 | Good afternoon |  |  | Microsoft has signed a confidentiality agreement with Yahoo, allowing the software giant to take a closer look at Yahoo's business, according to a source familiar with the matter. Microsoft joins several private equity firms that are also poring over Yahoo's books and operations, as they explore various options for striking a deal with the struggling Internet company. Microsoft's signing of a nondisclosure agreement with Yahoo occurred "recently," according to the source.
Shares of Groupon fell for a third day , sinking below the company's initial public offering price of $20 less than three weeks after the daily deal company went public. Groupon raised more than $700 million in an IPO in early November, making it the biggest IPO by a U.S. Internet company since Google raised $1.7 billion in 2004. Analysts have cited concerns about increased competition, a greater availability of the company's stock for short-selling, and a sharp reversal of market sentiment that is taking down more speculative companies. Groupon shares ended the day down 15.5 percent at $16.96.
Big-Box retailer Best Buy has no regrets about stocking Research In Motion's PlayBook tablet, despite the product's poor reception and subsequent sharp discounting. RIM says it has shipped 700,000 PlayBooks since its launch, a figure dwarfed by the millions of iPads Apple sells each quarter. "When a product is less successful, you do what you need to do, and you move to the next thing," Best Buy's president for the Americas, Mike Vitelli, told Reuters. "That kind of quick reaction by the suppliers, whether it is BlackBerry or HP with their product, I actually think that is good for consumers too," Vitelli said.
Nokia Siemens Networks, the world's second-largest maker of mobile phone network equipment, is axing 17,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of its workforce, to help save about 1 billion euros ($1.35 billion) a year. NSN, which has struggled to make a profit since being set up in 2007, did not say where it would make the cuts, part of wider changes that analysts said looked aimed at gearing up the company for an initial public offering.
Google said on Tuesday that it was pulling the plug on seven projects, including Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal as well as a Wikipedia-like online encyclopedia service known as Knol. The plans, which Google announced on its corporate blog, represent the third so-called "spring cleaning" announcement that Google has made since Google co-founder Page took the reins in April.
Apple's Black Friday deals were revealed ahead of time by tech blog 9to5Mac. The blog said Apple's offerings were similar to those of years past, but gave better discounts on higher capacities of iPads and iPods. Apple's Macs will cost $101 less, iPads discounts will range from $41 to $61 discounts and the iPod nano will $11 less for both the 8GB and 16GB versions, the blog wrote. The biggest discount will be on the base level MacBook Air, which will now start at $898 in the U.S. | | | House panel to meet on spectrum bill December 1 | | November 23, 2011 02:34 PM ET | | (Reuters) - A bill to create a wireless network for public safety and make more airwaves available to bandwidth-hungry communications companies, will be considered by a House of Representatives committee next week. | Full Article | | Online holiday sales to rise 15 percent: comScore | | November 23, 2011 09:30 AM ET | | (Reuters) - U.S. online spending should increase 15 percent this holiday season, outpacing even last year's torrid growth, as shoppers are enticed by more retailers offering free or low-cost shipping, analytics firm comScore said. | Full Article | | RIM, Spain's Telefonica to test electronic wallet | | November 23, 2011 01:36 PM ET | | TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and Spanish telecom Telefonica are teaming up to test a payment system that turns a mobile phone into an electronic wallet and identity card, the companies said on Wednesday. | Full Article | | | BUSINESS NEWS
| | Wall Street falls for sixth day | | November 23, 2011 04:36 PM ET | | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks suffered a sixth straight day of losses on Wednesday as frustration over the euro zone's debt crisis, coupled with weak Chinese factory data, further dented investor sentiment. | Full Article | | "Disastrous" bond sale shakes confidence in Germany | | November 23, 2011 03:20 PM ET | | BERLIN (Reuters) - A "disastrous" German bond sale on Wednesday sparked fears that Europe's debt crisis was starting to threaten even Berlin, with the leaders of the euro zone's two biggest economies still at odds over a longer-term structural solution. | Full Article | | ANP says suspends Chevron drilling rights in Brazil | | November 23, 2011 03:44 PM ET | | SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's National Oil Regulator (ANP) said on Wednesday that it is suspending the drilling rights of U.S. oil major Chevron in national territory until it clarifies conditions of the recent oil spill in its Frade field. | Full Article | | Insight: Fidelity's expensive debt raises eyebrows | | November 23, 2011 04:07 PM ET | | BOSTON (Reuters) - Fidelity Investments gives a select group of employees an unusual perk. It lets them make unsecured loans to the company at annual interest rates that have paid them nearly 20 percent in recent years. | Full Article | | | | U.S. TOP NEWS | | | | | RELATED VIDEO | | |  |  | | A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today. |  | | Your daily briefing on the latest tech developments from around the world from Reuters expert tech correspondents. Register Today. |  | | The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day.. Register Today. | | | » MORE NEWSLETTERS | | | ODDLY ENOUGH | | | | | | |
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