Summit Research Views Microsoft (MSFT) Partnership as Positive for Baidu.com (BIDU)

Cisco joins flurry of U.S.-China tech partnerships

BEIJING (Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) said Thursday it would form a joint-venture with Chinese server maker Inspur to sell networking and cloud computing products in China, where the Silicon Valley firm faces political pressure and declining sales.

Cisco and Inspur said they would invest $100 million in the project, although they offered few other details.

The partnership is... More

Market Wrap: VW Chief Step Down Over Diesel Debacle; Facebook Videos go Full Circle; BUD Makes 'Golden' Acquisition

Market wrap for September 23rd

End of the Day: S&P 500 down 4.0 to 1,938.76; Dow Jones down 50.6 to 16,279.89; Nasdaq down 4.0 to 4,752.74

Market Brief: U.S. markets ticked lower on lighter volume following recent volatility tied to China concerns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped about 3 percent over the last week, amid a slight rebound on Monday.

VW's CEO resigned over the recent diesel engine emissions scandal.

U.S. manufacturing growth was flat for September, Markit noted today.

Anheuser-Busch scoops-up California... More

Microsoft (MSFT) Updates on Windows 10 in China; Enters Partnership with Baidu (BIDU)

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) posted the following to its Windows blog on Wednesday:

China is a global epicenter for innovation and as we shared back in March at the Windows Hardware Engineering Community summit in Shenzhen, China, were excited to be working with leading hardware and software companies in China to develop ground-breaking... More

China's NeoKylin OS is Most-Popular Homegrown Platform to Replace Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows XP

While Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) might be looking to make things right in China following accusations that the company was leaking data to the U.S. government, the Chinese government has made its own, homegrown operating... More

Notable Analyst Rating Changes 9/23: (RTN) (FINL) (BIDU) Upgraded; (SHW) (BTE) (KMX) Downgraded

UPGRADES
Bernstein upgrades Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) from Market Perform to Outperform with a price target of $132.

FBR Capital raises Finish Line (Nasdaq: FINL) from Market Perform to Outperform... More

CLSA Upgrades Baidu (BIDU) to Buy

CLSA upgraded Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) from Underperform to Buy with a price target of $180.00.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Baidu click here. For more ratings news on Baidu click here.

Shares of Baidu closed at $136.12 yesterday.

Microsoft (MSFT) Debuts Office 365 Planner

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) posted the following to its Office blog on Tuesday:

We are excited to introduce a brand new experience in Office 365Office 365 Planner, which offers people a simple and highly visual way to organize teamwork. Planner makes it easy for your team to create new plans, organize and assign tasks, share files, chat about what youre working on, and get updates on progress. Planner can be used to manage a marketing event, brainstorm new product ideas, track a school project, prepare for a customer visit, or just organize your team more... More

Market Wrap: Commodities Weigh on Markets; Home Price Gains Outpaced in July; Splitsville for Ashland

Market wrap for September 22nd

End of the Day: S&P 500 down 24.2 to 1,942.74; Dow Jones down 179.7 to 16,330.47; Nasdaq down 72.2 to 4,756.72

Market Brief: U.S. markets slumped following gains on Monday amid weaker oil and copper prices amid lingering concerns with growth in China. The country's PMI for September will be released later tonight and it could be a market mover for Wednesday. The numbers will land at 9:45pm ET.

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said he had a "highly curable"... More

Microsoft (MSFT) Hikes Price on Standalone Versions of Office 2016

Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) latest productivity product, Office 2016, is going to be a little pricier than its predecessor.

According to Microsoft's Office store website, the cost of a standalone license for... More

Microsoft begins worldwide release of Office 2016

(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said it began the worldwide roll-out of Office 2016, the latest addition to its cloud-based subscription service Office 365, on Tuesday.

Microsoft said Office 2016 brings new versions of desktop apps for Windows including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Access and allows people to collaborate and work together.

Microsoft (MSFT) Launches Office 2016

On Tuesday, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) began the worldwide release of Office 2016. The apps are the latest addition to Office 365, Microsoft's cloud-based subscription service that helps people do their best work, together. The company also announced new and enhanced Office 365 services built for team productivity.

"The way people work has changed dramatically, and that's why Microsoft is focused on reinventing productivity and business processes for the mobile-first, cloud-first world," said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft. "These latest innovations take another big step forward in transforming Office from a familiar set of... More