U.S. Said to Start Probe of $2 Billion JPMorgan Loss

By Patricia Hurtado and Seth Stern - May 16, 2012 2:15 AM GMT+0700

The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York have begun a criminal probe of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s $2 billion trading loss, a person familiar with the matter said.

The U.S. is looking into whether criminal wrongdoing occurred in relation to the losses the bank reported last week, said the person, who declined to be identified because the matter isn’t public. The inquiry is in its most preliminary stage, the person said.

Enlarge image

JPMorgan Chase building in New York.Photographer: Justin Lane/EPA

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Sheila Bair, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Richard Bove, an analyst at Rochdale Securities, offer their views on JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $2 billion trading loss and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon. This report also contains comments from U.S. Republican Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee and Rob Portman of Ohio; Amar Bhide, a professor at Tufts University; Sarat Sethi, a principal and portfolio manager at Douglas C. Lane & Associates; Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets Corp.; Simon Johnson, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Lisa Lindsley, director of capital strategies at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. (Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Erik Schatzker report on JPMorgan's shareholder meeting. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Money Moves." (Source: Bloomberg)

Enlarge image

Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Photographer: Tim Boyle/Bloomberg

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates derivatives trading, also are examining New York-based JPMorgan’s trading activities, according to people familiar with those probes.

JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said on May 10 that the bank made “egregious” mistakes and that the losses of about $2 billion tied to synthetic credit securities were “self-inflicted.”

Chief Investment Office

The trading occurred in a portfolio of credit investments at a unit of the bank called the Chief Investment Office, which makes trades to balance the bank’s assets and liabilities. The unit made trades in credit default swaps.

The losses, which could increase by $1 billion or more, originated out of a London unit of JPMorgan’s Chief Investment Office, which is generally responsible for managing the bank’s interest rate, foreign currency and other economic risks.

The company was trying to reposition a portfolio of corporate credit derivatives and used a trading strategy that was “flawed, complex, poorly conceived, poorly vetted and poorly executed,” Dimon told shareholders today at the bank’s annual meeting in Tampa, Florida.

At the end of an investigation, the U.S. may consider filing mail, wire and securities fraud charges, which give prosecutors “enormous” discretion, said Ellen Podgor, a professor at Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg, Florida.

‘Don’t Need Much’

“You don’t need much if the government decides it would like to proceed,” Podgor said in a telephone interview.

Larry Hamermesh, a former lawyer with the SEC who is now a professor at Widener University School of Law, said an investigation into whether criminal wrongdoing occurred may take some time.

“Just because things fail doesn’t mean that there’s a crime,” Hamermesh said in a telephone interview.

He said the U.S. may want to scrutinize the trader who took the position and supervisors who “bear the responsibility for what was said to investors.”

“These cases are not easy to win and criminal liability under securities law depends on a show of intention to mislead,” Hamermesh said. “If it’s simply a screw-up that’s not going to get the government to home base with a jury.”

Joseph Evangelisti, a spokesman for the bank, declined to comment on the criminal probe. Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, declined to comment. Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch in Brooklyn, New York, where JPMorgan has some of its operations, also declined to comment.

The probe was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patricia Hurtado in New York at pathurtado@bloomberg.net; Seth Stern in Washington at sstern14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net; Steven Komarow at skomarow1@bloomberg.net

Read more...

Dow Falls to Four-Month Low as Greece Overshadows Economy

By Rita Nazareth - May 16, 2012 4:37 AM GMT+0700

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) fell to an almost four-month low as Greece’s failure to form a new government offset better-than-estimated American economic data.

Commodity (SPXL1) shares tumbled as the Dollar Index extended its longest rally ever, reducing the appeal of raw materials. Avon Products Inc. (AVP) slumped 11 percent as Coty Inc. withdrew its $10.7 billion offer for the biggest door-to-door cosmetics seller. Home Depot Inc. (HD), the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, slid 2.4 percent as it forecast slowing sales gains. Lennar Corp. (LEN) and D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI) jumped at least 2.5 percent as homebuilder confidence climbed to the highest level since 2007.

