Paul Shread

In another vote for the marriage of storage and security, SonicWALL on Monday announced the acquisition of Lasso Logic, a data protection vendor that has focused on providing continuous data protection (CDP) for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). While not on the same scale as Symantec’s $10 billion acquisition of Veritas or Network Appliance’s $272 […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) made a valiant effort, but it was once again stopped at a resistance line that has capped rallies for the last two years. If techs are going to correct, this looks like a possible spot. Resistance is 2234 and 2252, and support is 2220 and 2200-2207. The S&P (second chart) […]

Strong results from HP and Cisco’s all-cash acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta propelled stocks higher on Friday. Investors cheered HP’s strong earnings and continued turnaround, although the company’s prediction of slower sales growth next year due to currency issues limited the stock’s gains on the day. Shares of HP ended that day 1.4% higher at $29.40 after […]

With the Nasdaq and S&P (first two charts below) once again at multi-year highs, it’s time to look at the bigger picture once again. The Nasdaq faces major resistance around 2230, and support is 2200-2207, 2182-2187 and 2175. The S&P faces major resistance at 1246, 1250-1255 and 1265, and support is 1239-1240, 1235 and 1228-1232. […]

It’s hard to call a few quarters a major trend, but so far HP’s recent turnaround is showing signs of sticking. And HP’s strong results also suggest that the company may be the cause of at least some of Dell’s recent troubles. HP reported blow-out quarterly results after the close on Thursday, showing none of […]

An important move for bonds (first chart below) today, particularly since bonds have historically led stocks. Bond yields may finally be heading in the right direction here. The rest of the market held up well considering the uninspiring technical setups heading into today. The Nasdaq (second chart) recovered nicely off the lows today. Support is […]

Applied Materials beat Wall Street estimates after the close on Wednesday, and also reported a strong sequential increase in new orders. AMAT’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 15 cents a share were down from 27 cents in the year-ago quarter, but a penny ahead of estimates. Sales of $1.72 billion were down 22%, but were well […]

While there wasn’t much movement in the indexes today, the little movement there was didn’t look all that inspiring, particularly the “outside days” leading to down closes on the Dow and S&P (first two charts below). After a big rally and at resistance, it’s not the most inspiring of setups. Let’s hope tomorrow’s inflation data […]

In a sign of the times, AT&T , the venerable Ma Bell, will be replaced in the S&P 500 later this week by online retailing pioneer Amazon.com . AT&T, for decades the steadiest stock on Wall Street, struggled in the age of telecom deregulation and the Internet, its sales marching steadily lower since the mid-1990s […]

Storage companies usually let the details that set their products apart sell their products, but backup firm LiveVault is trying a different approach to storage marketing. LiveVault has hired John Cleese, the comic actor and former front man of British comedy troupe Monty Python, to host a series of Webinars promoting the company’s backup products. […]

A pause for the markets today, and with good reason: with inflation and retail sales reports and Ben Bernanke’s Fed confirmation hearing all coming up on Tuesday, investors have good reason to be cautious. The Nasdaq (first chart below) is pausing just below the major resistance level of 2220-2230. 2183-2187 is first support, with 2163-2167 […]

HP has been the turnaround story of 2005, but after a rash of disappointing third-quarter results from other tech bellwethers, analysts are expressing caution heading into the company’s earnings report on Thursday. Analysts expect HP to post October quarter earnings of 46 cents a share on sales of $22.76 billion, up 12.2% and 6.4%, respectively, […]