don’t think that buyers are avoiding showrooms due to a lack of financial incentives — it’s been a buyer’s market for months.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Historic Jaguars to go on display at Monterey Moto

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Earlier this year the Monterey Motorsports Reunion announced that Jaguar would be the featured marque for the 2011 event. Dozens of Jags will be featured in many of the races Herve Leger sale, including the C-Type, which will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of its win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the XK120 Karen Millen Dresses sale, D-Type and E-Type.

In addition to the cars on track Cheap BCBG Dresses, the Monterey Motorsports Reunion will display a collection of historical Jaguars in the paddock. Perhaps the most notable example will be the 1950 Jaguar XK120 that Phil Hill drove to victory at the very first Pebble Beach Road Race Buy Herve leger strapless, an event that later relocated to Laguna Seca and evolved into today’s Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Also on display will be a 1951 C-Type (again, driven by Phil Hill), an SCCA championship-winning 1974 E-Type Cheap Bandage dresses, a 1978 Trans-Am XJS and the XJR-9 race car that won Le Mans outright in 1988. We’ll have photos of the cars during our live coverage of Monterey Car Week next month, but until then ,enjoy the gallery below or read more about the gathering of historic Jaguars after the jump.

Bunk! Nissan won’t be unveiling a GT-R V-Spec in G

click above for a high-res gallery of the Nissan GT-R. Cheap Karen Millen Dresses

Contrary to a few reports that began surfacing around the web this morning Christian Audigier Clothes sale, Nissan will not be showing off a hopped-up version of the GT-R at the Geneva Motor Show next week. With all the spy shots Buy Herve Leger v neck, general speculation and history of the GT-R badge Christian Audigier Clothing sale, it’s just a matter of time before Nissan evolves it’s super GT car into an even more competent performer, but its not bound anytime soon.

While Nissan has already confirmed that a V-Spec GT-R is coming Discount Bandage dresses, there are no official details about what Godzilla will be packing when it’s released. Nissan officials have said that the V-Spec is definitely going to be launched in Japan DKNY Clothes sale, but exports outside of Nissan’s home market are still undecided.

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Australia donates $1m for Angkor Wat

The Australian government has donated almost $1 million to help protect Cambodia's historic Angkor temple site. Discount Chanel Dresses

Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced the donation during a trip to the South-East Asian nation on Monday.

“We are putting nearly $1 million into a heritage protection plan for the Angkor World Heritage area to stop it being trampled to death as visitor numbers rise to 20 Buy Chloe Dresses,000 per day,” Senator Carr said.

“We are using the experience gained at Uluru in central Australia and other UNESCO world heritage sites.”

The Angkor site Chanel Dresses sale, parts of which are about 700 years old Herve Leger v neck sale, is made up of the Angkor Thom BCBG Dresses sale, Angkor Wat and Bayon temples.

Millions of tourists visit the site every year, raising concerns about parts of it crumbling.

Senator Carr visited a Fred Hollows Foundation centre at the Siem Reap Regional Eye Hospital Replica Bandage dresses, in northwest Cambodia, on Sunday.

Australia has donated $6 million to the facility, including money to train local doctors and nurses to remove cataracts.

Toyota denies plans to cut jobs in North America,

Toyota has a long-standing tradition of not laying off permanent full-time workers. So if you’ve got a job at Toyota Replica Breguet Watches, you’ve got a job for life. But something’s got to give in today’s economy. Unfortunately Replica Casio Watches, current market conditions aren’t getting along well with the Japense automaker’s policy Replica Anonimo Watches, and Toyota — now officially the world’s largest automaker — may be finding that it’s more difficult to follow through on the promise while shedding thousands of sales per month in the global downturn. Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported that the automaker is looking to reduce its ranks by 1 Chaumet Replica Watches,000 jobs in North America and the U.K. Replica IWC Watches, but it sounds like those reductions will be made through voluntary cuts and attrition Where buy best Replica Tag Heuer Watches, not by layoffs, which company spokespeople claim would be an absolute last step if the market doesn’t improve over time.

[Source: Bloomberg]