Prepaid wireless play MetroPCS Communications (PCS), first discussed here on December 21, 2009 at a price of $7.55, 'the little engine that might,' has gone in the wrong direction -- down -- in the past three months.

Note: I consider MetroPCS to be a high-risk stock not suitable for low/moderate-risk investors.

Even worse, technically, the chart has formed a bear hug -- a bearish trend in which the stock rallies to the key, 50-day moving average, only to decline again. Typically, the stance would be to close the position. However, a recent pop above the 50-day MA provides some hope, so the stance is to maintain the play.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (S) has found a winner for almost a year in its Boost Mobile prepaid wireless brand. For Sprint, this has been a savior. The company has been leeching valuable contract wireless customers to the competition and it was hurt badly in 2009 because of this.

At the same time, it has gained more prepaid wireless subscribers than any other carrier, and added large partner Virgin Mobile late last year to solidify its strategy in growing prepaid wireless as a large core of its customer base. It was probably the only thing to do -- both AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless were taking its subscribers by the hundreds of thousands throughout 2009, even as Sprint fought back with lower-priced plans and compelling smartphones.

In today's world, people rarely carry large amounts of cash on them. People have credit cards for large purchases or even debit cards to access their checking accounts. ATM machines are on every urban street corner in America. But what happens when you're not at home in that urban setting? What do you do if you're on vacation?

I recently went to the Caribbean with my wife. We knew that most places would accept our cards but we questioned the exchange rate. Eastern Caribbean money isn't that strong in comparison to the U.S. dollar ($2.60 EC to $1 U.S.) and we knew that our credit cards would charge a service fee for purchases made in EC dollars. My wife, whom I consider a "world traveler," has always gone with the traveler's checks and prepaid card route. She would cash the checks in at the hotel and use prepaid cards so she wouldn't put her personal accounts at risk. I always used my credit card on vacation. Before our trip, I was sent to the bank to pick up a pair of prepaid cards and some traveler's checks.

The July issue of Money magazine has a great article regarding the best way to keep exchange costs to a minimum with today's weak dollar.

I found out she was completely wrong - a month too late.

Microsoft does not equal altruism. No, let's be clear here: no U.S. for-profit corporation equals altruism. But even the awesomest of do-goody moves on the part of Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer & team could ever be considered as entirely selfless.

Take the company's plans (in conjunction with hardware manufacturers) to test a pay-as-you-go scheme for computers called Microsoft FlexGo. You pay somewhere around $300 (about half of what the computer would cost at full retail value) and then buy prepaid cards for minutes, a la prepaid mobile phones. Over time, the consumer would own the computer outright (but it wouldn't be repossessed if users failed to purchase all their minutes, just like phones), paying a little more than the retail cost.

The initial markets will be places like Brazil, India, Mexico, China and Russia, where consumer credit rates are high and the average person doesn't carry plastic. Best of all, some estimates have put the untapped market at 1 billion consumers -- those who can't afford the $500-$1000 all at once, but who could afford one were the cost to be spread out.

In one fell swoop, Microsoft could reduce the desirability of pirated software, double its potential consumer base, open up hundreds of billions of room for revenue growth, and oh yes: help people. I'm going to forgive the lack of total altruism. Just this once.