Best Make Money

(08-31) 09:15 PDT LOS ANGELES, (AP) –

The Walt Disney Co. is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. since $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the tribe of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.

Images

View Larger Image

Get Quote

Symbol Lookup

More Business

Bishop cites weary, insomnia in leaving Pa. post 08.31.09

US stocks go astray after sell-off in Asia 08.31.09

Court limits Delaware betting to NFL parlays 08.31.09

Southwest faces Tuesday deadline from FAA 08.31.09

Under the deal, that was announced Monday and is expected to close by the close of the year, Disney will acquire the rights to 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created ~ the agency of the comic book legend Stan Lee.

Disney CEO Robert Iger uttered Marvel’s comic books, TV shows, movies and video games amounted to “a hoard trove of content.” Iger said the deal would bring benefits like the ones Disney got from buying “Toy Story” the supreme original. Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion in stock in 2006.

“The acquisition of Marvel offers us a homogeneous opportunity to advance our strategy,” Iger said, and “to build a walk of life that is stronger than the sum of its parts.”

For Marvel, Iger afore~ being in the Disney camp would mean better global distribution and improvement relationships with retailers to sell its products.

Marvel Chairman Mort Handel called Disney “a capital home for our great collection of characters.”

One point of the deal is to hinder Disney appeal to young men who have flocked to theaters to meet with Marvel superheroes such as Iron Man in recent years. That contrasts through Disney’s recent successes among young women with such fare being of the cl~s who “Hannah Montana” and the Jonas Brothers.

Marvel television shows also even now account for 20 hours per week of programming on Disney’s newly rebranded, boy-focused cable network, Disney XD, and that looks likely to increase, Iger said. The shows are “right in the wheelhouse in opposition to boys,” he said.

However, analyst David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co. illustrious that that the $4 billion offer was at “full price.”

Marvel shareholders command receive $30 per share in cash, plus 0.745 Disney shares ~ the sake of every Marvel share they own. That values each Marvel share at $50 based up~ the body Friday’s closing stock prices.

Marvel shares shot up $9.91, or 26 percent, to $48.56 in midday mercantile Monday. Disney shares fell 82 cents, or 3 percent, to $26.02.

Disney related the boards of both companies have approved the transaction, but it desire require an antitrust review and the approval of Marvel shareholders.

Although it began producing its concede movies, starting with “Iron Man” last year, Marvel has several deals with other movie studios that Disney said it will honor and re-inquire into upon expiration.

For example, “Spider-Man 4,” set for release in 2011, is life made with Sony Corp.’s Columbia Pictures; “Iron Man 2″ determination be distributed by Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures next year; and the upcoming “X-Men Origins: Magneto” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2,” the one and the other due in 2011, are to be distributed by News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox.

Iger related Pixar also had third-party licensing agreements that eventually expired, allowing the companies to actuate forward together.

Marvel earned a net profit of $206 million in its the ~ time fiscal year, up 47 percent from a year earlier, on return of $676 million.

Disney said the acquisition will hurt its profits. per share by a mid-single digit percentage in fiscal 2010 if it were not that be positive in 2012. That is partly because the company last ~ and testament issue 59 million new shares and partly because of the timing of Marvel releases so as “Thor” and “The First Avenger: Captain America” in 2011.

(08-30) 19:34 PDT — Former state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, who wants to be Oakland’s next mayor, has been quietly undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.

Images

View Larger Image

Matier & Ross

Perata recovering from prostate cancer 08.31.09

Perata recovering from prostate cancer 08.30.09

Cops: Kidnap suspect looks good for other cases 08.30.09

Bay Bridge welding woes lead to China trip 08.26.09

More Matier & Ross »

“Like a lot of people over 50, I had a PSA test, and it found a tumor in the early stages, so we dealt with it,” Perata said.

Perata got the diagnosis in May – about two weeks after the FBI finally cleared him in a 5-year corruption investigation.

“Trust me, the FBI was a lot tougher to handle with than this. At least with cancer I knew what I was dealing with,” Perata said.

Whatever the case, Perata said treatment ended this week and the prognosis is good. So he’s back up and running for mayor.

Powder keg: It was the fear of an imminent gang war that prompted Oakland police and fire officials last week to hastily condemn the rat-infested Amber Tree Gardens apartment complex and evict some 200 tenants.

It all began a week earlier when police Sgt. Fred Mestas, who covers the area, noticed that the block of Fruitvale Avenue adjacent to the complex was covered with South Side Locos’ gang graffiti.

