Alcoa Cuts 13% of Workforce; Best Buy to Sell Used iPhones; Jobs’ Statement Earns Apple Upgrade; India Exports Slowing Dramatically; Europe Inflation at 2-Year Low; U.S. Still Innovation Leader; Belarus to Secure IMF Aid

Alcoa Inc. (AA) said late yesterday (Tuesday) that it will cut 13% of its global workforce. The company will also sell four business units, cut output, freeze salaries and hiring efforts, MarketWatch reported. The measures will result in a fourth-quarter charge of $900 million to $950 million after tax, or $1.13 to $1.19 a share. Electronics retail Best Buy Co. (BBY) said it will sell used Apple Inc’s (AAPL) iPhone 3G -returned 30 days of ...

Borders Ousts CEO; Front Page Ads in New York Times; Steve Jobs Speaks, Apple Soars; U.K. Short Selling Ban Ending; Whitman’s Future; Oil Rises on MidEast Violence; Russia Cuts Gas Supplies to Europe

Borders Group, Inc. (BGP) ousted its Chief Executive George Jones and replaced him with outsider Ron Marshall, a Wildridge Capital Management executive whose primary experience is turning around ailing companies, Reuters reported. George had been Borders’ CEO for the past three years. The New York Times Co. (NYT) opened its front page to advertisers, a controversial move within journalism circles but also one that follows ...

Debt prices plummet, dollar gains… U.S. stocks fall on profit-taking but rise in Europe…  Dollar at 3-week high vs euro on hopes for stimulus plan… Oil gains as Gaza fighting raises Mideast supply worries.

News about a planned U.S. stimulus package helped pull investors into the dollar on Monday but U.S. Treasury prices slumped on fears a price bubble is about to pop in the face of a massive wave of fresh debt.

European equities advanced for the fifth session in a row, spurred by gains in shares of oil companies on the back of rising crude prices. U.S. stocks were mostly lower as investors took profits on the rally that was racked up in thin trading last week.

Oil prices hit a three-week high as Israel’s deepening incursion into Gaza and a Russian gas dispute heightened fears about supplies.

Prospects for a swelling supply of government debt

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Monday January 5, 2009 Navivest

Shares of Apple (AAPL) are up over 3% today, after the company’s CEO Steve Jobs issued a letter explaining his recent dramatic weight loss and that, at least for today, is reassuring investors.

According to the letter, the reason for the weight loss throughout 2008 has been diagnosed as being the effects of a hormonal imbalance that has been “robbing me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.” He has already started treatment for it and “will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.”

Apple’s stock tumbled late last month, after the company announced that Steve Jobs would not be delivering the keynote address at the 2009 Macworld this month as he has done for the past 11 years.

This prompted concerns that Steve Jobs was suffering a reoccurrence of the pancreatic cancer that he was diagnosed

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span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"MAC DEMAND CONCERNS:/spanbr /For past couple months, Wall Street’s concern du-jour for Apple has been Mac demand. No PC/consumer electronics firm is immune to this economic downturn, but many analysts believe there is substantial downside risk for Mac sales. Analysts claim the contracting economy is causing changes to the complexion of industry demand that could have further negative implications for the Mac segment. Specifically, the slowdown in consumer spending will cause industry demand to contract, and within the computer industry, demand will shift away from Mac to lower-priced PCs. This double-blow presents a considerable threat that Mac sales will come in way below expectations. Some argue the popularity of netbooks and other low-price PCs present a major challenge for Apple since Macs’ price points encompass the high-end of the spectrum. Thus, Apple lacks a low-price offering within the price range where demand has been and will continue ...

MacWorld started as a trade show for the MacIntosh computer and remained a computer show for many years. It is not run by Apple Inc. (AAPL) -- it is just about Apple.Apple has moved away from computers as its only business, and MacWorld has been declining in importance for many years.Without Apple and Steve Jobs at MacWorld the trade show becomes even less significant and, in my opinion, it will waste away much as COMDEX did.The real question is the health of Steve Jobs. Is the decision for him not to appear due to health reasons or because MacWorld is no longer significant? This is why AAPL stock declined on the news about MacWorld since the institutional money managers have been speculating about Job's health for some time.Apple is more than Steve Jobs. It is correct that he has been ...

Dollar plunges to 13-1/2 year trough vs yen, below 88… European, U.S. government debt touch fresh historic lows… Morgan Stanley’s, PNB Paribas’ losses lead stocks lower… Oil slips; OPEC’s record cut doesn’t offset demand slide

The dollar fell anew against the euro and yen while yields on U.S. and European government debt traded at or near historic lows on Wednesday, a day after the bold credit easing by the Federal Reserve to combat a worsening recession.

Oil prices dropped as much as $3 a barrel after dealers said a record supply cut by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would not be enough to counter slumping energy demand brought on by the global economic downturn.

Equity markets on either side of the Atlantic slid as the initial enthusiasm over the Fed’s surprisingly aggressive interest rate cut on Tuesday gave way to weak financial results at key banks and

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Apple Inc. (AAPL) caused a stir yesterday when the company made two announcements concerning the upcoming Macworld Expo.

First, Apple said it has no plans to continue its participation at the conference following this year. Secondly, they said the keynote address will be delivered by Senior VP Philip Schiller, and not  CEO Steve Jobs, whose annual appearance at the event has become legendary.

The move has ignited a firestorm of speculation about Jobs' future with Apple. Rumors about Jobs' health have run rampant since he appeared earlier this year looking less-than-healthy.

Whether or not Jobs' health is compromised, it seems plausible that the company is slowly rolling out a succession plan. In October, the company held a press event in Cupertino. During that presentation, Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook took the stage to introduce the new Apple notebook lines.Cook was notably dressed in Jobs' trademark jeans and black shirt.

Putting Schiller

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div style="text-align: justify;"Oppenheimer is out downgradingspan style="font-weight: bold;" Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)/span to Market Perform from Outperform span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"saying they don't know why Steve Jobs has pulled out of his annual address at Macworld on January 6. Maybe he's not feeling well, or maybe he just has nothing new to say/spanspan style="font-weight: bold;"./span Whatever the reason, the unexpected announcement has underscored the greatest risk to Apple's long-term success—its dependence on Jobs' health and its apparent lack of a succession plan.br /br /Six months have passed since Jobs appeared at the Apple Developer Conference, looking drawn and unwell. It's past time for Apple to either disclose the state of his health or elaborate a viable plan for eventually transferring power. Until such time, they can no longer continue to recommend Apple as a long-term investment. Downgrading to Perform; and removing $145 PT.br /br /span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"Notablecalls:/span ...

Apple Inc. (nasd:AAPL)- Analysts and the media have regularly cited slowing iPod sales as a major headwind for Apple shares. The iPod has been a major force in Apple’s total sales growth since it has been such a large percentage of Apple’s overall revenue. A common claim is that the iPod has been so successful, that everyone has one. A seemingly positive statement, some choose to take a negative point of view. For example, “ It’s not good for future growth because Apple is running out of new people to sell iPods to. Basically everyone who wants an iPod, already has one. While there will be sales resulting from the replacement cycle, it certainly won’t generate the magnitude of growth exhibited in the past. Therefore, iPod sales will significantly deteriorate.”Apple has sold almost 175M iPods, and imagine if Apple created a new iPod that motivated iPod ...