Yahoo Q3 revenue, profit slip


Yahoo shares gained roughly 3 percent to $15.98 in after hours trading on Tuesday.Profit in the third-quarter totaled $293 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with net income of $396 million, or $29 per share, in the year-ago period. It was not immediately clear whether Yahoo’s third-quarter EPS was comparable with the 17 cents a share expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Yahoo’s net revenue — which excludes fees paid to partner websites — was $1.07 billion, compared with $1.12 billion at this time last year, and in line with Wall Street expectations.The Sunnyvale, Ca-based Internet icon, which has struggled to revive its online advertising business, said it agreed to extend the revenue per search guarantee in its deal with Microsoft Corp through March 2013. The extension applies only to the United States and Canada, however.Yahoo said it remains fully committed to the success of the search alliance and that the extension represents an “important sign of that commitment.”Microsoft, which offered to acquire Yahoo for $47.5 billion a few years ago, is weighing making another run at buying the company, either by itself or in partnership with others.In an interview with Reuters, Yahoo interim-CEO Tim Morse said premium display advertising sales were on target for the third quarter, but that non-premium ad sales has a bit of an “underrun.” Morse added that, on a year-over-year basis premium display, ads sales were up less than 5 percent and non-premium ad sales were down by a similar amount.Morse declined to provide an update on Yahoo’s CEO search, saying only that “the board process was underway.”The company has retained investment banking firm Allen & Co to help conduct a “strategic review” of its business.For the fourth-quarter, Yahoo projected net revenue of $1.125 billion to $1.235 billion, compared with $1.22 billion expected by analysts.

UPDATE 2-Canada to support Wheat Board into transition


By Rod NickelWINNIPEG, Manitoba, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Ottawa will support the Canadian Wheat Board for up to five years after it dismantles the board’s 69-year-old grain marketing monopoly, a senior government source said on Monday.The federal government plans to introduce legislation on Tuesday to remove the Wheat Board’s monopoly over Western Canada’s wheat and barley for milling and export.The Conservative government intends to pass the legislation by the end of 2011 and move to an open market system on Aug. 1, 2012.Ottawa is willing to help the board survive in an open market and wants the board to wean itself off public support well ahead of the maximum five-year period, the senior government source said, adding that the government will outline details of its plans in the new legislation.”Western Canadian wheat and barley farmers can better drive our economy and create jobs if they have marketing freedom, whether that’s through a voluntary Canadian Wheat Board or on an open market,” according to the source.”To do that, it’s expected that the legislation will allow the government to support the Wheat Board’s transition for up to five years, when they will be expected to transition to full private ownership.”Financial assistance seems likely to be included in the government’s support plan, and the Wheat Board called earlier in the day for start-up capital and a reserve fund worth a total of C$425 million ($417 million).The CWB also wants regulated access to grain-handling elevators and port terminals, since it owns none, and continued government guarantees of its borrowings.Viterra Inc , Richardson International Ltd and Cargill Incown the largest networks of grain-handling elevators and port terminals in Western Canada.A spokesman for Richardson, the second-biggest grain handler, said in summer that it would be willing to work with the Wheat Board in an open market, but doesn’t want to see the CWB gain a government-granted advantage.There are also a number of smaller grain handlers and marketers — some of whom don’t own facilities — who like the CWB would welcome regulated access to elevators and terminals in what is likely to become a fierce battle for market share among existing and new, multinational players.Canada is the world’s biggest exporter of spring wheat, durum and malting barley.