Mestas found that the South Side Locos had taken over about a half-dozen apartments in the dilapidated complex at 2555 Foothill Blvd.

“They punched holes through the walls big enough for them to run through in case anything went down and they had to make a fast escape,” Mestas said.

Adding to the tension, the complex sits in the middle of territory held by the Norteсos – rivals of the South Side Locos.

When Mestas came back the next day and saw that the Locos’ tags had been sprayed over by the Norteсos, he knew it wouldn’t be long before the shooting started.

“It was like a powder keg ready to go off,” he said.

That was about the same time that the Fire Department was called to a small mattress fire at the site, where officials found exposed electric wiring and other fire hazards. There were no sprinkler systems or extinguishers.

Fire marshals and about 15 cops showed on Tuesday and declared it uninhabitable. The residents had to immediately leave their homes.

“One officer was stopped by a 4-year-old who grabbed his leg as he was about to go into one of the apartments,” Mestas said. “The kid told him, ‘You don’t want to go in there. The rats are really, really big.’ “

According to city officials, the complex had basically been a squatters’ encampment for the past year – most were illegal immigrants. The owner had declared bankruptcy and the bank so far has refused to take over responsibility for the complex, which also had no running water.

“It wasn’t exactly a situation where people felt comfortable calling the police,” Mestas said.

All in the family: Nadia Lockyer – wife of state Treasurer Bill Lockyer – is suiting up for a run for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat being vacated by the retiring Gail Steele.

In addition to sharing one of the biggest names in East Bay politics (Bill is a former state senator and attorney general), Nadia Lockyer is also the executive director of the Alameda County Family Justice Center, a project of the district attorney’s office that provides a one-stop shop for domestic violence victims.

Insiders note that Nadia, an Orange County native, has amassed the biggest war chest in the race so far – about $70,000, much of it raised outside the county.

Hayward City Councilman Kevin Dowling has about $30,000 so far; former state Sen. Liz Figueroa hasn’t raised much money yet.

Mrs. Lockyer comes armed with a rather big gun: her husband’s $10 million campaign account, one of the largest in California. Under state law, her husband can transfer cash to her if needed.

Tender trap: We have two words for new Police Chief George Gascуn’s interest in cleaning up San Francisco’s Tenderloin: Good luck.

The Tenderloin is a de facto social service ghetto with soup kitchens, halfway houses and self-help centers operated by some of the biggest and most politically powerful nonprofits in the city.

It’s a fact Mayor Gavin Newsom knows very well. The mayor used to regularly jog though the Tenderloin and often complained to Police Officers Association President Gary Delagnes about the open-air drug dealing.

“Mr. Mayor, you could put a cop on every corner,” Delagnes would tell him, “and they would still be dealing down there.”

“Well, what do you suggest I do about it?” a frustrated Newsom asked.

“Try jogging somewhere else,” Delagnes replied.

Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Phil can be seen on the KPIX morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.

RAMS Home Loans has warned it could default on its current funding commitments, if the group cannot renegotiate looming debt deadlines or sell more of its mortgage book.

The former non-bank lender, which sold the majority of its business to Westpac, booked a $120 million profit, down 4 per cent for the year, but warned revenue and profit would decline as the mortgage book matured in the next few years.

The board declared there would not be a dividend paid to shareholders for the past financial year.

Rams has a mortgage book worth $7.68 billion, of which the majority $5bn is funded through warehouse facilities, with the remaining $2.68bn through residential mortgage-backed securities.

"The group’s mortgage book is closed and in run-off. The group will continue to manage and service its mortgage book," Rams said in a statement to the market.

"The group remains in discussion with its various warehouse providers in regards to future maturity dates. However, a high level of uncertainty still remains in the current market, which will likely result in the group selling further mortgages at par in repayment of warehouse facility balances.

"A default will likely arise if a warehouse cannot be renewed and the mortgages are not sold.

"The directors are satisfied that any sale of mortgages in repayment of warehouse facilities or an event of default … will not affect the group’s ability to continue as a going concern."

The fortunes of Rams, previously a major player in the non-bank lending market, have failed since the wholesale markets started to seize at the onset of the global financial crisis two years ago.

"During the year we were able to roll warehouse facilities at considerably higher margins payable by Rams and with more onerous conditions," the company said.

"These conditions have included the need to provide further subordinated debt and removal of some loan arrears.

"The market for RMBS remains all but closed to Rams."

Call it a high-tech, high-rewards game of hide-and-seek.

