Tibco Software (TIBX) has carried the concept of social networking to business, as reported in Investor's.com. Tibco's software, dubbed Tibbr, ties together all the departments in real time. This give management and employees a "heads up" on business activity as it happens. For example, at MGM Resorts (MGM), when a big spender walks in the casino, the system immediately alerts the entire staff to treat the customer like he's a king.

Tibco's chief, Vivek Ranadive, said: "It's like a nervous system that works in real time and responds in real time." It allows a company to capture the right information at the right time and act on it preemptively for a competitive advantage.

Option traders appear to be setting up for a bullish move on CA Technologies (CA). Traders plowed into 4,799 new call option contracts -- 13.87 times the average volume -- on the stock on Thursday. And we know that traders were eager to get into this trade because 98% of the trades came in on the "ask" price.

CA Technologies closed Thursday at $18.13. The stock has dropped 7.64% during the past month, but it is currently sitting at support just above $18.

Even in a holiday shortened week so close to the end of the calendar year, there are still some earnings reports dribbling in. Question is, will any of the companies reporting quarterly results this week offer up a gift for investors?

Apropos of the season, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters have high expectations for American Greetings Corp.'s (AM) fiscal third quarter 2010 earnings. The nation's second largest provider of greeting cards announced record second quarter results and declared a quarterly dividend during the three months that ended in November. American Greetings is expected to report that earnings rose 43.9% from a year ago to $0.66 per share. Revenue for the quarter is expected to total $445.4 million, or 1.9% lower than a year ago. So far, the full-year forecast is for its profit to more than double to $2.00 per share while revenue falls 5.6% from a year ago to $1.6 billion. This Cleveland-based company creamed earnings estimates in the past two quarters.

Tibco Software (NASDAQ: TIBX - option chain) shares are rising today on reports from Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag that SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) is considering an acquisition of the company. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on TIBX.

TIBX opened this morning at $9.53. So far today the stock has hit a low of $9.16 and a high of $9.87. As of 11:35, TIBX is trading at $9.42 up 0.95 (11.2%). The chart for TIBX looks bullish and S&P gives TIBX a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Tibco Software (NASDAQ: TIBX) is a business integration software company. The firm's products coordinate processes that span systems and enable interoperability between applications and information sources. The Tibco software suite includes applications for directing workflows, securely exchanging information with trading partners, and creating/maintaining documents. The company also offers consulting and support services. Customers include Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM).

The company pleased investors last week, when it announced Q4 EPS of 18 cents and revenues of $186.1 million. Analysts had been expecting 15 cents and $174.3 million. Management noted particular strength in the telecommunications, finance and life sciences arenas. License revenues rose 89% sequentially and 13% year over year.