VANCOUVER, BC (May 31, 2011) Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports May 31, 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from former media mogul Conrad Black challenging his two remaining convictions on fraud and obstruction of justice.
The court did not comment on the order.
Last year, the justices curtailed the “honest services” laws used to convict Black of defrauding Hollinger International investors.
An appeals court subsequently reversed two convictions, but left two others in place. He is scheduled to be resentenced on June 24.
Black’s empire once included the Chicago Sun-Times, The Daily Telegraph of London and smaller papers across the U.S. and Canada.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Commercial (DLC Clearlease/Clearlease.com) is a fully diversified Lease Finance Mortgage Banking Brokerage Company specializing in Equipment Leasing, Automobile Leasing, Residential, Commercial Lending/Mortgage Financing. DLC Clearlease possesses the capability to accommodate financing needs ranging from a small second Home Mortgage to a Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Projects. No mortgage is too small or too large for this integrated Company.
Equipment Lease Financing in Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouer, West Vancouver, B.C. Also offering Automobile Lease Financing and Mortgage information. Founded by the Pidgeon brothers.
You may have recently seen a Dominion Lending advertisement on such media outlets as: Global News, CTV News, CBC Television, Rogers Sportsnet or possibly heard the great Don Cherry, a Canadian Sports legend, discuss Dominion Lending Centres.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports Market Update - US and Canada for Tuesday May 31, 2011
VANCOUVER, BC (May 31, 2011) Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports May 31, 2011 The Week Ahead: Consumer spending grew at a slower pace in April versus March as stocks lose ground again for the fourth straight week. The holiday shortened week starts Tuesday with the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index and Consumer Confidence report. Wednesday will be busy with the Auto Sales numbers, the ADP Employment report, the ISM Manufacturing Index, and Construction Spending. Noteworthy on Thursday will be Chain Store Sales, Productivity and Costs, and Factory Orders.
The Employment report will be the highlight on Friday followed by the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index.
Stocks to Watch: Healthcare is the leading sector so far in 2011 after being the worst sector last year. The Select Sector Health Care ETF (XLV) is up 13% to date. Pharmacy benefits manager, Medco Health Solutions (MHS) dropped 9% Friday as it will lose a contract with Blue Cross/Blue Shield next year in a federal government plan which amounts to $3 billion in annual revenue. CVS Caremark (CVS) which gained 1.7%* will pick up Medco’s lost business in a three year deal starting in 2012. In technology, Marvell Technology Group (MRVL) gained 11%* and Omnivision (OVTI) fell 8.9%* when no increase in its guidance was given.
Special Note: New York Stock Exchange volume hit its lowest level of the year on Friday in pre-holiday trading. The CBOE put/call ratio reached .71 which was the lowest level since the April 6 high. For the third week out of the past four, the S&P 500 has seen three of five trading days finish with gains yet lost ground for the week indicating momentum on the wane. Momentum on a weekly basis also failed to confirm the early May highs in the major indexes creating a bearish divergence and signaling a more protracted decline may lie ahead for stocks after the next bounce.
*Percentages are calculated based on the closing prices of 5/26/11 and 5/27/11.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Commercial (DLC Clearlease/Clearlease.com) is a fully diversified Lease Finance Mortgage Banking Brokerage Company specializing in Equipment Leasing, Automobile Leasing, Residential, Commercial Lending/Mortgage Financing. DLC Clearlease possesses the capability to accommodate financing needs ranging from a small second Home Mortgage to a Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Projects. No mortgage is too small or too large for this integrated Company.
Equipment Lease Financing in Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouer, West Vancouver, B.C. Also offering Automobile Lease Financing and Mortgage information. Founded by the Pidgeon brothers.
You may have recently seen a Dominion Lending advertisement on such media outlets as: Global News, CTV News, CBC Television, Rogers Sportsnet or possibly heard the great Don Cherry, a Canadian Sports legend, discuss Dominion Lending Centres.
VANCOUVER, BC (May 31, 2011) Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports May 31, 2011 Hollywood has hustled up a hangover for the record books.
“The Hangover Part II” set a new high for comedy debuts with $105.8 million over the long Memorial Day weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The blockbuster sequel also led Hollywood to a new revenue record of around $280 million for the holiday weekend, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
That surpassed the previous record of $254.6 million in 2007. But factoring in today’s higher admission prices, more tickets were sold over the Memorial Day holiday that year than this past weekend.
