Archive for June, 2007
Gold, the Yen and subprime
30 June 2007Today’s post is a bit of a public service, as most techies will have little awareness (justifiably) about the “Yen carry trade”. But this short research summary from the RBC Capital Markets research teams (in both Toronto and Sydney) is a great primer. It reminds all of us how little we, as individuals, [...]
Bring the Love Back
29 June 2007This is a great commercial about advertiser/consumer disconnect. It was made by a Microsoft marketing manager with the help of an ad agency for Microsoft Digital Advertising Services. The video has been out for a month (saw it first time yesterday during a pitch to us). Check it out.
Friday interview with technology debt pro Mark Usher
29 June 2007To celebrate his first year with our firm, I thought it was timely to turn the tables on our own partner, Mark Usher. With 15 years of experience at The Royal Bank of Canada, Mark left his job as Vice-President of the RBC Ontario Knowledge-Based Industries Group to join our entrepreneurial firm. When [...]
LBO debt spreads widen, PE deals looking rocky
29 June 2007Not that most of us are in the market for billion dollar loans, but if you are, now is not the best time to be trying to get the perfectly priced deal, with few, if any, covenants:
- underwriters pulled a US$1.55 billion bond offering for U.S. Foodservice earlier this week, and they’ve also postponed plans [...]
No more RIM predictions
28 June 2007Take a deep breath and repeat after me: “no more predictions about RIM’s share price performance.” In the hours leading up to the launch of the Apple iPhone, RIM puts out the following quarterly numbers:
Revenue: US$1.08 billion
EPS: US$1.17
New adds: 1.2 million subscribers
This compares to GMP’s forecast of:
Revenue: US$1.058
EPS: US$1.13
New adds: 1.25 million net [...]