TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says all that money has to go somewhere, and this is a likely destination.
Clash of the ideals! Oil's down, and what can you buy when there's so much bad bank news? What can you buy when Wachovia (NYSE: WB) (Cramer's Take) is boosting reserves and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)) (Cramer's Take) is still being pursued by authorities and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) says July stunk and UBS (NYSE: UBS) (Cramer's Take) is so tarnished that you can't believe it was once the most conservative blue chip out there.
The answer is tech, of course!
Wait a second. Would anyone mind if we actually had a reason to buy tech beyond the Kindle, the device that made Citigroup gaga about Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) (Cramer's Take) -- not that you needed a device to do that.
Sure, we have pre-seasonality. Remember, you are supposed to buy tech at the end of the summer, not that anyone waits that long.
A group of tech veterans -- DD Ganguly, Jayant Pandit, Saurav Mohapatra, Sundar Subramanian and Rohit Shankar – have worked on various projects, despite being in far-flung places across the globe. They did so by leveraging free technologies such as Skype to help manage things.
However, they also wanted to share screens, but couldn't find anything for it as the conferencing software was either too expensive or complicated. So, they started a new company: Dimdim.
That was in 2006 and, as of now, Dimdim is getting lots of traction. In fact, the firm has raised $6.4 million in venture capital. The investors include: Index Ventures, Nexus India Capital and Draper Richards.
Dimdim is available as downloadable open source software. There is also an on-demand version.
For the most part, Dimdim is gunning for a large market opportunity. For example, Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) purchased WebEx for a whopping $3.2 billion. Other major players in the space include Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Citrix (NASDAQ: CTXS) and Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE).
So, if Dimdim can develop an enterprise-ready version and can provide it on a low-cost basis, the impact could be highly disruptive. And now, the company has some capital to give it a try.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lehman Brothers, Nokia and Intuitive Surgical were today's noteworthy initiations:
Morgan Stanley initiated Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) with an Overweight rating and $31 target. The firm believes Lehman's discount to book value prices in significant write-downs.
Bernstein believes Nokia (NYSE:NOK) will see a slowdown in demand for devices and could loss market share. Shares were initiated with an Underperform rating.
Merriman assumed Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) with a Neutral rating and believes the tightened credit markets could impact capital equipment spending for small and mid-sized hospitals. They find shares appropriately valued at current levels.
Klausner Technology Inc, which has sued several companies for damages and future royalties, has settled the suits and reached an agreement Monday with Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) and AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) to license its "visual voicemail" technology that sends visual alerts to computers or mobile telephones when a user has a voice message.
Meanwhile, Barron'sTech Trader Daily gave several analysts' assessments of the upcoming 3G iPhone: At RBC, they're expecting "massive" shipments of the phones in Q4; this was supported by an analyst at Deutsche Bank. The Goldman analyst didn't stop there but said he expects improvements in the iPod and Mac business segments as well.
And while Apple is increasing its global foot print, so is Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). The internet portal company said on Tuesday that its mobile search service will be offered by six more telecom companies in Asia, bringing the total to 60 partnerships with companies reaching 600 million subscribers. A Yahoo! exec said he expects the mobile advertising market to rise to $16.2 billion in 2011 up from $1.5 billion in 2006 where Yahoo! is well poised to get a large share.
But all is not rosy at Yahoo! to say the least, as is evident by the massive loss of talent. The recent is Yahoo's EVP Jeff Weiner. Yahoo's president Sue Decker has apparently emailed employees following his resignation. TechCrunch has the surprisingly cheerful and positive email.
Editor's Note: This post comes courtesy of Sean Udall, a wise player in the tech field. For more, visit www.minyanville.com.
Interesting article on Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone "potential" teardown. Implications are that the 3G iPhone will carry higher margins than previous model. We will see shortly and I still expect Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) to benefit from the actual teardown.
Speaking of Broadcom, the company got the all clear on a patent infringement deal with SiRF Technology Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRF) and I like the emerging technical setup on BRCM.
