Free Investing

Trade Radar Operator submits: Stocks have been struggling lately, to put it mildly, but earnings season has been pretty decent. Stock prices in the tech sector has been especially weak but I don't believe tech deserves the cold shoulder. Here's why.I've been keeping track of some of the tech bellwethers as well as some of the smaller players.All in all, the results of this earnings season have been pretty positive.Complete Story »

Trade Radar Operator submits: Stocks have been struggling lately, to put it mildly, but earnings season has been pretty decent. Stock prices in the tech sector has been especially weak but I don't believe tech deserves the cold shoulder. Here's why.I've been keeping track of some of the tech bellwethers as well as some of the smaller players.All in all, the results of this earnings season have been pretty positive.Complete Story »

Outsourcing Insider submits:Keeping abreast of the world is certainly a difficult job, especially now with social media, blogs and other such sources all over the place; it’s becoming difficult to know exactly where to look. I myself have different favored sources of information, including those for news headlines, and social media, that I search regularly. On one such occasion, I came across the Top 10 Business Deals of 2009 from TIME.com. With regards to outsourcing, the item included in the top business deals for 2009 was the HP (HPQ), EDS deal.HP acquired EDS on May 2008 for $13.9 billion, it was listed in 2009 because, even though the deal was made in 2008, it started paying dividends last 2009. This past year, there’ve been lots of different companies signing mergers left and right. With tech companies alone there’s been Xerox (XRX) and ACS (ACS) ($6.4B), Dell (DELL) and Perot Systems (PER) ($3.9B) and HP and 3Com (COMS) ($2.7B). And even though this is true, the results of these deals still remain to be seen.Complete Story »

Tech Confidential submits:
As prospects brighten for IT spending next year, big hardware vendors have been coming out of the woodwork and laying the groundwork for growth with some big M&A plays. Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) struck its biggest deal in two years with Thursday's agreement to buy Tandberg ASA (TADBF.PK). Xerox Inc. (XRX) came out with its largest deal ever Monday with the $6.6 billion purchase of Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS), while last week Dell Inc. (DELL) offered $3.9 billion to acquire Perot Systems Corp. (PER). Could the same be around the corner for the semiconductor sector? Conditions are starting to look up for chipmakers, which have been saddled with the worst downturn in demand for their products in over a decade. The industry's trade association noted Friday that industrywide sales last month were $19.1 billion, a 5% climb from July's figure. While that still represents a 16.1% decline from August 2008, the rate of decline is flattening.Complete Story »

Bill Cara submits: [Excerpted from Bill Cara's Daily Report]Stocks sprinted out of the gate Monday morning euphorically embracing a spate of takeovers, undeterred by strength in the US dollar, or weakness in the Tokyo, Taiwan, and Shanghai stock markets. After closing near the best level of the session (S&P + 1.78%), US equities’ resiliency has finally convinced many unrepentant Bears to throw in the towel, no longer willing to stand in front of the bull market express train. Xerox (XRX - 14.45%) announced it would pay 6.4 billion to acquire Affiliated Computer Systems (ACS + 14%), Abbott to use cash to buy Solvay’s drug business, and American Securities paid a huge premium to acquire GenTek (GETI + 39.87%). Companies willing to part with large sums of cash to buy businesses in face of lackluster economic prospects and continued high unemployment among consumers, was taken by traders as a very bullish omen for equities.Complete Story »

Larry Dignan (ZDNet) submits: Xerox (XRX) said Monday it will buy Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) in a cash and stock deal valued at $6.4 billion. Xerox is valuing ACS at $63.11 a share, up from ACS’ closing price of $47.50. The transforms Xerox into a services company that can focus on business process management and outsourcing (statement).Complete Story »