Oracle streak lengthens
Oracle’s track record of revenue gains has continued for a fifth straight quarter, buoyed by corporate demand for its cloud software. Adjusted sales rose 7 percent to $9.21 billion in the fiscal first quarter, exceeding analysts’ estimates, as sales of cloud products continued to make up a bigger portion of the total. Profit also topped average projections, helped by holding down growth in operating expenses.
The Redwood City company’s executives are investing in new products and hiring more salespeople to add revenue from cloud products, which let businesses access software and services via the Internet instead of running their own systems.
Oracle already counts many of the largest corporations in the world as customers, and has been increasingly pushing to switch these clients’ business-software purchases to the cloud.
Fallout from Kaspersky ban
Worries rippled through the consumer market for antivirus software after the U.S. government banned federal agencies from using Kaspersky Labs software on Wednesday. Best Buy and Office Depot said they will no longer sell software made by the Russian company, although one security researcher said most consumers don’t need to be alarmed.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security cited concerns about possible ties between unnamed Kaspersky officials and the Kremlin and Russian intelligence services. The department also noted that Russian law might compel Kaspersky to assist the government in espionage.
Kaspersky has denied any unethical ties with Russia or any government. Kaspersky software is widely used by consumers, raising the question of whether those users should follow the U.S. government’s lead.
Nicholas Weaver, a computer security researcher at UC Berkeley, called the government decision “prudent;” he had argued for such a step in July. But he added by email that “for most everybody else, the software is fine.”
Mortgage rates flat
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates were unchanged this week, leaving the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at the lowest level this year.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.78 percent. While the same as the previous week, that is down sharply from this year’s peak of 4.3 percent, reached in March. It remains slightly above last year’s average of 3.65 percent.
Prices up most in 7 months
Higher gas and housing costs boosted U.S. consumer prices 0.4 percent in August, the most in seven months. The increase suggests inflation could be picking up, but the figures were likely distorted by Hurricane Harvey.
Consumer prices climbed 1.9 percent last month compared with a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday, up from an annual gain of 1.7 percent in August and the second straight increase. Excluding volatile energy and food costs, prices rose 0.2 percent in August and 1.7 percent from a year earlier.
The pickup will likely assuage Federal Reserve policy makers that prices are stabilizing, a sign of a healthy economy. Fed officials may be more likely to raise short-term interest rates as a result in the coming months, economists said.
The government said Harvey had a “very small effect” on its ability to gather data. But it would not say whether last month’s gas price increase resulted from the storm. Harvey disrupted oil refineries on the Gulf Coast and pushed up gas prices nationwide, though the increase occurred at the end of the month. The government collects price data throughout the month.
Gas prices jumped 6.3 percent last month, the largest increase since January. Home prices leapt 4.4 percent, the largest gain on records dating from 1997, after falling by the most on record in July. Rents rose 0.4 percent.
Chronicle News Services