Biz Break: From Apple, $458 iPads; plus: more Black Friday in... - San Jose Mercury News

Today: Apple has cut prices on the iPad for today only. In Silicon Valley, malls are crowded, but consumers say they're being careful with their spending. Plus: More Apple news, Del Monte, Silicon Valley tech stocks.

Black Friday deals

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and (as is our holiday weekend custom) we're glad we're working today and not battling the Black Friday crowds at Silicon Valley's favorite malls, big-box retailers and shopping districts.

If we wanted an iPad (hey, we've contributed a lot to Apple's revenue stream already this year), we'd be super-stoked to know that the Cupertino maker of Mac computers and "i" devices has included the new tablet computer

among its own online Black Friday specials.

Apple has reduced iPad prices by $41, the iPod touch by $21 to $41, the iPod nano by $11 to $21, and computers including the iMac, MacBook Pro and the 13-inch MacBook Air by $101.

If you want a new flat-panel TV, this is a good time to buy, according to our friends at The Associated Press. A supply glut will bring prices down sharply from last holiday season, according to the AP report.

Here in Silicon Valley, shoppers were up early this morning. The Merc and our Bay Area News Group siblings have a small army of reporters tracking the frenzy.

While consumer hot spots such as Westfield Valley Fair, Santana Row and Stanford Shopping Center have been busy, many shoppers say they're being careful with their spending this season.

"It's getting crowded earlier," Valley Fair shopper Debbie Fumia of Los Gatos told a Merc reporter this morning. "I think it's the hype. I have a 17-year-old. He left at 7:30 -- a half-hour before me. He said he and his girlfriend want to experience Black Friday. They are not shopping. They are coming for the experience."

Holiday headlines

Here's some Bay Area business news you may have missed since Wednesday afternoon:

Apple: The rapidly growing company has bought more land in Cupertino, according to a Merc report. A spokesman confirmed that Apple bought a 98-acre site on Pruneridge Avenue from tech giant Hewlett-Packard, which is consolidating employees at its Palo Alto headquarters.

The land is adjacent to a 50-acre site Apple bought last year. Both properties are just a short drive from Apple's Infinite Loop headquarters campus off De Anza Boulevard.

"We now occupy 57 buildings in Cupertino and our campus is bursting at the seams," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling told a Merc reporter. "These offices will give us more space for our employees as we continue to grow."

Neither Apple nor HP revealed the purchase price, although HP reportedly had sought as much as $300 million.

Del Monte Foods: The San Francisco company agreed to a $19-a-share buyout by private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Vestar Capital Partners and Centerview Partners. The deal is valued at $5.3 billion, including $1.3 billion in debt.

Del Monte Foods' stock finished trading today at $18.83, up 84 cents, or 4.7 percent, from Wednesday's closing price.

Silicon Valley tech stocks

Up: Apple, Cisco Systems.

Down: Google, Oracle, Intel, HP, eBay, VMware, Gilead Sciences, Yahoo.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index: Down 8.56, or 0.3 percent, to 2,534.56.

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average: Down 95.28, or 0.9 percent, to 11,092.00.

And the widely watched Standard & Poor's 500 index: Down 8.95, or 0.7 percent, to 1,189.40.

The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq ended regular trading early today.

Check in weekday afternoons for the 60-Second Business Break, a summary of news from Mercury News staff writers, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and other wire services. Contact Frank Russell at 408-920-5876. Follow him at Twitter.com/mercspike.

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