“The Hangover Part II” raised its domestic haul to $137.4 million since opening Thursday, nearly half the business the 2009 original movie did over its entire run. The sequel has added $60.3 million more in 40 countries overseas.
“If you can enjoy a hangover, this is one to enjoy,” said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which releases “The Hangover” flicks. “People love these characters. They can do no wrong.”
The movie reunites stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis as they awake in another haze and attempt to piece together the mayhem of their drunken night in Bangkok.
Opening at No. 2 behind “The Hangover Part II” was another sequel, DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 2,” with $62.2 million.
The first “Kung Fu Panda” did almost the same business in just a normal three-day weekend, but DreamWorks hits tend to have a long shelf life at the box office.
“There’s no other animation for four weeks. We think we’ve got a lot of good play time still ahead,” said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks Animation.
“Kung Fu Panda 2” has pulled in $68 million domestically since its Thursday debut and added $57 million more in 11 overseas markets, including $18.5 million in China.
The animated sequel again pairs voice stars Jack Black and Angelina Jolie as the menagerie of martial-arts heroes takes on a villain aiming to conquer ancient China using gunpowder and cannons.
Slipping from first-place to third in its second weekend was Johnny Depp’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” which took in $50.4 million.
The Disney release lifted its domestic booty to $164 million. The “Pirates” sequel remained No. 1 overseas with $137.1 million from Friday to Monday, raising its worldwide total to $649.1 million.
Hollywood’s $280 million haul for the four-day weekend was a huge leap above last year’s Memorial Day holiday, when “Shrek Forever After” led with $57.1 million. Business was up 45 per cent from the lacklustre 2010 holiday weekend, when revenues came in at just $192.5 million.
In barely a month, Hollywood has hurtled out of a box-office slide that lingered all winter, when revenues were down as much as 23 per cent compared to the previous year’s.
“Hollywood is back with a vengeance,” said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “We always knew there were big movies on the horizon coming to save the day, and it looks like that’s what’s happening so far this summer.”
Revenues still are down 8.3 per cent compared to 2010’s, but studio executives expect to erase that deficit with an upcoming summer lineup that includes “Harry Potter,” ”Transformers” and “Cars” sequels.
“Every week, you’ve got another monster movie,” Fellman said. “Give us another month, and we’ll be ahead of last year.”
“The Hangover Part II” took in more cash than the previous record-holder for a four-day comedy debut, “Bruce Almighty,” which grossed $85.7 million over Memorial Day weekend in 2003. Accounting for inflation, however, “Bruce Almighty” sold more tickets.
In limited release, Woody Allen’s romance “Midnight in Paris” is positioned to become one of his biggest hits, breaking into the top 10 as it expanded to more theatres in its second weekend.
The Sony Pictures Classics release came in at No. 7 with $2.6 million in just 58 theatres, averaging a whopping $45,081 a cinema. That compares to a $29,257 average in 3,615 theatres for “The Hangover Part II.”
The film stars Owen Wilson as a contemporary writer who gets a lesson about romanticizing the past as he gets a chance to meet some of his idols in 1920s Paris.
Director Terrence Malick’s sprawling drama “The Tree of Life,” featuring Bard Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain, had a colossal opening in just four theatres in New York City and Los Angeles.
The Fox Searchlight film took in $488,920 for an average of $122,230 a theatre.
Expanding to more theatres gradually through July 1, “The Tree of Life” chronicles an intimate family story told in a collage of impressionistic images and exchanges, intercut with grand scenes of the creation of the cosmos and the age of dinosaurs.
The film won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival just days before its Friday opening.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Tuesday.
1. “The Hangover Part II,” $105.8 million.
2. “Kung Fu Panda 2,” $62.2 million.
3. “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” $50.4 million.
4. “Bridesmaids,” $21 million.
5. “Thor,” $12 million.
6. “Fast Five,” $8.2 million.
7. “Midnight in Paris,” $2.6 million.
8. “Rio,” $2.4 million.
9. “Jumping the Broom,” $2.35 million.
10. “Something Borrowed,” $2.3 million.
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Online: http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Commercial (DLC Clearlease/Clearlease.com) is a fully diversified Lease Finance Mortgage Banking Brokerage Company specializing in Equipment Leasing, Automobile Leasing, Residential, Commercial Lending/Mortgage Financing. DLC Clearlease possesses the capability to accommodate financing needs ranging from a small second Home Mortgage to a Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Projects. No mortgage is too small or too large for this integrated Company.
