Two questions on investors' minds are: Should I buy Apple (AAPL), and where is the stock headed? Leading banks and financial advisory firms hire analysts, whose job it is to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of a given company -- and from that data make a recommendation and a projected stock price.

At Morgan Stanley that analyst is Katy Huberty. In a Fortune article she describes two possible scenarios for Apple. One is her best case. The other is her bearish take.

The fast moving world of investing can turn on a dime, especially if you own technology stocks. Research In Motion (RIMM) was a smartphone darling. But then came the iPhone and now the iPad. Then we have Google's (GOOG) Android following on Apple's (AAPL) heels.

RIM suddenly woke up a found that it had fallen off its perch. Now the company is scrambling to do catch up. BlackBerry is losing North American market share and the company expects to ship only 13.5 to 14.5 million Blackberry's this quarter, down from 14.9 million last quarter, according to Reuters.

A few weeks back, we noted that while Apple's (AAPL) products continue to see huge demand, a key concern for the company is management of supply-related constraints. The recent Japanese earthquake has now added to these concerns. According to market research firm iSuppli, the earthquake may cause logistical disruptions and supply shortages for the newly launched iPad 2. Although Apple remains king of the tablet market, it is expected to face a growing set of challengers in 2011 from Research In Motion (RIMM), Motorola Mobility (MMI), Dell (DELL), Samsung and LG.

We maintain a $420 price estimate for Apple stock, roughly 25% above market price.

Would you buy a used Apple (AAPL) iPad? It seems that the market for used electronics is booming. Much of it is resold to developing countries. But even here in the U.S. consumers are dumping their old iPads and buying the new iPad2, the Financial Times reports.

That sets up a huge secondary market. The big beneficiaries are eBay (EBAY) and the Apple Store. On eBay, for example, sales jumped from 3,300 to 7,700 in a week with prices dropping from $531 to $484 in just one week. If buyers had done some research they could have bought the same unit from the Apple Store for $399, according to the FT.

Intel (INTC) competes with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) in the PC microprocessor and graphics businesses. We estimate that notebook microprocessors are the most important product segment for Intel, generating roughly 39% of its equity value.

News Corp. (NWS) competes with other media conglomerates like The Walt Disney Company (DIS), CBS Corporation (CBS), Time Warner, Inc. (TWX), Viacom, Inc. (VIA) and The New York Times Company (NYT) in the media and entertainment business. Our price estimate for News Corp's stock stands at $23.20, which is a premium of roughly 25% to market price.

News Corp. recently revealed its digital magazine "The Daily," specifically designed for Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) iPad. Rather than being a modification of existing magazines or newspapers, this is a completely new product optimized for tablet viewing. The company had reportedly invested about $30 million to create the product.

Apple Inc. (AAPL), known for its ability to bring innovative products to market, recently unveiled the newest member of its tablet family: the iPad 2. iPad 2 has a few superior features over its predecessor, including a faster A5 processor as well as front and rear facing cameras. The new product is also lighter and thinner than the original.

Apple has established itself as the dominant player in the tablet market, but 2011 could bring more meaningful competition to Apple with players like Research In Motion Limited (RIMM), Motorola Mobility (MMI), Samsung, Dell, Inc. (DELL) and LG jumping onto the tablet bandwagon.

Apple, Inc. (AAPL) closed up 0.8% on the unveiling of the iPad 2. AAPL March put option implied volatility is at 26, May is at 33, compared to its 26-week average of 33 according to Track Data. That suggests larger price movement in May.

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) overall option implied volatility of 20 is near its 26-week average of 21 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional movement into a March 8 investor briefing.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

When it comes to picking trends, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has nailed the latest market to experience explosive growth. It is the fast-growing tablet market, as reported in Reuters.

Morgan's analyst, Mark Moskowitz, has upped his forecasts for tablet sales in 2011 and 2012. For 2011 he raised his numbers from $24.9 to $26.1 billion. For 2012 his numbers are increased from $34.1 billion to $35.2 billion. Unit sales were upped by over 1 million to 48.1 in 2011 and 79.6 in 2012.

"Is Apple ((AAPL) undervalued? We expect the company's earnings to grow at a rapid 24% pace during the next five years," says J. Royden Ward who believe the tech stock meets the criteria for a long-term value investment.

The editor of Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter explains, "At 14.7 times our one-year forward EPS estimate, shares are clearly undervalued. Indeed, we consider AAPL to be low risk.

"Apple develops, manufactures and markets personal computers and consumer electronic products. Exciting new products portend continued rapid growth in future years.

Investors are always searching the landscape for new and upcoming companies. This year and last the tech sector has had the greatest stars. One small tech company on the move is Nvidia (NVDA). The company specializes in visual computing technologies.

Why give this company a second look? Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and iPad have changed the way we view the Internet. Now the iPhone and iTablet are using an increasingly large amount of graphic design. Nvidia is on the cutting edge of this new technology.

Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) gibe at Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android OS is that it was not designed for tablets. Google answered that challenge last week with the launch of Honeycomb. Motorola Mobility's (MMI) Xoom, due out later this month, will feature Honeycomb and should make a splash in the tablet market as competition heats up among tablet manufacturers and affiliated operating systems.

Even with the older version, Android has already started to dent iPad's market share due to the success of Samsung's Galaxy Tab, and we expect that Xoom could improve Android's position intensifying the showdown between Android and Apple's iPad OS.

"Apple (APPL) recently reported quarterly sales and profits that exceeded Wall Street's expectations by a country mile," notes dividend reinvestment expert Chuck Carlson.

The editor of The DRIP Investor explains, "The company's humongous cash haul begs the question -- when will Apple start to pay a dividend.

"Revenue rose 71%, while profits jumped 75% to $6.43 per share, beating the consensus earnings estimate by a whopping $1.03 per share.

The day started off shaky for Apple Inc. (AAPL) after its leader and CEO, Steve Jobs, announced that he would be taking his second medical leave of absence yesterday.

The stock was in the red all day, but did rebound a bit at the end of the day, closing today's session down 2.2% to $340.65, after trading as low as $326.00 earlier in the day.

There is quiet revolution taking place in communication. It's PC telephony. It's been around for years, but is catching the imagination of users around the world. The key driver of PC telephony is cost. Skype offers free online phone calls to any receiver who also has Skype.

Such calls require a microphone and desktop speakers. In a business setting where cubicles are adjacent to one another, the noise can be distracting.