Enlarge image

Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Deborah Kostroun reports on the performance of the U.S. equity market today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to an almost four-month low as Greece’s failure to form a new government offset better-than-estimated American economic data. (Source: Bloomberg)

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.6 percent to 1,330.66 at 4 p.m. New York time, dropping 2 percent in three days. The Dow lost 63.35 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,632, the lowest since Jan. 19. About 7.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, or 9 percent above the three-month average.

“It’s fear of European drama,” said Paul Zemsky, the New York-based head of asset allocation for ING Investment Management. His firm oversees $160 billion. “It seems obvious that leaving the euro would be a disaster for Greece and very costly to its economy. Yet they seem to be on a path where that could happen. We’ve had some good U.S. economic data, but people are afraid to hold equities. It’s extremely frustrating.”

Stocks fell for a third day and the euro tumbled to a four- month low amid concern Greece will leave the shared currency. The European country will hold new elections after President Karolos Papoulias failed to broker a governing coalition following an inconclusive May 6 vote. The impasse offset American reports showing that manufacturing in the New York region and homebuilder confidence grew more than forecast.

Safety Demand

Investors’ demand for safety pushed up the Dollar Index (DXY), a gauge of the currency against six major peers, for the 12th straight day. The dollar gain helped send copper, gold and oil lower. Gauges of energy and raw material shares in the S&P 500 slumped at least 1.4 percent. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) dropped 4.8 percent to $32.65. Alcoa Inc. (AA) slid 2.4 percent to $8.71.

Pacific Investment Management Co., which manages the world’s largest bond fund, doesn’t see the European currency union surviving in its present form. The most probable outcome is that the 17-nation euro area will evolve into a smaller union centered on France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and underpinned by much stronger coordination and financing, he said.

“The status quo is no longer an option for Europe over the three to five year horizon,” Pimco Chief Executive Officer Mohamed El-Erian wrote in a report outlining the Newport Beach, California-based company’s medium-term economic outlook.

Avon Tumbles

Avon tumbled 11 percent, the most in the S&P 500, to $18.71. Coty, the maker of perfumes by Beyonce Knowles and Heidi Klum, said attempts to speak to Avon board members, including Chairman Andrea Jung and Chief Executive Officer Sheri McCoy, failed after it received a two-sentence e-mail requesting a deadline extension. Coty had given yesterday as a cutoff date for a response when it made its $24.75-a-share bid last week.

Home Depot retreated 2.4 percent to $48.67 after forecasting sales this year will slow from the first quarter because warm weather pulled forward purchases of plants and gardening equipment.

A measure of homebuilders in S&P indexes rallied 2.2 percent on signals of an improving outlook for construction. Lennar increased 2.8 percent to $29.16. D.R. Horton advanced 2.5 percent to $17.33.

JPMorgan Dividend

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) rebounded from the biggest two-day drop since 2009, climbing 1.3 percent to $36.24. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, responding to shareholders at the annual meeting after disclosing a $2 billion trading loss last week, said he sees no reason the bank’s dividend would be affected.

Groupon Inc. (GRPN) rose 3.7 percent to $12.17, after soaring as much as 27 percent earlier. The largest daily-deal website reported first-quarter profit that topped estimates, helped by lower marketing costs and expanded international sales.

TJX Cos. rose the most in the S&P 500, climbing 6.9 percent to $42.45. The owner of the T.J. Maxx (TJX) and Marshalls retail chains reported first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates, driven by demand in Europe. Sales rose 11 percent to $5.8 billion from $5.22 billion a year earlier, matching analysts’ estimates.

Facebook Inc. (FB) boosted the price range on its initial public offering to seek as much as $12.8 billion, signaling that Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg expects demand for the social network to withstand recent market turmoil.

New Range

The new range is $34 to $38 a share, a regulatory filing today shows, indicating a market value of as much as $104.2 billion. That would make Facebook, co-founded in 2004 by Zuckerberg, worth more than Citigroup Inc. (C) and McDonald’s Corp.

Facebook, which has spent more than a week pitching the IPO to investors across the U.S., raised the range even after the S&P 500 yesterday slumped to the lowest level since February. That may spell disappointment for investors if the slump persists, said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at the private-banking unit of KeyCorp.

“They get more money upfront if they can make it go, but if the enthusiasm is weak out of the gate, it makes it that much more difficult for the company going forward,” said McCain, who helps oversee more than $20 billion for the Cleveland-based bank. “You would think they would be a little more cautious.”

