Best Buy 4th quarter loss narrows

NEW YORK (AP) ? Best Buy Co. lost less money in the fourth quarter as efforts by new CEO Hubert Joly to make the company more efficient showed glimmers of paying off.

The struggling electronics chain also said Friday that it did not receive a buyout bid from its co-founder Richard Schulze by the deadline Thursday, ending one question mark that had been hovering over the Minneapolis company.

The retailer's fourth-quarter results beat expectations, but Best Buy gave a cautious outlook on the first quarter because it is ramping up investments and the timing of some sales has changed from last year.

Best Buy has been working to turn around results as it faces tough competition from online retailers and discounters. The company has cut jobs, invested in training employees and started matching online prices. Results show that the changes are beginning to help.

U.S. revenue in stores open at least 14 months rose 0.9 percent, the best performance in 11 quarters, Joly pointed out in an interview with the AP.

"We have momentum building. We're at the beginning of a transformation taking hold," Joly said.

Results may give investors more faith in new management, including Joly, who joined the company in August, and CFO Sharon McCollam, who joined in December, said NBG Productions analyst Brian Sozzi.

He said Best Buy is showing "striking positives," including better-than-expected gross margin ? the percentage of each dollar in revenue a company actually keeps ? and an 11.2 percent increase in U.S. online sales.

"Every transaction online was essentially the equivalent of convincing groups of previously disenchanted customers that yes, Best Buy is finally price competitive," Sozzi said.

Earlier this week Minneapolis-based Best Buy announced 400 job cuts at its headquarters as part of a $725 million cost-cutting plan. On Friday the company said it expects to announce more job cuts later this year.

The company also said it plans $700 million to $800 million in capital spending and $150 million to $200 million in other expenses in fiscal 2014 as it invests in its business, mainly online and mobile channels. It plans to revamp Bestbuy.com by fiscal 2015.

"2014 is a year of transition," Joly said in a call with investors. "Further investment will be required to advance our 'Renew Blue' transformation"

Its loss after paying preferred dividends for the three months ended Feb. 2 totaled $409 million, or $1.21 per share, for the three months ended Feb. 2. That compares with a loss of $1.82 billion, or $5.17 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding restructuring and other costs, adjusted earnings came to $1.64 per share. Analysts expected $1.54 per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue was nearly flat at $16.71 billion, from $16.67 billion last year. Analysts expected $16.29 billion.

U.S. revenue in stores open at least 14 months rose 0.9 percent, helped by performance from Best Buy's standalone mobile stores. International revenue in stores open at least a year fell 6.6 percent due to weak results in Canada and China.

Best Buy also absorbed restructuring charges of $203 million related to closing stores and severance. It took an $822 million impairment charge to write off worse than expected results in Canada and China as well as $44 million in asset impairments.

"Renewed momentum in the domestic business more than offset continued softness in the International business," Joly said.

For the year, the loss totaled $249 million, or 73 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $1.32 billion, or $3.57 per share, the year before.

Revenue edged down less than 1 percent to $49.62 billion from $50.04 billion.

CFO Sharon McCollam said she expects first-quarter results to be "under significant pressure" because there will be a week less of sales compared with last year. Also, people buying TVs before the Super Bowl helped the company in the fourth quarter this year, compared with the first quarter last year. That helped net income by 14 cents per share in the fourth quarter.

The company is also making investments during the quarter in a price-matching program and revamping its websites.

Schulze, who founded the company in 1966 and is its largest shareholder by far with a 20 percent stake, had been considering a bid or selling his stake since resigning in June, following an investigation that led to the resignation of CEO Brian Dunn due to an inappropriate relationship with a female staffer.

Schulze had until Feb. 28 to make an offer for the company, but no offer materialized, Best Buy said Friday.

Shares rose 28 cents to $16.69 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $11.20 and $27.95 over the past 52 weeks.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/best-buy-4th-quarter-loss-narrows-132928771--finance.html

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Workstation design improvements for drone operators may reduce costs and mishaps, researchers suggest

Feb. 27, 2013 ? The U.S. Department of Defense reports that drone accidents in which personnel or aircraft are damaged or destroyed occur 50 times more often than mishaps involving human-operated aircraft. The U.S. Marines and Army reported 43 mishaps that involved human factors issues associated with drone ground control workstations and technology during 2006?2007.

Human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) researchers Qaisar Waraich, Thomas Mazzuchi, Shahram Sarkani, and David F. Rico suggest that multimillion-dollar drone losses might be prevented if long-established and broadly applied HF/E workstation design standards had been used in designing workstations used by ground controllers.

In their Ergonomics in Design article, "Minimizing Human Factors Mishaps in Unmanned Aircraft Systems," the authors propose applying long-established commercial computer workstation standards, particularly ANSI/HFES 100-2007 Human Factors Engineering of Computer Workstations, in the absence of more specific guidelines for drone ground control workstations or a federal agency that is responsible for setting workstation standards.

