Oracle's software sales disappoint, stock plummets

By Noel Randewich and Jim Finkle

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oracle Corp missed expectations for software sales and subscriptions for the second straight quarter, sending its shares plunging as investors worried CEO Larry Ellison may have trouble getting the technology giant back on track.

On Thursday, Oracle executives forecast that new software sales and subscriptions will rise 0 percent to 8 percent this quarter and blamed weakness in the past quarter on disappointing sales in Asia and Latin America.

Oracle, which is trying to fend off Salesforce.com and other increasingly aggressive rivals focused on providing software over the cloud or Internet, plans to move its stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange in July from the Nasdaq, a major win for the older bourse.

Executives said the move was in shareholders' best interests, without elaborating. Oracle also said it would double its quarterly dividend to 12 cents a share.

"Organic growth is slowing and the company has a lot of pressures it has to deal with. They're late to the cloud and playing catch-up," said Mark Moerdler, an analyst at Bernstein. "Doubling the dividend - they're trying to deliver a message that their ability to deliver significantly more cash to investors is going to continue."

Overall, Oracle's revenue stood unchanged at $10.9 billion in the period, the company's fiscal fourth quarter, ended May 31. That missed the $11.122 billion analysts had expected on average, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

More closely watched revenue from new software sales and Internet-based software subscriptions rose 1 percent to $4 billion, short of an average forecast of about $4.2 billion, according to FBR Capital analyst Daniel Ives.

Shares of the software company fell more than 8 percent to $30.46 after hours, after closing down 2.6 percent at $33.21 on the Nasdaq.

"This is just really bad," said Kim Forrest, a senior analyst with Fort Pitt Capital Group. "I don't really trust after-hour trading to accurately reflect what the stock will do the next day. But it shows you how frustrated shareholders are right now."

Most analysts recommend buying shares of Oracle, according to StarMine Professional, with many expecting a pickup in performance as the global economy improves and corporate customers become more willing to spend on IT.

Others say the 36-year-old tech company's era of fast growth and lofty margins, when it could dictate prices because of its premier market position, may be waning.

Smaller, aggressive companies are offering competitive products at prices that often undercut Oracle, whose strategy is to integrate cloud software with its own hardware for greater efficiency.

BY THE NUMBERS

Investors scrutinize new software sales because they generate high-margin, long-term maintenance contracts and are an important indicator of future profit. The company had forecast a 1 percent to 11 percent rise in new software license and cloud subscription revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter.

Ellison blamed Oracle's performance on the poor global economic environment. "It was clearly an economic issue, not a product, competitive issue," he told analysts on a conference call.

Chief Financial Officer Safra Catz said deals Oracle missed in the fourth quarter did not go to competitors, but instead were put off or shrank from their original sizes. She previously blamed Oracle's rapidly expanding salesforce for a severe miss in software sales in the third quarter.

Net profit for the fourth quarter rose 10 percent to $3.8 billion, or 80 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, Oracle earned 87 cents per share.

Revenue from Oracle's hardware division, which it acquired through the $5.6 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems in 2010, fell 13 percent to $849 million.

Oracle had forecast that hardware product revenue for the May quarter would fall between 12 percent and 22 percent.

The division's revenue has fallen every quarter since Oracle closed the Sun deal, but Ellison said in December he expected hardware systems revenue to start growing in the May quarter.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Phil Berlowitz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oracles-software-sales-edge-1-percent-200931540.html

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National Beef Recall: E. Coli Possibly Contaminated 22,000 Pounds Of Ground Meat, USDA Says

More than 22,000 pounds of beef are feared contaminated with E. coli, the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Tuesday.

A recall spanning at least 13 states concerns 22,737 pounds of ground beef packaged by National Beef Packing Co. of Liberal, Kan., and affects 10-pound packages of the following products:

? ?National Beef? 80/20 Coarse Ground Chuck, package code ?0481.?
? ?National Beef? 81/19 Coarse Ground Beef, package code ?0421.?
? ?National Beef? 80/20 Fine Ground Chuck, package code ?0484.?

The packages of ground meat have a use/sell by date of June 14, 2013, and bear the establishment number ?EST. 208A? inside the USDA mark of inspection, according to a press release by the FSIS. The beef was produced on May 25, 2013, and shipped to retail establishments in Texas, Tennessee, Kansas, Mississippi, Illinois, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Arizona.

There is concern that some contaminated products may have been frozen and stored in consumers' freezers.

