Agilent is a tempting buy

This post was written by Minyanville contributor Sean Udall.

Aglient Technologies (NYSE: A) just reported this morning and again the company is simply one of the best tech and science shops, which few talk about.

It guided lower but it was minor compared to most tech names of late. Also, A's stock is down about 35% vs. a space down 50% with many names down 65-80% off of highs so the value and durable earnings quality of A is providing some cover.

Circling back to market dynamics, I've contended many times about my view on the markets' four key problems and the difficulty in gaining traction while these are not yet solved. I won't reiterate this whole theme; however, it is noteworthy that we are so willing to spend $350 billion of the TARP while not addressing FAS 157 as well as the uptick rule. Changing these two issues costs the world "nothing". And they are either done with a "pen stroke or a few key strokes".

Yet changing these rules -- might just save the world billions in additional spending, doesn't require Congressional approval, doesn't require the Fed to expand the balance sheet, and lastly doesn't require more rates cuts which could prove quite inflationary.