Equipment Lease Financing in Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouer, West Vancouver, B.C. Also offering Automobile Lease Financing and Mortgage information. Founded by the Pidgeon brothers.
You may have recently seen a Dominion Lending advertisement on such media outlets as: Global News, CTV News, CBC Television, Rogers Sportsnet or possibly heard the great Don Cherry, a Canadian Sports legend, discuss Dominion Lending Centres.
VANCOUVER, BC (May 31, 2011) Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports May 31, 2011 traders expressed optimism about further financial assistance for Greece. The major averages all showed strong upward moves, adding to the gains posted in the three previous sessions.
The early strength on Wall Street comes amid reports regarding the likelihood of another round of financial aid for Greece, which has been struggling to deal with its massive debt burden.
Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said, “There are no firm agreements but it’s clear from the rhetoric from Germany, the most vocal critic of the bailouts, that another round of funding (60b euros more over 2 years) will come Greece’s way with further strings attached.”
Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off the release of a report from Standard & Poor’s showing a bigger than expected drop in home prices in the month of March.
The report showed that the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index fell by an annual rate of 3.6 percent in March compared to a 3.3 percent drop in February. Economists had been expecting prices to decrease by about 3.4 percent.
Energy stocks have helped lead to the way higher in early trading, benefiting from a sharp increase by the price of crude oil. Crude for July delivery has surged up $2.53 to $103.12 a barrel due in part to some weakness in the value of the U.S. dollar.
The markets have also benefited from early strength among technology stocks, with semiconductor, electronic storage, and software stocks posting notable gains. Most of the other major sectors have also moved to the upside.
While the major averages have not seen much follow-through on their initial upward moves, they remain firmly positive. The Dow is up 119.51 points or 1 percent at 12,561.09, the Nasdaq is up 28.73 points or 1 percent at 2,825.59 and the S&P 500 is up 12.51 points or 0.9 percent at 1,343.61.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Commercial (DLC Clearlease/Clearlease.com) is a fully diversified Lease Finance Mortgage Banking Brokerage Company specializing in Equipment Leasing, Automobile Leasing, Residential, Commercial Lending/Mortgage Financing. DLC Clearlease possesses the capability to accommodate financing needs ranging from a small second Home Mortgage to a Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Projects. No mortgage is too small or too large for this integrated Company.
Equipment Lease Financing in Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouer, West Vancouver, B.C. Also offering Automobile Lease Financing and Mortgage information. Founded by the Pidgeon brothers.
You may have recently seen a Dominion Lending advertisement on such media outlets as: Global News, CTV News, CBC Television, Rogers Sportsnet or possibly heard the great Don Cherry, a Canadian Sports legend, discuss Dominion Lending Centres.
VANCOUVER, BC (May 30, 2011) Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports May 30, 2011 Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and the CEO of Chrysler say it’s too soon to decide whether the federal and Ontario governments will sell their shares in the recovering company to Italian carmaker Fiat, although they’ve discussed the idea.
The Canadian governments received the shares — about 1.7 per cent of the Detroit company — two years ago as part of a bailout that also provided $1.7 billion in loans to help Chrysler survive the North American auto sector’s worst downturn ever.
The automaker recently paid back the last of the money it borrowed from the Canadian and American governments, plus interest, and Fiat began the process of buying the shares owned by the U.S. government.
Flaherty joined Sergio Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of both Fiat and Chrysler, at an auto plant in Toronto on Monday morning but neither man would be definitive about what the Canadian government will do with its Chrysler stock.
Flaherty said Ottawa will wait to see how the stock transfer process unfolds in the United States before deciding whether Canada will also sell its shares.
The federal government has never believed it should be in the automobile business but, on the other hand, it has to ensure that Canadian taxpayers get good value for investing in Chrysler at a time when its survival was in doubt, Flaherty said.
“We will look at whatever is proposed, that comes out of the process that is underway now with the United States Treasury and consider that, bearing those two principles in mind,” Flaherty told a news conference Monday.
“We’re certainly open to it but we have to look at what the proposal is before making a decision, of course.”
Marchionne said Fiat is definitely interested in buying the shares owned by the federal and provincial governments but, unlike with the shares owed by the U.S. government, the company has no right to compel them to sell.
“I have made it clear, and I’ve been public on this, and I did have a brief chat with the minister before this meeting, that we will be quite willing to purchase Canada’s interest in this,” the Fiat CEO said.
