Paul Shread

Cisco did what it always does after the close on Tuesday: it beat earnings estimates by a penny. Cisco’s earnings of 19 cents a share beat estimates by a penny, and revenues of $5.62 billion beat $5.55 billion estimates. The company reported “sequential order growth across all major product categories,” and said it sees corporate […]

Broadcom is placing a big bet on Ethernet-based storage, with new Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) controllers that combine a TCP/IP offload engine (TOE), iSCSI host bus adapter, and remote direct memory access (RDMA) technology. The Irvine, Calif.-based company claims its NetXtreme II Gigabit Ethernet Controllers are the first controllers to simultaneously perform storage networking, high-performance clustering, […]

If Cisco ever wanted to abandon its “penny above” routine and blow the doors off estimates, now would be a good time. Cisco is expected to report earnings of 18 cents a share Tuesday night, up from 15 cents in the year-ago quarter, and revenues are expected to come in at $5.5 billion, up from […]

Today was the third straight day of 80% downside volume on the NYSE; the only time we can recall seeing four straight was at the July 23, 2002 bottom. We also had another high equity put-call ratio reading today, and the new highs and lows are approaching bear market bottom levels. Now all we need […]

The NYSE internals say it all today. It may not have been a washout, but it sure looks extreme. The futures sold off right into the 4:15 close today, closing on the lows of the day. When that happened last Friday, we got a three day bounce out of it. Let’s hope we get at […]

The Fed hasn’t begun raising interest rates yet, but the belief that tech stocks are somehow immune from the effect of rising interest rates is already being espoused. It’s true that tech stocks – and stocks in general – can rally for as much as a year after the first rate hike, as they did […]

LSI Logic moved closer to an initial public offering (IPO) for its storage division by announcing a name change for the unit. LSI Logic Storage Systems revealed Thursday night that it has become Engenio Information Technologies Inc., and the Milpitas, Calif.-based parent company also announced other steps have been completed in preparation of an IPO […]

The market’s response to tomorrow’s jobs report should be interesting. If inflation and interest rate fears have become as dominant as they appear, a strong report might get sold and a weak one bought. Remember those days? One huge plus for the bulls going into tomorrow’s report is the extremely high equity put-call ratio today. […]

Investors haven’t gotten past Friday’s much-anticipated employment report yet, but some analysts are already looking ahead to Cisco’s earnings next week. Analysts at Thomas Weisel said they expect Cisco to beat estimates and raise guidance when it reports after the close on Tuesday. The bullish call was enough for Cisco to eke out a gain […]

It’s hard to get excited about this rally so far. The Nasdaq (first chart below) so far has been rising on falling volume and remains stymied below 1973 resistance. If the index can take out 1973 on rising volume, it may be onto something. 1938-1948 should be strong support; so far it has held, so […]

A year of growth coupled with a three-month correction have created some interesting valuations among tech stocks. Nokia is one of the more extreme examples. A series of missteps that sent shares of the Finnish cell phone giant into a 40% tailspin could create an opportunity for patient investors. Nokia trades at a price to […]

One shaky rally so far. The Nasdaq (first chart below) was stopped below 1973 resistance today, so the bearish “three black crows” pattern formed last week remains in control. If the index can clear that, 1987-1991 and 2000-2007 are next. 1937-1942 should be strong support at this point. The S&P (second chart) faces strong resistance […]