Time Warner shareholders have been biting their collective nails for the past few weeks, wondering what would happen with the second quarter earnings, due out tomorrow morning before the bell. What news will accompany the financials? Will AOL subscriptions be down yet again? Will the board be doing something radical: offering AOL emails for free, spinning off a portion of the company, or (who knows) creating yet another video sharing site?

The nails were bitten down another 1.52% today in anticipation as the stock fell 25 cents to $16.25, and down a few more cents in after-hours trading. This isn't cause for alarm, though: the price is several ticks away from the 52-week low of $15.70. Keep posted tomorrow as we'll be live blogging the earnings call at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

Time Warner after the bell 08-01-06: down 1.5% on earnings tension originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Aug 2006 19:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Evidently, investors were feeling good about Microsoft's future today, after concerns late last week. Maybe it was the new version of Messenger released today. Maybe it was general warm-and-fuzzies over the prospects of leaders like Ray Ozzie, who will inherit much of Bill Gates' technology leadership (and, if Ray's listening to Steve Gillmor's advice, he will "seize control of the company alongside Steve Ballmer, not as a greater of equals with Craig Mundie"). Either way the stock was up over 2%, or 45 cents, to $22.55.

MSN Messenger has been renamed along with so many other properties under the "MSN" moniker, to "Windows Live Messenger." While I don't love this focus on the "live"-ness of everything Microsoft (as opposed to the dead messenger? We all know that instant messenger programs do get people in the flesh, it seems so redundant to have to mention that), people seem excited about the new product.

Oddly, though, the "live" debut seems to have hit a snafu ... users are reporting a "coming soon" page where the press release points to a download.

Microsoft after the bell 06-19-06: messenger upgrade, everybody loves Ray originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 19 Jun 2006 18:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft joined the rest of the BloggingStocks universe today, closing down significantly. For MSFT, losing 57 cents took the stock down 2.4%, to $23.15, and it was despite an opening bell spike.

None of the market seemed to be much affected by individual company news today, although there was a lot of buzz today about Mr. Softie, with a number of MSFT watchers eager to see what Steve Ballmer will say tomorrow morning in his uncharacteristic chat with investors. And later this afternoon, news of pricing for Microsoft Vista ($450 is the word on the 'net) had lots of bloggers biting, wondering whether it was worth your while to pay more for your operating system than your computer (despite the bells and whistles everyone's raving over). Ryan Block at Engadget muses, "when you consider the fact that the single-license full install retail MSRP of XP Pro is still $300 US, it's not too drastically unrealistic. Don't get us wrong, we're not exactly endorsing snapping up operating systems that cost more than the machines they run on but, you know, it is Ultimate freaking Vista, dude."

The reports on Office Ulimate MSRP: $679. That's some expensive PowerPoint slides. Maybe I should sign up for pay-as-you-go. Dude. And that brings up an excellent question: if the geeks are willing to pay, will corporations follow suit?

Microsoft after the bell 05-30-2006: whither $450 Vista? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 May 2006 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What's the problem with iPods? Supply has been an issue, with customers and retailers joining together to bicker over that last iPod Nano come holiday time. If Apple has anything to do with it, next Christmas it will be a little easier. That is, if you're a sucker for anything that rolls out of a vending machine. It seems as if there will be 180 of the new Zoom @ Macy's vending machines -- scheduled to stock iPods -- in stores by the fall. I, for one, would much rather buy the new $29 Nike+iPod Sport in a vending machine in one of my fave running spots. Now there's an interesting business plan!

If investors heard about the new vending machines, though, they weren't impressed. AAPL was down 23 cents to $63.15 in the same end-of-day malaise that struck the rest of the market. It's a pity, as AAPL opened extremely strong, up to $65.19 in the first minutes of the trading day on below-average volume.

Apple after the bell 05-23-06: candy $0.75, iPod $199 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 May 2006 18:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Confident about Vista release dates? That's what Microsoft "Windows guru" Jim Allchin told Reuters in an interview today. He's the co-president of the company's Platforms & Services Division, and the one responsible for Vista, the upcoming operating system update. The market has been highly skeptical of Microsoft's ability to release the software on time; ever since Gartner released a report indicating Vista would hit the shelves months behind schedule.

Evidently, the market remains skeptical. MSFT was way up in the morning to a respectable $23.38, but plunged at the end of the day in a market-wide sell-off, ending down nine cents at $22.79. Evidently, Allchin's confidence didn't have much sway in the face of uncertainty over commodity prices and, perhaps, the continuing incredulity of MSFT investors.

Microsoft after the bell 05-23-2006: Vista confidence? Markets says, 'No' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 May 2006 16:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ah, poor Softie. Where have you gone wrong? In a day when the market was generally up, Microsoft flirted with its new two-year low, closing down 27 cents to $22.56, a drop of 1.18%. MSFT took a dive in the opening minutes and never recovered. Why so low, Softie?

The volume was relatively average, so all we can do is speculate. Many Apple watchers were surprised today to discover that the consumer versions of the new MacBook and the little Mac Mini don't meet the minimum requirements for Microsoft Vista when it's released ... sometime. Is the checklist for Vista so draconian that investors can't stomach the pain of having to purchase a special graphics adaptor? Must be.

Microsoft after the bell 05-19-06: why so low, Softie? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 May 2006 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple was plugging along today, basking in the glow of its new (and black) MacBook, and Steve Jobs was probably patting himself on his back after yesterday's lovely write-up in the Wall Street Journal. I'm so smart, he was probably thinking, those naysayers just wish they'd invested in Apple way back when!

And then. Everybody started selling. Before MacBook could rack up its nth sale (rumored to be good even by Apple's projections), before Jobs could reach around for that acrobatic back pat, the market had hammered APPL to the tune of $2.08 -- a whopping 3.19%. The stock ended the day at $63.18.

Despite the sell-off, reviewers can't say enough good about the MacBook; MacWorld said it was faster than the fastest iBook G4 in almost all of its tests. And Forbes went raving on about the new Manhattan Apple store (in a historically dank and failure-ridden space, however). So why the big sell-off? Could it be a side-effect of bad news at rival Dell? If you sold today, what were you thinking?

Apple after the bell 05-18-06: walloped by end-of-day selloff originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 May 2006 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Time Warner after the bell 05-04-06: AOL's C sends stock down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 May 2006 20:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading eBay after the bell 05-04-06: Meg promises much, investors unimpressed

eBay after the bell 05-04-06: Meg promises much, investors unimpressed originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 May 2006 19:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft after the bell 5-03-06: four-year low, Fool says don't sell! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 May 2006 17:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.