“But it is a decision that is, obviously, totally dependent on the discretion of the government of Canada and the province of Ontario.”
The Italian automaker said Friday it will buy the U.S. government’s six per cent stake in Chrysler under a process that was put in place in 2009 when Chrysler virtually shut down while in bankruptcy court.
Fiat initially received a 20 per cent stake in Chrysler in 2009 for providing Chrysler with management expertise and technology.
Since then Fiat has been increasing its holdings in Chrysler and will soon control more than half of the company.
Fiat has helped change the corporate strategy of Chrysler, brought new fuel-efficient vehicles quickly to market and made the company cut costs and operate more efficiently.
The future looks brighter for the company, which employs 9,000 people in Canada and has major assembly plants in Windsor, a southwestern Ontario border city, and Brampton, a community northwest of Toronto.
Flaherty and Marchionne were at the Etobicoke casting plant in west-end Toronto to celebrate Chrysler’s repayment of $1.7 billion borrowed from the Canadian governments by the automaker, plus interest.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Commercial (DLC Clearlease/Clearlease.com) is a fully diversified Lease Finance Mortgage Banking Brokerage Company specializing in Equipment Leasing, Automobile Leasing, Residential, Commercial Lending/Mortgage Financing. DLC Clearlease possesses the capability to accommodate financing needs ranging from a small second Home Mortgage to a Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Projects. No mortgage is too small or too large for this integrated Company.
Equipment Lease Financing in Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouer, West Vancouver, B.C. Also offering Automobile Lease Financing and Mortgage information. Founded by the Pidgeon brothers.
You may have recently seen a Dominion Lending advertisement on such media outlets as: Global News, CTV News, CBC Television, Rogers Sportsnet or possibly heard the great Don Cherry, a Canadian Sports legend, discuss Dominion Lending Centres.
VANCOUVER, BC (May 30, 2011) Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports May 30, 2011 tAgnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX:AEM) says it has acquired three million shares of Colibri Resource Corp. in a $600,000 private placement. The share purchase raises Agnico-Eagle’s stake to 18.6 per cent of the junior miner.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Commercial (DLC Clearlease/Clearlease.com) is a fully diversified Lease Finance Mortgage Banking Brokerage Company specializing in Equipment Leasing, Automobile Leasing, Residential, Commercial Lending/Mortgage Financing. DLC Clearlease possesses the capability to accommodate financing needs ranging from a small second Home Mortgage to a Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Projects. No mortgage is too small or too large for this integrated Company.
Equipment Lease Financing in Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouer, West Vancouver, B.C. Also offering Automobile Lease Financing and Mortgage information. Founded by the Pidgeon brothers.
You may have recently seen a Dominion Lending advertisement on such media outlets as: Global News, CTV News, CBC Television, Rogers Sportsnet or possibly heard the great Don Cherry, a Canadian Sports legend, discuss Dominion Lending Centres.
VANCOUVER, BC (May 30, 2011) Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports May 30, 2011 the pace of home building across the country is expected to slow in the second half of this year, resulting in fewer housing starts in 2011 than last year, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Monday.
The federal agency is forecasting about 179,500 housing starts this year, down from 189,930 units in 2010.
The slowdown is expected to affect both singe-detach homes as well as multi-family housing, which includes row houses, semi-detached homes and apartments.
“Single starts peaked in the first quarter of 2010 but have moderated progressively since then. The number of single-detached starts is expected to reach 82,700 in 2011, down from 92,554 in 2010,” CMHC said.
“Across the country, most provinces will see a decrease in the number of multi-family housing starts in 2011. The exceptions are Ontario and British Columbia which will post solid gains.”
There will be about 96,800 multiple unit starts in 2011, down from 97,376 last year.
CMHC expects the slowdown in overall housing starts of both single-family and multiple-family units will be felt in all areas of Canada, although the declines in British Columbia and Ontario will be very modest.
By contrast, the sales of existing homes through the Multiple Listing Service is expected to edge higher this year to between 429,500 and 480,000 units.
The corporate expects posted mortgage rates will be “relatively flat” in 2011 before increasing moderately in 2012.
“For 2011, the one-year posted mortgage rate is assumed to be in the 3.1 to 3.5 per cent range, while three and five-year posted mortgage rates are forecast to be in the 4.1 to 5.6 per cent range,” CMHC said.
“For 2012, the one-year posted mortgage rate is assumed be in the 3.4 to 4.3 per cent range, while three and five-year posted mortgage rates are forecast to be in the 4.2 to 6.3 per cent range.”
