IBM

Magic Software is a provider of "platform-as-a-service" cloud computing application development tools and business software integration applications. It is a market with big growth potential, but also big boys as competitors. Can Magic survive and thrive?

That’s right, I said WIMPS!

I have never heard so much whining and crying and complaining about a market drop as I have the past few weeks. Last week, I pointed out that we had only fallen 105 points from the prior week (10,172 to 10,067) and this week we fell ALL THE WAY to 10,012 to finish the week and you would think the world was ending (again) from the way the MSM has been acting.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed an antitrust lawsuit against Intel, alleging the chipmaker threatened computer makers and paid kickbacks to stop them from using competitors' chips, Cuomo's office said Wednesday.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced third-quarter 2009 diluted earnings of $2.40 per share compared with diluted earnings of $2.04 per share in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 18 percent. analysts average 2.38. IBM beats by $0.02

Third-quarter net income was $3.2 billion compared with $2.8 billion in the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 14 percent.

Now that we're finally in the homestretch for 2009, it's time to look toward the future and consider those areas that are best poised to be standouts in the fourth quarter and why.

Consumer Spending. While consumer spending remains depressed, a combination of encouraging signs and timing could benefit this sector.

I am a firm believer in keeping things simple. However, you can simplify things to the point they no longer have value. In my opinion, a lot of the commonly used financial metrics can be very misleading unless you understand what is behind them. Let’s take a closer look at Dividend Payout.

IT hardware companies are vying to acquire IT consulting and services firms. This article examines the reasons for these transactions, speculates on potential targets, and provides ideas for profiting from consolidation.
Read more on consolidation in information technology consulting firms

I maintain an extensive database with a minimum of 10 years of information on each of the 110+ stocks that I track. This data is gathered from various sources deemed reliable. Most data is generic and can be pulled from various sites. That is except some S&P risk and quality information (RQ).

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that its mortgage servicing subsidiary has signed an agreement with Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) to acquire the core operating assets of Wilshire Credit Corporation, including the Wilshire mortgage servicing platform, and hire Wilshire's approximately 900 employees. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

CGI Group is the largest IT consulting and outsourcing firm in Canada. There is nothing to be excited or concerned about here, and with a cheap valuation the stock is likely to deliver MFI investors decent returns.

I believe a pull back [7%-15%] on the major indices is not only inevitable but necessary for a healthy market recovery. Let's face it, we've come too far too fast, and as we were oversold on the downside until early March, I believe we are currently overbought.

As recently posted in my blog, I've been expecting a pull back. However the market has made a fool of me lately. The S&P 500 passed through the 1010 mark today on rather bad news, so maybe this rally is for real and will continue.

People keep calling me a bear, but I'm just being conservative. Given the rally we've had, I think it's a great time to take profits. I was selling a lot of covered calls for the August expiration Thursday, as we approached market close. I'm getting conservative because I think we're due for a pull back on the major indices.

As previously stated on my blog, this rally could continue through August; but what if it doesn't? What is the market sells off?

Thursday was another great day for the bulls on Wall Street, and another great opportunity to get short for me, as I believe this market is well overbought on the short term. The market sold off a bit going into the close, my guess is because some were taking profits before the GDP numbers.