The S&P 500 took longer than usual to fall 5 percent from its peak this year, a sign that any further retreat in U.S. stocks will be “contained,” according to Sam Stovall of S&P.

28 Days

The benchmark gauge reached the threshold yesterday after spending 28 days without losing 5 percent from its April high. Since 1950 (SPX), it has taken an average 19 days to fall 5 percent, based on a study by Stovall, S&P’s New York-based chief equity strategist.

Among those that took 28 days or longer to occur, only 25 percent eventually turned into corrections, or retreats of more than 10 percent, the data show. Stovall said in an e-mail that he views losses of less than 5 percent as “noise” and those of between 5 percent and 10 percent as pullbacks.

“The duration of this ‘noise’ likely indicates that the ultimate decline will be contained, unless new worries emerge or existing concerns become increasingly intensified in the coming weeks or months,” Stovall wrote yesterday. “The market will eventually bottom in a ‘pullback’ mode.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net

Read more...

JPMorgan Said to Consider Clawing Back Bonuses After Loss

By Laura Marcinek, Donal Griffin and Dawn Kopecki - May 16, 2012 2:42 AM GMT+0700

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), the biggest U.S. bank, will consider reclaiming incentive pay from employees including former Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew after her unit had a $2 billion trading loss, said two senior executives.

The lender can cancel stock awards or demand they be repaid if an employee “engages in conduct that causes material financial or reputational harm,” JPMorgan said in its annual proxy statement. The company will claw back pay if it’s appropriate, said one of the executives, who asked not to be identified because no decisions have been made.

Enlarge image

The JP Morgan Chase & Co headquarters in New York. Photographer: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Sheila Bair, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Richard Bove, an analyst at Rochdale Securities, offer their views on JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $2 billion trading loss and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon. This report also contains comments from U.S. Republican Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee and Rob Portman of Ohio; Amar Bhide, a professor at Tufts University; Sarat Sethi, a principal and portfolio manager at Douglas C. Lane & Associates; Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets Corp.; Simon Johnson, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Lisa Lindsley, director of capital strategies at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. (Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner talks about JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $2 billion trading loss, financial regulation and fiscal debt. He speaks at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's 2012 Fiscal Summit in Washington. (Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Richard Bove, an analyst at Rochdale Securities, talks about the outlook for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the firm's $2 billion trading loss. Bove speaks with Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Todd Hagerman, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., talks about JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $2 billion trading loss and the possible impact on the financial industry. He speaks with Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television's "Taking Stock." (Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg Government economic analysts Nela Richardson and Chris Payne discuss JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $2 billion trading loss and the regulatory system. (Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker reports that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon will face shareholders today at the company's annual meeting in Tampa, Florida. JPMorgan Chase & Co. will consider reclaiming incentive pay from employees including former Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew after her unit had a $2 billion trading loss, said two senior executives. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Inside Track." (Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Sarat Sethi, a principal and portfolio manager at Douglas C. Lane & Associates, talks about JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $2 billion trading loss and the role of Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon. Sethi speaks with Stephanie Ruhle, Scarlet Fu, Sara Eisen and Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, talks about JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the outlook for the bank following its $2 billion trading loss. Miller speaks with Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television's "In the Loop." (Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., facing investor ire after posting a $2 billion trading loss, may consider reclaiming incentive pay from employees including former Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew, said two senior executives. (Source: Bloomberg)

Play Video

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Brian Foran, an analyst at Nomura Securities International Inc., talks about the outlook for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the banking industry. He speaks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance Midday." (Source: Bloomberg)

Enlarge image

Ina Drew, former chief investment officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Source: JPMorgan Chase & Co. via Bloomberg

The incident, which led to Drew’s retirement yesterday, may test JPMorgan’s clawback policy amid mounting investor criticism over Wall Street pay practices and as regulators investigate the trades. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said the strategy that led to the loss was “poorly executed and poorly monitored” and that it gave ammunition to proponents of stricter bank regulation.

“The political environment is very sensitive right now and this couldn’t have come at a worse time,” said David Knutson, a credit analyst in Chicago with Legal & General Investment Management, which owns JPMorgan debt. “I can see how pressure from regulators could result in JPMorgan attempting to exercise a clawback.”