Economists expect the Bank of Canada will keep its key overnight target rate at one per cent, where it has been since September , when the central bank makes its announcement on Tuesday.
There had been widespread expectations early this year that the Bank of Canada would begin to hike its rates in June or July but many observers now think it will be later than that because of a softening of economic growth.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Commercial (DLC Clearlease/Clearlease.com) is a fully diversified Lease Finance Mortgage Banking Brokerage Company specializing in Equipment Leasing, Automobile Leasing, Residential, Commercial Lending/Mortgage Financing. DLC Clearlease possesses the capability to accommodate financing needs ranging from a small second Home Mortgage to a Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Projects. No mortgage is too small or too large for this integrated Company.
Equipment Lease Financing in Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouer, West Vancouver, B.C. Also offering Automobile Lease Financing and Mortgage information. Founded by the Pidgeon brothers.
You may have recently seen a Dominion Lending advertisement on such media outlets as: Global News, CTV News, CBC Television, Rogers Sportsnet or possibly heard the great Don Cherry, a Canadian Sports legend, discuss Dominion Lending Centres.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports Bell Media (TSX:BCE) to turn A Network stations into new CTV Two channel this fall
VANCOUVER, BC (May 30, 2011) Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports May 30, 2011 The CTV television network is creating a new sister service by converting its “A”-channel stations into the CTV Two network.
CTV’s parent Bell Media says the new network will launch this fall as the company transitions the stations to a high-definition signal.
The media company says it will make the CTV Two schedule public on Thursday. About 90 per cent of viewers in English Canada will have access to the new network.
Bell says CTV Two will feature a mix of drama, comedy and reality programming as well as spotlighting day-to-day life in local communities in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Barrie, Ottawa, London, Windsor and Atlantic Canada through its news service.
Local CTV Two stations will serve Vancouver, Toronto, Southwestern Ontario, Ottawa and Atlantic Canada. The former A News brand will be changed into CTV News.
Bell Media (TSX:BCE) acquired the A Channel stations in 2006 when it bought CHUM Ltd.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Commercial (DLC Clearlease/Clearlease.com) is a fully diversified Lease Finance Mortgage Banking Brokerage Company specializing in Equipment Leasing, Automobile Leasing, Residential, Commercial Lending/Mortgage Financing. DLC Clearlease possesses the capability to accommodate financing needs ranging from a small second Home Mortgage to a Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Projects. No mortgage is too small or too large for this integrated Company.
Equipment Lease Financing in Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouer, West Vancouver, B.C. Also offering Automobile Lease Financing and Mortgage information. Founded by the Pidgeon brothers.
You may have recently seen a Dominion Lending advertisement on such media outlets as: Global News, CTV News, CBC Television, Rogers Sportsnet or possibly heard the great Don Cherry, a Canadian Sports legend, discuss Dominion Lending Centres.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports Ballmer Tap-Dancing On A Wire As World Moves On Without Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)
VANCOUVER, BC (May 30, 2011) Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports May 30, 2011 that almost 20 years since IBM’s Lou Gerstner got an elephant to dance. Now Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), one of the companies that forced IBM to confront its problems, finds itself in need of a new dance partner who understands the realities of 21st-century computing. Steve Ballmer is not that person.
Microsoft is at a crossroads, not the first one it has stared down in its 36-year-history, but perhaps the most important. It is both enormously successful and astonishingly off-course at the same time, generating billions in profits off of Windows and Office but ill-prepared and out-gunned in making the transition to a new style of computing that old rivals like Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) are appearing to lock up for themselves. As a result, its stock has been stagnant for quite some time, prompting no small amount of grumbling among its investors.
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That frustration boiled over this week. David Einhorn, a hedge-fund manager famous for betting against Lehman Brothers just before it collapsed and infamous for investing $200 million in the lackluster New York Mets (a baseball team with which, in the interest of full disclosure, I have carried on an irrational love affair since the mid-1980s), called Ballmer and Microsoft’s board on the carpet.
“(Ballmer’s) continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft stock,” Einhorn said at the prestigious Ira Sohn Investment Conference, a gathering of some of the best minds in finance to discuss investment opportunities. “Ballmer’s problem is he’s stuck in the past,” he said, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft’s board quickly rallied to Ballmer’s defense. But after witnessing the last six months of Microsoft’s mobile strategy, one has to wonder how much rope the charismatic CEO has been given. Windows Phone 7 is the best mobile software the company has released to date, but it’s languishing amid developer fatigue. Microsoft is counting on a groundbreaking partnership with Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to jump-start demand, a gambit that will require both companies to quickly roll out innovative products that can give consumers and developers a reason to think twice about the iPhone or Android. And we still aren’t quite sure what they have in mind for tablets.