Waraich et al. interviewed 20 drone operators about their ground control workstations, finding up to 98% similarity between input/output devices used in ground control workstations and those used for general purposes. Therefore, results, the authors posit that standards that have been used to improve general-purpose workstations could have the same result for drone operators' workstations. The researchers included UAS designers with the U.S. Navy, systems engineering researchers from George Washington University, and engineers from top airframe manufacturers.

Application of design guidelines from ANSI/HFES 2007-100 might have prevented the awkward placement of a landing gear button and the subsequent loss of a $1.5-million drone in 2006. Similarly, had design guidelines been applied for reducing glare from a computer screen, a drone operator might not have mistakenly shut off engines midair, resulting in the loss of a $4.34 million drone.

"The application of this standard could help to ensure that operator workstation equipment and layouts have been designed with human compatibility considerations," says Waraich. "Commercial computer workstation standards provide quantitative parameters based on empirical data and well-established HF/E engineering practices."

Drones have been, and will continue to be, used in a broad range of applications, including police surveillance and natural disaster research, and ground control workstation designers can benefit from incorporating HF/E principles and standards.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/technology/~3/yMTGHkiqGvA/130227162018.htm

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Freddie Mac posts $4.5B net income for Q4

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Mortgage giant Freddie Mac earned $4.5 billion from October through December, its fifth straight profitable quarter. The government-controlled company credited fewer delinquencies on home loans and rising home prices for the gains.

Freddie said Thursday that it paid a dividend of $1.8 billion to the U.S. Treasury and requested no additional federal aid.

The earnings compared with net income of $619 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The government rescued Freddie and larger sibling Fannie Mae during the financial crisis after both incurred massive losses on risky mortgages. Taxpayers have spent about $170 billion to rescue Freddie and larger sibling Fannie Mae, the costliest bailout of the crisis. So far, the companies have repaid a combined $52.3 billion.

Under a federal policy adopted last summer, Fannie and Freddie must turn over their quarterly profits to the government. The change was made to ensure they pay the government back.

"It's clear from our earnings that the housing market has turned a corner and that our work to minimize (mortgage) losses ... is paying off," Freddie CEO Donald Layton said in a statement.

For all of 2012, Freddie had net income of $11 billion, compared with a net loss of $5.3 billion in 2011.

Freddie, based in McLean, Va., requested no government aid in the second and third quarters last year, after asking for $19 million in the first quarter. The company received $7.6 billion for all of 2011 and $13 billion for all of 2010.

Freddie and Washington-based Fannie own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, or nearly 31 million home loans. Those loans are worth more than $5 trillion. Along with other federal agencies, they back roughly 90 percent of new mortgages.

The housing market has started to recover more than five years after the bubble burst. Home sales are up from a year ago, helped by a limited supply and record-low mortgage rates. Builders are more confident and have started to construct more homes. And home prices are showing consistent gains.

A measure of the number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes rose in January from December to the highest level in more than 2? years, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. The increase suggests that sales of previously occupied homes will continue rising in the coming months.

Sales of previously occupied homes ticked up in January after rising to their highest level in five years in 2012. And new-home sales jumped 16 percent last month from December to the highest level since July 2008, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Home prices, meanwhile, rose by the most in more than six years in the 12 months ending in December.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-28-Earns-Freddie%20Mac/id-eb896599f32247478f10736d83376239

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Strange sight on college basketball court: sleeves

This undated image provided by Adidas shows models wearing new college basketball uniforms for, from left, Cincinnati, Kansas, Notre Dame, Baylor, UCLA and Louisville. (AP Photo/Adidas)

This undated image provided by Adidas shows models wearing new college basketball uniforms for, from left, Cincinnati, Kansas, Notre Dame, Baylor, UCLA and Louisville. (AP Photo/Adidas)

CINCINNATI (AP) ? Tradition-rich UCLA and Louisville are taking on an unconventional look for college basketball's postseason: sleeves.

Adidas unveiled its new brightly colored, camouflage-patterned uniforms for six men's teams Thursday. Kansas, Notre Dame and Cincinnati will also sport the multihued shorts but will stick with sleeveless jerseys. Baylor will join the Bruins and Cardinals in wearing the short-sleeved top, which the company debuted with the NBA's Golden State Warriors earlier this month.

Alternate uniforms have become big business in college sports, from Oregon's fluorescent tones with Nike to Maryland's loud designs with Under Armour.

No. 6 Kansas, No. 10 Louisville and No. 21 Notre Dame are currently ranked in the AP Top 25. UCLA, Cincinnati and Baylor might need a few more wins to guarantee they'll be playing in the NCAA tournament.

The second-ranked Notre Dame women and No. 16 Louisville will also wear the gear.

