Oracle
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To Me, This New Social Networking Idea is Just Brilliant
Scott McNealy knows how to create the kind of cutting-edge high tech that makes money for his investors.
Lots of it.
You probably know McNealy as a cofounder (in 1982) and CEO of Sun Microsystems. For more than 20 years, his Silicon Valley-based firm set the standard for computer servers and workstations.
Sun also created the widely used Java programming language that still runs of billions of computing devices around the world and is a key contributor to open-source software.
Not only did McNealy and his tech firm help change the world forever, they brought an incredible payoff to investors along the way.
Sun went public in 1986, and it sold to Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL) in 2009 for about $7.4 billion.
As a long-time tech writer, I have followed McNealy's career for many years. And when I heard that he is the force behind a new startup, I decided it was time to find out what he's up to these days.
I got the chance to chat with him by phone for about half an hour the other day.
After hearing firsthand from McNealy about his latest startup, my first thought was, it's no wonder an elite group of investors has already ponied up about $20 million to back this idea.
Scott McNealy's Latest Gem
It's a company called Wayin.
This social network startup is built on the power of a simple but vital idea - creating a global community of users who tap the service to get feedback from a large group of voices on any number of topics.
Think of it as instant polling or focus groups for questions of education, human resources, politics, games, entertainment, and more.
It used to take weeks or months for companies to get customers or workers to weigh in with their opinions.
Now with Wayin, they can do it on the fly along with a larger audience from around the world.
As such, Wayin plugs into the huge appeal of social network leader Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB).
It also works well with Twitter, a service that allows members to send out short messages of up to 140 characters to their followers. Both online firms have become runaway success stories with several hundred millions users around the world.
Here's how McNealy describes his new firm:
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The Bright Future for Cloud Computing is Becoming Much Clearer
The cloud computing industry has yet to fully take off, but for an indication of its potential, look at the players getting involved.
Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL), Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG), and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) - the biggest names in the tech sector - are all racing to take the lead in this burgeoning industry.
So what's all of the excitement about?
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Four Ways to Profit From a Business-Driven Rebound
Last week we learned that the U.S. economy expanded by a whopping 5.7% annual rate in the 2009 fourth quarter - the biggest jump since 2003. This was well ahead of the 4.5% consensus estimate and solidly beats the 2.2% growth rate achieved in last year's third quarter. The turnaround is the largest in almost three decades.
The main driver of the performance was a big slowdown in the rate at which businesses were drawing down their inventories. This alone contributed 3.4% to overall growth in the quarter. Paul Ashworth at Capital Economics in London believes that inventory rebuilding will continue to boost gross-domestic-product (GDP) growth for another two or three quarters.
But what happens after that - especially after the stimulus spending out of Washington winds down later this year? Will this rate of growth continue?
Investors who know the answer to that question will be the best-positioned to profit.
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Flurry of Mergers and Acquisitions Drives Stock Market Rally
A flurry of mergers-and-acquisition deals in the pharmaceutical and technology industries today (Monday) sparked a sharp market rally, snapping a three-day losing streak and giving stocks to their biggest gains in five weeks. The pickup in merger activity bolstered arguments that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are rebounding from the biggest slump in six years. It [...]
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Investment News Briefs
With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world. Banks Considering Bailing Out FDIC; Potash Corp. Lowers Guidance; Sources: Ford Building Third China Plant; CIC Nabs 15% Stake in Noble; Sun Losing Money as EU Regulators Deliberate; Singapore Gov't [...]
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Hot Stocks: Oracle's Future Clouded by Sun Takeover Complications
Despite earlier this week announcing disappointing first-quarter results, Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) says it expects its second quarter will be stronger. However, many analysts are skeptical, as the company’s attempted takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: JAVA) has not gone as smoothly as planned. Oracle reported revenue for the three months ended Aug. 31 fell [...]
