Paul Shread

Microsoft surprised investors after the close on Tuesday with a $3 a share one-time dividend and a $30 billion stock buyback plan. The software giant also doubled its annual dividend to 32 cents a share. The company said the moves could cost as much as $75 billion over the next four years. Microsoft had $56.4 […]

CNT has unveiled a new storage networking platform that the company says represents a new class of director. CNT Solutions Marketing Director Patty Barkley calls the platform “the first multi-service director,” bringing new services and scalability to director-class switches. Barkley says the company’s new UltraNet Multi-service Director (UMD) has the high-availability and RAS (reliability, availability, […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) hung on to its uptrend from October 2002 today, but just barely. 1865-1870 is now critical support, and resistance is 1897-1900, 1910 and 1922. The S&P (second chart) failed at 1104.5-1107 resistance today, and 1113 and 1117 is above that. Support is 1095, the 200-day exponential moving average, which held […]

Investors will be watching earnings reports from a number of tech bellwethers this week in hopes that the sector can finally end its six-month slide. Microsoft , Amazon , eBay , EMC and Sun will be among the companies reporting second-quarter results this week. EMC will report Tuesday morning, and analysts are expecting earnings of […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) ended the day just above its uptrend line off the October 2002 lows – more than a few points down next week, and the index will break that uptrend. An important support that could finally give stocks a bounce. Below 1880, 1865 is important support, and 1897-1900 is now first […]

Neither strong earnings from IBM and Dell nor tame inflation data could stop investors from another day of selling on Friday. Stocks gapped up after IBM beat earnings estimates, Dell raised guidance and consumer prices showed little evidence of inflation, but fears of an economic slowdown took over soon after the opening bell, when a […]

Despite a deeply oversold market, there has been no bounce to speak of. Perhaps next week, when the pressure of option expiry lifts, will be better. For now, the indexes are all sitting right at or near major support, so a waterfall down tomorrow is possible if those levels go. The Nasdaq (first chart below) […]

Finally, a tech bellwether delivered results that didn’t disappoint Wall Street. IBM reported results after the close on Thursday, and while investors didn’t turn handstands, at least they bid the stock modestly higher. Big Blue’s earnings of $1.16 a share topped analysts’ estimates by four cents. Revenues of $23.15 billion came in slightly below $23.33 […]

The last nine trading days have been all but straight down for tech stocks, with even the smallest bounces sold. The market has been oversold since last week, but all that has done is slow the decline. Even short-covering in an expiry week has been of little help. So can the market turn back up? […]

Apple Computer continued its winning ways after the close on Wednesday, but Advanced Micro Devices didn’t do much to bolster confidence in the chip sector. Apple’s earnings of 17 cents a share beat estimates by two cents, and revenues were up 30% to $2.01 billion, topping $1.94 billion forecasts. The company shipped 860,000 iPods, in […]

Looks like the semiconductor sector (first chart below) is headed for another test of the critical 433 support zone. The index has spent the entire year in a downtrend after peaking in early January. The Nasdaq (second chart) continues to struggle at 1940-1946 resistance. A move above 1946 would be a big plus for the […]

Intel did little to soothe investors’ fears about a slowdown in tech spending when it released second-quarter results after the close on Tuesday. Shares of Intel fell 5% after the chip giant met analysts’ estimates with earnings of 27 cents a share, but revenues of $8.05 billion came in under $8.11 billion estimates. Intel’s third-quarter […]