Continue reading Interpublic Discloses Its Stake in Facebook

Interpublic Discloses Its Stake in Facebook originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Even when the market is up a lot, you can always find some good stocks that have been left behind but could be on the verge of a rebound," says George Putnam.

The editor of The Turnaround Letter explains, "That's where we suggest you focus your efforts right now. These eight stocks all have strong business franchises and have all significantly lagged the market over the last two years.

"In fact, several of them are still trading near or even below where they were in early 2009. Here, we look at Bank of America (BAC), Best Buy (BBY), Campbell Soup (CPB), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Microsoft (MSFT) and Sprint Nextel (S).

Continue reading Turnaround Expert: A Six-Pack of Rebound Buys

Turnaround Expert: A Six-Pack of Rebound Buys originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google's (GOOG) mobile operating system, Android, is an example of how acquisitions have made a big difference. This technology came from a deal struck in 2005. Then, after lots of internal development, Google launched Android in 2007. Since then, the growth has been sizzling.

In fact, according to the most recent report from comScore, Android's market share hit 31.2%. Yes, it is now the number one mobile operating system.

Continue reading Android Becomes the King of Mobile

Android Becomes the King of Mobile originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Once the master of the game, Nintendo (NTDOY) has fallen behind in the gaming industry. It reported a 46% drop in profits in its recent quarter, as reported in Reuters. Nintendo is trying to do "catch up" with rivals Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and Google's (GOOG) Android, both or which have strong gaming platforms.

Nintendo is launching the first handheld 3D gaming system without glasses later this month. Nintendo of America's president, Reggie Fils-Aime, expects that the 3DS will sell even faster than its original DS device, which sold 150 million units to date.

Continue reading Nintendo to Launch First 3D-Gaming System Without Glasses

Nintendo to Launch First 3D-Gaming System Without Glasses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Buffett's Next Buys -- You Pick'em

Serious Money: Buffett's Next Buys -- You Pick'em originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo (YHOO), which competes with Google (GOOG) and AOL (AOL) in the search business, is seeing a relatively stable profit margin of 42% since 2008 by our estimates, and we expect the margin to rise slightly over the coming years as Yahoo benefits from its partnership with Microsoft (MSFT). In 2009, Yahoo and Microsoft signed a deal whereby Yahoo will not only use Microsoft's search technology on its websites but will also keep a majority of the ad revenues. Yahoo is also making efforts to control costs by cutting its workforce, which should improve profitability in the short term.

Continue reading Yahoo's Search Profit Margin to Expand, Offering Additional Upside to Stock

Yahoo's Search Profit Margin to Expand, Offering Additional Upside to Stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft (MSFT) dominates the markets in which it competes. Microsoft dominates the operating system markets where Windows has 75% of the PC market share. It also dominates he business productivity market where Office has 95% share by our estimates.

Microsoft competes with Apple (AAPL) and open source players like Red Hat (RHT) and Novell (NOVL) that support Linux distributions in operating systems, and with Google's (GOOG) Apps suite of products, Adobe (ADBE), IBM (IBM) and Oracle (ORCL) in business productivity.

Continue reading Two Microsoft Concerns That Could Deflate Our Enthusiasm

Two Microsoft Concerns That Could Deflate Our Enthusiasm originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft (MSFT) recently announced its fiscal Q2 2011 earnings, in which the company commented that its Windows 7 operating system continues to gain adoption amongst businesses. Roughly 90% of enterprise companies worldwide have begun their OS migration to Windows 7. Microsoft is the dominant player in the PC operating system market, competing primarily with Apple's (AAPL) Mac OS as well as open source software companies like Red Hat (RHT) and Novell (NOVL).

Continue reading Microsoft's New Products Make Waves in PC and Smartphone OS Markets

Microsoft's New Products Make Waves in PC and Smartphone OS Markets originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As some of you may know, I own Microsoft Corporation (MSFT). I've discussed my position before. It's been a tough ride with this one. And I'm sure I'm not alone in terms of such opinion.

Microsoft has a reputation for being a frustrating stock. It looks like a value; it seems as if it should be trading higher. But as soon as you purchase the shares, they oftentimes disappoint. At least, that's been my experience.

Continue reading Is Microsoft's Price Action Encouraging?

Is Microsoft's Price Action Encouraging? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft (MSFT) and Nokia (NOK) recently announced a strategic partnership in which Nokia will adopt Windows Phone 7 as the main operating system for its smart phones. Microsoft competes with other tech bellwethers like Google (GOOG), Research In Motion (RIMM) and Apple (AAPL) that make smart phones and tablets, as well as the corresponding operating systems for mobile phones and tablet devices.

