Next week is going to be as eventful as ever on Wall Street. Watch for angry activist investors, gaming unveilings, and big brands being humbled by the numbers they have to report. Here are some of the items that will help shape the week.
Once upon a time, Nintendo was king of the video game consoles, but that day is long gone. Shares of Nintendo hit a five-year low this summer, wiping away any gains from the Wii era, and it took a steep operating loss to boot last quarter. Here's why there are no bonus lives in its future.
Wall St. was at it again last week, providing massive fodder for second-guessers and armchair CEOs. In this installment, we review trouble for non-Apple tablets, a get-rich-quick scheme from ailing Beazer Homes, bad numbers from Quepasa.com, and a shakeup at WalMart.com.
It sometimes seems like everything that's fun is also a potential threat to your health, so it's hardly surprising that 3-D movies, games and TVs have drawn fire from critics who worry that they could cause long-term eye damage. But eye care professionals say that the reverse may be true.
Nintendo is making a major push to clear out its Wii inventory as it gears up to unveil its successor to the gaming system next month. The company will cut prices on the Wii video game console to $149.99 from $199.99, and bundle four of its more popular games as a $19.99 set.
Under pressure to respond to competitors offering souped-up features for their video game systems, Nintendo announced Monday that it will offer a sneak peak of the Wii's successor in June. While consumers may love the shiny new system, the real question is how much it will cost.
A research firm that tracks video game sales reported that March hardware sales rose, but software sales plunged again. NPD claims that 23% of software sales in 2010 came from apps, but the industry isn't sure that its lagging sales figures can be entirely blamed on apps like Angry Birds.
Asian markets closed lower Wednesday as investors focused on rapidly rising oil prices, which broke the $100-per-barrel mark in response to growing tensions in the Middle East. In Japan the Nikkei 225 Index slid 2.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.5%, and China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.2%.
In Hong Kong HSBC shares rose 1.5% before the company's announcement early today in London that it had missed earnings estimates. The gain helped push the Hang Seng Index up 1.4.% In China the Shanghai Composite advanced 0.9% and in Japan the Nikkei 225 Index added 0.9%.
There are warning signs that Hong Kong property prices have hit their peak, and today real estate firms dragged the Hang Seng index lower. Despite the drum beats of the lion dancers specially booked to celebrate Chinese New Year and "guaranteed" to bring prosperity to every business they visit, this year may prove a tough one for Hong Kong developers.
In Asia Thursday the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.5% to 2,749 and the Hang Seng Index fell 0.3% to 23,780. In Japan the Nikkei 225 Index advanced 0.7% to end the day at 10,479.
Asian markets plunged Thursday. In China the Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 2.9% to 2,678 and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index fell 1.7% to 24,004. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index lost 1.1% to end the day at 10,437.
Microsoft sold out of its Xbox video-game console in late December thanks to strong holiday-season demand, and may have product shortages in January and February as well, as the company's Kinect motion-sensor device has boosted the popularity of the system, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
U.S. gamers spent about the same amount of money on video games last year as they did in 2009, even as sales of consoles and other hardware took a plunge. Purchases of physical game discs slid 5%, in spite of the record-breaking success of "Call of Duty: Black Ops," but downloadable and social-network games made up the difference.
How long can Nintendo Wii maintain its position as the reigning video-game console? Microsoft shipped an astronomical 8 million Kinect game systems in the past two months, undermining Wii's leadership -- already weakened by competition from the Xbox and PlayStation 3.