After the closing bell Wednesday, Micron Technology (MU) reported a second-quarter profit of 39 cents per share. The semiconductor firm's results topped both last year's loss of 99 cents per share and the consensus estimate of 24 cents per share.

Quarterly revenue totaled $1.96, up from $993 million a year ago, and better than the $1.82 billion expected by the Street. Sales of the company's DRAM products increased 24% sequentially, as a result of a rise in unit sales and average selling prices. MU's revenue from NAND Flash products were down a bit thanks to a "slight decrease in average selling prices."

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

Kevin Kennedy specializes in micro- and small-cap "momentum" stocks that, technically, have broken to the upside and then pulled back in price.

In his The Coolcat Report, he looks to Dataram (DRAM) as his top speculative idea for the coming year.

The market was lower most of the day after the Commerce Department reported that consumers were saving a lot more than they were spending. Frankly, after yesterday's big gains today could have sold off much more and there would have been little concern.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,433.78 -38.62 (-0.46%)
S&P 500 918.48 -1.78 (-0.19%)
Nasdaq 1,838.22 +8.68 (0.47%)

Micron Technology (NYSE: MU), the well-known DRAM manufacturer that has been expanding into new areas, reported results last night that simply will not get anyone excited.

What was interesting is how much DRAM growth has slowed during the past ten years, with management forecasting bit consumption of just 5% to 20%, not high for an industry that showed bit growth closer to 50% during much of its existence. Since this is an industry that always shows price declines -- expecting a 10% drop in DRAM pricing in the current quarter -- this slowdown in volume growth is not good.

Hoping to offset a structural slow down in DRAM growth, MU has expanded into the image sensor and NAND flash memory business, two more commodity-chip products. Micron's strategy appears to be to invest in businesses that do not earn their cost of capital.

However, with that said, Micron is selling for 1.2x book value, which is at the lower end of its historical trading range. Also, the seasonally strong demand for these commodity products last into November. As blogged yesterday, it is still worth a trade into November, when chip demand will moderate.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that the list of advertisers defecting from Don Imus's morning TV show on General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) and Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) MSNBC is growing, resulting in NBC Universal pulling the show off the air immediately.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Sources involved with the process reported that Viacom Inc's (NYSE: VIA) music publishing catalog Famous Music is attracting a lot of interest from major music labels to former music executives backed by private-equity, reported the New York Post.
• France's Thales and American aerospace giant Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) are reportedly looking to make a joint bid for a new $31.7B contract to supply the British Army with 3,000 new medium-weight armored vehicles, reported The Business.
• The Independent reported that scientists have discovered a technique for "pain-free, highly effective chemotherapy," a huge breakthrough in cancer treatment.

WEBSITES:

• DigiTimes.com reported, citing industry sources, that Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation has lowered its DRAM spot prices almost 15% due to fierce price competition, but the sources noted that the low prices have not been able to stimulate demand in the DRAM market.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is in talks to buy the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the third largest options exchange in the U.S.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Kirk Kerkorian wasn't invited to meet this week with DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) as it gets together with bidders for its Chrysler unit.
• Also in the Wall Street Journal, Xstrata will sell its aluminum unit to Apollo Management for $1.5B, higher than expected.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the New York Post, citing sources familiar with the matter, the private-equity firms that bought out Clear Channel Communications Inc (NYSE: CCU), Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, are weighing their options as they wait for a "crucial" shareholder vote on the deal, which will come next week.

WEBSITES:

• According to Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column, Carl Icahn's investment groups reported that in the last two weeks they have increased their Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) holdings to 69.1M shares, or a 2.9% stake, from 64.9M shares, or a 2.7% stake.
• DigiTimes.com reported that Samsung is reportedly switching capacity from DRAM back to NAND flash.