| Maple Leafs turning to Cliff Fletcher?
Fletcher joined the Maple Leafs from Calgary in 1991 and had them in the Western Conference final two years later. Mats Sundin knows him and trusts him. This is a critical point. The upcoming Sundin trade – which the various factions understand must happen – needs to be done by a person who can convince the captain to waive his no-trade clause for the good of the franchise. It's nice that Sundin doesn't want to be seen as a rat leaving a sinking ship, but someone has to tell him that he's only hurting the franchise with his loyalty if the team cannot get something for its most valuable asset. Fletcher, who traded for the guy in 1994, is that man. Plus, if Sundin wants to come back as a free agent in the summer, Fletcher's assurance would mean something to him. Another reason Fletcher would be attractive to the Leafs' board is that he's available.
Stock Can't Hold Gains
Blue chips and tech stocks in New York went on a wild ride Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut rates for the second time in two weeks, rising sharply before pulling back late and closing lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went from down 74 points before the Fed decision to up more than 201 until sellers came in and ended the rally. At the close, the Dow was down 37.47 points, or 0.3%, to 12,442.83. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were similarly erratic, and their initial post-Fed gains were wiped out by the time trading wrapped up. The S&P fell 6.49 points, or 0.48%, to 1355.81, and the Nasdaq lost 9.06 points, or 0.38%, to 2349. Contributing to the downturn was news that Fitch Ratings downgraded bond insurer FGIC, taking its key triple-A insurer financial strength rating down to double-A.
Partial Eclipse: LDK Solar Highlights China Stocks' Risk
Xiaofeng "Light" Peng, a 32-year-old billionaire, was recently ranked as the sixth-richest person in China. He piled up much of his wealth in the past few months, as his New York Stock Exchange-listed solar-wafer manufacturer, LDK Solar Co., caught investors' fancy. Mr. Peng hit an investment sweet spot: Investors are clamoring not only for Chinese stocks, but also alternative-energy stocks amid soaring oil prices. .
Pakistani shares and currency drop sharply
Pakistani shares tumbled today and the currency hit a six-year low as trading in Karachi resumed after a three-day mourning period for the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated last week. The Karachi stock market fell up to 4.7 per cent, its biggest fall in 18 months as concerns grew that instability in the region would drive foreign funds to pull out of the country. The benchmark KSE 100 index fell to 14,071.92 by early afternoon as violent protests continued across the region in the wake of Ms Bhutto's murder. Shares of the country's leading companies, such as National Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan Petroleum, Lucky Cement and Pakistan Oilfields, were all down by about 5 per cent by early afternoon. .
Category: ERP
Between the Lines Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives SAP sees 1,000 SaaS subscribers by end of 2008 Posted in: General Software Infrastructure SaaS SAP ERP SAP said Wednesday it currently has 150 customers for its Business ByDesign software as a service offering and hopes to have 1,000 Web subscribers by the end of 2008. The target was outlined in SAP CEO's Henning Kagermann's fourth quarter earnings presentation. Kagermann added that SAP will accelerate its investments in Business ByDesign and offer new deployment options. SAP is still targeting 10,000 Business ByDesign customers by 2010 in what the company hopes will generate $1 billion in revenue. Among other key data points: SAP said it had more than 5,100 productive SAP ERP 6.0 customers and is adding 500 customers a month; Has 29,000 SAP NetWeaver systems in the field growing at a rate of 1,000 a month; Claimed further market share gains.
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