As part of a Wired magazine contest, writer Evan Ratliff is trying to remain hidden for one month. The first person to find him could win $5,000.

(Wired)

Since Aug. 15, magazine writer Evan Ratliff hasn’t revealed his location to a soul on the planet, keeping his whereabouts from even his family, friends and employers.

But if you can find him before 30 days runs out, you could snap up a $5,000 prize.

In a contest hatched by Ratliff and his editor at Wired magazine to see how easily you can disappear in the digital age, he must stay hidden for one month with a bounty over his head.

But to keep things interesting, Ratliff can’t go entirely off the grid. Like any digital denizen, he has to keep up with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and make at least the occasional cell phone call or credit card transaction.

By posting those digital breadcrumbs to the contest’s online page, Wired hopes sleuths both high-tech and low will be enticed to join the hunt. Already, hundreds — maybe thousands — have taken the bait, populating Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and comment threads with tips and teasers about his whereabouts.

Disappearing in the Digital Age

Why are people so intrigued?

“It’s just the excitement and the human narrative of people getting away,” said Nicholas Thompson, Ratliff’s editor at Wired and contest co-conspirator. “How does it change in the digital age? Is it harder to get away from our past life?… Or is it easier?”

Thompson said that the two had tossed around story ideas about disappearances for years. In January, after noting an uptick in fugitive and missing persons cases, Ratliff threw out his radical idea: He would try to go underground for a month and then write about the experience.

“My first response was, that’s sort of crazy,” Thompson said. But after kicking around the idea for another a month, they figured out how the plan could actually work.

For the September issue of Wired, Ratliff wrote about Matthew Alan Sheppard, a financially-beleaguered man who allegedly faked his own death and disappeared to escape fraud charges.

Now, Ratliff is the one who’s on the run.

Paul and Ringo are on hand to unveil "Beatles Rock Band" at E3 convention.

If you have even the slightest contact with computer game industry – or walked into a Blockbuster video store in the last month – you know that the biggest thing in the gamer world is the Sept. 9 release of MTV Games/Electronic Arts’ “The Beatles: Rock Band” for the Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft XBox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

Posters have been plastered everywhere, and it seems as if every TV screen is carrying animated images of John, Paul, George and Ringo in their Sgt. Peppers gear.

Like the real Beatles themselves, everything about “The Beatles: Rock Band” screams first-class project. Game designer Harmonix has thrown everything into this project, starting with the fact that it contains 45 classic Beatle songs, from “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to “Get Back.”

The graphics are equally impressive: not only have all of the Rock Band 2 graphics been upgraded, but actually retooled; a three microphone set-up allows for multi-user harmonies; the soundtrack includes never-before released conversations by the band during sessions at Abbey Road studios; backgrounds that range from the Cavern Club to the Apple Corp. roof (what, no Hamburg strip club?) and, coolest of all, user controllers in the iconic shapes of Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325 guitar, Harrison’s Gretsch DuoJet, and McCartney’s Hofner violin bass.

As you might expect, that same premium attitude is also reflected in the price: for the XBox version, you’re going to pony up $60 – and $250 for the premium “bundle” with the microphones, new guitar controllers, etc.

Will it work?

One answer is: it had better succeed. The electronic game business is in something of a funk these days, which might come as a surprise given that economic downturns are usually a good time for home entertainment as consumers trade down from more expensive sources of fun and cocoon in their dens. In the last few days Microsoft has announced a $100 cut in the price of its XBox 360 Elite console and the discontinuation of its cheaper Pro version; and Sony has announced a new budget Playstation 3 ‘Slim’ model (essentially obsoleting older versions).

This puts the second- and third-largest game console makers in the position of offering competing products at the same price. Only Nintendo, still enjoying the phenomenal success of the Wii, remains above the fray…but it seems likely that the industry won’t be able to stay out of this price war forever.

The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has arrived in Taiwan for a visit that has sparked anger from China.

He travelled from Taipei to southern Taiwan to comfort to those affected by last month’s Typhoon Morakot, the worst typhoon there in 50 years.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou approved the visit after his government was accused of offering a slow and inefficient response to the typhoon.

China considers the Dalai Lama a separatist seeking Tibet independence.

At least 571 people were killed, with another 106 missing and feared dead in the typhoon.

As the Dalai Lama arrived at a Taipei train station, there was a scuffle between police and some 50 supporters of Tibet’s unification with China, the Associated Press news agency reported.

