Sweet Profits for Apple

Yesterday was a good day for Apple (AAPL). According to the Wall Street Journal, the company's fourth-quarter profit jumped 47 percent “as consumers continued to snap up its iPhones and Macintosh computers.” Surprisingly resilient demand for its laptops and smartphones have carried Apple though the recession. This past quarter, Apple sold 7.4 million iPhones and 3.1 million Macintosh computers. Apple’s CFO called sales of Macintoshes “phenomenal,” and the quarter Apple’s "most profitable ever." Brad Stone, in the New York Times, says it well: “Apple, in its recent history, has overcome nearly every obstacle thrown its way. Now it has surpassed another: the burden of high expectations.”

The New York Times will cut 8 percent of its news staff by the end of the year. The paper announced yesterday that it will shed 100 newsroom jobs though a voluntary buyout program and, possibly, layoffs. According to CNNMoney.com, “The paper employs 1,250 people in its news department, making it by far the largest newspaper staff in the United States.” In early 2008, the Times cut 100 journalism positions, which marked “the first mass newsroom layoff in the company's history.” Reporting on itself, the Times repeats the words of its executive editor, Bill Keller, who in his note to the staff wrote, “I won’t pretend that these staff cuts will not add to the burdens of journalists whose responsibilities have grown faster than their compensation.”

At the biggest bailed out banks, the Washington Post reveals, there hasn’t been much skimping on perks. An analysis of corporate filings in recent months has shown that rescued funds, which took more than $350 billion in federal funds, increased perks and benefits an average of 4 percent last year. Some chief executives saw an increase in the personal use of corporate jets, chauffeured services, and even hefty country club membership fees. The paper explains that “[a]lthough perks represent a relatively small portion of an executive's overall compensation package, they have been targeted some shareholders who argue that these fringe benefits are meant largely to stroke the egos of top company brass.”

The case against Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire hedge fund manager who was arrested for possible insider trading late last week, may be tricky to prove, the New York Times says. That’s because of the fuzzy, thin line between purchasing legitimate research, circulating rumors and gossip, and illegally paying for “market-moving” information. A close read of filings so far “suggests a web in which hedge fund managers, analysts, corporate executives, and consultants and other people outside Wall Street traded tips—sometimes for money, sometimes for other tips, and sometimes for little more than the promise of unspecified future favors.” Meanwhile, back at the hedge fund that Rajaratnam co-founded, Galleon Group, clients are jumping ship. The Journal says, “The investor withdrawal requests began pouring in Friday morning, just after news surfaced about Mr. Rajaratnam's arrest, say people within Galleon. Many clients faxed or called the New York firm to formally request withdrawal of their funds.”

Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce fell victim to “a hoax by a satirical group that staged a phony announcement saying the business organization had flip-flopped on climate change.” The Yes Men, a New York group that pulls pranks on corporations, created a fake press release under chamber’s letterhead yesterday and held a news conference at the National Press Club announcing that chamber had changed its mind and now favors a tax on carbon emissions. The chamber’s executive director of communications had to personally go to the press club to break up the fake news conference.

Finally, “the luxury-goods industry is stuck in a slump,” says the WSJ. Consulting firm Bain & Co. released a forecast yesterday that says not to expect a full recovery until 2011 or 2012. The United States, which accounts for about a third of luxury-goods sales, remains the hardest-hit market. The consulting firm expects U.S. sales of high-end clothing, accessories, tableware, cosmetics, and jewelry to sink by 16 percent this year. The chief financial officer of luxury retailer and industry bellwether LVMH told the paper, "I don't think we can say the crisis is over, but we can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, even though the light is far away.”