Nikkei to slip from 6-week high on euro reality check


Wall Street shares fell on Monday after Germany said that a summit of EU leaders next Sunday would not produce a miracle cure for the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis.”Although markets were not expecting the debt crisis to be resolved overnight, shares prices are likely to succumb to profit-taking after the rally,” said Hiroichi Nishi, equity general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities.On Monday, the Nikkei added 1.5 percent to 8,879.60, its highest finish since Sept. 2, while the broader Topix index gained 1.8 percent to 761.88. Turnover for the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s main board, however, was its lowest since late December.Market players said the Nikkei was likely to trade between 8,700 and 8,850 on Tuesday.Nikkei futures in Chicago closed at 8,795, down 105 points from the Osaka close.Investors, who have scooped up exporters such as Sony during the market’s rally in the past week, may shift back to domestic-demand oriented firms, Nishi said.———————————MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2252 GMT ——————INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1200.86 -1.94% -23.720 USD/JPY 76.86 0.04% 0.030 10-YR US TSY YLD 2.155 — -0.096 SPOT GOLD 1671.46 0.03% 0.560 US CRUDE 86.27 -0.13% -0.110 DOW JONES 11397.00 -2.13% -247.49 ——————————————————————————————-> Germany’s caution on debt plan sinks Wall St > Euro sags as Germany undercuts hope on crisis plan > Prices rise as Germany cools euro-zone hopes > Gold falls with riskier assets on Europe worries > Oil falls as Germany dampens hope for debt planSTOCKS TO WATCH— OlympusOlympus told investors on Monday that it may take legal action against ousted Chief Executive Michael Woodford, accusing him of disclosing confidential information in media interviews where he discussed alleged improper M&A payments.— NTT DoCoMo IncNTT DoCoMo Inc will raise its smartphone sales outlook for the current fiscal by more than 2 million units to about 8 million as it gains from strong demand for the devices, the Nikkei business daily said.— Tokyo ElectricTokyo Electric Power Co is looking to request around 700 billion yen ($9.12 billion) in financial aid from a government-backed institution set up to support nuclear disaster compensation, the Nikkei said.— Honda , other Thai floods victimsHonda decided to cut production in Malaysia due to disruption in parts supplies as its factory in Thailand suffered from flooding, Nikkei reported on Tuesday.At least 300 Japanese companies have been affected by flooding in Thailand and it could be months before all are fully up and running again, the Japan External Trade Organisation’s (JETRO) Thailand head said on Monday.

Spain to explore two natural gas wells - reports


Lopez said there were potentially 180 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the deposits in the area south of Alava — enough to meet Spain’s demand for five years — and that two wells would be drilled to see if extraction was technically and economically viable, the papers reported.Spain imports almost 100 percent of its gas and oil supply.The Basque government will invest 40 million euros in the project while the two privately held U.S. companies, Heyco Energy and Cambria Europe, will invest 60 percent, the newspapers reported.The government will own 42.8 percent of the project, Heyco 21.8 percent and Cambria Europe 35.3 percent, the reports said.Basque government officials and representatives of Heyco and Cambria were not immediately available for comment.

Argentina set for wheat windfall


Not everyone is upset about the 50 percent surge in wheat prices over the past month. Wheat’s rise to 2-year highs was caused first by heavy rains in Canada and now by a Russian export ban that was triggered by its worst drought in decades. There are floods in Pakistan, another major wheat grower. But while the wheat market shenanigans are triggering much hand-wringing across developing nations, Argentina, one of the world’s top seven wheat exporters, may be set for a windfall. Farmers there are increasing wheat plantings, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange says. The South American country is expected to export around 8 million tonnes of wheat in the 2010-2011 year. With wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade at around $8 a bushel, a very simple calculation shows export revenues are going to very significant. Investors are taking note. RBC analysts are advising their clients to buy the Argentine peso against the dollar. The peso is trading at 3.933 at present but currency forwards markets are pricing in a 2.1 percent fall in the peso’s value over the next three months. RBC reckons they could be wrong and sees “very strong grain commodity prices supporting higher FX export inflows.”  That it hopes, will keep the peso stable to the dollar. Buying the peso now would mean a 2.1 percent gain over 3 months or almost 9 percent in annual terms. Nick Chamie, strategist at RBC, now expects Argentina’s economy to grow 6.5 percent this year — more than the 5 percent he originally predicted. He points out the stronger wheat price has had a knock-on effect on other grains – prices for soy and corn, of which Argentina is a top exporter, are up 11-13 percent over past month. Arentina has a bad reputation with investors — it defaulted on $100 billion in debt in 2002, a record for any sovereign. It only recently finished restructuring defaulted debt and is hoping to come back to bond markets soon. The grain price bonanza could make its job easier. Strong grain export revenues have already boosted central bank coffers to a record $51 billion. Chamie thinks Buenos Aires could possibly issue a bond soon, global markets permitting. Its brimming coffers mean it can hold out for a yield closer to 9 percent rather than the 10 percent it was targeting earlier this year he reckons, adding: “Important will be how long the wheat price surge lasts .”