Paul Shread

Investors had a lot to digest late Wednesday on top of an already eventful day: Google reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street estimates, and Dell announced that Michael Dell is returning as CEO. Google reported earnings of $3.29 a share on a 73% jump in sales after traffic acquisition costs to $2.23 billion. But […]

The bulls continue to show resilience here; now we’ll see how they handle tomorrow’s onslaught of news. The best sign for longs today was that the S&P (first chart below) broke above its highs of the last two days; now we need the Dow and Nasdaq to do the same. 1435-1436 and 1440 are resistance […]

Wednesday will be an eventful day for investors. With fourth-quarter GDP in the morning, the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates in the afternoon, and Google’s earnings after the close, it may also turn out to be a pivotal day. Google is expected to report quarterly sales of $2.19 billion, up 70% from the year-ago […]

A day after completing its acquisition of McData, Brocade got down to the business of integrating the two companies (see BrocData Cleared for Takeoff). Brocade dismissed McData’s senior management team, although two members of McData’s board, Renato “Renny” DiPentima and John Gerdelman, will join Brocade’s board of directors, and the company also laid off 330 […]

Quite a battle going on here. There are a number of big economic and earnings reports coming in the next couple of days (GDP, Fed decision and Google’s earnings just on Wednesday), so stocks may remain rocky for a couple more days. It’s not the greatest sign that the indexes are consolidating at their lows, […]

Stocks rallied early Monday on merger news, then paused as traders grew cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest decision on interest rates and fourth-quarter GDP data. Both will be due out on Wednesday, followed by Google’s quarterly earnings report after the close. Economists believe the economy grew at a 3% rate in the fourth […]

IBM on Monday said it will acquire long-time partner Softek Storage Solutions Corp. in a move to boost its storage and data services business. IBM has partnered with the data mobility and replication specialist since 1996. After the merger is completed, the Virginia-based Fujitsu/Amdahl spinoff will become part of the Storage and Data Services business […]

Stocks seem to have found some support here, and just in time for end-of-the-month inflows. Still, the rockiness could continue ahead of Wednesday’s GDP report (and Google’s earnings). The Nasdaq (first chart below) is threatening to lose its November uptrend here. Support is 2418 and 2390-2400, and resistance is 2441-2443, 2450-2455 and 2471. The S&P […]

Better than expected results from Microsoft helped stocks overcome another sell-off on interest rate jitters Friday. Microsoft topped earnings and sales estimates late Thursday and offered a solid outlook for the current quarter, but a weaker than expected Xbox sales forecast dampened enthusiasm for the software giant’s results. The stock ended Friday’s trading session half […]

The bond market (first chart below) was behind today’s sell-off, as yields shot above the 200-day moving average and hit their highest level since August. Still, yields are getting a little extended on all indicators, so they may be due for a breather. If not, they could continue to give investors reason to worry. That […]

Microsoft tried to steady a rocky stock market Thursday with better than expected results after the close. Microsoft’s earnings of 26 cents a share beat estimates by 3 cents, and sales rose 6% year-over-year to a record $12.5 billion, $400 million ahead of forecasts. The software giant’s current quarter guidance was merely in line with […]

Tech stocks finally outperformed today, but not quite enough to generate a buy signal (first chart below). Still, momentum appears to be pointed up once again. The big test this time will likely be for the blue chips. The S&P (second chart) ended the day right at an upper trendline, although a parallel channel line […]