Paul Shread

InfiniBand chip leader Mellanox Technologies plans to boost the next-generation PCI Express technology with InfiniBand (IB). Mellanox’s third-generation InfiniBand Host Channel Adapter (HCA), the InfiniHost III Ex, boosts bandwidth by a factor of three over the legacy PCI-X technology, with a 20% reduction in latency, according to company product marketing officials Kevin Deierling and Byran […]

New highs on rising volume for the Dow and S&P (first two charts below); hard to argue with that. The S&P is approaching major resistance at 1160, the 50% retrace of the all-time high, and 1173-1177, the 2002 peak. No small levels there. Support on the S&P is 1155, 1150, 1145 and 1142. The Dow […]

Merger mania hit new heights on Wednesday. First, Comcast surprised with a $66 billion offer to acquire Dow component Disney . Second, it turns out PeopleSoft was right: the Justice Department has big problems with Oracle’s buyout offer. And last but not least, Eastman Kodak , another Dow component, was rumored to be weighing a […]

Nice resilience in the market so far, and in the smallest timeframes, we have consolidations at the top of a four-day rally, suggesting the possibility of another pop. But on the Nasdaq (first chart below), we could also have a bearish pennant or rising wedge forming, and on declining volume too. If that’s the case, […]

VCs never shied away from the storage sector during the three-year tech downturn, and now that IT spending is picking up, they’re really opening their wallets. 3PAR and Maranti Networks announced a couple of big funding rounds this week. Maranti yesterday reported $26 million in third-round funding, and not to be outdone, 3PAR followed with […]

The online travel business is cruising along, according to Priceline and Orbitz , which reported earnings after the close on Tuesday. Orbitz, in its first earnings report since going public in December, reported strong 35% revenue growth in the fourth quarter. Launched with the backing of five major airlines, Orbitz has become one of the […]

The market still lacks conviction here, with volume continuing to fall. The indexes all formed dojis today, or small-bodied candlesticks that suggest indecision; a move down tomorrow could be the start of another leg down. The Nasdaq (first chart below) has major resistance at 2080-2088, 2100 and 2120, and support at 2050-2053, 2040-2044, 2030, 2025 […]

Not content with its dominant position in telecom equipment, Juniper Networks took aim at the security sector today. Juniper’s $4 billion acquisition of NetScreen was a shot across Cisco’s bow, with NetScreen’s enterprise customer base setting up potential competition with Cisco. The acquisition was also viewed as creating opportunities for Avici , Check Point , […]

Solid internals today, but the market continues to rally on falling volume, suggesting it may not be out of the woods just yet. The indexes had gotten pretty oversold, which has historically led to a bounce more often than not, but rising volume today would have been more supportive of a trend change. The Nasdaq […]

Investors expected good results from Ericsson , but apparently their expectations weren’t high enough. Shares of the wireless giant jumped 13% Friday on an unexpected profit, stronger-than-expected revenues, and bullish guidance. Revenues of $4.98 billion crushed $4.49 billion forecasts, and a 1-cent profit exceeded expectations for an 8-cent loss. More evidence of a recovering wireless […]

HP’s latest moves in the storage sector include pay-per-use financing for its StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) devices as well as a new line of tape libraries. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company’s EVA3000 and EVA5000 are built with modular storage components, allowing customers to scale capacity on demand. They also include virtualization technology for dynamically […]

We’d note a couple of negatives heading into tomorrow’s jobs report: the Dow and S&P (first two charts below) continue to look like a consolidation at the lows, suggesting the potential for more downside, and rallies continue to occur on falling volume. Here’s hoping tomorrow’s news will change that pattern, but the set-up isn’t as […]