"We recommend broad portfolio diversification is a core tenet of our investment approach; however, we think the tech sector in particular presents some attractive opportunities, especially in the large-cap arena," says value investor John Buckingham.

The money manager and editor of The Prudent Speculator explains, "One stock we particularly like for the coming year is Cisco Systems (CSCO).

Thursday afternoon, Novell (NOVL) reported a fiscal second-quarter profit of 6 cents per share ($19.9 million) -- up from five cents per share ($15.6 million) a year earlier. Adjusted earnings checked in at seven cents per share, matching the consensus estimate. Quarterly revenue of $204 million also matched the Street's expectations. The firm's CFO Dana Russell noted that fiscal second-quarter revenues were in line with expectations and that profits were at the high end of the forecast range.

Infosys Technologies Limited (INFY), a tech concern based in India that provides solutions in the IT field, has been extremely popular over the last year. The price for the American Depositary Share (ADS) is near a 52-week high. Earlier in the week, the company released its Q3 report. The market did not seem disappointed.

The top line expanded by over 5% on a year-over-year basis. Earnings per diluted ADS weren't as impressive, rising only 1.7% to 59 cents. That percentage gain translates to a mere penny increase. Net profit on a dollar basis was flat.

Normal tech support phone call: "Press 1 for help with e-mail. Press 2 to have your password reset."

Madoff tech support phone call: "Hello, how can I help you dummy up some trading records today?"

The investigation of Bernie Madoff's fraudulent financial empire is leading to more arrests. Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers employed by the Ponzi schemer, were arrested by the FBI on Friday morning. The charges include conspiracy for falsifying books and records. They are accused of doing the deed for the boss and accepting hush money -- in the form of 25% raises and net bonuses of $60,000 -- to keep the scam afloat.

Neither company is saying a thing yet, but word is Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and EMC (NYSE: EMC) are joining up to sell a new collection of products designed to deliver cloud computing capabilities, Reuters reports. Called vBlock, the cloud solution is intended to help the companies compete more effectively with IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ).

The partnership, which no one is admitting to, involves a joint venture between Cisco and EMC that will sell vBlock. The former will supply the networking equipment and servers, with the latter kicking in the storage gear and virtualization technology through its VMWare (NYSE: VMW) subsidiary. The joint venture will put the systems together, integrate the components for clients, and make the whole pile of cables and silicon work. A formal announcement is expected next week.

Windows 7, the latest operating system from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is expected to help jumpstart some IT spending. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) also sees this happening. A new operating system often means a chance to upgrade from dated equipment that isn't worth upgrading, especially with favorable pricing for technology right now. Everything's coming together for a strong 2010 for the high-tech sector, so it's also worth watching Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and EMC (NYSE: EMC).

Infosys made 56 cents per American Depositary Share. The call was for 50 cents. Net sales were $1.15 billion, slightly higher than projections on Wall Street. That sounds okay, right? We even had an outlook that was better than expected, too. Everything appears to have fallen in place for Infosys.

There are some parts of the proposed economic stimulus bill that I think are really great. And those parts involve spending to spur technology. There is no doubt in my mind that economic progress depends on technological innovation. Some of the greatest technologies in our history have started from government programs -- including the Internet. And I hope that the current stimulus plan can get us some significant technological progress.

Here are the parts -- which merge alternative energy and information technology -- that I think have that potential:

• Using renewable energy sources, like wind turbines and solar panels, on a smart grid that could handle inconsistent electricity production;
• Creating more energy to lower the cost of running big computer servers;
• Employing variable pricing for peak hours since the smart grid could send signals in both directions, potentially expanding the Internet's reach;
• Extending other forms of broadband lines to rural and under-served areas; and
• Moving health records online which would open new markets for digital connections, data storage and consumer services

A graph from the May 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review tells a story about the dumbing down of the global economy.

From an article, Rebuilding the R&D Engine in Big Pharma [subscription required] the graph shows the total shareholder returns for various industries in two time periods: from 1985 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2007. Here are three of the leading sectors from 1985 to 2000 (average annual shareholder returns are in parentheses):

• Pharmaceuticals (20.0%)
• Financials (18.8%)
• IT (17.4%)

Between 2001 and 2007, three of the leading sectors were:

• Energy (15.2%)
• Materials (14.3%)
• Financials (7.0%)