Facebook and Yahoo settle patent and form ad alliance

Yahoo had sued the social network in March claiming 10 of its intellectual properties had been infringed.

Facebook subsequently bought 750 patents from IBM and counter-sued. It later bought hundreds more patents from Microsoft to strengthen its defence.

The firms said they would now cross-license innovations from each other and collaborate on future projects.

Yahoo's u-turn

The AllThingsD blog - which broke the news ahead of the official announcement - reported that Yahoo's interim chief executive Ross Levinsohn had begun moves to resolve the dispute immediately after taking over from his ousted predecessor.

It added that Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg soon became involved in the resulting negotiations.

A press release quoted Mr Levinsohn as saying: "We are excited to develop a deeper partnership with Facebook, and I'm grateful to Sheryl and her team for working hard together with our team to develop this dynamic agreement... Combining the premium content and reach of Yahoo as the world's leading digital media company with Facebook provides branded advertisers with unmatched opportunity."

Ms Sandberg added: "Yahoo's new leaders are driven by a renewed focus on innovation and providing great products to users. Together, we can provide users with engaging social experiences while creating value for marketers."

Counting the cost

The move may help secure Yahoo's top job for Mr Levinsohn. He had been competing for the role against Hulu's boss Jason Kilar.

But, the video streaming service announced Mr Kilar had "graciously declined" to be considered for the role shortly after news of the patent agreement leaked.

Although no money appears to have exchanged hands, the row has still proven to be expensive.

Facebook had paid Microsoft $550m (£355m) to buy 650 patents and license a further 275. It has not disclosed the cost of its deal with IBM, although the tech site Cnet has suggested the sum was $83m.

Apple’s share price iRational?

THE new iPad, which was released on March 16th, is the most popular version of the tablet yet. Apple sold 3m of them in just four days. But some buyers took to discussion forums to report that it has a tendency to heat up. A similar debate exists about Apple’s stock.
The company’s share price has risen by 83% in the past year, and by almost 50% so far in 2012. Apple is now easily the largest company in the world by market capitalisation, at some $565 billion. It looms over Exxon Mobil, which is worth a mere $408 billion. Since the start of this year it has added $187 billion to its valuation, roughly equivalent to the entire market caps of companies like Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and Wells Fargo. Apple is larger than the American retail sector combined.
It accounts for 4.5% of the S&P 500 and 1.1% of the global equity market (see chart 1). Some bank analysts have started to report America’s corporate earnings without Apple, because including the firm so skews results. Fourth-quarter earnings are expected to have risen by 6.7% from the prior year for companies in the S&P 500, but by a much more modest 3.6% if Apple is excluded, according to UBS.
Around a third of all hedge funds own it, including big names like SAC Capital and Greenlight. Some have made very big bets. Citadel’s $5.1 billion stake in Apple (as of December 31st) accounted for around 12% of its equity portfolio. Many hedge funds that have done well in the past year owe much to this single position.
The stock’s gains this year have not only boosted the spirits of shareholders but also brightened the whole equity market. Apple is responsible for more than 10% of the S&P 500’s rise this year (see chart 2), and for 39% of the NASDAQ 100’s gains. No other stock has ever grown to have such a significant impact on an index so quickly, says Howard Silverblatt of Standard & Poor’s, a ratings agency.
The share price keeps soaring. On March 20th, a day after Apple announced it would use some of its cash hoard (estimated at $97.6 billion at the end of 2011) on a quarterly dividend and a $10 billion share buy-back, its shares closed at a record high of $605.96. This is the first time in 17 years that Apple will pay a dividend. Dividend funds, which had not considered investing in Apple before, could pile in, potentially pushing the price higher still.

Finance And IT: Creating Seamless Integration

How Symantec's CIO and CFO work together on the Verisign deal.
BURLINGAME, Calif. -- Symantec in May announced its $1.3 billion acquisition of Verisign's Web security unit. Nothing tests how well IT and corporate finance work together than an acquisition. Forbes Publisher Rich Karlgaard talked recently with the security software giant's CIO, David Thompson, and CFO, James Beer, to discuss their roles is in the integration. Video: Symantec Streamlining Verisign's Integration Article Controlsemailprintreprintnewslettercommentsshare Forbes: How do a CIO and a CFO work together for a seamless integration? Beer: We have been putting a lot of thought into the whole process of integration. Planning and mergers and acquisitions have been a regular part of the way in which Symantec ( SYMC - news - people ) has grown over the last decade or so. And so this is absolutely a key aspect of how we do business, how we develop the top line, how we develop the product portfolio. And again it's an example of how the two of us have very much got to be bolted together in terms of our thought process, the prioritization of resources. In order to get the integration accomplished as quickly as we can, one of the things we've learned in recent years has been the value of going more swiftly around M&A integration. Once the technology systems work has been accomplished, it's possible to accomplish the savings volume that you were originally looking for. This puts a lot of pressure on you, David, too. How do you look at acquisitions? Related StoriesThe 10 Youngest Power Men In AfricaStorage & Norton In Focus As Symantec Aims For $22Update: VeriSign Rally Extends As Rumor Mill Heats UpMarc Benioff's Five Leadership SecretsSymantec Heads to $20 with Antivirus And Storage ComboStoriesVideos Rate This StoryYour Rating Overall Rating Reader CommentsPost a Comment Thompson: Well, one of things we did is based on our learning's over the last few years is accelerate the integration. But we've created a cross-functional team where we've mapped out all the processes that we need to integrate. We've accelerated that process. And it makes our life much easier from an IT perspective when we've laid out the business integration plan and then we have an IT integration plan that falls within that. And that's been a great partnership between James and I in focusing on accelerating that time line, a cross-functional ownership of that plan and really driving it in our organizations. What advice would you have for other CIO/CFO teams when it comes to integration? Thompson: One thing that I would highlight as a key tip for integration is assigning team members that really have a background in integration and can work cross-functionally. James and I both have assigned resources to our integration team and planning teams that have been through multiple large corporations, small company integrations. And they understand the issues associated with that. And the impacts on the customers, impact on employees and impact on partners. And I think the key is finding resources that truly know how to work cross-functionally. It's one thing to assign a finance person that understands finance. But that person needs to understand impacts associated with other areas of the company. Same thing from an IT perspective. When I make a decision to consolidate a data center or change a technology I need to understand the impact to the business. And that integration discussion needs to be very cross-functional. That's where James and I have really worked hard on putting the right resources forward.