The teams will start using the uniforms for conference tournaments.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-28-Unique%20Uniforms/id-861e86e86edc4060a0fd6b6686ab07f7

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Pro-Assad Hackers Take Over AFP's Twitter with Syrian Propaganda Photos

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida (Reuters) - American Keegan Bradley says he is sick of being called a 'cheat' by fans for using a long putter, as the controversy intensifies over the rules on anchoring the shortest club in the bag. Bradley was the first player to win a major using a belly putter, at the 2011 U.S. PGA Championship, but has since been followed by fellow countryman Webb Simpson at last year's U.S. Open and South African Ernie Els at the 2012 British Open. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pro-assad-hackers-over-afps-twitter-syrian-propaganda-182741169.html

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Gov. Jindal says president's budget warnings are scare tactics

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 2. Matt Kuchar $1,987,000 3. Hunter Mahan $1,412,965 4. John Merrick $1,296,014 5. Phil Mickelson $1,232,760 6. Dustin Johnson $1,200,125 7. Tiger Woods $1,144,000 8. Russell Henley $1,129,080 9. Brian Gay $1,089,181 10. Charles Howell III $1,087,944 11. Jason Day $1,009,164 12. Chris Kirk $990,013 13. Steve Stricker $940,000 14. Josh Teater $870,934 15. Bill Haas $816,300 16. Jimmy Walker $812,620 17. Scott Piercy $789,592 18. Charlie Beljan $785,800 19. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/bobby-jindal-president-obama-trying-scare-american-public-121528606.html

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Novel combination therapy shuts down escape route, killing glioblastoma tumor cells

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Glioblastoma, the most common and lethal form of brain tumor in adults, is challenging to treat because the tumors rapidly become resistant to therapy. As cancer researchers are learning more about the causes of tumor cell growth and drug resistance, they are discovering molecular pathways that might lead to new targeted therapies to potentially treat this deadly cancer.

Scientists at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in San Diego worked collaboratively across the laboratories of Drs. Paul Mischel, Web Cavenee and Frank Furnari to investigate one such molecular pathway called the mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR. This signaling pathway is hyperactivated in close to 90 percent of glioblastomas and plays a critical role in regulating tumor growth and survival. Therapies that inhibit mTOR signaling are under investigation as drug development targets, but results to date have been disappointing: mTOR inhibitors halt the growth, but fail to kill the tumor cells.

A study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences uncovers an unexpected, but important molecular mechanism of mTOR inhibitor resistance and identifies a novel drug combination that reverses this resistance.

The story begins with a closer look at a gene-encoded protein called promyleocytic leukemia gene or PML. The study investigators explored the role of PML in causing resistance to mTOR inhibitor treatment. They found that when glioblastoma patients are treated with drugs that target the mTOR pathway, the levels of PML rise dramatically. Further, they showed that PML upregulation made the tumor cells resistant to mTOR inhibitors, and that if they suppressed the ability of the tumor cells to upregulate the PML protein, the tumor cells died in response to the mTOR inhibitor therapy.

"When we looked at cells in in vivo models and patients treated in the clinic, it became clear that the glioblastoma cells massively regulated PML enabling them to escape the effects of mTOR inhibitor therapy," reported senior author Paul Mischel, MD, Ludwig Institute member based at the University of California at San Diego.

"Our team hypothesized that if we could use a pharmacological approach to get rid of PML and combine it with an mTOR inhibitor, it could change the response from halting growth to cell death. The question was how?" added Mischel.

Previous research had shown that the use of low-dose arsenic could cause degradation of the PML protein in patients with leukemia. The team hypothesized that if arsenic could degrade PML, it may reverse resistance to mTOR inhibitors. The combination of mTOR and low-dose arsenic in mice indeed showed a synergistic effect, with massive tumor cell death along with very significant shrinkage of the tumor in mice with no ill side effects.

"Current therapy upregulates PML, turning off the mTOR signaling pathway. The tumor cells hide, waiting for the target signal to return," said Mischel. "When low-dose arsenic is added, not only does it stop the cell from returning, it shuts down the escape route killing the tumor cell."

These results present the first clinical evidence that mTOR inhibition promotes PML upregulation in mice and patients, and that it mediates drug resistance. The clinical relevance was confirmed when researchers looked at before- and after-treatment tissue samples from patients treated with mTOR inhibitors, confirming that PML goes up significantly in post treatment of mTOR inhibitors.

"These data suggest a new approach for potential treatment of glioblastoma," said Mischel. "We are moving forward to test that possibility in people."

Post-doctoral students Akio Iwanami and Beatrice Gini from the Mischel lab, as well as Ciro Zanca from the Furnari/Cavenee lab also contributed significantly to this paper.

This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Uehara Memorial Foundation, three NIH grants: NS73831, CA 119347 and P01-CA95616, the Ziering Family Foundation in Memory of Sigi Ziering and the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

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Journal Reference:

1. A. Iwanami, B. Gini, C. Zanca, T. Matsutani, A. Assuncao, A. Nael, J. Dang, H. Yang, S. Zhu, J. Kohyama, I. Kitabayashi, W. K. Cavenee, T. F. Cloughesy, F. B. Furnari, M. Nakamura, Y. Toyama, H. Okano, P. S. Mischel. PML mediates glioblastoma resistance to mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-targeted therapies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1217602110

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/BY1dFrC_5v8/130226135525.htm

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