Monthly Archives: May 2014

France vows to defend jobs as GE bids for bailed-out energy company

Posted on by

“‘We won’t let Alstom sell this national champion behind the back of its shareholders, its employees and the French government,’ Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg wrote on Twitter before the meetings, accusing Alstom CEO Patrick Kron of ‘a breach of national ethics’.  Alstom, which is suffering from debt and falling demand, was bailed out by the French government in 2004, but needs help again. Smaller than its rivals, it was hardest hit by a slump in orders for power equipment since the 2008 economic downturn depressed electricity prices.  At the weekend, Alstom’s German rival Siemens proposed a swap of power and rail assets to counter a potential Alstom-GE energy tie-up.”

http://www.bdlive.co.za/world/europe/2014/04/29/france-vows-to-defend-jobs-as-siemens-and-ge-battle-for-alstom

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Apple, Inc. spent $18B to buy back 31.7 million shares of AAPL in Q2

Posted on by

“The $18 billion remainder funded two types of stock buybacks: first, $6 billion in ‘open market purchases,’ where the company simply bought its stock from existing investors at prevailing prices; and secondly, two rounds of ‘Accelerated Share Repurchase’ programs.  Under an ASR, a company like Apple buys its shares from an investment bank, which essentially shorts the stock by borrowing shares (typically from its clients) which it then delivers to the company for a fixed, upfront price. Over the term of the ASR agreement, the investment bank then seeks to buy shares to replace those it has borrowed.”

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/04/25/apple-inc-spent-18b-to-buy-back-317-million-shares-of-aapl-in-march-quarter

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Why Apple Has to Borrow $17 Billion

Posted on by

“A company sitting on a $150 billion cash pile planning a $17 billion bond issue to buy back its shares? It sounds like a bad joke, and Apple, the company in question, is keenly aware of it.  Specifically, 88 percent of Apple’s cash, or $130 billion, is overseas, and were the company to bring it home, the taxman would claim about a third of it. Last year, when the SEC asked Apple about its foreign earnings, it replied that most of it was generated by Irish subsidiaries and ‘intended to be indefinitely reinvested in operations outside the U.S.’ If Apple issues debt in Europe, the proceeds could be used for the buyback, while the interest and principal owed to debt investors would be paid out of the Irish cash pile.”

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-04-28/why-apple-has-to-borrow-17-billion

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Why is eBay eager to pay a tax that Apple works to avoid?

Posted on by

“So are the board and management of eBay Inc. (EBAY) clueless or crazy for electing to trigger a $3 billion non-tax charge for a potential future tax bill should it decide to repatriate $9 billion of its overseas cash, rather than tap the pliant bond market for any immediate domestic spending needs?  The company points out that it has made a number of U.S. acquisitions and suggested more were on the way. More broadly, though, this could represent a tacit admission that any easing of U.S. tax treatment of non-U.S. cash –- a major lobbying point of some tech-industry leaders in recent years –- appears unlikely at a time of heightened anxiety about wealth inequality.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/why-did-ebay-repatriate-funds–triggering-a–3b-tax-bill—when-apple-didn-t-and-borrowed-in-the-u-s–instead–d-left-funds-overseas-150411266.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

If Apple Did What eBay Just Did, They’d Have A $44 Billion Tax Bill

Posted on by

“Perhaps those who insist upon cash taxes paid as being the correct method of calculation would care to comment on why they think that eBay’s 366% tax rate is a good idea?  Which brings us back to Apple. Some 88% of their $153 billion cash pile is akin to that $9 billion number from eBay.  Apple has no shortage of cash inside the US, it can borrow at rates that are, to a close approximation, near to zero if it should want to (and as it is doing with a bond issue to increase dividends and the stock buyback program) so why would it take an action which would result in so much value just disappearing from the company’s coffers?”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/04/30/if-apple-did-what-ebay-has-just-done-then-theyd-have-a-44-billion-tax-bill/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet