Tiffany & Co.'s third-quarter results miss Wall Street estimates as jewelry company cuts 2012 outlook

Tiffany & Co.'s third-quarter net income fell 30 percent, stung by a higher-than-expected tax rate, ongoing economic weakness and high precious metal and diamond costs.

The jewelry company's results missed Wall Street's expectations and it cut its full-year earnings forecast.

Shares dropped $5.58, or 8.7 percent, to $58.15 in premarket trading Thursday.

For the period ended Oct. 31, the company known for its blue boxes earned $63.2 million, or 49 cents per share. That's down from $89.7 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by FactSet forecast earnings of 63 cents per share.

Chairman and CEO Michael J. Kowalski said in a statement that Tiffany had expected its quarterly results would be affected by ongoing economic softness and tough year-ago comparisons. But he added that the retailer's gross margin rate of 54.4 percent — down from 57.9 percent in the prior-year period — was weaker than expected and its tax rate was higher than expected. Gross margin, a key performance metric, is the amount of each dollar in revenue a company actually keeps.

While cautious about worldwide economic conditions, Kowalski said that the company anticipates results improving during the holiday season partly because of easier year-over-year sales comparisons but also because of new stores and new products.

The holiday season is critical for retailers, as it can make up to 40 percent of stores' annual revenue.

Revenue increased 4 percent to $852.7 million from $821.8 million. Wall Street expected $858.8 million.

Sales rose 6 percent in Europe and 3 percent in the Americas region. Asia-Pacific sales climbed 2 percent, while Japan sales rose slightly. Tiffany said that its other sales jumped 73 percent as it converted five stores in the United Arab Emirates from independently-run distribution to company-run stores.

Tiffany now expects 2012 earnings of $3.20 to $3.40 per share. Its prior outlook was for earnings of $3.55 to $3.70 per share.

Analysts predict earnings of $3.59 per share.

Tiffany had 272 stores at quarter's end.

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City National Bank of Florida and its Spanish parent have four years to evaluate the Miami bank’s future ownership

City National Bank of Florida, the Miami bank purchased by Bankia (formerly Caja Madrid) of Spain in November 2008, said Wednesday that its parent has a “four-year window to evaluate alternatives” for the bank’s future ownership and will work closely with management in Miami during the process.

The Spanish government has reached and agreement with the European Union related to Spain’s financial system problems, which will result in a recapitalization of Bankia and other institutions, the bank said. The agreement calls for Bankia to sell non-core assets and its holdings outside of Spain so that Bankia will emerge with a solid capital position and be more focused on its core domestic business.

“Because City National Bank is so well capitalized, profitable and well positioned in the marketplace, we are going to take our time to fully evaluate all of our strategic alternatives,” City National Bank President and CEO Jorge Gonzalez said in a statement. “This does not impact our ongoing strategy of profitable growth and diversification or our commitment to the markets we serve. Our focus continues to be taking excellent care of our clients and employees. ”

City National, founded 65 years ago, has $4.32 billion in assets and 26 branches from Miami-Dade County to the greater Orlando area.

INA PAIVA CORDLE

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Group to begin reviewing Miami-Dade’s elections practices

A group tasked with making recommendations to improve Miami-Dade elections will begin meeting Tuesday morning, three weeks after Election Day was marked by long lines and a surge of absentee ballots that took several days to count.

County Mayor Carlos Gimenez convened the advisory group to examine state and local elections laws and practices, and suggest changes. The first meeting is expected to feature an overview of legal issues, an outline of the county’s approach to elections and a tour of Miami-Dade’s elections headquarters.

The elections department has not yet submitted its “after-action report,” a post-mortem detailing how things went during the election.

The group will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the county’s Doral elections department, 2700 NW 87th Ave. The meeting is open to the public.

In addition to Gimenez, the group includes 13 members he appointed. Among them are four county commissioners: Lynda Bell, Sally Heyman, Dennis Moss and Rebeca Sosa.

The other members are: Alice Ancona of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce; the Rev. Victor Curry, president of the Miami-Dade chapter of the NAACP; Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert; former County Attorney Murray Greenberg; Lovette McGill, an activist who has been involved with African-American trade unionists; Gepsie Metellus, executive director of Sant La, a Little Haiti-based social services agency; C.J. Ortuño, executive director of the gay-rights advocacy group SAVE Dade; and elections attorneys Kendall Coffey and Robert Fernandez, who represented Gimenez and newly elected Property Appraiser Carlos Lopez-Cantera in recent elections challenges.

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Getco makes $3.50 per share bid for Knight Capital

Getco is making a cash-and-stock bid for troubled trading firm Knight Capital that it values at $3.50 per share.

In a letter to City, NJ-based Knight Capital, Getco Holding Co. says the acquisition would involve a two-step process in which 242 million new shares would be issued, followed by a tender offer for an additional 154 million shares.

Getco already owns about 31 percent of Knight's outstanding shares.

Knight suffered a trading glitch in August that sent markets reeling and cost the company more than $460 million.

Getco, in a regulatory filing said that CEO Daniel Coleman would lead the new company, and Knight CEO Tom Joyce would become non-executive chairman.

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Gift ideas for the techie on your list

The holidays are coming fast, and if you’re like me, you’ve probably gotten very little of your gift shopping done.

Here are suggestions for a variety of gifts for the techie and the not-so-techie people on your list.

Some of these items can be found in stores and some are only available online, but you should be able to order them in time for Christmas or Hanukkah.

IOMEGA EZ MEDIA & BACKUP CENTER

What is it? A hard drive that lives on your home network so you can share files, store all your photos and music and back up your home computers. Works on Macintosh, Windows and Linux computers.

The EZ Media & Backup Center is available in 1-, 2- and 3-terabyte capacities. It is simple to set up. It lives next to your home router and plugs into the network via Ethernet.

Major features include a built-in iTunes server so your music is available to all connected computers, Time Machine support for easy Macintosh backups and Iomega’s Personal Cloud to access your data from any Internet connection.

It can also stream your video files to your TV if you’ve got a compatible streaming box or an Internet-connected TV.

Software for backing up Windows PCs is also included.

Who’s it for? Any family that wants central storage for their digital lives. This is a great home for your digital photo, music or video library.

What does it cost? One terabyte for $169.99, two terabytes for $209.99, three terabytes for $279.99.

Where can you get it? Online at www.iomega.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Apple store, Fry’s.

NETATMO URBAN WEATHER STATION

What is it? A wireless indoor/outdoor weather station that displays through an application on your Apple or Android mobile device.

There are two parts, one that lives in your house and one you place outside.

The indoor component plugs into the wall and monitors the temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, carbon dioxide level and even the sound level in decibels.

The outdoor module is battery-powered and measures temperature and humidity.

Once you connect the Netatmo to your home Wi-Fi network, you can download the free app and see your weather stats from anywhere.

Setup was easy enough, and you can set the app to notify you when carbon dioxide rises to levels that you should be warned about — which is great.

Who’s it for? Weather geeks and people who like to know what the temperature is without having to fire up a browser.

What does it cost? $179

Where can you get it? www.netatmo.com

3M LED ADVANCED LIGHT

What is it? 3M’s first foray into the home light bulb market is with the LED Advanced Light, which uses light-emitting diodes (LED) to produce 800 lumens (the light of a 60-watt bulb).

The Advanced Light has a life span of 25 years and costs just $1.63 per year if it’s turned on for three hours per day.

The bulb lights instantly and is dimmable.

It’s a little intimidating to start buying light bulbs that might outlive me, but my wallet approves.

Who’s it for? Anyone who wants to save money or wants a bulb that might not have to be changed until 2035.

What does it cost? $25

Where can you get it? Select Wal-Mart stores. For more information, go to www.3mlighting.com/LED.

STEM IZON 2.0 WI-FI VIDEO MONITOR

What is it? A small, wireless video camera that you can monitor remotely with an iOS device.

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Three people wounded in drive-by shooting in Miami Gardens

An apparent drive-by shooting late Monday night in Miami Gardens has left three people in the hospital and neighbors wondering whether the wrong house was targeted.

The shooting happened in the 20800 block of Northwest 30th Court. Air rescue took the victims, two men and a woman, to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where at least one remains in serious condition.

Neighbors said three people were outside a house when bullets started flying from a passing car. Three people in the group were hit.

According to Miami Gardens police, the shooting happened around 11 Monday night.

“An unknown individual driving eastbound on Northwest 208 Terrace fired several shots from their vehicle striking a male in the leg and a female in the arm,” said Sgt. Bill Bamford, a police spokesman.

Police do not have a description of the car, except that it has tinted windows, Bamford said.

Audrey Roberts, 73, said his 37-year-old son was wounded in the shooting. He said his son and friends often spend time outside talking near the garage.

“They don’t know” who did the shooting, Roberts said.

He said he heard “a lot of shots,” possibly from more than one gun. “Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.”

On Tuesday morning, he pointed to a home garage door pocked with bullet holes.

Miami Herald photojournalist Walter Michot and Miami Herald staff writer Nadege Green contributed to this report. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

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Card firms’ block on WikiLeaks did not break rules: EU

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A block on processing donations for WikiLeaks by Visa Europe and other credit card companies is unlikely to have violated EU anti-trust rules, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

DataCell, a company that collected donations for WikiLeaks, complained to the Commission about Visa Europe, MasterCard Europe and American Express Co after they stopped processing donations for WikiLeaks in December 2010. Their decisions followed criticism by the United States of WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables.

“On the basis of the information available, the Commission considers that the complaint does not merit further investigation because it is unlikely that any infringement of EU competition rules could be established,” said a spokesman for the Commission, the EU executive.

He added, however, that the Commission would look at new information from DataCell before taking a final decision.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been staying in Ecuador’s embassy in central London since June to avoid extradition to Sweden to face rape and sexual assault allegations.

Assange said there were no lawful grounds for the card companies’ actions, which he said had cost Wikileaks 95 percent of its revenue and threatened his organization’s existence.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee and Adrian Croft; Editing by Louise Heavens)

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Wintry mix hits city

Crews have treated the highways and plows are standing at the ready across the tristate for another November snowstorm.

A storm system is moving up from the Tennessee Valley region. Snow started falling at daybreak and will likely cause some problems for the morning commute.

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for some portions of the region.

The storm system will pass to the south during Tuesday. This will bring snow and rain to the area with more of the snow occurring over the colder northern and western suburbs.

New York City could get up to 1 inch; 1 to 2 inches could accumulate in the nearby suburbs, and 2 to 4 inches could fall on the northern and western suburbs.

To read more, go to MyFoxNY.com.

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Shoppers welcome holiday sales by buying early, often — and online

Shoppers swooped into stores in droves on Thanksgiving weekend, topping last year’s sales, as more retailers opened their doors earlier than ever on Thursday, luring bargain hunters away from eating another plate of turkey.

And now Cyber Monday is expected to set a record for online shopping this year, for those who prefer the Internet to the mall.

Spending per shopper nationwide averaged $423 — $25 more than last year — from Thursday to Sunday, while total spending increased nearly 13 percent, to an estimated $59.1 billion, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

“I think the only way to describe the Thanksgiving openings is to call it a huge win,” said Matthew Shay, the trade group’s president and chief executive. Shopping, he said, “has really become an extension of the day’s festivities.”

South Florida was no exception, as a flurry of stores, as well as several malls, opened on Thanksgiving. Thursday has seemingly become the new Black Thursday, taking a bite out of the old-fashioned kickoff day of the holiday, Black Friday.

“We had an excellent weekend,” said Humberto Maldonado, director of marketing for Dadeland Mall, which opened at midnight on Thursday. Sales figures are not yet in, but the overall trend was up from last year, he said Monday.

“It was really busy from midnight to 5 a.m., then it slowed, and picked up again at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m., and stayed busy all day on Friday,” Maldonado said.

Nationwide, about 35 million people visited stores and shopping websites Thursday, up from 29 million last year. More than double that number — 89 million, up from 86 million — shopped on Black Friday.

“There were more people shopping every single day of the weekend,” Shay said.

Topping off the weekend, Cyber Monday’s early results, tabulated at 3 p.m. Monday, showed that online shopping was up a whopping 25.6 percent compared with the same time period a year ago, according to figures by IBM Benchmark.

Nationwide, most of the weekend’s shoppers — roughly 58 percent — bought clothing and accessories. Another 38 percent bought electronics and 35 percent shelled out for toys, National Retail Federation figures show.

Retailers made an effort to lure people in, with updated mobile shopping applications for smartphones and tablets, and expanded shipping and layaway options.

Still, it remains to be seen whether increased sales over the Thanksgiving weekend will translate to higher sales throughout the holiday shopping season. Analysts have been predicting mediocre sales this year, nationwide, as shoppers remain uncertain about the broader economy. Overall holiday sales are expected to increase 4.1 percent from 2011, compared with sales growth of 5.6 percent last year, the National Retail Federation said.

However, Florida is expected to beat those figures. Buoyed in large part by tourists and snowbirds, the Florida Retail Federation is forecasting a 5.3 percent gain this year over last, to $58 billion, marking the highest percentage growth predicted since the recession. Pre-recession, retail sales peaked at $54.3 billion in 2006.

Christian Cutillo, 26, of Weston, hit Walmart, then Sears, Target and Old Navy after eating Thanksgiving dinner.

She began at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and by 3 a.m. Friday she had finished shopping for all 15 people on her list, mostly buying clothing and toys.

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Police seize haul of bogus lobster tags

An ongoing investigation into an elaborate scheme to counterfeit state-issued tags for spiny lobster traps has pulled in a second suspect.

Jesus Alonso Perez, 51, of Miami was charged with possession of phony trap tags after his arrest last week by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers in Miami-Dade County.

Perez is the first person arrested in the case since Ramon Rojas, 44, of Hialeah was arrested on Monroe County and Miami-Dade warrants earlier this month.

Rojas has been charged with dozens of conservation counts for possessing and using fake trap tags, and fishing traps without required state certificates. A handful of Rojas' personal traps bearing counterfeit trap tags were hauled from water off Big Pine Key before his arrest.

"During the investigation, we were able to determine [Rojas] actually was in the midst of selling some of these counterfeit tags and ended up selling 100 at $50 a pop," said FWC Officer Jorge Pino, an agency spokesman. "We knew some of these tags were being used already."

The case could lead to additional state and federal counts.

Investigation started June 29 when U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents intercepted a suspicious package shipped to Florida from Colombia.

Inside the package were 1,512 yellow plastic tags bearing serial numbers and state identification. The package was passed along to federal wildlife officers, who forwarded it to the FWC.

"To an untrained eye, they might have looked like real tags but our inspector immediately identified the tags as counterfeit," Pino said. "Not to mention, they were coming into Florida from Colombia."

The package was re-sealed for delivery, with FWC officers keeping watch. Other details on the investigation are still considered confidential.

"We've seen counterfeit trap tags before so that wasn't a surprise," Pino said. "We were a little surprised at the lengths he went to, going to another country to get this many."

"This goes contrary to everything the FWC is trying to achieve as a conservation agency in terms of protecting the resource," Pino said. "Putting what could have been a large number of illegal traps in the water has the potential to do a lot of damage."

Trap tags have been required by the state since 1992 as part of an effort to control and reduce the number of traps used by Florida commercial fishermen. Currently about 490,000 tags are issued annually, down from a peak of 750,000. Lobstermen receive an allocation of tags based on their history of commercial trap harvests.

People who want to enter the fishery or increase their trap numbers must buy trap certificates, which include the right to buy trap tags, from other fishermen. A tag itself costs only $1 each from the state but certificates can sell for more than $100 each.

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