Elsewhere, Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) reports today and has been a solid tech name this year, really many years for that matter. I don't expect any big surprises.
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) is at the William Blair growth conference. Gaming sales were reported strong again last week. This is probably a cheap solid grower but I prefer the growing online gaming model, I've discussed on the Buzz in the past.
SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR) was upgraded this morning and presenting at an Alternative Energy conference on Wednesday. I was going to trade this again but the analyst action is spiking the stock today.
Evergreen Solar's (NASDAQ: ESLR) shareholder and analyst meetings is scheduled this week and I'm thinking this could fuel bullish action.
Regarding Comverge (NASDAQ: COMV) and EnerNOC(NASDAQ: ENOC), I overheard some bullish comments on these stocks on CNBC this morning. I've discussed COMV on the buzz previously and ENOC is their sister company. Both companies offer technology solutions for managing the power grid more efficiently and I think both stocks are cheap emerging growth stocks.
For the first time Monday I heard John McCain comparing Barack Obama to Jimmy Carter. I had heard this before in other arenas, but not from McCain. I guess that despite these two presidential candidates pledging to the American people to bring change and resist politics as usual, they are both, as usual as one could get.
Obama is being shaped by the pressures of running for office and to believe otherwise is delusional. I suppose one has to have hope but the effects of the campaign are becoming clear. Obama has been painting McCain as an extension of Bush, which is nonsense, and now in a typical tit-for-tat response, McCain is filling the air with Carter references.
Both McCain and Obama are wrong in their assessments of their opponents and they are becoming commoners to resort to the bottom of the barrel campaign techniques used in every campaign for most of our nation's proud history. Obama gave up the high ground too easily and McCain has decided he can sling mud with the best of them.
Jefferies & Co reiterated its "buy" rating on BioMarin (NASDAQ:BMRN) ahead of its analyst meeting, according to the AP.
Oppenheimer downgraded Motorola (NYSE:MOT) to "underperform" from "perform" according toBriefing.com. The news service also reports that Lehman upgraded Northwest (NYSE:NWA) from "equal weight" to "overweight".
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Alaska Communications, Royal Bank of Scotland and Frontier Oil were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Banc of America upgraded shares of Alaska Communications (NASDAQ: ALSK) to Buy from Neutral as they believe the company will return to a dividend growth focus after completing its strategic initiatives.
Credit Suisse raised Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) to Neutral from Underperform as they believe the company has already taken "prudent" write-downs.
Bear upgraded Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO) to Peer Perform from Underperform as they believe the company is better positioned to withstand this period of margin weakness.
OTHER UPGRADES:
Jefferies upgraded Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) to Hold from Underperform.
RBC Capital lifted Medarex Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDX) to Sector Perform from Underperform.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), attempting to avoid a huge hostile takeover bid, indicated it may be willing to raise its bid to as much as $33 per Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) share. Microsoft's board had failed to reach a final decision on how to proceed with its bid for the Internet search group. Yahoo!, though, may want $35-37 per share. And I thought Ballmer said he would lower the bid ... Don't they know by now these negotiating tactics are well known? In any event, it's starting to look more and more like the deal is closer than ever and the parties are willing, despite each showing off some muscle first.
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) reported late Wednesday a 28% drop in second-quarter earnings to $108.7 million, matching market expectations. While the drop was expected, it doesn't mean the report showed any positive changes following Schultz coming back to the CEO role. Perhaps it's too early to see them manifested, but Starbucks, once such a darling, isn't showing improvement yet. Stock is up about half a percent in premarket trading.
Adobe Systems Inc., (NASDAQ: ADBE) estimated that fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue would come in near the high end of its targets and affirmed its earnings outlook for the full year. That is about 45-47 cents, compared to analysts' estimates of 43 cents per share.
Defense contractor Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) posted strong earnings this morning for its first quarter of $1.75 per share, well ahead of the $1.63 analysts had been expecting.
Looking at the quarter's revenue figures, we see a nice year-over-year jump, climbing to $9.98 billion from $9.28 billion. In addition, the company lifted its full-year earnings forecast by 10 cents to $7.15 to $7.35 per share.
