| EBay results bolstered by newer businesses
NEW YORK: EBay posted better-than-expected profit in the first quarter as several of its newer businesses compensated for disappointing results in its mainstay auction service. The faster-growing units include shopping.com, a price comparison site; some classified listing sites; a service to let online merchants accept credit cards; and Skype, the online voice chat service. "We are on track with our well-crafted portfolio," Meg Whitman, eBay's chief executive, said in an interview after the earnings report Wednesday. The results sent eBay's stock up about 3 percent in after-hours trading. Overall, the company earned $377 million in the first quarter, up 52 percent from a year earlier. Excluding charges related to stock-based compensation and some other items, the company earned 33 cents a share, above the 29 cents that analysts had predicted.
Bidding high on historic flag
By last night, bidding had reached $4800 after the flag was listed with a starting price of $1000. It looked likely to reach its reserve price, estimated to be about $5000. Hamilton man Athol Giles is selling the New Zealand Merchant Navy ensign, which he found as a teenager on a Wellington beach the day following the Wahine ferry disaster, which claimed 51 lives. Mr Giles said his father was a close friend of a former Wahine master who told him to hang on to the flag. The online auction is being billed as a piece of New Zealand history. .
Conservation groups raise $211K in big game license auctions
GREAT FALLS - Conservation groups recently auctioned five, 2007 Montana big-game hunting licenses for $211,000, 90 percent of which goes to state wildlife projects.The auctioned tags _ for bighorn sheep, moose, mule deer, elk and mountain goat _ allow the hunter to hunt anyplace in Montana where the season for a particular species is open."The money all goes to research management and habitat tied to that specific species," said Ron Aasheim, head of conservation education for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.The Foundation for North American Wild Sheep auctioned the 2007 bighorn-sheep license for $140,000 and the moose license for $20,000. The Mule Deer Foundation auctioned a mule-deer license for $15,000. .
John Lennon, Yoko Ono Signed Pot Lid Up For Auction
An aluminum saucepan lid signed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono is expected to fetch £1,200 ($2,340) at an auction in London. The musical duo signed the lid in felt tip pen at the Institute of Culinary Arts in London in September 1969, where their films were being screened. The listing for the sale reads, "This lid was obtained on September 10, 1969 at the Institute of Culinary Arts in London where... the couple were doing a 'Bag-In' on stage. .
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