- Deal-making has been coming back, with another spate of deals and potential deals announced yesterday, but with one notable difference, John Curran writes at Time’s Curious Capitalist blog. “The big difference is, this merger-fest probably won’t result in higher stock prices.”
- “The Fed may need to do something to shock markets into believing that it is serious about reversing the decline in (inflation) expectations,” Ryan Avent notes at The Economist’s Free Exchange blog. “Without a firm commitment to an eye-popping number, markets may simply believe that the Fed will pull the plug on the purchases before the job is done — a belief that will undermine the impact of the purchases.”
- “What’s the bear case on QE2?” ponders Minyanville’s Todd Harrison. “Think Rocky Balboa at the end of the first movie; there ain’t gonna be no rematch, and there ain’t gonna be no QE3,” Harrison notes. “That’s the risk for policymakers. It’s the next to last bullet (and you know where the last one is pointed).”
- Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) maintains “emulating Apple is not part of our strategy,” but it wouldn’t hurt H-P to focus on excellence in user experience, Digital Daily blogger John Paczkowski says. “Because if it nails that and then ‘doubles down’ on webOS as promised, we could see some very interesting things coming out of H-P in the months ahead.”
- Apple shares dropped as much as 5.6% Tuesday before closing down 1.5%. Rumors swirled in the morning that Apple COO Tim Cook could become the new Hewlett-Packard chief. But that rumor was quickly dismissed.
- CNet’s Software Interrupted blog points out that Google (GOOG) has acquired 23 companies so far this year, compared with none for Microsoft (MSFT). That means MSFT, already fighting what many consider a losing battle in search, is also losing out in top start-up technologies like mobile and social networking, as well as foregoing some of the best talent available.
- To the delight of nerds across the country, it turns out that Apple’s (AAPL) new Apple TV can be hacked just like an iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, a popular group of hackers announced last night on their blog. The group, known as the “Dev-Team,” have for the past few years been finding ways to run unauthorized software on AAPL’s popular mobile devices.
- The churn among Yahoo’s (YHOO) executive ranks continues, as Jimmy Pitaro, VP of Media, is expected to leave the company soon, reports All Things D blogger Kara Swisher. “Adding Pitaro to the pile will only increase pressure on [CEO Carol] Bartz…to show investors that Yahoo has a clear plan amidst the executive turmoil.”
- AOL goes on a spending spree, scooping up TechCrunch, one of the most influential blogs in Silicon Valley, as well as Web video-syndication company 5min Media.
- Two wins later, Jason Gay says its time for NY Jets QB Mark Sanchez to give up his blanky.
