Ballmer's Departure:Risk and Opportunity

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is to resign upon his successor's appointment.He has headed the tech titan since 2000.*Ballmer and Microsoft have been laggards,said Matthew McCormick,portfolio manager at Bahl and Gaynor Investment Counsel.It opens up so many doors.You're gonna see some capital returned to shareholders,some new thought and leadership.We think there's gonna be more unlocking of value throughout the tech sector.*They need someone from the outside.They need to make a move.We have high expectations Microsoft is gonna do something big.The tech sector has the best opportunity for growth going forward.*Microsoft's shares have lost 43% of their value since Ballmer took over.Rick Sherlund of Nomura Securities said we don't believe there is a successor in waiting.It's a failure of management.*Dan Niles,chief investment officer at Alpha One Capital Partners,said I think you're gonna get a dividend increase and a buyback increase.It's definitely a short term play.It's more about multiple expansion.*CEO changes are tough when you're in a business like this.The only way Ballmer's gone is Bill Gates wants hime gone.Someone from inside would be a bad decision.I think there are good CEOs out there.They need to look outside the box.They need a fresh perspective,Dan Niles observed.*Ballmer's management system created internal divisions,said Kirk Eichenwald of Vanity Fair magazine.The company needs to be busted up.It has so many divisions that have nothing to do with each other.Focus each division on what it does well,and sell off those that don't do well.*Microsoft(MSFT)

Should You Invest in Microsoft

I think Microsoft will move the office and server business to the cloud,said Rick Sherlund,Managing Director and Director of Technology Research at Nomura Securities,to align internally and focus their business model around the cloud.Their primary competitor in the cloud is Amazon.
It's gonna be important that they deliver higher end software,not just infrastructure.A lot of enterprises run Microsoft,so hopefully you can draw above average margins.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer own a little less than 9% of the stock.The stock rallies on restructuring reports.On fundamentals,the stock is pretty uninteresting right now.A lot of it is gonna have to come from increasing shareholder value.
Microsoft owns 10% of privately held Israeli  navigation and traffic report app Waze Ltd,which Google will reportedly purchase for 1.1 billion dollars.Microsoft would receive 100 million for its stake in the app.
Neither Google nor Waze will comment on the prospective deal.
In Monday trading,Microsoft stock closed at 35.47,down 0.56%.
Microsoft(MSFT),Google(GOOG),Amazon(AMZN)

Asia This Day: Australia's Energy Assets;Japan's Economic Outlook

PetroChina is seeking 3.7 billion dollars of Australian energy deals.Overall,the state-owned oil and gas enterprise is looking to acquire 60 billion of overseas assets in the next 10 years.
Beach Energy Ltd is exploring an Australian shale gas field with Chevron.The company said the Cooper Basin region in the Australian outback will be a major onshore petroleum province.The gas in the basin could meet New South Wales needs for the fuel well into the future,plus be delivered into export markets through liquified natural gas facilities.
China's January-February industrial production was up 9.9 %,the weakest start to a year since 2009.The country is consolidating its 27 government ministries into 25.The ministry of railways,which employs 2 million people,will be split in two,between a policy arm and an executive arm.This is in line with railway ministries in other parts of the world.
In historical terms,the silver market is quiet,said Greg Smith,Director at Global Commodities Ltd in Adelaide,Australia.You're pretty close to more buyers than sellers.Solar panels are consuming it.
Silver is also used in electronics and medical applications.
I like sugar,coffee and soy meal.The inflationary impact of food could light the inflationary fire.
In Japan,the Nikkei was up at midday Monday on strong exports from the weaker yen and US employment figures.It was the eighth straight day of Nikkei gains.
Japan is doing the right thing,according to Mike Kurtz of Nomura Securities.The election on December 16 was a referendum on policy change.Kuroda-san,the Bank of Japan governor nominee,will reflate the economy.Japan could see a 30% upside over the next 12-18 months.
Hiruhiko Kuroda said he will consider continuing asset purchases.Buying derivatives is an option.
iShares Silver Trust(SLV),iShares Japan Index Fund(EWJ),Beach Energy Ltd(BPT:ASX),Chevron(CVX)

Asia This Day

Hong Kong saw partly sunny weather at noontime Monday.It was 90F,and the wind was SW at 7 mph.The humidity was 62% and thunderstorms were in the forecast.
Asian shares were down across the board on concern about European debt,except for Shanghai's,which climbed 0.4.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao was visiting Europe.He pledged China's long term support for Europe and the Euro.China would continue to buy both Euro bonds and European sovereign debt,including Hungarian bonds.
The New Zealand dollar fell as the country's trade surplus narrowed by more than 40%.New Zealand still had exports exceeding imports by 605 million New Zealand dollars in May.
India's inflation is at 9.1%,and diesel price increases will send it even higher.Nonetheless,Nomura Securities has turned positive on Indian stocks,citing subsiding headwinds.
Shanghai ports expect sea cargo to rise 10% annually as industrial plants move inland.They will ship to the ports as their cargo volumes increase along the Yangtze River.
Japanese electeicity rates are expected to go up by 18% because of lost nuclear capacity in the wake of March's earthquake and tsunami,the Nikkei newspaper reported.