News Notes:Turkey's Rate Hike;Yahoo's Report

Turkey's central bank more than doubled interest rates January 29 in an effort to support the nation's currency,the lira.When you see the Turkish rate hike,you're gonna see their economy in decline,predicted CNBC market analyst Jim Cramer on the "Squawk On The Street" program.I think we could see a 2-6% downside based on the emerging markets.This is the way it is,and you just have to ride it through.It doesn't work.You end up with hyperinflation.When you're going down,it's a source of panic and worry.
We have to go through the handwringing.It's like an HBO drama.I wish I hadn't seen it happen over and over before.You're gonna see people come in and say Turkey is terrible,and they will sell.Twenty-two years ago we went through this cycle in Turkey.We weren't as connected as we are now.We didn't have shows like this to talk about Turkey.
This could be a 2-6% decline in the S&P.It's the arc of freaking out.*
Tech titan Yahoo reported a drop in revenue for the fourth consecutive quarter,with a drop in display ad prices.As well,Yahoo was affected when Alibaba growth slowed.
These are tech companies,not content companies.CEO Marissa Meyer's up against really big,great companies like Google and Facebook-two of the great arsenals of democracy.You can't go up against Facebook and Google without spending a fortune, master investor Jim Cramer pointed out.
On the plus side,Yahoo received 340,000 applications for employment,and 40% of its hires were engineers.There was big growth in its Tumblr site.There were also signs of improving display ad revenues,and Yahoo did beat its earnings estimate,while matching its revenue estimate.*
Jim Cramer's new book,"Get Rich Carefully,"is on sale now.*
Yahoo(YHOO),Google(GOOG),Facebook(FB)

Yahoo Embraces Arab World

Yahoo is moving into the Arab world in a big way.The company has purchased Maktoob,the Arabic version of Facebook.Maktoob is based in Jordan.Arab use of the Internet is up 1,000% since the year 2000.Maktoob reaches one out of three Arab users of the Internet.It is available in 22 Arabic countries with a total population of over 300 million people.
The acquisition of Maktoob is part of Yahoo's emerging markets strategy.Maktoob's vision is to be at the center of people's online lives.Less than 1% of Internet content is currently in Arabic.
Saudi Arabia is one of Maktoob's top two countries.Over five million Saudi women alone are active on Maktoob.

Microsoft and Yahoo

Microsoft(MSFT) remains determined to acquire Yahoo(YHOO).The two firms met this week to discuss the matter,but no agreement was reached.Some investors may nonetheless be buying Yahoo shares in hopes of profiting from what they see as the inevitable achievement of Microsoft's ambition.