Paul Shread

One year ago tomorrow, a massive blackout wiped out power throughout much of the Northeastern U.S. and Canada, sending companies scampering to keep their businesses up and running. The event was one of several in recent years that have raised awareness of disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC). “It wasn’t just the blackout, but […]

The one positive for the market to build on here is that the Dow and S&P (first two charts below) didn’t follow the Nasdaq (third chart) to new lows today. That said, the market won’t go far without tech stocks; maybe Dell’s earnings tomorrow night can do something about that. Also, retail sales will be […]

The Federal Reserve may be convinced that the economic slowdown is temporary, but technology investors appear to have some doubts about that view. Cautious guidance from Cisco Systems and warnings from National Semi and Kulicke and Soffa sent the Nasdaq skidding to new lows for the year on Wednesday, just a day after stocks surged […]

Shares of Cisco Systems and National Semi fell after hours Tuesday after the companies issued disappointing guidance. Cisco’s earnings of 21 cents a share and revenues of $5.93 billion topped forecasts, but rising inventories and cash flow concerns weighed on the stock even before the company issued its outlook. Cisco said it expects October quarter […]

On the daily chart, the Nasdaq (first chart below) is very oversold – ADX and RSI in particular are at very oversold levels. When a bounce comes, it could be a strong one. What happens after that will have much to do with how quickly bullish sentiment returns. The Nasdaq is slipping below 1776 support; […]

Roxio plans to sell its consumer software division to Sonic Solutions and change its name to Napster, the company announced after the close on Monday. “With the successful completion of the transaction, Napster will emerge as a well-positioned pure-play in the fast-growing digital music sector with a substantially enhanced balance sheet that will support our […]

The bad news is that after today, we need to go to weekly charts to find the next support levels. The good news is that support is pretty solid. Also on the plus side, fear among options traders ran extremely high today. Selling has been extreme the last two days, another hopeful sign for a […]

The stock market will face one of its most critical weeks in recent memory next week, as the Federal Reserve, Cisco , Dell and Google all take center stage. The stock market has spent all year in decline on concern about rising interest rates and a slowing economy. The major indexes closed at new lows […]

Storage vendors continue to eye the Linux market, if vendor announcements at this week’s LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco is any indication. At least a half-dozen storage vendors saved announcements for the event, among them VERITAS, Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC) and Emulex. Vendors trumpeted their long history of support for Linux. “For the last seven […]

MCI revealed after the close on Thursday that its cash position is even better than believed. In its first quarterly report since emerging from bankruptcy, MCI reported that it had $5.4 billion in cash as of June 30 — more than the company’s $4.4 billion market capitalization awarded to it by investors. MCI said it […]

The market found support above important levels today and option traders showed a little more fear. Now the question is whether the market can sustain a bounce. The Nasdaq (first chart below) held above 1838 support today, a plus. First supports are 1849-1852 and 1842, and resistance is 1865, 1870-1874, 1878-1881 and 1894-1900. The S&P […]

United Online became the latest Internet company to disappoint Wall Street analysts after the close on Wednesday. Shares of United plunged 20% after the company missed estimates and warned, blaming a seasonal slowdown and increased competition. United’s earnings of 25 cents a share beat estimates by a penny, but revenues of $110.6 million came in […]