ebay

Wall Street slices eBay earnings estimates, targets

Investors pushed eBay's stock down for a third consecutive day Thursday, after the e-commerce giant reported third-quarter earnings and reduced its fourth-quarter forecast amid a meltdown in the economy.

Shares of eBay fell as low as $13.69 in intraday trading, down 12 percent from Wednesday's close. But by the market's close, eBay's shares were down a mere 2.35 percent to end the day at $14.97, as the broader markets closed out with gains.

Earlier in the day, eBay's shares were whacked as Wall Street weighed in, with a number of analysts reducing … Read more

eBay issues gloomy forecast as tech stocks tank again

Online auction giant eBay lowered its fourth-quarter revenue expectations and reported third-quarter numbers that met analyst forecasts.

Company executives said Wednesday that it expected fourth-quarter profit to come in between 25 cents to 27 cents per share, compared with the 39 cents it reported during the same period in 2007.

For the third quarter, eBay's earnings came in at the low end of Wall Street expectations with revenues of $2.12 billion, up $228 million from the third quarter of 2007. Net profit was $492 million, or 38 cents per share. Analysts predicted that eBay's earnings for the … Read more

The 404 204: Where we want to know what love is

Justin was late, again, and the boys recap Friday's 200th episode meet up. You'll never get ahead in life if you're always tardy Mr. Yu! Graciously, The 404's worst student offers a scathing recap of Michael Cera's performance in the worst movie ever. He, surprisingly, portrays a nebbish teenager who doesn't know how to talk to girls, yet scores with them anyway. We also gear up for new Apple laptops, send SMS messages to elephants, and prepare for Larry Flynt's latest.

Psst...check out the photos from our 200th episode celebration last Friday! A bunch of our buddies came out to Gstaad Bar to party with us, so big thanks to YOU if you came. If you didn't, we'll be having more 404 meet ups in the near future, we might even be breaking out of NY, who knows?! Anyway, check out our Flickr set for photos from the night. Mike, you owe me two drinks! -Justin

Dan the Mantern here. Sooo, it's official, Larry Flynt has confirmed the rumors that an adult film chronicling Sarah Palin's life is in the works. In it, pornstar Lisa Ann, as Palin, "will be nailing the Russians who come knocking on her backdoor." One thing's for sure, Justin is superexcited. He's not sure whether to laugh, cry, or lock himself in a dark room with a box of tissues. Like the Wall Street bailout plan, the film has been fast tracked, it will be pushed through before the elections. Swing voters, you might want to wait for this little doozy before making a decision. I'm sure that at least 10 seconds of the film will include some factual information about the veep candidate!

EPISODE 204 Download today's podcast … Read more

Apple, eBay stocks rise as Dow goes on wild ride

Apple and eBay were two notable stocks to swim against the tide Friday, staying in positive territory throughout the mid-morning through the market's close. Meanwhile investors watched the Dow Jones Industrial Average take one of its most harrowing rides ever.

As the Dow whiplashed investors with its swings that ranged more than 1,000 points during the day, Apple and eBay took investors on an upward path.

Apple closed up 9.08 percent from Thursday, ending the day at $96.80 a share. It gained most of its traction in the final hour of the trading session and was … Read more

Wall Street gives Net titans price cut, sector caution

A number of Internet titans received an across-the-board stock target haircut on Thursday from UBS Securities analyst Ben Schachter, who said a weakening economic outlook is expected to take a toll on display advertising and, to a lesser degree, search advertising.

The reduced 12-month stock price targets for Google, Yahoo, eBay, and ValueClick, as well as a cautious outlook for the Web sector, come as the companies prepare to report their third-quarter financial results in the coming days and weeks.

Google's price target was cut back to $525 a share from $700; Yahoo was bumped down to $20 a … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 824: I am the thumb

In today's show, featuring co-host Dan Ackerman, we discuss the benefits of being an independent musician (Dan says it's a great time!), the increasingly furious-yet-futile fight between the MPAA and RealDVD, Delta preemptively filtering porn on planes, and Kid Rock finding a home on the Web, regardless of whether we want him there.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 824

eBay buys Bill Me Later, lays off 1,000 http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10058660-92.html

Judge temporarily halts sales of RealDVD in wake of lawsuit http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081005-judge-temporarily-halts-sale-of-realdvd-in-wake-of-lawsuit.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10058574-93.html… Read more

Skype's Chinese version left the surveillance door wide open

Security researchers recently found that IM conversations on the Chinese Skype program were not only filtered, but also recorded on a massive, nonsecure, server. The possibility of surveillance flies in the face of Skype's supposed strong encryption, and has provoked outcry among privacy advocates.

Users of the TOM-Skype platform, marketed in cooperation with a Chinese company, were "regularly scanned for sensitive keywords, and if present, the resulting data [were] uploaded and stored on servers in China," according to the report by Nart Villeneuve. Voice communications may have been catalogged, but researchers reported they did not find recorded … Read more

eBay buys Bill Me Later, lays off 1,000

eBay will lay off about 10 percent of its workforce, the company announced Monday, and said third-quarter results will come in at the low end of expectations.

The company also announced plans to acquire online payments business Bill Me Later for $820 million in cash and approximately $125 million in outstanding options, as well as Danish classifieds specialist Den Bla Avis and vehicle site BilBasen for approximately $390 million in cash.

eBay said its workforce reduction, which cuts about 1,000 jobs, will result in a pretax restructuring charge of between $70 million and $80 million, which will be taken … Read more

eBay-backed community site Tokoni leaves beta

Tokoni, a community site for "sharing stories," has formally launched after nearly a year of public beta. It has taken investment backing from eBay as well as the auction giant's founder, Pierre Omidyar, and was founded by former eBay executive Mary Lou Song and Alex Kazim, former president of the eBay-owned Skype. Kazim serves as Tokoni's CEO.

"We created Tokoni to fill the distinct need for an online community where individual stories of life's experiences have a voice and are valued, and where the collective wisdom of the community is celebrated," Kazim said … Read more