On Monday, the Dalai Lama will visit the worst-hit village of Hsiaolin, where nearly 500 people were buried by a mudslide.

Pro-China criticism

He will lead a mass prayer and address the island’s Buddhist followers during his five-day visit.

However, he has cancelled a press conference after criticism from pro-China groups about his decision to visit and a request from Taiwan to refrain from discussing politics.

Prior to arriving, the Dalai Lama told reporters that his trip was of a "non-political" nature, and that he was going to Taiwan for humanitarian and religious reasons.

Last week, Beijing said it was "resolutely opposed" to the Dalai Lama’s visit.

Tibet and Taiwan are highly sensitive issues for the Chinese government, as it claims both as its territory.

Despite agreeing to the visit, President Ma has announced he will not meet the Dalai Lama – a move seen as wanting closer economic ties with China which is its biggest trade partner, reports the BBC’s Cindy Sui in Taipei.

Carrefour, the world’s second-biggest retailer, has reported a loss for the first half of the year after writing down the value of assets in Italy.

The company lost 58.1m euros ($83.4m; £51.2m) in the six months to the end of June, compared with the profit of 747m euros it made a year earlier.

One-off charges were 511m euros, 400m of which were write-downs linked to hypermarket group Finiper in Italy.

Group sales were slightly down, falling 1.6% to 41.3bn euros.

"These numbers reflect a difficult economic environment," said finance chief Pierre Bouchut.

He also indicated that there was "no sign of either improvement or deterioration" in trading conditions in July and August.

Sales fell in Europe in the first half of 2009, but increased slightly in Asia and dramatically in Latin America.

The retailer said it was on track to meet its full-year targets.

The supermarket group employs about 490,000 people in more than 15,000 stores and 30 countries.

A design concept for the Apple tablet

Feverish speculation all over the internet, gadget shoppers nearing mass hysteria and pundits predicting our lives will never be the same. It must mean that an Apple product launch is on the way.

The company that makes the Mac computer, iPod music player and iPhone is reportedly poised to launch a tablet computer – small enough to carry in a handbag or briefcase but big enough to comfortably surf the web, read newspapers and watch films. It could be Apple’s latest billion-dollar jackpot.

Months of rumour and hype have reached a crescendo in recent days with Mashable.com: Apple Tablet May Launch in September and be in the shops by Christmas. Such is the fascination with all things Apple that blogs are humming with speculation and a new mention of the tablet crops up on Twitter around every eight minutes.

“The Apple magic is great technology and great marketing,” said Leander Kahney, a blogger and author of The Cult of Mac. “We’ve seen it with the iPod, the iPhone and, before that, the Mac. That’s why this is so exciting.”

He added: “They’ve been working on this for the past six years. People expect it to be the ultimate Apple surprise. This thing will knock people’s socks off.”

Apple product launches are celebrated rituals where the talismanic Jobs, in black sweater and jeans, stands on a stage in San Francisco and unveils the company’s latest innovation, cheered by adulatory crowds with near religious fervour. The Californian giant has sold more 200 million iPods since their launch in 2001.

Famously secretive, Apple has refused to comment on the tablet speculation. But Tim Cook, its chief operating officer, recently hinted that the company was working on something “very innovative”. Jobs – now back at work after a six-month leave of absence following a liver transplant – is thought to have been personally involved in the development of the device over the past two years.

The tablet is rumoured to be any size and scale between the iPhone and the MacBook laptop. Some have described the tablet as a “Kindle-killer”, potentially usurping the Amazon Kindle and other electronic book readers. It would be billed as a solution for people who work a lot on the move but don’t want to carry a laptop. What experts believe would set the tablet apart would be that, instead of a keyboard, it would use a touch-sensitive screen. Kahney said: “Apple will totally rejig the computing experience. You won’t manipulate a keyboard and mouse any more but rather use an intuitive touchscreen. It will very tactile. It will be a whole new paradigm.”

It might also prove the launchpad for an “iTunes for newspapers”, allowing commuters to read news on screen instead of in print. Even magazines might be reproduced convincingly on the high-resolution screen. Kahney said: “Instead of reading a review of a band, you could have audio and video embedded and listen to them and watch them being interviewed.”

Expectations flared recently when Gene Munster, a technology research analyst, said that he had had discussions with an Asian component supplier that claimed to have received orders for a touchscreen device which needed to be filled by the end of the year. Munster took this as evidence that Apple would launch a tablet in early 2010.

