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- The Accelerator Conundrum
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- The Future: End of Capitalism
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Technology Stocks
Payroll Sector Improving
The employment situation in the Unites States is slowly improving: for the third straight month, ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) reported positive job growth. According to the company’s national employment report, private sector jobs increased by 32,000 in April, more than the 20,000 expected by economists. This is a positive sign for the payroll industry. The official report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which includes public sector jobs, confirms this positive trend with the fourth consecutive report of job growth and addition of about 290,000 jobs in the month. Let’s take a closer look at the recent performance of Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) and ADP. >>>
Comcast And Viacom Looking Up
Analysts project global ad spending to grow 2.2% during the current year, a significant improvement from the earlier projections of growth of a mere 0.9%. Growth is projected to continue at 4.1% in 2011 and 5.3% in 2012. Last year, the more developed regions of the world, that is, North America, Western Europe and Japan, witnessed a 12.1% decline in ad spending. Ad spending in these regions is expected to stabilize this year, with growth returning in 2011. In 2010, ad spending in North America is expected to fall by 1.5% to $155 billion and resume growth to $162 billion by 2012. >>>
Nokia’s Market Share Declines
According to a recent IDC report, the mobile phone market continued its recovery with about 22% growth in the first quarter of 2010. Nokia (NYSE:NOK) maintained its position as the number one vendor, but its market share declined to 36.6% from 38.4% last year. Let’s take a closer look. >>>
iPad Components And Their Makers
The semiconductor market is in a strong recovery mode. Chipmakers Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM), and Atheros (NASDAQ:ATHR) all recently reported strong results and are trading close to their 52-week highs. Also, Broadcom and Texas Instruments have design wins in the iPad, which according to PC World reached 1 million in sales this past Friday, 28 days after its release. Let’s take a closer look. >>>
An SAP-HP Partnership Coming In Mobile Enterprise Apps?
Last week, SAP (NYSE:SAP) announced its plans to buy TechniData, a German company that provides software to help businesses comply with environmental, health, and safety regulations. And this week, it announced strong first quarter results. Let’s take a closer look. >>>
Juniper And Polycom Merger?
Earlier in the year, Juniper (NASDAQ:JNPR) and Polycom (NASDAQ:PLCM) formed an alliance to offer videoconferencing systems and associated network infrastructure. Juniper recently announced its plans to buy Ankeena, a media content delivery company, for less than $100 million. Both these moves indicate that Juniper is contemplating how to develop a third front against Cisco. HP’s acquisition of 3Com, of course, has created the most significant threat so far to Cisco’s hegemony. Let’s take a closer look. >>>
Yahoo!’s Turnaround Strategy (Again!)
Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) turned fifteen this quarter, and I doubt it is happy with where it is currently. Carol Bartz still seems to be struggling with figuring out what needs to be done and is busy reshuffling management. The company did sell off a few non-profitable ventures, but I would have preferred that it had taken more serious steps in strengthening its verticals to get its growth story back in place. As it stands, more mumbo jumbo from Yahoo!’s confused HQ. >>>
Qualcomm And STM Swing To Profit
Chipmakers Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) recently reported their quarterly results. Both companies swung to a profit, but Qualcomm provided a weak outlook that sent its shares plummeting. Let’s take a closer look. >>>