‘Every Single Dollar’

New York City Comptroller John Liu said that JPMorgan should tell shareholders it will “aggressively claw back every single dollar possible from the executives responsible for the $2 billion loss,” according to a statement today.

“Doing so will send a clear message to senior management that anyone who recklessly gambles with shareholder money is jeopardizing long-term value and will be held accountable,” Liu said in the statement.

JPMorgan’s executive-compensation plan won the approval of 91.5 percent of shareholders today in a non-binding advisory vote at the company’s annual meeting in Tampa, Florida.

Drew, 55, received $14 million in compensation for 2011, including $7.1 million in restricted stock, a $4.7 million cash bonus and $750,000 salary, according to the proxy. Her pay over the past two years averaged $1.2 million a month. After three decades at the company, she was replaced yesterday by Matt Zames, co-head of global fixed income at the investment bank.

‘Gross Negligence’

Stock awards can be canceled or repaid if a member of the operating committee, which included Drew, “improperly or with gross negligence” fails to identify risk, JPMorgan said in the proxy. Committee members also can have 2012 stock awards canceled if Dimon deems their performance was “unsatisfactory for a sustained period of time,” according to the proxy.

Drew didn’t respond to phone and e-mail messages seeking comment. Jennifer Zuccarelli, a bank spokeswoman, declined to comment.

JPMorgan’s stock declined 9.3 percent the day after Dimon disclosed the loss on May 10, the biggest drop since August. The shares slid 3.2 percent yesterday to $35.79 in New York.

The trading loss has hurt JPMorgan’s reputation, Dimon said in a conference call last week. It “puts egg on our face and we deserve any criticism we get,” he said.

More shareholders are voting to reject compensation packages for senior executives as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis and stagnating economic growth squeeze bank profits. Citigroup Inc. shareholders last month rejected compensation for executives including CEO Vikram Pandit in a non-binding vote after the New York-based firm’s shares plunged 44 percent last year.

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (MS), owner of the world’s biggest brokerage, instituted clawbacks in 2009 that allow the New York-based bank to take back compensation if an employee’s conduct hurts the firm in the years after it was paid. UBS AG (UBSN) said in 2010 that its net loss a year earlier would trigger a bonus clawback for the first time, depriving bankers of 300 million Swiss francs ($321 million) of deferred pay they were due to receive.

JPMorgan will have to weigh the trading loss against Drew’s tenure at the firm and any profit her unit generated before this year, said Paul Sorbera, president of executive search firm Alliance Consulting in New York.

The bank’s corporate division, under which she reported, earned a peak of $3.7 billion in 2009. The bank doesn’t break out results for the chief investment office. Dimon, upon announcing Drew’s retirement, called her a “great partner” who has made “vast contributions” to the firm, according to a statement yesterday.

“There are so many things she’s entitled to in the organization -- as a long-term employee, as a managing director, as woman in the organization -- they want to take care of her, they want to do the right thing by her,” Sorbera said. “The bank will be in a position where they probably could go one way or the other.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Laura Marcinek in New York at lmarcinek3@bloomberg.net; Donal Griffin in New York at dgriffin10@bloomberg.net; Dawn Kopecki in New York at dkopecki@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net

Read more...

Apple Said to Plan Thinner Mac Laptops With Intel Chips

By Adam Satariano, Ian King and Peter Burrows - May 16, 2012 1:44 AM GMT+0700

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is preparing a new lineup of thinner MacBook laptops running on more powerful chips made by Intel Corp. (INTC), people with knowledge of the plans said.

The MacBook Pro machines, to be unveiled at Apple’s annual developers conference starting June 11, also will feature high- definition screens like those on the iPhone and iPad, as well as flash memory to cut startup times and extend battery life, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been made public.

Enlarge image

The current generation Apple MacBook Pro. Source: Apple Inc.

