Business currents

After this quarter, Oracle must adore Ben Bernanke

When Ben Bernanke and his fellow board governors at the Federal Reserve took the benchmark federal funds rate down from 1 percent to a record low of 0 percent to 0.25 percent, Larry Ellison had to be relieved.

Not that the big guy is in need of a lower mortgage rate for a new tea house. But he sure as hell is anxious to see a lower U.S. dollar.

In the second quarter, Oracle's earnings got pinched because of the greenback's surprising resurgence, particularly in November. The company's profit declined to $1.296 billion, down … Read more

It's official: Let's blame everyone but Apple

Over the years, I've become inured to the rah-rah pumpathon that is CNBC. With the notable exception of the delightful curmudgeon Mark Haynes, the channel's anchors and correspondents dutifully perform their function as glorified cheerleaders for Wall Street.

But now CNBC's Silicon Valley bureau chief, Jim Goldman, can add to his impressive credentials the title of media apologist for both Apple and Steve Jobs

In a postearlier Wednesday, Goldman came out swinging against unnamed market "manipulators" responsible for punishing Apple stock, especially in the aftermath of Apple's abrupt announcement that Steve Jobs would … Read more

Microsoft's file format perestroika

Microsoft plans to open Office to other file formats, a move the company hopes will placate government and business concerns about document interoperability.

Describing this as a step to foster greater transparency, Microsoft intends to document how it incorporated Open Document Format support into Office 2007 Service Pack 2, which is still in beta. That product is expected to ship sometime in the first half of 2009.

(You can read the notes on how each element of the specification was implemented at the Document Interoperability Initiative Web site.)

Tuesday's announcement concludes a pledge Microsoft originally made last spring to … Read more

Coop and the H-1B pinata party

OK, so I'm not going to win a popularity contest. Most--though not all--of the feedback to my post suggesting that it was time to rethink the current annual limits on the H-1B non-immigrant visa was uniformly unimpressed. The responses ranged from depicting me as a clueless stooge for corporate interests to, well, just clueless.

Here's a sampling:

"Obviously you just don't get it. I am an American contract software engineer, graduated now 10 years ago, with a plan to start and run my own software company. The problem; since so many foreign workers are coming into … Read more

E-commerce sales: So far, not a disaster

After a strong first week of December, e-commerce sales have slowed down but are still on pace with last year's spending rate at this point of the holiday season, according to a report issued Sunday by ComScore.

For anyone accustomed to the drumbeat of sour economic news, that tidbit must come as a pleasant surprise. In fact, ComScore reports that December 9 logged $887 million in online spending, thus setting a record for the heaviest cyber spending day on record. They're not exactly shopping until they're dropping but online sales are keeping pace with last year--no small … Read more

Big brain said nominated to become next Energy Secretary

Everybody and their mother-in-law is reporting that Steven Chu, director of the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will be nominated as the Obama administration's Energy Secretary.

The Obama Transition Press Office had no official comment, but this looks to be a done deal. Among other news organs, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Obama will name Chu at a press conference on Thursday in Chicago. Barring a snag, Chu's appointment would mark the arrival of the first Nobel Laureate in the cabinet.

Chu, the Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since August 2004, won … Read more

Hardly a great time to talk H-1Bs. Still, it's time

What with pink slips being handed out all over this country, now is probably the worst time for any political leader to urge a rethinking of our H-1B policy to lift the 65,000 annual limits on foreign guest workers in specialty occupations. It's not the sort of political stance that will play well in Peoria - or in many other places in the U.S. these days.

But it must be said: Maintaining the status quo on H-1B is the best news that China, India, Russia or any other would-be economic superpower could ever want to hear. The … Read more

Sun preps Flash-based servers, storage for '09

Sun Microsystems plans to introduce Flash-based servers and storage systems in early 2009, according to company sources.

This would build upon Sun's earlier embrace of flash in its ZFS storage platform. Sun officials have argued that Flash pushes down the total operational cost of storage, particularly when it comes to data or performance intensive applications. Earlier in the year, there had been speculation about a faster move to Flash before the end of 2008.

Sources say they expect performance gains of between 10 percent and 20 percent in the upcoming systems. An announcement is expected in the first quarter … Read more

If Detroit can't make electric real, why not enlist Uncle Sam?

Last time I checked the wires, Congress was still deciding terms and conditions for a prospective $15 billion rescue plan to supply emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler. The funds are supposed to keep them from running out of money before the year ends, and it's anybody's guess if we're about to throw good money after bad.

I'll leave that debate to the economists and auto experts. But one aspect of the bailout intrigued me: the concept of a so-called car czar appointed by the president to oversee the bailout and set guidelines. This is … Read more