For all the angst, the overall situation is not catastrophic. Despite all the clamor over slowing demand for PCs, that type of computer isn’t going anywhere for a very long time, and Microsoft enjoys a dominant position in both the operating system for that type of computer as well as one of its most useful applications. But it finds itself in the same position in that IBM finally hit in the early 90s: long on history, flush with cash and short on vision.
It took a new CEO from a completely different industry who was willing to question every single part of IBM’s business and culture in order to prime the company for a new era, and IBM remains one of the strongest tech companies on the planet as a result. Perhaps not as top-of-mind as it once was, but secure in its own identity and now once again more valuable than Microsoft.
Microsoft needs such a leader. Microsoft has made but two commendable forward-thinking product and strategic decisions since the dot-com bubble: the commercialization of the Xbox and a shrewd investment in Facebook that will one day pay huge dividends. Everything else has been a wash, from the Zune to the Kin, from a willingness to let Intel’s short-term concerns impact a huge product launch to its bizarre courtship of Yahoo.
The last five years marked the beginning of a sea change in the technology industry, one in which money, talent, gumption, and buzz have encircled a new type of computer. And at the same time, those using traditional personal computers are spending more and more of their time in the browser as opposed to running native applications, a trend that does not benefit Microsoft.
Ryan Block of gdgt suggested that only Bill Gates could right Microsoft’s ship by coming back to helm the company he founded, but truth be told, even Gates isn’t right for Microsoft at the moment. After all, Gates remains the chairman and single-largest shareholder of Microsoft: if he wanted Steve Ballmer to be gone, Steve Ballmer would be gone.
“Transformation of an enterprise begins with a sense of crisis or urgency,” Gerstner told Harvard Business School students in 2002, recalling his first days at IBM. “No institution will go through fundamental change unless it believes it is in deep trouble and needs to do something different to survive.”
Perhaps the only way that Microsoft board members and shareholders can create that sense of urgency is by making a huge statement in removing the man perhaps most responsible for forcing their hand, and by selecting a replacement completely disengaged from Microsoft’s current state of mind to reinvigorate the company. Sometimes, if the party turns sour, it’s better to dance with someone other than the one that brung ya.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Commercial (DLC Clearlease/Clearlease.com) is a fully diversified Lease Finance Mortgage Banking Brokerage Company specializing in Equipment Leasing, Automobile Leasing, Residential, Commercial Lending/Mortgage Financing. DLC Clearlease possesses the capability to accommodate financing needs ranging from a small second Home Mortgage to a Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Projects. No mortgage is too small or too large for this integrated Company.
Equipment Lease Financing in Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouer, West Vancouver, B.C. Also offering Automobile Lease Financing and Mortgage information. Founded by the Pidgeon brothers.
You may have recently seen a Dominion Lending advertisement on such media outlets as: Global News, CTV News, CBC Television, Rogers Sportsnet or possibly heard the great Don Cherry, a Canadian Sports legend, discuss Dominion Lending Centres.
VANCOUVER, BC (May 30, 2011) Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Reports Brixton Energy Corp. (TSXV:BRX) said Monday May 30, 2011 that it’s in talks to acquire two oil and gas producing properties in Alberta with combined revenues of $5.1 billion.
Dominion Lending Centres Clearlease Commercial (DLC Clearlease/Clearlease.com) is a fully diversified Lease Finance Mortgage Banking Brokerage Company specializing in Equipment Leasing, Automobile Leasing, Residential, Commercial Lending/Mortgage Financing. DLC Clearlease possesses the capability to accommodate financing needs ranging from a small second Home Mortgage to a Multi-Million Dollar Commercial Projects. No mortgage is too small or too large for this integrated Company.
Equipment Lease Financing in Vancouver, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouer, West Vancouver, B.C. Also offering Automobile Lease Financing and Mortgage information. Founded by the Pidgeon brothers.
You may have recently seen a Dominion Lending advertisement on such media outlets as: Global News, CTV News, CBC Television, Rogers Sportsnet or possibly heard the great Don Cherry, a Canadian Sports legend, discuss Dominion Lending Centres.