The recall resulted from routine FSIS inspection. No cases of illness associated with these products have yet been reported.

E. coli are potentially deadly bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors and persons with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illnesses.

The FSIS advises consumers are advised to fully cook their meat so that its internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit, as it is the only way to ensure that harmful bacteria are killed.

Last year, a massive recall of more than 890,000 pounds of beef from Canada ended up affecting 30 states in the U.S., eventually extending to 1,500 types of products representing one third of the total Canadian beef supply. Between four an 22 incidences of illness stemming from the tainted beef were reported, all in Canada.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/national-beef-recall-e-coli_n_3473287.html

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Some of Tony Soprano's memorable lines

FILE - This undated publicity image released by HBO shows, from left, Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt, James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli and Vicint Pastore,from the HBO drama series "The Sopranos." HBO and the managers for Gandolfini say the actor died Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Italy. He was 51. (AP Photo/HBO, Anthony Neste, file)

FILE - This undated publicity image released by HBO shows, from left, Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt, James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli and Vicint Pastore,from the HBO drama series "The Sopranos." HBO and the managers for Gandolfini say the actor died Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Italy. He was 51. (AP Photo/HBO, Anthony Neste, file)

FILE - This 1999 file photo released by HBO shows actor James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano in the critically acclaimed HBO series "The Sopranos." HBO and the managers for Gandolfini say the actor died Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Italy. He was 51. (AP Photo/HBO, Anthony Nesta, file)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Some memorable lines spoken by the late James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano in "The Sopranos":

?"You know my feelings: Every day is a gift. It's just, does it have to be a pair of socks?"

?"What kind of (expletive) human being am I, if my own mother wants me dead?"

?About his father: "The belt was his favorite childhood development tool."

?"Nothing beats popping up some Orville Redenbachers and listening to 'Men in Black.'"

?"Nowadays, everybody's gotta go to shrinks and counselors, and go on 'Sally Jessy Raphael' and talk about their problems. What happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type."

?"I gotta be honest with you. I'm not getting any satisfaction from my work."

?"I'm like King Midas in reverse. Everything I touch turns to (expletive)."

?"You got any idea what my life would be worth if certain people found out I checked into a laughing academy?"

?"When you're married, you'll understand the importance of fresh produce."

?"It wasn't like it was friggin' Cobain. It was just a little suicidal gesture, that's all."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-20-Obit-Gandolfini-Soprano%20Quotes/id-1b687d679463465792b45eb7f24f4b03

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Super full moon shines brightly this weekend

FILE - In this Saturday, May 5, 2012 file photo, a "supermoon" rises behind the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, Greece, southeast of Athens. The phenomenon occurs when the moon passes closer to Earth than usual. The event on Sunday, June 23, 2013 will make the moon appear 14 percent larger than normal, but the difference is so small that most skywatchers won?t notice. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis)

FILE - In this Saturday, May 5, 2012 file photo, a "supermoon" rises behind the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, Greece, southeast of Athens. The phenomenon occurs when the moon passes closer to Earth than usual. The event on Sunday, June 23, 2013 will make the moon appear 14 percent larger than normal, but the difference is so small that most skywatchers won?t notice. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A "supermoon" rises this weekend.

The biggest and brightest full moon of the year graces the sky early Sunday as our celestial neighbor swings closer to Earth than usual.

While the moon will appear 14 percent larger normal, skywatchers won't be able to notice the difference with the naked eye. Still, astronomers say it's worth looking up and appreciating the cosmos.

"It gets people out there looking at the moon, and might make a few more people aware that there's interesting stuff going on in the night sky," Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory said in an email.

Some viewers may think the supermoon looks more dazzling but it's actually an optical illusion. The moon looms larger on the horizon next to trees and buildings.

The moon will come within 222,000 miles of Earth and turn full around 7:30 a.m. EDT, making it the best time to view.

As in any supermoon event, high tides are forecast because of the moon's proximity, but the effect is expected to be small.

Forget about the myths that swirl every time a supermoon appears. There's no link to higher crime or bizarre behavior. Scientists say that's just lunacy.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-06-21-Supermoon/id-ebe39b7488744be1b58ef9646fa26153

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Coast Guard: South Florida relatives fueling Haitian migrant smuggling

Family members in South Florida are possibly behind a dangerous new trend in the Caribbean: the smuggling of undocumented Haitian immigrants from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, a senior Coast Guard official said Wednesday.

