http://www.chafic.net The Virtual Home of Chafic Chahine Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:16:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en No new posts until May 1, 2008. Website should be back up and completely redesigned by then. http://www.chafic.net/website-down-until-51/ It started off as a rumor, but was confirmed a few days ago.  Starbucks is to ditch T-Mobile and go with AT&T to offer wireless users 2 hours of free wireless internet access.  Does this mean that Panera Bread is going to lose some of their caffeine addicted customers? Probably ... http://www.chafic.net/free-wifi-at-starbucks/ The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] is reporting that OPEC may be cutting its output again in the spring.  For those who are unaware, OPEC is responsible for 40% of the world's oil production.  It wouldn't be surprising to see $100 oil in the spring. http://www.chafic.net/100-oil-in-the-spring/ Time has compiled a list of the top business deals of 2007: News Corp. Buys Dow Jones for $5 Billion Blackstone Buys Equity Office Properties Trust for $39 Billion Google Buys DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion  RBS Consortium Wins Battle for ABN Amro for $101 Billion Rio Tinto Buys Alcan for $38.1 Billion  Tata Steel Buys Corus for ... http://www.chafic.net/top-10-business-deals-of-2007/ Is the last quarter of the year and the first month of the new year a good time for investors to engage in some event-driven trading? The WSJ has a great article [subscription required] on how funds tend to drop their biggest losers by the end of October to enjoy the tax ... http://www.chafic.net/window-dressing-and-the-tax-loss-selling-phenomenon/ The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] is reporting that Dubai International Capital has purchased a substantial stake in Sony Corp. [NYSE:SNE].  The stake purchased is under 5% as no public paperwork has been filed with any regulatory bodies in Japan.  As a result of the announcement, Sony shares rose 4.6% ... http://www.chafic.net/dubai-international-capitals-investment-in-sony/ The Wall Street Journal published an article [subscription required] today about how some of the Gulf nations are rethinking about pegging their currencies to the dollar. Inflation in Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia is estimated to be at 12%, 8%, and 3% respectively for 2007. Inflation in ... http://www.chafic.net/rethinking-the-dollar-peg/ News of Apple potentially releasing their iPhone in China sent shares up close to 11% today. Related articles: CNN Money - China Unicom Executive:Considering Sale Of Apple's iPhone In China MarketWatch - China Mobile in talks with Apple on iPhone launch in China UPDATE: China's Unicom just announced a few minutes ago that they ... http://www.chafic.net/the-impact-of-the-chinese-market/ Just as a follow up to my previous post, AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, RIMM, and YHOO slumped even further today: Interesting how this two day slump has killed their month long upward rally: http://www.chafic.net/and-they-dont-rebound/ Many assumed the tech industry was immune to all the negative and worrisome news and happenings in the financial sector, but I guess there comes a time where it all has to catch up. Lets see what happens on Monday... http://www.chafic.net/it-finally-has-caught-up/