Market Talk

SAP agreeing to buy fellow software maker Sybase (SY) for $5.8 billion, prompts footnoted.org blogger Michelle Leder to sift through SY’s filings and look for any pre-merger signals.

Sure enough, a proxy last month reveals Sybase CEO John Chen would receive a post-deal payday of $30 million, with the bulk coming in stock options, restricted stock and stock appreciation rights. That number, which is based off SY’s closing price on Dec. 31 of $43.40, actually rises to $42M considering the premium SAP is paying, she calculates.

SAP will pay $65 for each Sybase share, a 56% premium on Tuesday’s closing price.

“Now, granted, Chen has been at Sybase for a long time, so while the number is a big one, it’s not nearly as offensive as some other deals we’ve seen where a newly installed CEO collects millions for a few months on the job,” Leder says. She also notes CFO Jeff Ross and three other executives will make $8 million each from the deal, compared to $5.7 million detailed in the proxy.

Sybase shares were recently up 14% at $64.27; SAP down 0.8% at $44.56.

- If Greece gets fixed, who’s next in line? “The hazard here is that countries, seeing the Greek precedent, refuse to take tough fiscal steps unless the path is sweetened by Germany and France,” Reuters blogger Felix Salmon says. “This isn’t the end of the euro crisis: it’s only the beginning.”

- New York Times posts decent quarterly results, at least by newspaper standards. MediaMemo blogger Peter Kafka gathers commentary from the earnings call about ad sales and pay walls.

- US trade gap widens more than expected. “Overall trade continues to increase, although both imports and exports are still below the pre-financial crisis levels,” Calculated Risk says.

- California’s debt problems makes PIIGs look miniature. “Perhaps the solution to California’s woes is for Arnold Schwarzenegger (who is from Austria) to join the EU,” Barry Ritholtz writes. “Then, they might qualify for a bailout from Germany.”

- Google says it’ll begin selling ultra-fast Internet access to consumers, a test that could threaten telecom companies’ grip and demonstrate new uses of the Web, WSJ says.

- Looking for robust growth in consumer spending? Last Friday’s report on consumer credit should give you pause, Atlanta Fed’s Macroblog says.

- Google Buzz proves exactly why Google originally wanted Yelp so badly, according to The Big Money.

- Footnoted plans to expand post-Morningstar deal.

- Populist outrage “will persist until economic conditions improve, labor markets in particular, and there is some sense that justice has prevailed,” Mark Thoma says.

- Coupons are back in fashion, which certainly says a lot about this economic recovery.

- Northeast was pounded by a blizzard that halted transportation, knocked out power, collapsed roofs and brought the federal government to a virtual standstill, WSJ reports.

- Germany’s considering a plan with its EU partners to offer Greece and other troubled euro zone members loan guarantees.

- Debt problems in Europe seem to be growing by the day. But Greece is tiny compared to the rest of Europe. So are Portugal and Ireland. Paul Krugman argues the problem is contained. But isn’t that the same thing they said about subprime in 2007?

- Barnes & Noble’s (BKS) Nook e-reader will finally be available in stores tomorrow, only about four months after original unveiling. “Better late than never. But not a lot better,” Peter Kafka says, as iPad has essentially redefined e-reader market. “It’s now Amazon’s Kindle vs Apple’s iPad.”

- Google’s (GOOG) new foray into social networking, dubbed Google Buzz, has pros and cons. Seems like a clean design, but “lacks any imagination,” Dan Frommer notes.

- Apple’s repudiation of Flash follows its same pattern with floppy drives in the first iMacs, John Paczkowski writes. “It’s a move that inevitably generates great controversy and criticism, but ultimately proves to be ahead of its time.”

- “If you want to understand Obamanomics one year out, look at the demand-side hole we’re still in, the gargantuan boomer deficit we’re heading for, and the mad-as-hell party these bad times have spawned,” former labor secretary Robert Reich says. “How Obama deals with all three will be the real economic test of his presidency.”

- EBay looks to users for help enhancing search. “It’s imperative that we have a deeper conversation with customers and buyers,” Christopher Payne, eBay VP of search, tells NYT’s Bits blog. “It’s fair to say it’s a cultural change at eBay.”

- Hiring won’t ramp up without demand. “No responsible business owner would incur additional debt to hire more workers – unless the company anticipates a major demand increase,” The Atlantic’s Daniel Indiviglio says. “I doubt that’s happening at many smaller firms right now.”

- Average length of time unemployed workers have been out of jobs is at an all-time high, NYT’s Economix blog notes.

- Morningstar buys financial blog Footnoted. Deal’s terms weren’t disclosed. “While I negotiated mightily for the keys to the Gulfstream, the corporate apartment in Paris, the company yacht, the lifetime consulting contract and, of course, a tax gross up — all crazy perks we’ve written about in various M&A deals — I came up empty handed,” Michelle Leder says. “That’s because Morningstar doesn’t believe in those sorts of things. Nor do I.”