Now in what could be the next Enron, Apple has admitted that their is evidence to prove that their stocks were grossly mishandled and that’s it financial accuracy dating back to 2002 might well be false.

Apple shares fell $3.26, or 4.7 percent, to $66.33 and might continue to fall as Apple looks into their own finances to get a hold of things.

• slowing consumer spending
• a cooling real estate market
• increased energy costs
• a slight rise in unemployment numbers

At the same time, there are positives, such as:

• increased worker productivity
• more investment in business
• a more robust economy worldwide, which should bolster the American economy

Still, Bernanke said inflation is a major problem, mostly because of high energy costs. The speech is pretty dry, but here’s one part most readers can understand:

With the economy now evidently in a period of transition, monetary policy must be conducted with great care and with close attention to the evolution of the economic outlook as implied by incoming information. Given recent developments, the medium-term outlook for inflation will receive particular scrutiny.

Many investors and analysts take that to mean interest rates will be going up again, which explains the market correction that took place after the speech.

Source: Speech transcript

French company Alcatel and US company Lucent are merging to become a giant company worth about $25 billion, which will make them the 2nd biggest telecom in the world (behind US-based Cisco).

Some analysts are suggesting that Nokia should now think about merging with German company Siemens. Similarly, Ericsson should consider increasing its fixed-line business so that it can stay competitive.

For now, according to Optically Networked, Alcatel and Lucent are focusing on “the massive job of synchronizing operations on both sides of the Atlantic” and deciding which side will “bear the brunt of the layoffs, which are expected to be about 10 percent of the combined workforce of about 88,000.”

If so, Morningstar is suggesting you take a look at stocks in the media sector.

Media stocks have performed poorly over the past few years, but don’t let that deter you:

We suspect that future returns for media stocks will be much better than those of the recent past … and we’re not just saying this because the past several years have been so bad.

In fact, 40% of the 60 media stocks Morningstar covers have ratings of either 4 stars or 5 stars, and the media sector overall includes more undervalued stocks than any of the other 12 sectors Morningstar analyzes.

Where should you start? How about Washington Post Co., one of Morningstar’s favorites. And don’t forget The New York Times Co. and The Wall Street Journal. Finally, remember to take a look at local options: firms — like Journal Register, McClatchy and Lee Enterprises — that “own scores of small, community-based newspapers … are much less vulnerable to changes in technology.”

In February, energy prices fell by 1.2 percent. Pump prices dropped 1 percent, home heating oil was down 2.8 percent and natural gas prices fell 4.5 percent, the biggest one-month drop in 4 1/2 years.

Food prices moderated, rising just 0.2 percent. A big increase in fruit prices was offset by declines in the prices of vegetables, dairy and poultry products.

[...]

Outside of food and energy, clothing costs posted a 1 percent decline last month, the biggest one-month drop in nearly five years. However, the price of airline tickets jumped 1.2 percent and medical costs were up 0.5 percent.

High prices for fuel and raw materials continued, and both business and consumer spending grew.

Based on this information, the Fed will decide when and by how much to raise the overnight lending rate, which is the amount of interest banks charge to each other and forms the basis for determining the interest rate you pay for everyhitng from credit cards to mortgages and car loans.

Analysts expect two more quarter-point increases, one later this month and one in May, to bring the prime rate to 5 percent. The Fed has raised the rate 14 times since June 2004. It is expected the rate will stay at 5 percent for the second half of the year.

Unemployment fell slightly in February as the economy grew almost 5 percent between January and March.

And, if you really wanted to know, it’s called the beige book because of the color of its cover (See, I did learn something working at newspapers all those years!).

(Source: Bloomberg)

If it’s not authorised, there’s implications that the talks have been going on in spurts behind the scenes. There could be partial sales.

Or possibly Dreamworks is looking for a sweetheart deal like Disney got with Pixar? In the fight between Dreamworks and Pixar to create animated movies, they have always used two very divergent models. Pixar made fewer, more tightly animated movies, while Dreamworks went for quanitity.

If NBC Universal does buyout Dreamworks, this could also mean more TV programming moves.