Qualcomm (QCOM) recently announced its fiscal 2011 first quarter earnings, in which it provided an outlook for the year. The notable positive here is the higher expected royalty rate in 2011, which reverses the trend of declining royalty rates in recent years. The tripling of capital expenditures that the company expects in fiscal year 2011 compared to 2010 also stands out to us, and we discuss the potential impacts of these below.

Qualcomm competes with other chip makers like Texas Instruments (TXN), Broadcom (BRCM) and Infineon (IFNNY), and we have a $53.82 Trefis price estimate for Qualcomm stock, which is around 4% below the current market price.

Dow component Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) announced today that 7,000 jobs, or roughly 2% of its workforce, will be eliminated as the company shutters its 34-store EXPO Home Design Centers business. The retail chain said that EXPO "has not performed well financially and is not expected to anytime soon. Even during the recent housing boom, it was not a strong business. It has weakened significantly as the demand for big ticket design and decor projects has declined in the current economic environment."

Two thousand of the job cuts will stem from back-office reductions and a 10% haircut to the officers' ranks. Additionally, HD says it's freezing the salaries of all corporate officers in an attempt to save cash. Also on the chopping block is capex; the retailer said that capital spending will be slashed to about $1 billion in the coming fiscal year.

The changes to HD's payroll will result in about $532 million in restructuring costs, with $390 million affecting the recently concluded fourth quarter. However, the company backed its fiscal-year forecast. Sales and earnings per share are expected to decline by 8% and 24%, respectively, excluding charges.

Happily for the housing-dependent retailer, investors today seem encouraged by its cost-cutting moves. HD shares opened on a gain of about 4%.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.

Reuters goes a long way toward reporting the obvious. Top management at large companies are having trouble predicting what will happen to their businesses more than a quarter out. This is not news because earnings releases for the last quarter of 2008 have be remarkably light on guidance for 2009.

What is less obvious is that the problem is likely to increase unemployment for two reasons. The first is that a company with little confidence in revenue projections is more likely to lay people off as a matter of caution. Looking at the economy has a whole, most firms would assume the worst.

The second by-product of caution in the face of little information is that corporations begin to cut capex. So much of GDP growth relies on large purchases of expensive capital equipment by enterprises that a drop in this kind of investing in the future ripples through the economy and causes more job devastation.

It would be nice if management at big companies could look at this as a "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" situation. But, it is much worse than that.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple reported that it plans to spend $700 million this fiscal year on such things as new stores, real estate, and technology infrastructure. Only two months ago it reported that it planned to spend $420 million. Last year it spent $260 million on capital expenditures.

That's a serious increase, but it seems investors aren't too worried about it. The stock recently reached $72, up 87 cents (1.2%) on a banner day for stocks.

Much of the increase -- $265 million -- has to do with Apple's plans to build a second campus in Cupertino and also add a new data center.