Asides
Employment Falls in Silicon Valley - WSJ.com
Nothing like 2001-2003 though. It's clear things have turned but at this point the depth of the decline is unknown. California tax receipts and government budget are also a good proxy and those aren't too rosy. Personally, my money is always on Silicon Valley. When that becomes a bad long term trade we have serious issues as a country.
Trade Radar: Why is Cisco moving into servers?
Good overview of Cisco's reasoning. Incremental gross margin is not what they typically want but it makes them a on-stop-shop. Smart companies don't care about gross margin percentages, they care about gross margin dollars, and Cisco is a smart company.
Broadband Tax Credit Cut From Stimulus Bill - NYTimes.com
The broadband portion of the stimulus bill is nearly complete. $6B in funding will flow primarily to rural areas, $2.5B through the USDA and $4B through the NTIA. This is a lot of money that will hit a narrow swath of companies and deserves close attention.
Why Spend $350 Million to Map Broadband? - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com
One word- Boondoggle. Every reader here could imagine a scheme to do this cheaper.
Clearwire Funding Gap May Put Backers’ Plans on Hold : Bloomberg.com
Clearwire can't raise capital. WiMax needs a vote of confidence outside Intel/Google to remain viable.
Cisco’s Cash Hoard Swells Along With Acquisition Rumors - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com
Why does Cisco raise $4B worth of debt? Because most of the $26B it has is overseas, and repatriating it to use it for acquisitions or operating purposes would trigger taxes.
Alcatel-Lucent refocuses WiMAX business to support LTE | MuniWireless
Alcatel-Lucent defocuses from WiMAX, calling it a 'sidekick' solution to LTE. Something tells me Intel didn't fork over billions to be a 'sidekick' technology. Coming on the heels of Nortel's decision to exit, things are looking grim for WiMAX.
VScope™ Engineering Design Challenge 2009
Vitesse is giving away $10k to whomever comes up with the best new application for its data re timing chip. Not just your standard iPod prize - this is real money. Should be interesting.
Source: BLS
George Soros pens an op-ed on the origins of the financial crisis.
