Jobs's health to overshadow quarterly Apple sales

Bilibala: a Corporation won't fall cuz of a person, there are many employees quit from Mircosoft, Mircosoft is still here; there are many employees quit from Google, Google is still growing. What about Apple without Steve Jobs? Apple will not fall, however, will it continue growing with new creative, innovative, customer beloved minds & products which in return with high gross margin & huge amount of profits? That's another story.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70G2Y320110118?feedType=nl&feedName=usbeforethebell

(Reuters) - The health of Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs was set to overshadow quarterly sales numbers on Tuesday from the consumer electronics powerhouse, whose iPhone and iPad excited holiday shoppers.

The world's most valuable technology company said on Monday Jobs was taking a medical leave of absence without specifying a return date or detailing his condition.

Apple shares, up 62 percent in the last 12 months, dropped 4.5 percent in premarket trade on Tuesday. The U.S. market was closed on Monday for a holiday. In European trading, shares rose more than 4 percent, regaining some of the 6 percent lost after the announcement on Monday.
Aside from Jobs's health, the company is entering 2011 on a roll, a cash-generating machine with surging sales across its product lines. Wall Street has forecast Apple's quarterly revenue to rise more than 50 percent to $24.4 billion after a bumper holiday shopping season.

James Cordwell, an analyst at London-based Atlantic Equities, said investors were realizing Apple was more than Jobs. "His absence is unlikely to affect the company's performance over the next two years or so give the strong position they have in the market."

Other analysts, however, said Jobs's influence in the company he co-founded could not be overstated, particularly in guiding product development.

"Steve Jobs is seen by the market to be a major force in Apple's strategic direction," said Richard Windsor, global technology specialist at Nomura. "If his pancreatic cancer has returned, one could be quite worried."

Jobs's leave came nearly two years after he took a six-month break to undergo a liver transplant. He also took time off after pancreatic surgery in 2004.

Apple has not dwelt on Jobs's health, and Jobs himself asked for respect for his privacy in a memo to employees made public on Monday.

In Jobs's absence, it will be up to chief operating officer Tim Cook to decide how much to tell investors about the absent chief executive, and what Apple plans to do with its $50 billion-plus pile of cash and investments.

Less of a showman than Jobs, the 50-year old Alabama native was not expected to make any grand pronouncements. Cook is regarded as a safe pair of hands for the company, having stood in for Jobs twice before.

In Asia, tech shares gained, helped by hopes of a recovery in chip prices and expectations that nimble firms may slow the runaway success of Apple after the news on Jobs.

Rivals' hopes could be misplaced, however. "Apple's roadmap is all set and its iPhone 5 is ready to go, leaving little room for competitors to cut into its share," said Bonnie Chang, an analyst at Yuanta Securities in Taipei.

HUGE HOLIDAY SEASON
Apple's advantages are well-documented: the global spread of the iPhone, expected to sell more than 60 million units this year; the rise of the iPad which single-handedly created the tablet computing market; and continued strong growth from the resurgent Mac line of computers.

Wall Street's benchmarks for Apple's fiscal first quarter, which includes the holiday shopping season, are sales of roughly 15.5 million iPhones, 5.5 million iPads and 4 million Mac computers.
After the close of regular trading hours on Tuesday, Apple was expected to report earnings of $5.40 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

According to StarMine's SmartEstimate, which places more weight on recent forecasts by top-rated analysts, Apple should post EPS of $5.47 on revenue of $24.5 billion.

Even so, an out-sized surprise in Apple results has become an article of faith among investors. The company has beaten Wall Street's estimate by an average 29 percent over the past two years, and bested on revenue by 9 percent on average.

"The only surprise in earnings is if there is anything less than glorious news," said Barry Jaruzelski, a partner at consulting firm Booz & Co, last week.

Too good to be true - Judge approves on Madoff's case

Bilibala: u may lost a lot if u invest with a bad advisor or a poor investment vehicle, and through Madoff, I learn another lesson: u may lost everything if the advisor's performance is too good to be true.

Aviod too good to be true, even it is really attactive.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70C4SG20110113?feedType=nl&feedName=usdai

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge approved a $7.2 billion settlement on Thursday to pay former customers of the Madoff firm, the largest yet in the worldwide search for money lost in Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

The settlement with the estate of longtime Madoff friend and investor Jeffry Picower could be appealed after U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Burton Lifland in New York dismissed objections to the deal, which was announced on December 17.

"I can almost never satisfy their positions," Lifland said of the objectors. "I'm concerned about the broader grouping of people that are impacted by everything going on here."

Thousands of small and large investors were financially ruined by Madoff's decades-long scheme. A Ponzi scheme is one in which no actual trades in securities take place and early investors are paid with the money of new clients.

Investors who objected to the Picower deal are challenging the trustee in an appeals court over his method of calculating the "net winners" of the fraud. The "net winners" are clients who took out more than they deposited over the years from Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS).

Madoff, 72, is serving a 150-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in March 2009 to orchestrating the scheme. When he was arrested in December 2008, U.S. prosecutors estimated that the scheme took in about $65 billion over at least two decades.

Picard has put the amount of principal that investors lost in the fraud at about $20 billion. With the Picower settlement, Picard and his team of lawyers have secured about $10 billion.
Philanthropist Picower died of a heart attack in Florida at the age of 67 in October 2009. His wife, Barbara, agreed to the settlement for his estate.

In court on Thursday, David Sheehan, a lawyer for the trustee, commended Barbara Picower and said it was a "unique" and "great day" for BLMIS customers.

"The goal of this trustee is not just to get the 20 billion back," Sheehan told the judge. "We then have the net winners and net losers ... they have 45 billion in claims together ... it is the goal of this trustee to recover all of that."

The objectors to the Picower settlement argued in court that their claims against Picower were personal to them. They include claims for taxes paid on fictitious income and claims for the money stolen from them.

Their lawyer, Helen Chaitman, said an injunction in the settlement that would prevent her clients from individually suing the Picower estate left them no choice but to appeal.
"The devastation that has been caused is truly heinous and Mr Picower is being asked not to accept liability," Chaitman argued.

The money recovered in the settlement is to be distributed to investors under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, an agency established by Congress to help investors of failed brokerages.

