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Firms Use Media Coverage to Influence Merger Negotiations

By Guest PostApril 29, 2011Economy, Mediacompanies, corporate press releases, denis sosyura, kenneth ahern, merger negotiations, merger talks, positive effect on stock returns, ross school, stock exchange ratio, stock issues, stock prices, stock trading, strategic use of media, university of michigan, who writes the news

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Companies involved in merger talks manipulate their stock prices during negotiations by releasing more news than usual, according to a University of Michigan study.

“Media coverage has a significant effect on stock trading and returns,” said Kenneth Ahern, assistant professor of finance at U-M’s Ross School of Business. “Even stale news, if widely publicized, can dramatically raise short-term returns and influence prices of large and widely followed stocks in the S&P 500.”

In their study, “Who Writes the News? Corporate Press Releases during Merger Negotiations,” Ahern and Ross School colleague Denis Sosyura examined more than 500 completed stock mergers of large U.S. publicly traded firms from 2000 to 2008. They studied the frequency and content of news releases issued by acquiring firms, and analyzed more than 617,000 articles in 421 newspapers and newswires worldwide. (more…)

Microsoft Reports Record Third-Quarter Results

By Guest PostApril 28, 2011Economy, Technologybing, diluted earnings per share, dynamics crm, financial results, kevin turner, kinect, kinect for xbox 360, lync, Microsoft, microsoft corp., microsoft platforms and applications, office 2010, peter klein, sql server 2008 r2, third quarter revenue, us search share, windows 7, xbox

*Strong enterprise and Xbox momentum drive revenue growth of 13% and earnings per share of $0.61.*

REDMOND, Wash. — Apr. 28, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. today announced third-quarter revenue of $16.43 billion for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2011, a 13% increase from the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $5.71 billion, $5.23 billion, and $0.61 per share, which represented increases of 10%, 31%, and 36%, respectively, when compared with the prior year period. Diluted earnings per share included a $0.05 tax benefit primarily related to an agreement with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to settle a portion of their audit of tax years 2004 to 2006.

“We delivered strong financial results despite a mixed PC environment, which demonstrates the strength and breadth of our businesses,” said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft. “Consumers are purchasing Office 2010, Xbox and Kinect at tremendous rates, and businesses of all sizes are purchasing Microsoft platforms and applications.” (more…)

From the Beginning, the Mind Knows the Difference Between Night and Day

By Guest PostApril 28, 2011Scienceaugust kampf-lassin, basic human behaviors, biological rhythms, brain, brian prendergast, circadian rhythms, circadian system, hamster circadian visual system, primates, sunrise, sunset, university of chicago, visual stimuli

The brain is apparently programmed from birth to develop the ability to determine sunrise and sunset, new research on circadian rhythms at the University of Chicago shows.

The research sheds new light on brain plasticity and may explain some basic human behaviors, according to Brian Prendergast, associate professor in psychology, and co-author of a paper published April 27 in the journal PLoS One. The lead author is August Kampf-Lassin, an advanced graduate student at the University. (more…)

Threading the Climate Needle: The Agulhas Current System

By Guest PostApril 28, 20111 commentEnvironmentagulhas current, agulhas retroflection, amoc, atlantic, atlantic meridional overturning circulation, atlantic ocean, climate change, climate modeling, east coast of africa, glacial cycles, global climate, gulf stream, indian ocean, lisa beal, national science foundation, northern hemisphere, paleoceanographic data

*Increased Agulhas “leakage” significant player in global climate variability*

The Agulhas Current which runs along the east coast of Africa may not be as well known as its counterpart in the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream. But now researchers are taking a closer look at this current and its “leakage” from the Indian Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean–and what that may mean for climate change.

In results of a study published in this week’s issue of the journal Nature, a team of scientists led by University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science Oceanographer Lisa Beal, suggests that Agulhas leakage could be a significant player in global climate variability. (more…)

Q&A: Creating a Safe Haven For Children

By Guest PostApril 28, 2011General, Healthandrea asnes, assessment, bridging program, child abuse, child abuse program, children, dart, detection, john leventhal, leventhal, new haven, pediatrics, physical abuse, referral and treatment, sexual abuse, yale daily bulletin

For over 25 years, Dr. John M. Leventhal has been fighting a battle to protect the lives of hundreds of children who come through one of the child abuse programs at Yale.

He has won many struggles along the way, but to win the war, he says, the program needs to be armed with more state and federal support, as well as support from individuals and foundations.

“Finding ways to protect children who can’t defend themselves is part of what wakes me up in the morning and motivates me to continue this tough, but important work,” says Leventhal, professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine and director of the Child Abuse Programs at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital. (more…)

Prey-tell: Why Right Whales Linger in the Gulf of Maine

By Guest PostApril 27, 2011Nature, Sciencealgae eating copepod, baleen whales, behavior of the whales, calanus finmarchicus, dramatic impact, endangered animals, gulf of maine, mark baumgartner, nantucket, north atlantic, sand lance, sei whales, vertical migration, vertical migration behavior, whale population, whales, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

As they might with most endangered animals, scientists consider the whereabouts and activities of right whales extremely important. “It is helpful to know where they go, why they go there and what they do when they’re there,” says Mark F. Baumgartner of the biology department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Baumgartner and his colleagues studied the behavior of right whales and sei whales—both endangered species of baleen whales—in the waters of the Gulf of Maine to the east of Nantucket. They found that the location, the length of stay, and perhaps the very abundance of the whales may be dependent on an interesting vertical migration pattern by the copepods on which the whales feed. It seems to be a case, he said, of “how the behavior of the prey influences the behavior of the whales.” (more…)

Harmonic Convergence: Music and Social Networking Join Forces

By Guest PostApril 27, 2011Technologybada, bizspark one startup, calabrese, ceo of soundtrckr, daniele calabrese, geo referencing, global geo referencing technology, icebreaker, internet explorer 9, internet radio, iPhone, madrid, medianet, Microsoft, music, nightclub, nokia, pandora, philadelphia, Social networking, soundtrckr, windows phone 7, world bank

*BizSpark One startup Soundtrckr lets listeners discover, play and share music on their terms — alongside their friends.*

REDMOND, Wash. — April 27, 2011 — Soundtrckr, a BizSpark One startup, mashes Internet radio with social networking and location-awareness to help users create a soundtrack for their lives.

Sometimes, opportunity presents itself when least expected. That’s what Daniele Calabrese, founder and CEO of Soundtrckr, discovered as he boarded a plane bound to Philadelphia from Madrid. Calabrese was launching a new concept in radio called Soundtrckr, a geo-social Internet music service. In its infancy, Soundtrckr just needed the right connections to take it to the heights Calabrese was convinced it could reach. He sat down and met his seat mate. (more…)

Bringing more Power to African Farmers Through Simple Technology

By Guest PostApril 27, 2011Sciencebiomechanical engineering, commercialization aspect, convert energy, cylindrical device, existing infrastructure, inaugural course, john morrell, political and socioeconomic, producing energy, productivity and earnings, sub-saharan africa, suzanne taylor muzzin, yale university

In a room in the basement of Hillhouse Avenue, 18 Yale students have spent the past 12 weeks transforming gears, wing nuts and sprockets into energy solutions for farmers working thousands of miles away in sub-Saharan Africa.

The class, called “Appropriate Technology for the Developing World,” was inspired by a trip that faculty member John Morrell took to Africa in 2009 with an international team of scientists, after learning that African farmers often earn just $1 to $2 a day. (more…)

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