Computational finance

Generally, individuals who fill positions in computational finance are known as “quants”, referring to the quantitative skills necessary to perform the job. Specifically, knowledge of the C++ programming language, as well as of the mathematical subfields of stochastic calculus, multivariate calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, probability theory and statistical inference are often entry level requisites for such a position. C++ has become the dominant language for two main reasons: the computationally intensive nature of many algorithms, and the focus on libraries rather than applications. Computational finance was traditionally populated by Ph.Ds in finance, physics and mathematics who moved into the field from more pure, academic backgrounds (either directly from graduate school, or after teaching or research). However, as the actual use of computers has become essential to rapidly carrying out computational finance decisions, a background in computer programming has become useful, and hence many computer programmers enter the field either from Ph.D. programs or from other fields of software engineering. Specially with the advent of more complex computational machines, a knowledge of computer software and hardware has become a necessity. In recent years, advanced computational methods, such as neural network and evolutionary computation have opened new doors in computational finance. Practitioners of computational finance have come from the fields of signal processing and computational fluid dynamics and artificial intelligence. Masters level degree holders are also increasingly making their presence felt as more terminal programs become available at the leading schools; see Master of Computational Finance. Today, all full service institutional finance firms employ computational finance professionals in their banking and finance operations (as opposed to being ancillary information technology specialists), while there are many other boutique firms ranging from 20 or fewer employees to several thousand that specialize in quantitative trading alone. JPMorgan Chase & Co. was one of the first firms to create a large derivatives business and employ computational finance (including through the formation of RiskMetrics), while Renaissance Technologies, founded in 1982, is probably the oldest and most notable quant fund (along with D.E. Shaw & Co.).

• Covers all aspects of IT in Finance Shows a broad range of applications, e.g. in banking, insurance, trading and in non-financial companies

This Handbook contains surveys of state-of-the-art concepts, systems, applications, best practices as well as contemporary research in the intersection between IT and finance. Included are recent trends and challenges, IT systems and architectures in finance, essential developments and case studies on management information systems, service oriented architecture modelling, IT architectures for securities trading, IT-systems in banking, process-oriented systems in corporate treasuries, grid computing and networking. The IT applications in banking, trading and insurance cover risk management and controlling, financial portals, electronic payment and others. In addition, also finance-related IT applications in non-financial companies are considered. The concept-oriented part of the book focuses on IT methods in finance like financial models and modelling financial data, planning and processes, security, algorithms and complexity.

About IT-Finance

IT-Finance is a financial software development company based in France. We aim to provide the financial, brokerage and banking industries with cutting edge charting and front-end solutions.

Our developers are highly qualified and only apply the latest technologies. We cover the entire spectrum of charting software development including the handling of large real-time financial databases.

As of 2010, more than 500 000 investors from our top 30 corporate customers connect each month to our datacenters. This high quality feedback on the current and future concerns of our end users allows us to continuously improve our technology solutions.

Being so close to the market, our project managers are able to respond quickly to your requirements and needs.

Management

The IMF is led by a Managing Director, who is head of the staff and Chairman of the Executive Board. He is assisted by a First Deputy Managing Director and two other Deputy Managing Directors. The Management team oversees the work of the staff, and maintain high-level contacts with member governments, the media, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and other institutions.
Managing Director: Duties and selection
According to the IMF's Articles of Agreement, the Managing Director "shall be chief of the operating staff of the Fund and shall conduct, under the direction of the Executive Board, the ordinary business of the Fund. Subject to the general control of the Executive Board, he shall be responsible for the organization, appointment, and dismissal of the staff of the Fund."
The IMF's Executive Board is responsible for selecting the Managing Director. Any Executive Director may submit a nomination for the position, consistent with past practice. When more than one candidate is nominated, as has been the case in recent years, the Executive Board aims to reach a decision by consensus.