?The new thing that?s happening is in the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and it?s being fueled, we think, by money from relatives probably, almost assuredly up here in South Florida,? said Rear Adm. William D. Baumgartner, commander of the Seventh U.S. Coast Guard District in Miami.

?In February they started smuggling Haitians and the [migrant smugglers] are charging $1,500 to $2,000 a person, again probably being paid for by relatives up here.?

The trend was first mentioned by Coast Guard officials earlier this year, but Baumgartner?s statements Wednesday were the first to directly link the smuggling to possible payments to Dominican migrant smugglers by Haitian family members in South Florida.

Baumgartner spoke during an hour-long presentation at The Miami Herald editorial board. He also spoke about Cuban migrants, noting the Coast Guard has seen no evidence of an exodus by sea, and about his imminent retirement after 33 years in the service. His first Coast Guard patrol was in the Florida Straits as an ensign on the cutter Dependable in 1980 when he was 21. Baumgartner, now 54, retires next Wednesday.

Baumgartner?s goal was to publicize the dangers of the new Haitian migrant route and by doing so trying to deter family members here to stop paying smugglers to get their loved ones to the United States.

?The [migrants] are going in homemade open boats that can have anywhere from 30 to 100 migrants stuffed in them and they?re highly unstable and they capsize easily,? he said. ?We are worried that it?s only a matter of time before we lose dozens of lives. The seas are fairly rough in the Mona Passage. When these boats slow down to approach the shoreline they tend to lose control.?

Baumgartner said Coast Guard officials have seen between 900 and 1,000 Haitian migrants attempting to cross the Mona Passage since Feb. 1. That?s a dramatic increase in such crossings; in the prior eight years, the Coast Guard detected only 188 Haitians in the passage.

Baumgartner said smugglers involved in the criminal enterprise are ruthless.

?They have no concern about the people that they?re smuggling,? said Baumgartner. ?And we?ve already see them force people into the water and tell them to swim to shore and many of them don?t swim. If they think they?re going to get caught they?ll throw migrants into the water.?

Haitians began using the Mona Passage route after they realized that getting to South Florida on a boat from Haiti is now extremely difficult because of improved Coast Guard patrolling.

Reinforced patrolling also has cut down on the number of undocumented Cuban migrants trying to reach South Florida directly from Cuba via the Florida Straits, he said.

Coast Guard figures show 705 Cuban migrants interdicted in the Florida Straits since Oct. 1, compared to 937 for the same period last year.

The bulk of undocumented Cuban migrants is coming across the Mexican border.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/19/3460364/coast-guard-south-florida-relatives.html

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Soprano paved the way for today's antiheroes

TV

Ree Hines TODAY contributor

3 hours ago

Showtime / AMC

Michael C. Hall as Dexter on "Dexter," Bryan Cranston as Walter White on "Breaking Bad," and Jon Hamm as Don Draper on "Mad Men."

When "The Sopranos" hit the small screen in 1999, there wasn't a leading character on television to compare to troubled patriarch Tony Soprano. Sure, the big screen had long since made room for complex antiheroes. Heck, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Clint Eastwood crafted careers by bringing those types to life. But TV is different.

Viewers develop long-term relationships with the familiar faces on weekly dramas. Audiences were used to cheering for the good guys they knew and loved and waiting for the baddies to finally get what was coming to them. So why would they tune in to see a lead like Tony Soprano?

Because of an actor like James Gandolfini.

It would have been easy to play Tony bigger than life -- he was a bigger than life character. He was equal parts tough guy, wise guy, ruthless killer and devoted father, flawed husband and struggling soul. That's what made him a tough sell. But Gandolfini somehow balanced the exaggeration that was inherent to the world of a crime boss with the mundane, every-man existence behind it. Sure, he cracked open a few heads, but he also fed the ducks that called his pool home. He was quick on the trigger, but he was also a hit around the barbecue.

He made Tony real. He made the unlikable, likable.

In doing so, Gandolfini, unintentionally, helped change the face of TV. His appealing portrayal of a gritty, unappealing guy ushered in the era of the modern TV antihero. The bad guys, the morally ambiguous guys, the not-your-typical-leading-man guys -- their time had finally come.

Which means there are plenty of actors who owe a debt of gratitude to Gandolfini. If viewers hadn't connected to his portrayal of Tony Soprano, would they have even had the chance to connect to Michael C. Hall's portrayal of Dexter Morgan in "Dexter"? The serial killer with a moral compass may seem miles away from the mobster, but both characters possess a strong sense of right and wrong, as well as a taste for bloody business. Tony came first. He was the test. In passing the test, Gandolfini made way for Hall and many others.

Jon Hamm's downward spiral as Don Draper on "Mad Men" is often Tony-esque, especially in the way he can hop from his mistress's arms to his marital bed without a moment's regret. Bryan Cranston's far darker descent as Walter White on "Breaking Bad" sees a basically good -- or at-one-time good -- man find a way to justify death and destruction, just as Tony did again and again. And Michael Chiklis' brutal-with-cause Vic Mackey on "The Shield" shared Tony's satisfaction in "convincing" an enemy to divulge hidden information.

They all benefitted from the ground Gandolfini broke -- as do audiences, who get to enjoy some of the most complex characters to ever grace the small screen.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/tony-soprano-character-altered-face-tv-paving-way-antiheroes-6C10387810

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Eat Drink Better | Vegansprout: New Review Site Makes Vegan ...

A newly launched website called Vegansprout?simplifies the path to delicious vegan living, through information-sharing among community members.

Read, review, share!

?As the world?s largest database of vegan cookbooks, recipes, and products, Vegansprout is designed to make being vegan easier. Write reviews to help others make informed decisions, and use other reviews to know what to expect before you buy or choose what to make for dinner.? ? VS creators

Put together by a couple of experienced vegan cooks,?Vegansprout has?been in beta testing for the last few months and?recently went live. Whether you?re newly vegan, veg-curious,?or a long-time vegan cookbook connoisseur, you?ll find tons of excellent helpful information there ? with more resources daily, as more people participate in the review process!

Which cookbooks are best to have on hand, and which are too fancy for busy weeknight cooking? What store-bought vegan sour cream isn?t a total waste of money? This recipe from (whatever vegan cookbook) looks complex; is the result worth the trouble? Is Vegan On the Cheap?a good buy, for a new or aspiring vegan?

Vegansprout answers these questions and more ? specifically, Vegansprout community members offer reviews about anything and everything vegan!

Allison and Patrick Nordhal built Vegansprout to fill a void in the online resources available to vegan or vegan-curious cooks.?Sure,?you can find?reviews scattered around the web at Goodreads, Shelfari, Vegweb, and about a billion personal blogs or vegan/ vegetarian forums. But there wasn?t one Big Boss Site where you could look up anything vegan, and see what other?vegan folks?think about it.

Ta-Da: Now There Is!

With about 4,000 reviews available already ? and more every day ? Vegansprout already offers a vast searchable resource for finding quality vegan stuff. The search feature makes it really easy to find what you?re looking for; whether you?re wondering what to make with a specific ingredient, or maybe just trying to figure out which recipe to make first from a new cookbook, you can easily navigate right to the information you need.?Vegansprout reviews?also offer a great way to find out about smaller vegan companies that you might not have heard of, who just happen to make the best vegan lip balm (or shoes or shampoo or cosmetics or anything else).

If you?re not searching for a specific product, book,?or recipe, you can always just browse ? I like just clicking through the most recently rated things, and browsing the highest rated reviews, in order to find new things to want!

Anyone can browse or search?the site?s current reviews, but you?ll need to create a free Vegansprout account in order to contribute new reviews to the site.?VS creators have made it?super-easy to do that: you just sign in with?your Google or Yahoo or similar account, and the rest is (vegan) gravy!

WOOT!

I?m excited about the new site, because I have a bazillion cookbooks and just a bit of time on the planet: by sorting the wheat from the chaff, based on the research of others, I can streamline my trip to the very best of each book on my shelf. I review cookbooks often, here at EDB, but generally not individual recipes ? and I?m looking forward to using Vegansprout to share my thoughts about specific?dishes from my cookbooks.

Perhaps most importantly, by compiling this resource, the vegan community can work together to make vegan cooking, eating, and shopping ever-more friendly to those who are just exploring the idea of taking a walk on the?wild (vegan) side.

Vegansprout?provides an easy and accessible way to crowdsource information,?about the very best vegan everything! Whether you?re a new or experienced vegan cook, it offers a way to compile our?knowledge in order?to make vegan living even better.

Who?d have thought?that was possible? (Thanks, Vegansprout!)

Image credit: Creative Commons photo by xmaskx.

Source: http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2013/06/15/vegansprout-new-review-site-makes-vegan-shopping-and-cooking-easier/

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