Your Galaxy Phone

Source : http://indianexpress.com

The government said it no longer needs Apple’s assistance to unlock the iPhone and is withdrawing its request for an order requiring Apple’s cooperation in the drug case.

“As we have said previously, these cases have never been about setting a court precedent; they are about law enforcement’s ability and need to access evidence on devices pursuant to lawful court orders and search warrants,” Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said in a statement.

The Justice Department had sought to compel the Cupertino, California-based Apple to cooperate in the drug case, even though it had recently dropped a fight to compel Apple to help break into an iPhone used by a gunman in a December attack in San Bernardino that killed 14 people. In that case, a still-unidentified third-party came forward with a technique that managed to open the phone. That entity has not been named, and the Justice Department has not revealed the method used.

Representatives for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.

The tech giant had been fighting the Justice Department’s attempts and said in court papers last week the government’s request was extraordinary because there is likely minimal evidentiary value of any data on the phone and that Congress never authorized it to pursue such requests through the 1789 All Writs Act. It also said there is no proof Apple’s assistance was necessary and that the same technique the FBI was using to get information from the phone in California might work with the drug case phone.

But prosecutors had argued that the government needed Apple’s assistance to access the data, which they contended was “authorized to search by warrant.”

On Thursday, several law enforcement groups filed arguments in Brooklyn federal court saying they feared the public will stop aiding police if Apple is allowed to refuse to give up information from the phone in the drug case. The groups said they supported the government’s efforts to try to reverse a magistrate judge’s ruling earlier this year for Apple.

Source : http://indianexpress.com

Microsoft and Google have reached a deal to withdraw all the regulatory complaints against each other

Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc’s Google have reached a deal to withdraw all the regulatory complaints against each other, the companies told Reuters.

“Microsoft has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google, reflecting our changing legal priorities. We will continue to focus on competing vigorously for business and for customers,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an email.

Read: Microsoft and Intel face different challenges in shifts to cloud

Google, in a separate email, said the companies would want to compete vigorously based on the merits of their products, not in “legal proceedings”.

The companies in September agreed to bury all patent infringement litigations against each other, settling 18 cases in the United States and Germany.

“… Following our patent agreement, we’ve now agreed to withdraw regulatory complaints against one another,” Google said on Friday.

Recommended: Microsoft to end the production of Xbox 360: Here’s the reason why

Google’s rivals had reached out to U.S. regulators alleging that the Internet services company unfairly uses its Android system to win online advertising, people with knowledge of matter told Reuters last year.

The European Commission also accused Google last year of distorting internet search results to favor its shopping service, harming both rivals and consumers.

Watch all our video reviews

Source : http://indianexpress.com

Many taxpayers think that if they simply don't put something on their tax return, then the IRS will never know about it. But more often than not, there are mechanisms in place that alert the IRS to things that it needs to know about in order to calculate your proper tax liability. That's definitely the case when you leave your job and cash out an old 401(k) retirement account, because even if you don't tell the IRS anything about what you did with your 401(k), your old employer definitely will. Below, we'll take a closer look at how the IRS gets information and what you can do to avoid tax.

What your employer does when you cash out a 401(k)
The IRS knows that taxpayers won't always voluntarily comply with the tax laws, so whenever it can, it builds redundancy into the system. Most taxable income comes from employment, and so dual mechanisms that require both employers and employees to report income items make it far easier for the IRS to double-check on everyone involved and make sure it has complete information.

For retirement accounts, the IRS gets its information from the Form 1099-R that employers are required to complete. The form includes the total amount of money distributed to you, as well as the amount of the distribution that you'll need to include in your taxable income. Your employer also includes any money that it withholds from your distribution to go toward federal and state income tax, and you'll see other information that can be helpful in special circumstances that require additional work to determine what you'll need to report on your tax return.

Apart from the gross distribution and taxable amount boxes, the most important entry on Form 1099-R is the distribution code. If you take a distribution before you turn age 59 1/2, then your 1099-R will typically have code 1, which corresponds to an early distribution for which no known exception to the 10% penalty applies. For 401(k)s, if your employer knows that you have separated from service and are at least 55, then a penalty exception applies, and code 2 will be marked. For those who are 59 1/2 or older, you'll typically see code 7, which is used for a normal distribution.

The legal way to avoid tax
Because the taxable amount is on the 1099-R, you can't just leave your cashed-out 401(k) proceeds off your tax return. The IRS will know and you will trigger an audit or other IRS scrutiny if you don't include it.

However, there are a couple things you can do. If you haven't yet left work, simply don't cash out your 401(k). Either leave it at your employer or arrange to have it transferred directly to a rollover IRA or your new 401(k) account at your new job. That avoids taxation, and you won't even get a 1099-R.

Alternatively, if you already have the cash but it's still within 60 days since you got it, you can roll it over yourself into a new IRA. You'll get a 1099-R in this case, but you still won't owe tax as long as you meet the rollover rules.

If you cash in your 401(k), the IRS will know. So don't try to cheat your way out of paying tax. Instead, do the smart thing and keep your retirement money where it belongs.

This article is part of The Motley Fool's Knowledge Center, which was created based on the collected wisdom of a fantastic community of investors. We'd love to hear your questions, thoughts, and opinions on the Knowledge Center in general or this page in particular. Your input will help us help the world invest, better! Email us at knowledgecenter@fool.com. Thanks -- and Fool on!

Source : http://www.fool.com

Source : http://www.fool.com

Buyback programs, when timed right, can supercharge a company's returns. By reducing the outstanding share count, they increase the portion of earnings that each remaining share of stock is entitled to.

In this clip from Industry Focus: Tech, Sean O'Reilly and Dylan Lewis talk about Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) beautifully executed buybacks during the 2000s, and how they accomplished everything a buyback should. The two look at the company's timing, exactly how it executed the share purchases, and the impact it had on the Redmond giant.

A full transcript follows the video.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity
The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

This podcast was recorded on April 15, 2016. 

Sean O'Reilly: Yeah, and actually, that's a great segue to the company that I wanted to highlight, which is Microsoft. They have arguably had a monopoly since the late '80s. (laughs) Like, 90% market share the entire time, of the PC market, probably higher. They didn't start paying out a dividend until 2003.

As I'm going to point out in a second here more in depth, they didn't really start buying back shares in earnest until the mid-2000s. They bought back a few, I think we looked earlier, it was like a couple hundred million dollars, in the '90s. And that was clearly just to take care of the dilution from all the options they were giving employees. They have a monopoly, they're generating billions of dollars in free cash flow, and they didn't even do what GoPro did until way later. I mean, that's just ...

Dylan Lewis: It's baffling.

O'Reilly: Guys, what are you doing?

Lewis: So, what else do you have, in terms of Microsoft's strengths in capital allocation?O'Reilly: So, bringing it around, what I wanted our listeners to know was, most of us probably know, Microsoft shares have kind of languished a little since the bubble popped in 2000. The stock was at huge multiples, and they didn't really go anywhere until very recently, until Ballmer stepped down and they got the new CEO, Nadella.

After the bubble popped, they bought back anywhere from 3 to 6.5 billion worth of shares in 2001 and 2005. The stock kept languishing, so they were like, "We're making more and more money every year." Profits went from $7 billion in 2001, they were $12 billion in 2005, they kept growing over $20 billion by the early 2010s. So, the business is doing fine this whole time, but the shares just aren't going anywhere. So, clearly, as responsible capital allocators, they're going to be like, "Maybe we should buy back some shares."

Lewis: Yeah, let's slice this pie a few less times.

O'Reilly: Exactly. That's what they started doing in 2005, in a big way. In 2005, they bought back $8 billion shares. In 2006, $19 billion. 2007, $27 billion, and all of this is after paying that $32 billion special dividend in 2003. It's really funny to see huge $2-3-4 --

Lewis: Boop!

O'Reilly: Yeah, it's like boom. $12 billion in 2008 and 2009, $11 billion in 2010, and this whole time, at the depths of the Great Recession, the year when Microsoft bought back $9 billion worth of shares, and the previous year they'd bought back $17 billion, the P/E on Microsoft got as low as 9. [These are] crazy awesome purchases that they are making. The stock went from the mid-teens, it touched bottom in 2009 at $15 per share. All those repurchases were made over the last 10 years, and now Microsoft is at $55. That is awesome!

Dylan Lewis has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sean O'Reilly has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends GoPro. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Source : http://www.fool.com

When a company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, it doesn't mean that it is going out of business (that's Chapter 7). Rather, Chapter 11 is used by companies that feel their operations can continue profitably but after a restructuring to get its debts under control.

In general, when a company files for Chapter 11 protection, its stock price plummets and a "Q" is added to its stock symbol to clearly indicate that the company is in bankruptcy proceedings. So, what happens to the company's stock when it exits bankruptcy protection?

Last in line
Unfortunately, in the event of a bankruptcy restructuring, common shareholders are last in line when it comes to claiming a company's assets.

One of the main objectives of a Chapter 11 reorganization is to take care of the company's creditors and restructure the debts in a way that the company can continue to operate. And these creditors get paid back in the order of the priority of their claims.

Secured creditors (usually banks) get paid back first, followed by unsecured creditors such as bondholders. If a company has preferred stockholders, they are next in the priority line after bondholders. Stockholders are the last in line, and generally only get anything if the rest of the creditors are repaid in full. And since the reason most companies use Chapter 11 protection in the first place is an inability to pay their debts, you can probably imagine that this doesn't happen too often.

What happens to the stock?
The short answer is that most of the time, the stock of a company in Chapter 11 becomes worthless and shareholders get completely wiped out. Purchasing stock of a bankrupt company for pennies per share and hoping to make a quick buck when the company restructures almost always turns out to be a bad idea.

The company may issue new shares upon emerging from bankruptcy, at which point the old shares are cancelled and become worthless. The new shares are often issued to its creditors in exchange for a reduction or forgiveness of the outstanding debt.

Now, the story doesn't always have a completely sad ending. There have been cases where existing shareholders receive something after the company emerges from bankruptcy -- usually a small portion of the newly created stock or a relatively small cash payment. However, it's not a good idea to count on it. It's rare and usually isn't much even when it happens. A study found that of the 41 publicly traded companies that went bankrupt in 2009 and 2010, shareholders of just four of them got any kind of return at all. The rest got wiped out completely.

In a nutshell, while bankruptcy doesn't have to be a complete death sentence for the investments of the company's common shareholders, that's usually the case.

This article is part of The Motley Fool's Knowledge Center, which was created based on the collected wisdom of a fantastic community of investors. We'd love to hear your questions, thoughts, and opinions on the Knowledge Center in general or this page in particular. Your input will help us help the world invest, better! Email us at knowledgecenter@fool.com. Thanks -- and Fool on!

Source : http://www.fool.com