The company had good earnings, and lifted full year estimates, so why is the stock falling in today's action? It could be in reaction to the fact that the company's biggest division, its jet business, showed a drop in sales in the period. During the quarter, this business fell since Lockheed is in the middle of a transition from its older fighter jets to newer models such as the F-35 and F-22.
American high school students know little about the basics of finance and economics, and the problem is getting worse, according to a report from the AP today.
The majority of high school seniors answered basic questions about finance incorrectly in a nationwide poll conducted by the Federal Reserve. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke called for better financial education, and linked the woeful state of basic economic knowledge to the housing crisis.
Bernanke said, "In light of the problems that have arisen in the subprime mortgage market, we are reminded of how critically important it is for individuals to become financially literate at an early age so that they are better prepared to make decisions and navigate an increasingly complex financial marketplace."
It's hard to disagree with him on this point, but a cynic might wonder if a poorly educated population is really the source of the housing crisis. Sure, Americans don't know much about the power of compound interest or how to calculate net present value, but that's not why the economy is in trouble. The housing bubble was produced by people who knew what they were doing -- mortgage brokers who winked at "liar's loans" and sophisticated bankers who created new financial instruments to get rid of the bad debt. All of these people were highly educated in economics and finance. The problem isn't ignorance but a lack of integrity and regulation.
We have seen this play before, and there are two scenarios as to how it could end. Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is being challenged like never before, having saturated the market place in some locations it is now facing the challenges of selling expensive coffee in a slowing economy.
Would you rather pay $4 for a cup of coffee or a gallon of gas? You can find cheaper coffee but you have few options to find cheaper fuel. Amid the already difficult operating environment Starbucks is faced with competition from the largest restaurant chain in the world, McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD). McDonald's is looking to steal its morning thunder with competitive offerings at a far lower pricing structure. The threat is very real no matter what spin Starbucks puts on it.
This brings to mind two similar situations both involving Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and past competitors. Early on there were two word processing programs that together probably had 90% market share. Those were Wordperfect and Wordstar. Both of them were fine programs offering strong features, and now they are nowhere. Microsoft displaced both of them with MS-Word integrated with their Office suite of products, and is now king.
'Natural male enhancement' founder gets enhanced prison sentence
Mobile Telesystems (MBT) soars on $452M buyback plan
Could Sprint dump Nextel to join with T-Mobile?
Ford (F) desperately needs more dealers to consolidate
Analyst calls: BT, JAS, EGN, CHL, KO, GILD, DWA ...
Oil broke $120 again as Gustav eyes the Gulf of Mexico
Toyota (TM) takes its 2009 forecasts down
Is TiVo a buy after its Q2 report?
Starbucks (SBUX) management: No raises next year
Before the bell: Stocks flat; TIF, FNM, TIVO, AAPL, GILD, JAS ...
Has housing bottomed? Mortgage data lifts Toll Brothers (TOL), others
Google unveils Ad Manager system for use by anyone
Wal-Mart has high hopes for Marketside format
Mattel to get up to $100 million in Bratz case
Alabama county mulls bankruptcy; could be largest failure in history
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says all that money has to go somewhere, and this is a likely destination.
A group of tech veterans -- DD Ganguly, Jayant Pandit, Saurav Mohapatra, Sundar Subramanian and Rohit Shankar – have worked on various projects, despite being in far-flung places across the globe. They did so by leveraging free technologies such as Skype to help manage things.
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Editor's Note: This post comes courtesy of Sean Udall, a wise player in the tech field. For more, visit .gif){kind=logo}
For the first time Monday I heard John McCain comparing Barack Obama to Jimmy Carter. I had heard this before in other arenas, but not from McCain. I guess that despite these two presidential candidates pledging to the American people to bring change and resist politics as usual, they are both, as usual as one could get.
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Defense contractor Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) posted 
American high school students know little about the basics of finance and economics, and the problem is getting worse, according to a 
We have seen this play before, and there are two scenarios as to how it could end.