He estimated that an Apple tablet, with an onscreen keyboard like the iPhone, would cost around $600 (363), putting it between the highest-end iPod Touch at $399 and the MacBook, which starts at $999. At $600, Munster calculated that sales of 2 million tablets could add $1.2bn (727m) to Apple’s sales next year.

Sales of Apple laptops are stalling as they face competition from netbooks, the smaller and lighter laptops that have proved popular among students. Rival companies have also introduced tablets but lack the hype that guarantees Apple mountains of free publicity.

andfinally.com, a technology author and blogger, warned, however, that Apple’s run of dramatic breakthroughs was unlikely to last for ever. “If Steve Jobs stands up and announces this, it could be his last hurrah. The technology industry has matured and, unless Apple does something completely unexpected, we have a pretty good idea what this will look like. The world has been shaped by technology in such a way that it is no longer surprising.”

Microsoft is now helping its rivals. It has, for example, licensed connections to its Exchange mail server to mobile phone suppliers such as Palm, Nokia and Apple, so that users can pick up their corporate email. It has developed a version of Silverlight for the Mac, and encouraged the development of Moonlight, an open-source version for Linux. It has helped Mozilla make Firefox run better on Windows, and Microsoft’s forthcoming web-based version of Office will work with both Firefox and Apple’s Safari.

We’ve just seen two more examples with Microsoft’s link-up with Nokia and the announcement of Outlook for the Mac version of Office.

The Nokia deal involves the development of Office Communicator Mobile and the mobile version of Office for Symbian smartphones. This should make Nokia’s phones more attractive to businesses, which until now have only been able to get the same level of integration by buying Windows Mobile phones. It should help Nokia to compete with RIM and Apple, though they could also sign similar deals.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s new business version of Office for the Mac will include its Outlook email and organiser software, instead of the earlier Mac-only Entourage. It’s unlikely that the Mac version will have all the same features, and it won’t be able to hook into Windows in the way that Outlook hooks into Windows. Nonetheless, Outlook is key software for millions of users in large corporations, so this will make Macs more attractive to enterprise buyers. And if they buy more Macs, they are likely to buy fewer Windows machines.

Of course, Microsoft has always supported the Mac, and co-founder Bill Gates helped promote it when it was launched. This isn’t altruism. Microsoft’s Mac business unit in California is very profitable, because of the number of Mac users who buy Microsoft Office. Many also buy boxed copies of Windows, which Apple has made easier by providing Boot Camp software to load it.

But this time, there’s a more important shift taking place. Microsoft’s latest financial results show that its business division (which includes Office) is now its biggest source of revenue: $14.3bn over the past nine months. Windows Client ($11.6bn) is second, but Server & Tools ($10.6bn) is catching up.

It therefore makes financial sense for Microsoft to focus on growing its key business and server software – Office, Exchange Server, SQL Server, SharePoint and so on – rather than defending the client versions. This is particularly true for Windows Mobile, which brings in hardly any money. (Roughly 20m sales at an estimated $7-$8 is only $140m-$160m.)

The changeover will become even more striking as Microsoft cranks up the revenues from its loss-making online services division, which has brought in only $2.4bn over the past nine months.

Microsoft is investing heavily in data centres and the development of Azure, its cloud operating system. This will run existing Microsoft Live services such as Hotmail and Messenger, and it will eventually host Exchange, Web Office and other software. All the major programs that run on or work with Windows Server will be offered in the cloud.

And to profit from the cloud, Microsoft will eventually need to work with as many client devices as possible, not just Windows PCs. It won’t be competitive if it doesn’t.

Cloud computing can be cheaper as companies no longer have to buy servers and run such large data centres. However, while they will spend less on staff and hardware, they may spend more on Microsoft software.

Software can be extremely cheap if you buy it once and keep using the same program for four to eight years. When you rent it by the month – which businesses do with hosted and cloud-based services – it costs almost nothing to start, but you end up paying forever.

Indeed, if a cloud service owns your business data, you won’t have a choice.

In a nutshell: A new Web site that helps college students plan their dorm room layout on the computer.

Get Quote

Symbol Lookup

More Business

Mexico decriminalizes small-scale drug possession 08.20.09

Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon to fight Google book deal 08.20.09

Commerce secretary approves Arctic fisheries plan 08.20.09

Nummi workers rally for embattled plant 08.20.09

Cool factor: DesignYourDorm.com offers a free 3-D design tool to help maximize the living space. Just like the video game the Sims, you can move furniture around to see what looks best. And you can buy accessories directly through Amazon.com.

This article appeared on page DC – 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle