WebProNews

Facebook Stock Maneuver Feeds IPO Rumors

Consider yourself forewarned: the official line is that "Facebook has no plans to go public at this time."  Just the same, a financial maneuver the company's performing has raised a few eyebrows since it seems to point towards that possibility.

(Private) Facebook Shares Up 42% In Four Months

Some time ago, Mark Zuckerberg began allowing Facebook employees to make a quick buck by selling their shares through private channels (as opposed to waiting for Facebook to hit the Nasdaq or Dow).  Since then, many have done exactly that.  The interesting thing is that the price of Facebook's stock has risen a whole lot in recent months.

Big Xing Stake Snapped Up By Burda Media

A major change has taken place behind the scenes at Xing, the business networking company based in Hamburg, Germany.  Burda Media is now the primary shareholder due to a transaction that saw it purchase a lot of stock from Cinco Capital GmbH. Burda bought a whopping 1,323,041 shares for €36.50 each (which works out to about $72.3 million).  It controls a 25.1 percent stake in Xing as a result.  This wasn't any sort of hostile takeover, though.

HP Buys 3Com for $2.7 Billion

HP announced today that it is acquiring 3Com, makers of network switching, routing, and security solutions, for $2.7 billion in cash (at 7.90 per share). Both boards have already approved the transaction. HP says the combination of these two companies will transform the networking industry and "underscore HP's next-generation data center strategy." The company believes this will help customers simplify networks and improve IT service delivery capabilities.

Intel Pays AMD $1.25 Billion, Following That $1.5 Billion Fine

Update: Intel has now updated its Fourth-quarter financial expectations:

Google Seeking Not To Cross The Creepy Line

Google CEO Eric Schmidt while appearing on Fox Business made some interesting comments about Google's emergence as a huge Microsoft-like business power. I thought most interesting was Schmidt's statement about Google becoming like Microsoft, "Hopefully, we won't repeat the mistakes that Microsot made ten years ago that ultimately led to all these things that happened with them". Schmidt elaborated:

Turkey Asks Google For $47 Million In Taxes

It seems that Google's accounting practices may not be quite in line with accepted Turkish procedures.  In fact, Turkey's government has determined that the search giant owes it a little over $47 million in unpaid taxes.

Amazon Introduces PayPhrase

Amazon.com has introduced "PayPhrase," a new shortcut for making purchases at the online retailer and other websites. PayPhrase works by allowing users to choose their own phrase along with a PIN and then set up their shipping information, which is stored at Amazon. Amazon customers can use PayPhrase to make purchases at any websites that offers Checkout by Amazon, such as DNKY, Patagonia, Buy.com and J&R Electronics.

Amazon Completes Acquisition of Zappos

Update: Amazon announced the completion of its acquisition of Zappos.com today. The Zappos management team will remain intact, and Zappos will operate independently with its headquarters in Las Vegas. Original Article: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh sent an email to Zappos employees today informing them that Amazon is becoming the only shareholder of Zappos stock. The following video from Jeff Bezos was also posted on the Zappos Blog:

NASDAQ Launches Social Networking Site

NASDAQ, the world's largest exchange company, has launched its own social networking site called NASDAQ Community, aimed at people in the financial sector. "NASDAQ Community promotes market transparency and investor education through active engagement among people with shared interests," said John Jacobs, Executive Vice