Play Video

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is preparing a new lineup of thinner MacBook laptops running on more powerful chips made by Intel Corp., people with knowledge of the plans said. Bloomberg's Adam Satariano reports on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg West." (Source: Bloomberg)

Enlarge image

A boy tries Apple Inc. MacBook Pro computers. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

Enlarge image

Two Apple Inc. MacBook Pro laptop computers, seen on Jan. 25, 2010. The new Apple laptops to be unveiled at Apple's annual developers conference starting June 11, 2012, will run on Intel’s new processors, code-named Ivy Bridge, and will have a slimmed-down body design from the current 0.95-inch thickness, said people with knowledge of the plans. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Apple’s Mac sales are growing faster than the personal- computer market, benefiting from the popularity of its mobile devices. Since 2007, when the iPhone was introduced, Apple’s Mac sales have more than doubled, reaching $21.8 billion last year. As Apple’s share has grown, competitors such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Dell Inc. (DELL) and Samsung Electronics Co. have followed suit in making thinner, aluminum laptops that start up more quickly.

Apple’s new laptops will run on Intel’s new processors, code-named Ivy Bridge, and will have a slimmed-down body design from the current 0.95-inch (2.4 centimeter) thickness, the people said. Apple’s other lines of computers -- MacBook Air laptops and iMac desktops -- also may receive an overhaul next month to add high-definition screens and Intel’s stronger chip, according to a report today from Ben Reitzes, an analyst at Barclays Capital Inc.

Bill Evans, a spokesman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment, while Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman for Intel, referred questions to Apple.

Apple shares rose 0.2 percent to $559.23 at 2:42 p.m. New York time. The stock had gained 38 percent this year through yesterday.

Mountain Lion

At the developer conference, Apple also may announce the debut date of its latest Mac operating system, called Mountain Lion, one person said. The new software, which Apple previewed in February, more closely aligns Mac computers with its mobile devices -- the operating system includes many elements of the iOS mobile software that runs the iPhone and iPad. One feature lets users send a text message to an iPhone from a Mac.

Mountain Lion also expands Apple’s iCloud digital-storage service to let Mac users access and share saved documents across the Internet. It also allows users to create and access reminders and notes, and receive notifications, on all their Apple devices. Another new iCloud feature will make it easier to share photographs, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

The emphasis on the Mac at next month’s conference suggests that Apple will concentrate on the iPhone later in the year. Analysts, including Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray Cos., have predicted Apple will release its next smartphone model by October. The iPhone is Apple’s top-selling product, accounting for 58 percent of its revenue in the most recent quarter.

New Mobile Software

Apple is expected to preview some of the new mobile software features that will be part of that release at the developer conference in San Francisco.

While Mac computers account for just 13 percent of Apple’s sales and are no longer the main sales engine for the company, the machines are gaining market share. Apple controlled 11.6 percent of the PC market in the U.S in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to 6.1 percent in the same period of 2007, according to Gartner Inc.

Apple last redesigned the body of the MacBook Pro in 2008. The devices have more memory and stronger graphical and computing capabilities than MacBook Air laptops. The MacBook Pro now costs $1,200 to $2,500, depending on the size and components.

Apple is looking beyond Intel for chips to power its iPhone and iPad. While Intel provides the semiconductors for Apple’s new laptops, the chipmaker is facing questions from investors about why it hasn’t made better inroads into the market for components that power phones and laptops. Instead of using the Santa Clara, California-based company for chips inside its mobile devices, Apple uses competing components based on the designs from ARM Holdings Plc. (ARM)

Intel’s Goals

At an investor meeting last week, Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini was asked whether the company was at risk of losing the Mac business altogether if Apple moves its computers to an ARM design. He said Intel’s plan is to improve the performance of its designs to the point where Apple will use its products more widely.

Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, also is helping boost Apple’s competitors in the PC market, who are seeking to respond to the popularity of Apple’s iPads and laptops by introducing their own new products. Intel has been promoting a new type of thinner laptop, called an Ultrabook, that uses its components. Ultrabooks are less than an inch thick, have days of battery life, start up in seconds and sell for less than $1,000. The features are similar to those of Apple’s MacBook Air.

Intel also has been working closely with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) on the release of its Windows 8 operating system, which was designed to work on both PCs and mobile devices. The Ivy Bridge processor design is made with an updated manufacturing process, resulting in more powerful chips that use less battery life.

The technology website 9to5Mac.com reported earlier yesterday that Apple is working on a thinner version of the MacBook Pro with a sharper screen.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net; Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net; Peter Burrows in San Francisco at pburrows@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

Read more...