Facebook Snaps a $1-Billion Photo

“What made Instagram worth $1 billion to Facebook?”

When asked this question recently, I responded with an immediate, “Nothing.”

I’m not usually so terse or emphatic with my answers, as any longtime reader knows. But in this case, there really was nothing inherently valuable inside Instagram that made them worth the unbelievable sum Facebook agreed to pay. Yet they did it anyway. Clearly, there’s something missing from a traditional valuation analysis here

[Premium] AT&T raising charges by 33%

This is not an opinion on AT&T stock since AT&T benefits from a monopoly status in fixed line and oligopoly status in mobile telecom. But I did want to briefly flag something regarding the telecom industry and M&

News Links: The ECB’s back-door bail-out for Italy, Spain, Belgium, and… France?

News links for 22 December 2011 including stories on the tech world, Europe, and the

News Links: Corzine Rebuffed Internal Warnings on Risks at MF Global

Financial news links for 6 December 2011 featuring stories on MF Global, Facebook, class divides and retail sales

A Battle for Oil Production Is Brewing

With big oil’s bank accounts full to the brim with cash, the stage is set for some significant acquisition activity… or, to put it another way, for a battle to buy producing assets. There are quite a number of contestants in the battle – big oil companies are not only competing against each other to sweep up good assets but also against the national oil companies of developing, energy-hungry nations like China, South Korea, and India. Oil demands are rising in these nations so quickly that just to cover expected annual demand increases those three countries would have to jointly spend $30 billion on acquisitions each year

The Creeping Eurozone Credit Crunch

Here’s a very informative chart via Morgan Stanley showing the deterioration in the Eurozone’s key credit indicators. Banks will no doubt sell assets, at least in part, as a way to meet their required capital targets

It’s official: Spain following Japanese example of propping up zombie banks

Moody’s decision to place Popular’s ratings on review for possible downgrade is driven by our view that the combined entity emerging after the integration with Pastor is likely to have a weaker credit profile than Popular’s standalone credit strength

Why is a bank that failed the stress tests in Spain getting bought at a 31% premium?

I don’t follow the Spanish banking sector well enough to know what hidden value Banco Pastor has but I find it curious that it is the subject of a takeover bid at a 31% premium by Spain’s fifth largest bank, Banco Popular

What’s Up With Micron?

Smells like Kentucky Fried Takeout to us. Yes, we’re talking our book, but for good reason. Nevertheless, keeping both hands on the ripcord

Margin Call coming this fall

Timing couldn’t be more perfect, no? Maybe we get a bottom in equities on the release date. Go here to the movie’s official website

China Gets Picky

It turns out that China is not willing to pay whatever it has to for energy and metal resources. Several resource deals have faltered in recent months, indicating an increasingly choosy Chinese perspective on energy and metal acquisitions. Add to that the growing concern that the global economy is once again stumbling and that commodity prices may be near a top, and you have a Chinese deal-making market that has gone from 60 to zero in no time

Is the shale gas bubble bursting?

If you have fewer players operating wells, then the supply should be lower. It sounds to me like the rush to buy up natural gas acreage has strained balance sheets in a way that will force up prices down the line.