The cases are Securities Investor Protection Corp v. Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York No. 08-1789 and Picard v. Jeffry M. Picower No. 09-01197.

(Reporting by Grant McCool. Editing by Andre Grenon and Robert MacMillan)

Let's face it

Bilibala: Facebook is a great social network site, thx to it, i found all my primary & high school friends. In terms of an investment, will it be too high to price this company at $50B?

The answer is unknown. The issue rely on whether Facebook can generate enough sales growth & able to increase profit margin from almost zero to say 20%.
During Google's IPO, it was priced at $52B while its revenue is about $3.2B. Price per sales was at 16.5 which is 33% more "attractive" than Facebook, its sales grows 642% from 2004 to 2009 while gross margin up from 20.1% to 35.1%.

If Facebook can do a similar great job, i guess it is worth to invest.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7055A520110106?feedType=nl&feedName=ustechnology

(Reuters) - Remember Webvan? The online grocer, whose initial public offering in March 2000 was among the most hotly anticipated during the dot-com boom, is now viewed as one of the greatest disasters of the era.

Fast forward 11 years and the feeding frenzy around Facebook and its exponentially expanding valuations are conjuring fears of a Bubble 2.0.

Goldman Sachs bankers have offered their private wealth clients less than a week to decide whether they want to hand over $2 million apiece for a sliver of the Web darling du jour: Facebook at a $50 billion valuation.

For one Goldman client, who was expecting a 100-page financial document on Facebook to be hand-delivered on Thursday, hours before the deadline to invest in the company -- the whole thing "felt a bit like 1999."

Thanks to Goldman Sachs' latest cash infusion of about $450 million with a commitment to raise another $1.5 billion, Facebook has become the lightning rod for debate over whether these new Internet hotshots possess the profit-generating muscles to justify Wall Street's unforgiving expectations.

Twitter and Groupon, an online coupons site considered by some as the fastest growing company in Web history, are also mulling plans for IPOs well ahead of Facebook's potential offering at the end of 2012, investment bankers have told Reuters.

LinkedIn is wasting no time. The social network for professionals, with 85 million members, has hired bankers to go public this year.

For Facebook, which generated about $2 billion in revenue in 2010, according to media reports, the $50 billion valuation means investors have awarded it a multiple of 25 times sales, compared with a nine-times multiple for Google, and Amazon.com's 2.5-times multiple.

Facebook generates $4 per user, compared with Google's $24 per user and Yahoo's $8 per user, according to a recent report by JPMorgan.

All that makes Facebook look expensive in the eyes of investors who measure businesses using traditional financial yardsticks, said Ken Sawyer, the managing director of venture capital firm Saints Capital, which owns shares of Facebook.

Investors will need to look past existing financial returns to focus on the company's business-transforming potential.

"It depends on your view of the world," said Sawyer. "If you believe that the ability to leverage this social network fabric will change the way companies acquire customers, then the valuation looks cheap."

Just as Google's search advertisements revolutionized the way businesses reach customers, Facebook's audience of a half-a-billion members has allowed companies like social gaming service Zynga and online dating service Zoosk to sign-up tens of millions of customers of their own in record time, Sawyer said.

As Facebook devises more ways to make money from that capability, such as by taking a cut of transactions made by other companies on its platform, the opportunity could be substantial, he said.

GLOBAL PHENOMENON
Facebook, born as a Harvard dorm-room project to help students to stay connected, has evolved into a global phenomenon, whose users include nearly as many people over 45 years of age as it does people under 24 years old.

In 2010, Facebook displaced Google as the most visited website in the United States, and nearly one out of every four graphical display ads viewed in the United States in the third quarter was on Facebook's website, according to analytics firm comScore.

Other young social networking businesses are experiencing similar growth.

Twitter, the microblogging service that has become an indispensable tool for celebrities and politicians to connect with fans, now counts more than 175 million users and fetched a $3.7 billion valuation in a recent round of venture capital funding.

Online coupon service Groupon recently announced plans to raise up to $950 million, implying a valuation that one research firm estimated could be as high $7.8 billion.

Premium valuations for top-tier players like Facebook and Groupon are usually worth it, wrote Google "developer advocate" Don Dodge in a widely read blog post on Tuesday. The potential for a bubble comes when investors bid up prices for third-tier companies, whose business prospects aren't as solid, he wrote.

Unlike in the late 1990s, shares of today's Web sensations are privately held and not available to the general public. But a growing secondary market has developed in which investors meeting certain criteria, such as minimum net worth, can buy and sell shares.

Goldman Sachs plans to raise up to $1.5 billion to invest in Facebook through a special purpose investment vehicle marketed to its private wealth management customers.

Such trading in companies that are not required to provide investors with the same kind of detailed financial reports and updates as public companies is raising alarms.

"It feels a little irrationally exuberant with some of these transactions, some of these values, particularly given the level of disclosure," said Robert Ackerman, the founder of early-stage venture capital firm Allegis Capital.

"Maybe with Facebook that's well placed," he said, "but what about all the other companies that are going to ride on Facebook's coat-tails."

The laws of gravity are also different in the private markets in which the new generation of Web superstars trade.

Because there's no way to short shares of private companies, the shares are subject to upward pressure but not downward pressure, noted BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis.
"There's no counterbalance," he said.

(Additional reporting by Matthew Goldstein in New York; Editing by Kenneth Li and Steve Orlofsky)

RIM announces 4G PlayBook tablet

Bilibala: Apple 1st, then Google & Samsung was in, follow by RIM, Dell & Toshiba. I think the market is big enough to have healthy competition & everyone can make some profit out of it.

As a consumer, I can have a laptop & a tablet, there is no conflict between the two because it fit for 2 different purposes - laptop serves @ at home or at office, tablet serves on the way.



http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7050VJ20110106?feedType=nl&feedName=ustechnology

Corporate interest in Research in Motion's new tablet was "massive," the company said, as it announced plans to launch a 4G version of the device this summer with Sprint Nextel.
RIM for the first time on Wednesday provided a hands-on demonstration of the PlayBook, a seven-inch touchscreen tablet that will go head-to-head with Apple's iPad when the Wi-Fi-only version ships, likely in March.

"In large companies, they're talking deployment in the tens of thousands, right off the bat," said Jeff McDowell, senior vice president of enterprise and platform marketing for RIM.
He said corporations are viewing the PlayBook as a tool as essential to employees as a phone or a PC. "It's not something that they want to trickle in."

RIM's tablet is perhaps the most anticipated iPad rival in a sea of new competitors bent on challenging Apple and stealing a piece of a fast-growing market expected to top 50 million units next year.

McDowell said RIM decided to go with Sprint for its first high-speed wireless compatible tablet because it has most "ubiquitous 4G network at this point."

The choice of No. 3 U.S. mobile service Sprint as RIM's first carrier was an interesting one given that Sprint uses a high-speed wireless technology that is incompatible with networks being built by the top two U.S. mobile operators.

The PlayBook -- which sports a fast dual-core processor -- performed smoothly as it went through its paces, loading websites and applications quickly and playing Flash-based videos on the Internet with ease.

The PlayBook weighs less than one pound (400 grams) and is less than 10 millimeters thick, with a thin rubber coating.

Its software allows for multi-tasking and features a rotating "carousel" that shows all the programs that the device is running. A simple finger swipe up brings up the home screen, while a swipe out closes programs.

There has been plenty of debate in recent weeks about the PlayBook's battery life, a key point of competition in the tablet market. The 10-inch iPad boasts more than 10 hours of battery life.
McDowell said the PlayBook's battery will last as long or longer than other 7-inch tablets, although he declined to be more specific.

He said concerns about Flash programs draining battery life were "absurd generalizations." Apple has derided Flash as a battery hogging technology, and the iPad does not support the widely-used multimedia software.

TABLET WARS BEGIN
RIM is betting that its reputation for security and reliability will make the PlayBook a favorite in corporate IT departments.

But Apple CEO Steve Jobs has singled out the PlayBook for criticism, saying that seven-inch tablets will be "dead on arrival" when they hit the market.

McDowell said the PlayBook will launch with a library featuring "thousands" of apps available for download. When asked, he said RIM is looking at different screen sizes for the PlayBook, but declined to comment further.

The company has previously said it would sell the PlayBook for "under $500" but has not yet provided a specific price tag. The iPad starts at $499.

Analysts, on average, forecast RIM will sell fewer than 4 million PlayBooks in the 12 months after its launch.

Apple has sold more than 7 million iPads since launching the device in April and analysts predict that the company sold as many as 6 million in the December quarter.

RIM has plenty riding on the PlayBook. Once a darling of Wall Street, the company is having a hard time convincing investors that it is well-positioned to combat Apple and Google in the booming market for smartphones and tablets.

Shares in RIM spiked sharply in heavy volume in the last hour of Nasdaq trade to end the session 4.8 percent higher at $61.92. RIM's Toronto Stock Exchange-listed shares closed 4.4 percent higher at C$61.70.

(Editing by Anshuman Daga and Lincoln Feast)

Facebook tops Google as most visited site in U.S.

Bilibala: it is interesting to know who the top ranking of the most visited website in USA (from Jan to Nov 2010).

1. Google + related 9.9%
2. Facebook 8.9%
3. Yahoo + related 8.1%

It is more interesting to know how much revenues & profit that those companies generated by those visit (9M 2010):

1. Google $20.8B & $6.0B
2. Yahoo $4.8B & $0.6B
3. Facebook $1.5B & $0.0B (esitmated)

There is a huge different on whether you are an internet user or an investor. Investor investes in business that can generate high margin of profit, not popularity.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BT40320101230?feedType=nl&feedName=ustechnology

(Reuters) - Facebook surpassed Google for the first time as the most visited website in the United States for most of 2010.

The social network site edged out Google.com with 8.9 percent of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010, while Google.com ranked second with about 7.2 percent of all visits, according to online measurement service Experian Hitwise.

Facebook's move to the top spot shows just how quickly the site has grown in popularity. Within the span of six years, Facebook has become the world's largest Web social network with roughly half a billion users worldwide.

Google.com dominated the top spot as the most visited website in the United States in 2009 and 2008. News Corp's MySpace was the No. 1 visited website in 2007. It is ranked No. 7.
However, when all of Google's properties are considered -- such as YouTube and email, for instance -- Google still reigns as the most visited site at 9.9 percent between January and November 2010. Facebook follows at 8.9 percent. Yahoo and all of its properties ranked third at 8.1 percent.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba. Editing by Robert MacMillan)

Jobless claim down below 400,000

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BM24V20101230?feedType=nl&feedName=ustopnewsearly

(Reuters) - New claims for unemployment benefits dropped more than expected last week to their lowest level in more than two years, suggesting the labor market recovery was gaining strength.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, the lowest reading since early July 2008, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was well below economists' expectations for 415,000.

The prior week's claims figure was revised modestly up to 422,000 from the previously reported 420,000. A Labor Department official said there was nothing unusual in the state-level data and described the report as clean.

"This adds to the idea that the jobs picture is improving ... this is another feather in the cap of the idea of recovery," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.
U.S. Treasury debt prices, already soft before the data, lost more ground, while the dollar pared losses against the yen. S&P stock index futures trimmed losses.

The four-week average of new jobless claims, considered a better measure of underlying labor market trends, fell 12,500 to 414,000, the lowest level since the week ending July 26, 2008.
The steady decline in claims in recent weeks likely indicates the pace of job creation picked up this month, after the Labor Department's non-farm payrolls report showed employers added a paltry 39,000 jobs in November.

The December employment data is due on January 7, and a preliminary Reuters survey shows economists expect non-farm payrolls increased 126,000 this month, but still not enough to significantly reduce the unemployment rate, which is expected to have edged down to 9.7 percent from 9.8 percent in November.

The claims data also showed the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid rose 57,000 to 4.13 million in the week ended December 18, above market expectations for 4.10 million. The prior week's figure was revised slightly up to 4.07 million.

The so-called continuing claims data covered the survey week for the December employment report's household survey from which the unemployment rate is derived.

The jobless rate is likely to remain elevated as the improving labor market and general economic conditions lure discouraged job seekers back into the labor force.

The number of people on emergency unemployment benefits fell 77,741 to 3.71 million in the week ended December 11, the latest week for which data is available.

A total of 8.87 million people were claiming unemployment benefits during that period under all programs.

Bilibala: the news is pretty ecouraging, let's see whether such decrease can form a decreasing trend, or it is just due to extra part time during Christmas consuming season.

Shoppers Drug "strongly opposed" to Ontario reform

Bilibala: new rule will surely affect Shoppers Drug Mart's earning, on the other hand, as Canadian aging, the health expenses volume should continue to grow.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0712523820100407?type=marketsNews

TORONTO, April 7 (Reuters) - Shoppers Drug Mart Corp (SC.TO) said on Wednesday it is reviewing government reforms to the way prescription drugs are priced in Ontario, Canada's most populous province, and how the changes will affect the company's bottom line.

Shoppers, Canada's biggest pharmacy chain, said it is taking a fresh look at its strategic priorities and initiatives, and is reviewing its forecasts for prescription sales growth in fiscal 2010.

The Ontario government, looking to keep health care costs in check, said on Wednesday it will impose lower generic prescription drug prices under the Ontario Drug Benefit Program.

Shoppers Drug Mart said it is "strongly opposed" to the changes, adding it believes they will have a negative impact on pharmacy services and patient care in the province, "as it is inevitable that pharmacies will have to make reductions to their current service offerings".

The company said the reforms would require all pharmacies, including the more than 600 Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies in Ontario, to review their operating, investing and professional practice models to ensure long-term sustainability.

Shoppers said it will report its quarterly results on April 28 and it expects to provide more information on its review at that time.

"These announced changes reinforce our view that in the long term, the successful players in retail pharmacy will be those with size, scale and an ability to leverage operating efficiencies," said Jurgen Schreiber, president and chief executive of Shoppers Drug Mart.

"Shoppers Drug Mart, with the largest integrated pharmacy network in the country and the leading market share, will be challenged in the short term to adjust to the changes announced today, but remains well positioned for the long term," he said. (Reporting by John McCrank; editing by Peter Galloway)

China CCB may raise $11 bln via share sales

Bilibala: I don't think China Construction Bank need cash, if the cash is merely try to fulfil the high capital requirement by the regulator, I hope it will have a better use of it. Or else, it is not a great decision for the existing shareholders.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTOE63504620100406

SHANGHAI, April 6 (Reuters) - China Construction Bank (CCB) (0939.HK) (601939.SS), the country's second-biggest lender, plans to raise about 75 billion yuan ($11 billion) through share sales this year to replenish its capital, Bloomberg News reported on its website, citing unidentified sources.

CCB may raise as much as 45 billion yuan in a private placement in Shanghai and 30 billion yuan in a rights offer in Hong Kong, the report said.

The fundraising plan has won approval from the State Council, or China's cabinet, and is subject to revision according to market conditions, the article said.

Zhang Jinguo, deputy general manager of CCB's board of directors office, declined to comment.
CCB, in which Bank of America (BAC.N) owns an 11 percent stake, met on March 10 to discuss potential fundraising plans, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. [nTOE62P06S]
CCB Chairman Guo Shuqing said last week the bank was examining ways of raising capital but had no immediate plans to do so. [nTOE62S08A]

Chinese banks, including Bank of China (3988.HK) (601988.SS) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398.HK) (601398.SS), are rushing to raise cash after last year's government-directed lending binge weakened their balance sheets.

Manulife Buys JV in China

Bilibala: insurance company face aging problem, on the other hand, aging will give opportunity for asset management, that's why Manulife keep acquire aum business in the world.

http://www.benzinga.com/208438/manulife-buys-jv-in-china-analyst-blog
Posted on 04/06/10 at 9:45am by Zacks

Last week, Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC) completed the deal to buy Fortis Bank SA/NV's 49% ownership in ABN AMRO TEDA Fund Management Co. Ltd. The remaining 51% ownership is owned by Northern International Trust, part of Tianjin TEDA Investment Holding Co. Ltd. The deal pertains to MFC Global Investment Management, the asset management division of Manulife Financial.

The new joint venture has been renamed Manulife TEDA Fund Management Company Ltd. It will continue to provide traditional retail and institutional asset management services for clients across the Chinese market. As of Dec 31, 2009, Manulife TEDA's assets under management were RMB 30 billion (US$4.4 billion). This represents a 45% increase from the prior year level. The transaction has received the necessary regulatory approvals.

The agreement to purchase the fund management joint venture in China was announced last November. At that time, Manulife said that the purchase was for a cash consideration of €105 million (US$156 million). The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Manulife Financial’s earnings in the first year and would have a negligible impact on capital levels.

The asset management and insurance market in China is attractive to investors for its growth potential. Manulife Financial is also growing its insurance business in China through Manulife-Sinochem.

Manulife-Sinochem is a joint venture company between Manulife (International) Limited (51%) and China Foreign Economic and Trade Trust & Investment Company, a member of the Sinochem group (49%).

Manulife-Sinochem, which began operations in Nov 1996, was the first Chinese-foreign joint-venture life insurance company established in the country. The company currently serves over 500,000 customers in 41 cities across China through approximately 11,000 professionally trained staff and agents.

Manulife's fourth-quarter earnings of 48 cents per share were below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 51 cents. The miss was driven by mark-to-market adjustments in real estate investments, model refinements to actuarial liabilities and tax adjustments.

However, the company benefited from equity market appreciation and increases in corporate bond yields. In addition, we think that such an expansion drive will considerably add to Manulife's scale and strengthen its position globally in the foreseeable future.

Shares of Manulife Financial increased 36 cents or 1.83% to $20.05 during the regular session on the New York Stock Exchange last Thursday.

AEGON restructure

Bilibala: pray that my company will not put my division on sales la.

Posted on 04/05/10 at 1:30pm by Zacks

Keeping pace with its ongoing restructuring program that began in 2009, Aegon NV (AEG) announced the sale of its funeral insurance business in Netherlands. Although the sale took place on Feb 1, 2010, it was announced on Friday. The company’s insurance unit has been disposed off to Egeria, a Dutch investment firm for €212 million.

The decision of vending off the funeral insurance business was in line with the Aegon’s strategy of reorganizing its product portfolio and getting rid of the problematic units. In February 2009, Aegon disposed off its institutional spread-based business in the U.S.

The runoff will significantly reduce the company’s exposure to credit risk and help lessen overall sensitivity to fluctuations in financial markets. We believe the sale is expected to have a positive effect on Aegon’s excess capital position and is projected to result in a modest book gain in the first half of 2010.

As such, the company has also been laying off a substantial number of its employees in order to rightsize its operations in the Netherlands. As a result, Aegon’s total workforce declined 7% in 2009 to just over 25,000 employees, mainly due to restructuring in the U.S. and the U.K., as well as the sale of real estate brokerage activities in the Netherlands and life insurance operations in Taiwan.

Earnings Highlights
On Mar 29, Aegon reported the filing of its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year 2009 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Accordingly, Aegon reported fourth quarter net income of €393 million, which came in substantially ahead of the net loss of €1.18 billion recorded in the year-ago quarter. The significant swing was primarily the result of improved earnings, realized gains on investments and lower impairments.

During 2009, the company realized cost reductions of €250 million, significantly ahead of the target of €150 million. Excluding the impact of restructuring charges, increased employee benefit expenses in the U.S. and currency movements, operating costs decreased in 2009 by 5% from 2008.

For full year 2009, Aegon’s underlying earnings before tax amounted to €1.2 billion, compared to €1.6 billion in 2008. New life sales declined to €2.0 billion from €2.6 billion in 2008, primarily due to weak market activity based on volatile market conditions.

However, gross deposits increased to €23.6 billion against €22.4 billion in 2008, while revenue generating investments increased to €361 billion against €332 billion in 2008. Capital position remained modestly strong.

Aegon continues to move ahead with its strategic priorities of reallocating capital towards business with higher growth and return prospects, to improve growth and returns from existing businesses and to reduce financial market risk.

入股浦發只是“增長故事”

Bilibala: as I said, regardless whether this is related to politic or not, it is a lot better than keeping cash.

http://www.finet.hk/mainsite/newscenter/CNFINET/343328.html

謠言終於止步。

3月11日，中國移動(00941-HK)董事長王建宙約見記者，表示入股浦發銀行的交易已經得到雙方董事會批準，下一步需要得到股東的同意，等國家相關監管部門批準後將具體執行。

同日，中移動公告稱，旗下全資子公司廣東移動以398億元人民幣認購浦發20%A股，中移動由此成為浦發銀行第二大股東。

這是3月4日王建宙宣布此項交易後再度面對媒體。數日來該項交易被國資委否決的傳言不斷。這或許折射出市場各方對交易並不看好。人們最大的質疑是︰中移動是否不務正業，或者是否充當救火隊員的角色。

“中移動並不是執行上面的意思去拯救浦發銀行，這完全是一個商業的行為。”3月11日下午，王建宙顯得氣定神閑，“其實，這是一個關於中移動能不能繼續增長的故事。”

確實，手頭持有巨量現金的中移動正面臨艱難選擇︰主營業務漸入競爭“紅海”，如何找到藍海成為當務之急。

現在王建宙正通過收購搭建一條足夠長的跑道，可以讓中移動的雪球滾得夠大。

非不務正業

對越界的指責，王建宙認為，這並不是不務正業，而是核心數據業務的延伸。

王的邏輯是，目前中移動靠傳統的增長方式雖然依然有相應的空間，但是此次與金融機構聯手的手機支付是為3G時代開闢的藍海，這是移動通訊數據應用業務的延展，手機支付將成長為新的百億級的數據應用。

目前，中移動的收入主要來自新用戶、話務量、數據信息業務三個方面的增長。

據王介紹，目前中移動的新用戶仍保持增長態勢，今年1月份增長了500萬，這在全球運營商中很難見到，此外由於2G用戶不需換號就能升級的拉動，新用戶中3G用戶增長迅速。家庭市場也是最近挖掘出來的新藍海。

在話務量增長上，目前仍保持了20%的增長率，達到每人每月500分鐘左右，但繼續提升的難度已經非常大。

正是在這種處境下，數據和信息業務的增長被寄予厚望。王建宙認為，5.27億用戶將產生的規模紅利最明顯的體現就是數據業務，此前手機音樂有3億用戶使 用，每人每月4塊錢，一年實現的收入超過100億，目前手機報已有幾千萬用戶，飛信也增長迅速，“現在計劃創造更多的100億元的業務。”

“當手機支付成為用戶的習慣後，也將大大減少離網率，保持收入穩定。”王建宙表示，根據中移動在重慶、湖南、廣東四地的試點經驗，今後在與多數大型商業銀 行打交道的同時，必須要有銀行的強有力支持，這需要跟一家銀行結成戰略合作關系，因為未來手機支付不僅僅局限在小額支付，還有手機轉賬和匯款等新功能的增 加，“所以要對銀行戰略投資”。

王稱，隨著手機支付的規模越來越大，今後除了手續費，很大一部分的利潤將產生在金融機構，入股銀行以後，就能分享金融機構實現利益，“所以從中長期，有很大協同效應，短期來看，中移動靜態的EPS可以提升2%”。

不謀求控股

“此次入股之後，中移動今後不會增加持股比例，也不會謀求控股地位。”王建宙告訴記者，此次交易完成後，中移動將派駐浦發銀行兩名非獨立董事，但他們只參與重大的戰略事項，並不參與銀行日常經營管理。

3年前，中移動收購了鳳凰衛視的19.9%，當時也表示不參與日常管理，不謀求控股地位。

王建宙說，中移動在尋找入股合作伙伴上花了比較長時間，浦發行由於規模適中，價格合理，相比入股大銀行，中移動的所佔股份和發言權都不會太小，“我們已經做了盡職調查，對於浦發行管理層和監管機制都比較滿意。”

他解釋此次之所以要通過廣東公司入股，是因為按照銀監會的規定，非金融機構投資金融業只能是由中國內地注冊的公司進行，而中移動的上市公司是在香港注冊， 因此不能展開經營，廣東公司既是中移動的全資子公司，又是內地注冊的公司，在一定限額內，根據銀監會規定，是可以經營金融業務的，“備忘錄中簽署的所有條 款都會符合監管部門有關部門投資的政策。”

“我們更看重的不是財務的EPS，而是中國移動自身的效益，盡管現在的規模還很小，但是未來很多的效益會很明顯，除了手續費，還會有商家給中移動的折扣、以及開發各種各樣的業務（電子轉賬、匯款）。”王建宙分析。

不過，王建宙認為，此舉並不意味著國家有關部門對跨行業融合的松口，跟浦發的合作仍是自己業務的延展，並且中移動不會投資其他非電信業務，比如地產和新能源等。

新引擎︰收購

通過入股浦發，中移動增長故事中又增添了一個新的利器——收購。

“我們準備把收購當成公司在前面三個增長之後的第四個增長極。”王建宙說，中移動正在尋找新的投資目標，但是重點一定是電信行業，它們主要是海外的電信公司。

3月11日，王建宙首次披露了去年入股台灣遠傳電信的內情。去年4月29日，中國移動以約5.27億美元收購遠傳電信12%的股份。遠傳電信是台灣第三大無線運營商。

據王建宙透露，目前遠傳電信項目正在推進，第一步將在台灣地區建立一家名為“縱信”的公司，該公司本身不是經營電信業務，但將來會作為投資遠傳電信的主 體，該公司是通過中移動在荷蘭收購的特殊目的公司（Special Purpose Vehicle）在台灣地區申請成立，目前已經得到批準。目前台灣地區公布的目錄當中，還沒有包括第一類業務，即基礎的電信業，王建宙希望，台灣地區在下 一個目錄中增加該項業務，這樣就可以快速開展業務。

此外，2007年2月，中國移動收購了巴基斯坦的巴克泰爾通訊公司（Paktel），王建宙表示，該公司是由中移動母公司擴容，目前已經完成擴容和重建，等條件成熟後，將由上市公司向母公司收購。

“收購的標準主要有兩個，即是否產生協同效應和是否能創造價值。”王建宙說。

目前來看，手機支付或許將成為最先創造價值的收購。廣東移動總經理徐龍告訴記者，目前廣東公司已經在手機支付上做了許多探索，現在的業務主要有手機短信、二維碼、手機錢包、手機一卡通，去年廣東移動的交易額已經超過7個億。

王建宙表示，目前手機支付的技術問題已經解決，主要的障礙在於打通地鐵、電影院、超市等各個終端的不同協議，不過不會太困難，目前在重慶試點，在市政府的推動下，快軌的乘客中有20%已經習慣了手機刷卡。

《21世紀經濟報道》徐志強 北京報道

http://www.stockhouse.com/News/FinancialNewsDetailFeeds.aspx?n=13216990&src=cp

TORONTO - Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (TSX:BAM.A) announced a plan Wednesday to sell part of its stake in wood panel maker Norbord Inc. (TSX:NBD) in a secondary offering worth about $150 million.

Brookfield said it will reduce its stake from 73 per cent to about 53 per cent after the sale of the shares.

Norbord will not receive any cash from the offering.

Under the deal, a syndicate led by TD Securities and RBC Capital markets have agreed to buy nine million shares of Norboard for $16.70 per share.

Norbord shares, which were halted pending the announcement, were down 18 cents at $17.66 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

A Brookfield subsidiary is selling 8.68 million shares, while 320,000 shares will be offered by management of the corporation including Norboard president and chief executive Barrie Shineton and chief financial officer Robin Lampard.

The underwriters have also been granted an over-allotment option for up to an additional 900,000 shares held by the Brookfield subsidiary.

Norbord is one of the world's largest producers of oriented strand board and also makes particleboard, medium density fibreboard, plywood and other products.

Brookfield, which had been the largest minority shareholder in Norbord, stepped up last year stepped up with $144 million to back stop and take control of the struggling company.

McDonald's US Sales Getting Boost

Bilibala: yeah!! McDonald's!! I'm loving it!!

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201003101021dowjonesdjonline000443&title=mcdonalds-us-sales-getting-boost-from-breakfastsnacking

By Paul Ziobro, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- McDonald's Corp.'s (MCD) domestic same-store sales are getting the biggest boost from breakfast and snacking items, helped by recent launches of a $1 breakfast menu and the Mac Snack Wrap, McDonald's Chief Financial Officer Pete Bensen said Wednesday.

Otherwise, the fast-food giant isn't seeing anything "dramatically different" in consumer behavior during the last several months in the U.S., where McDonald's recently reported a slight increase in same-store sales in February, outperforming its competitors.

McDonald's average sale has also been "relatively stable" this year, but has taken "a little bit of a hit" during breakfast due to the new bargain menu.

Bensen, speaking at a Bank of America/Merrill Lynch conference, also said McDonald's expects price increases in 2010 to be below historical levels.

McDonald's typically raises prices between 2% and 3% each year to help keep pace with inflation in food and other costs, but Bensen said that any increase this year "will probably be less than that." The fast-food chain has spoken of diminished pricing power in recent months, though it comes at a time when commodity costs are expected to be benign.

"Right now as we sit, we don't see a tremendous opportunity to take price," Bensen said. "But the fact that our cost environment is so good, that's not troubling to us."

The Mac Snack Wrap, priced at $1.49, is also proving an attractive lure to get customers to trade up from the Dollar Menu. Bensen said 40% of Mac Snack Wraps sold are to customers who would have otherwise bought an item for $1.

McDonald's focus for the upcoming year lies in menu innovation, with beverages like frappes and smoothies planned for launch in the coming months, and improving service with new cash-register systems and double drive-through lanes with screens that display orders.

It's also renovating more than 2,000 restaurants this year. In the U.S., Bensen said McDonald's contribution to store remodels will likely be similar to the amount it spent during the installation of McCafe, when McDonald's paid for 40% of the costs needed to upgrade buildings.

McDonald's shares, flat in recent trading at $65.10, are up 24% over the past year.

-By Paul Ziobro, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2194;

China Mobile investing $5.8B in Chinese bank

Bilibala: the plan is great, 1st it is better use of its cash to invest in a bank instead of holding cash; then the demand on cell phone banking is in needed, according to China Mobile's CEO, this $5.8B investment will strengthen its 2010 sales by 2% which is a good start.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9EBNKJ80.htm

China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest phone company by subscribers, said Wednesday it was investing $5.8 billion in a Chinese bank as part of a plan to develop mobile phone banking and business services.

Under the agreement, China Mobile will pay 39.8 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) in cash for 20 percent of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the cell phone company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The two companies plan to work together to develop mobile phone services involving customer payments, bank cards, money transfers and other so-called e-commerce businesses.
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank is a mid-sized lender based in Shanghai.

Ahead of the Bell: 'Alice' success good for Disney

Bilibala: Disney is in a nice pace during the economy recovery. To me, the postor of "Alice in Wonderland" doesn't look cute, but I will definitly go and watch "The Ocean" and "Toy Story 3".

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/03/08/business-mobile-telecommunications-us-disney-ahead-of-the-bell_7414936.html

NEW YORK -- Analysts see "Alice in Wonderland" as a much-needed hit for The Walt Disney Co., but note the returns from one movie aren't enough to move the needle on its financial results.
The adventure through the looking glass earned a blowout $116.3 million in its opening weekend - a record for a 3-D film and for a non-sequel.

Analyst Doug Mitchelson at Deutsche Bank ( DB - news - people ) said his tentative estimate was that Disney ( DIS - news - people ) could ultimately make $200 million from the movie. More importantly, he sees the movie as kicking off a recovery in content for Disney, "which has been in an 18-month dry spell with duds like Bedtime Stories, G-Force and A Christmas Carol."

This summer, Disney will debut "Toy Story 3" and "Iron Man 2," followed by the second "Cars" movie and the fourth installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean" next summer. A recovery in content can drive success for the whole company, he writes.

Tony Wible at Janney Capital Markets also noted that the success of "Alice" was a "much needed boost" for Disney, but said it wouldn't change his earnings estimates, which already factored in some returns from the movie.

He highlighted another weekend drama as more significant for Disney's prospects. New York-area cable company Cablevision Systems Corp. ( CVC - news - people ) reached a deal with the local Disney-owned ABC affiliate for retransmission, giving cable subscribers the signal back 14 minutes into the Academy Awards broadcast.

MetLife buying AIG's Alico unit

Bilibala: AIG's brand name was totaly distoried during the financial crisis, I don't think is smart to acquire any of its subsidaries. Insurance is a competitive industry, there are almost no product differentiate at all other than the corporate brand value and its credit rating.

Policyholders are willing to pay higher cost of insuruance for a famlious and reliable brand. Once its brand name being distoried, there will be minimum value of new business.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62622120100308?feedType=nl&feedName=usbusinessearly

MetLife said on Monday that it would pay AIG $6.8 billion in cash and about $8.7 billion in equity for its American Life Insurance Co (Alico) unit, confirming an earlier Reuters report.
Founded in 1921, Alico sells life, accident and health insurance as well as retirement and wealth management products in more than 50 countries. The deal will help MetLife, already the largest life insurer in the United States and Mexico, diversify revenue by product, distribution and geography.

MetLife will get a boost in Japan, the world's second-largest life insurance market, which accounted for 70 percent of Alico's pre-tax operating income in fiscal year. Alico will also strengthen MetLife's position in Europe and move it into a top five market position in many emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

MetLife expects the deal to increase its 2011 operating earnings per share by 45 cents to 55 cents, excluding one-time expenses of 12 cents. It sees annualized post-tax cost savings of $50 million to $75 million.

"Rarely does one come across a deal that has such a strong strategic fit and is also such a financially attractive proposition," MetLife Chief Executive Robert Henrikson said during a conference call.

Still, such a large deal comes with risks, said Clark Troy, a senior analyst at Aite Group.
Alico's strength in Japan also ties MetLife's fortunes to an aging society with a huge public debt overhang, he said.

"If (Japan) falters or slips back into deflation, MetLife might face challenges growing revenue," Troy said in an e-mail late Sunday, before the deal was announced.

FED PAYDAY
The deal comes after AIG agreed to sell its Asian life unit, American International Assurance (AIA), to Britain's Prudential for $35.5 billion, the largest insurance sector deal ever.

The AIA and Alico deals will allow AIG to repay the U.S. government about $31.5 billion in cash, with more expected as the insurer sells Prudential and MetLife securities over time.

AIG will use the $6.8 billion in cash from the Alico deal to redeem part of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's $9 billion preferred interest in a vehicle that holds the unit.

The proceeds from the two deals should help AIG pay down all of its Fed debt, but it will still leave the government holding roughly $47 billion in equity investments, including the amount drawn under a $30 billion equity line. The government will still have a nearly 80 percent stake in AIG.

To untangle itself from AIG, the government is likely to follow a strategy similar to what it has used with Citigroup Inc (C.N) in a process that will probably take years.

The sale of Alico comes after months of negotiations and became possible after the New York Fed, advised by Morgan Stanley (MS.N), agreed in March 2009 to swap its debt into equity in special purpose vehicles that AIG created to hold AIA and Alico.

Early last year, MetLife offered about $11 billion for the unit, but the price went up in the months after March 2009.

METLIFE STAKE
The equity portion of the price consists of 78.2 million shares of MetLife common stock valued at $3 billion, 6.9 million shares of contingent convertible preferred stock valued at $2.7 billion, and 40 million equity units with an aggregate stated value of $3 billion.

The common stock and equivalents would give AIG a 14 percent ownership in MetLife, MetLife Chief Financial Officer William Wheeler said.

The equity units are set to convert into common shares roughly three years after closing, Wheeler said. Taking those into account, AIG's ownership in MetLife would go above 20 percent, sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

But Wheeler said he expected AIG to start selling the shares as soon as it could under a lock-up agreement.

"I am not sure how much shares they will own at any one time, but I suspect it won't get close to 20 percent," Wheeler said.

AIG must vote its shares in proportion to the way the rest of MetLife's outstanding shareholders do, Wheeler said.

MetLife expects to finance the cash portion of the deal with issuances of $3.1 billion in senior debt and $2 billion of common stock, as well as $1.75 billion in cash on hand.

Both boards have approved the transaction, which the companies expect to close by the end of 2010.

Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) was lead adviser to MetLife, which was also advised by Barclays Capital (BARC.L), Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC.N), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and HSBC (HSBA.L).

AIG is being advised by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Blackstone Group (BX.N), according to several sources.

AIG shares were up 5.3 percent to $29.58, while MetLife was up 5.1 percent to $40.90, both during morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Dave Zimmerman and John Wallace)

CCB's outlook on 2010 new lending

Bilibala: giant bank is better than small/mid bank even in China, a country where huge banks have much more social responsibity & political concern than the commerical banks. Sometimes, conservative can be a good character, a little lower return with much lesser risk.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE62703Q20100308

Govt targets 19 pct loan growth for banking sector (Adds details, background)
BEIJING, March 8 (Reuters) - China Construction Bank (0939.HK), China's No.2 bank by assets, said its new lending will grow by a modest 10 percent or more this year, as banks slow new loans growth following a lending binge in 2010 under Beijing's economic stimulus programme.

CCB Chairman Guo Shuping gave Reuters the forecast on the sidelines of the National People's Congress in Beijing on Monday, adding that the bank expected its provision ratio for non-performing loans to remain above 170 percent this year.

Chinese banks posted a record 9.6 trillion yuan ($1.406 trillion) in new loans last year, fuelling concern they were sowing the seeds for a new crop of bad debts down the road.

The government has targeted 7.5 trillion yuan in new lending this year, down from last year but a figure that would still lift the industry's overall outstanding loan volume by 19 percent from the end of 2009.

CCB (601939.SS) and China's other biggest lenders including ICBC (1398.HK)(601398.SS) were relatively conservative in their lending last year compared with mid-sized and smaller banks, which sharply turned up lending in response to Beijing's 4 trillion yuan stimulus plan aimed at boosting consumption.

As a result, many of those smaller banks are believed to need new capital to boost their adequacy ratios.

China CITIC Bank (0998.HK)(601998.SS) is actively exploring raising capital [ID:nBJC002509], and China Merchants Bank (3968.HK)(600036.SS) is launching a $3.2 billion rights issue, but this week said it should require no further capital raising for at least the next three years. [ID:nBJB003703]

Bank of Communications (BoCom) (3328.HK) (601328.SS), China's fifth-largest lender, said last month that it planned to raise as much as 42 billion yuan via a rights issue in Shanghai and Hong Kong to bolster capital.

中國移動認購浦發銀行

Bilibala: Short term impact, should be a good opportunity to buy more. I think it is a better use of the extra cash China Mobile had

財華社深圳新聞中心
近日盛傳可能斥資400億元認購浦發銀行(600000-CN)約22億股定向增發股份的中國移動，股價今早初段逆市走弱，現跌2.28%至72.95港 元，成交826萬股。中國移動發布公告確認，已就入股浦發銀行的規模達成協議，將通過投資浦發銀行擴展移動電子商務業務；但將專注於開發增值服務。中國移 動同時表示不排除與其他銀行合作的可能性。

有市場評論認為，中國移動開發移動電子商務業務是遠離主營業務的多元化做法，難以量化可能獲得的收益。長線投資者將中國移動作為公用事業類股，原因是3.7%的歷史股息收益率，而入股浦發銀行所帶來的大規模資本支出也可能擊碎投資者對該公司提高股利支付比率的預期。

但大華繼顯則稱，中國移動之前曾談及將在2010年推出高附加值的移動支付業務；與浦發銀行在移動支付領域的合作不但能夠幫助中國移動解決監管問題，還能夠獲得交叉銷售效應。

China Life Jan 10 sales up

Bilibala: China Life's sales is growing in a nice double digit pace as the insurance penetration improved, on the other hand, I think the stock price has reflect this growth expectation. Therefore, the future rise will rely heavily on investment performance.

http://www.chinavestor.com/life-insurance/71392-china-life-january-sales-up-14-percent-to-62-billion.html

March 3, 2010 (Chinavestor) China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC), the largest Chinese life insurer, reported premiums income, or revenue from sale of insurance policies, for the month of January 2010 as follows. Total premiums income from 1 January 2010 to 31 January 2010 was about RMB41.8 billion ($6.119 billion).Given that 2009 January sale of insurance policies was RMB36.6 billion ($5.3579 billion), January 2010 numbers represent an increase of 14.2% from last year data.

Another important development to notice is that January 2010 data is by far the best achieved by China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC) in the last 13 months as the following chart testifies.

Shares of China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC) have been under weather along the uncertain outlook for the Shanghai Composite Index. China Life derives a significant portion of total net income from investment returns related to the performance of the Shanghai Composite Index. China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC) has a significant investment in index heavy weight stock such as Petrochina (SHA:601857) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (SHA:601398).

If China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC) can demonstrate strong revenue growth - as is the case fro January - stock price appreciation will follow.

净增用户数反弹

Bilibala: I admit that China Mobile's 3G growth is slow and do not have the monoply position like it always does in 2G. On the other hand, I think all 3 corporations should have enough room to growth since the telecommunication market in China is huge enough for 3 to share the profits.

中金公司 陈昊飞
　　公司近况：
　　中国移动(76.5,-0.80,-1.04%,经济通实时行情)2010年1月份净增用户511万（环比增加20.7%，同比减少23.3%）。TD用户达到390万，2010年1月份净增用户49万（环比增加13%）2G净增用户462万（环比增加21.5%）。

　　评论：
　　中国移动公布了较好的2010年1月净增用户数，但是：
　　1）我们认为中国移动较好的净增用户数并不意味着中国联通(9.89,0.06,0.61%,经济通实时行情)和中国电信(3.52,0.00,0.00%,经济通实时行情)净增用户数较差。我们预计2010年1月中国联通净增150万用户左右（一半2G用户，一半3G用户），中国电信净增320万左右的用户。
　　2）我们不认为这是中国移动长期净增用户下降趋势的转折点。长期来看，我们预计中移动净增用户数会回到大约400万左右。预计中国联通和中国电信在2010年会更具竞争力。

　　估值与建议：中国电信/中国联通在战略方面出现失误，对做空中国移动产生负面影响。