We believe the Nokia deal presents upside for Microsoft, as it provides an opportunity to gain share in both the smart phone operating system market and the search advertising market by leveraging Nokia's large global presence.

Continue reading Nokia Partnership Provides Upside for Microsoft Stock

Nokia Partnership Provides Upside for Microsoft Stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• tw telecom (TWTC) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Agree Realty (ADC) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Millicom (MICC) to buy from neutral at Nomura.
• BioMed Realty (BMR) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Realty Income (O) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ANF, CA, HBAN, MSFT, NTAP, NVDA, OWW, ORCL, RHT ...

Analyst Calls: ANF, CA, HBAN, MSFT, NTAP, NVDA, OWW, ORCL, RHT ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So, I'm sitting here in front of my screen, watching the market action. Kind of a boring day, at least for my portfolio. In particular, one of my holdings, Microsoft (MSFT), is acting in a very boring manner. I was hoping to see some interest on the part of Wall Street in that name today following the stock's recent weakness, but alas, there is none to be had. At the time of this writing, shares are down fractionally to $27.15.

Investors have been digesting the news concerning the deal between the maker of Windows and Nokia (NOK). The plan is to generate some competition in the smartphone business. Success with this initiative would be nice for shareholders of both companies.

Continue reading Microsoft: Should I Add to My Position?

Microsoft: Should I Add to My Position? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Nokia Focuses on Microsoft

Nokia Focuses on Microsoft originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is probably one of the most interesting stories of the Internet revolution. Microsoft (MSFT) jumped out the starting gate with its Windows operating system and took the world by storm. Then for some unknown reason, Microsoft missed the entire search engine revolution and Google (GOOG) raced to first place. Now Microsoft has again missed the next leg -- the iPhone and iPad revolution, and Apple (AAPL) holds first place in this segment.

Nokia (NOK) was a pioneer in the smartphone revolution, but with Apple's drive to the top, Nokia lost its momentum. Once Nokia had 50% of the handset market. Now that share has fallen to just 29%. It's hard to believe but Microsoft has only 2% of the global phone software market.

Continue reading Microsoft and Nokia Join to Build a New Smartphone

Microsoft and Nokia Join to Build a New Smartphone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Microsoft (MSFT) recently released its fiscal second-quarter results; we felt results were really quite strong, with solid gains in most segments and good cost discipline," says Geoffrey Seiler.

The editor of Bullmarket.com explains, "If these results were from another company, the stock likely would have gotten a lift. But Microsoft is the Rodney Dangerfield of companies: it doesn't get the respect it deserves.

"Microsoft reported net income of $6.63 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with $6.66 billion, or 74 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Sales grew by 5% to $19.95 billion from $19.00 billion.

Continue reading Microsoft (MSFT): 'No Respect'

Microsoft (MSFT): 'No Respect' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Amazon.com (AMZN) is launching a bulk email sending service aimed at businesses and developers. The goal is to expand its Web server services.

Amazon already has huge servers. The new email service is a way to gain added revenue. The service is called Amazon Simple Email Service (SES). The program offers a free usage tier, after which customers pay 10 cents per thousand email messages sent.

Continue reading Amazon to Launch Bulk Email Service for Business

Amazon to Launch Bulk Email Service for Business originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 05 Feb 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coca-Cola (KO) has more than $13 billion in cash.

The top five companies (according to market cap) are:

• Exxon Mobil (XOM): $398.3 billion
• Apple (AAPL): $309.0 billion
• Microsoft (MSFT): $237.5 billion
• General Electric (GE): $215.0 billion
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): $202.5 billion

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Did You Know ... ?

Comfort Zone Investing: Did You Know ... ? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 05 Feb 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It seems that cloud computing, which uses the Net to deliver applications, is a new trend. But some of the leaders have been in business for more than a decade. One is NetSuite (N). The company develops enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which helps companies manage inventory, payroll and other key financial functions.

And NetSuite continues to see traction. In its latest earnings report, revenues increased 21% to $52.1 million. For the year, revenues came to $193.1 million. Operating income was $3.5 million for fourth quarter.

Continue reading NetSuite Makes Rain from the Cloud

NetSuite Makes Rain from the Cloud originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Investors certainly wanted a piece of the Epocrates (EPOC) IPO this week. The deal had a range of $13 to $15 but the company was able to price the offering at $16. Then in its first day of trading, the stock soared 37%. In all, the company raised $85.76 million.

Why all the excitement? Well, Epocrates is a leader in providing mobile solutions for medical information and records. They are available on the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows platforms.

Continue reading Epocrates: A Healthy IPO

Epocrates: A Healthy IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Futures Lower as Investors Await GDP Data, Amazon Earnings Disappoint

Futures Lower as Investors Await GDP Data, Amazon Earnings Disappoint originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.