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Felix Salmon submits: Dell’s $100 million settlement with the SEC is notable for the fact that Michael Dell is personally being fined as well: The SEC’s allegations with respect to Mr. Dell and his settlement are limited to the alleged failure to provide adequate disclosures with respect to the company’s commercial relationship with Intel prior to Fiscal 2008…Complete Story »

Andy Wang submits: Let me first start off by saying I love Apple products. Apple 'the company' is second to none. They are true innovators and have certainly created an amazing brand of well-made products that live up to the hype. But I want to talk about Apple 'the stock'. You know, there is an old adage; a great company is not necessarily a great stock, and vice-versa. I challenge you to find a better company than Apple (AAPL), or a better stock for that matter. The performance this year, heck for the last five years has truly been unreal. However, the future may not be so pleasant for the hardware maker. The law of large numbers may have a way of stopping the stampede of this stock price. Oh, I expect more great products on the horizon, but the love affair between the stock and investors will be shorter term than those who really love the products. Complete Story »

Andy Wang submits: Let me first start off by saying I love Apple products. Apple 'the company' is second to none. They are true innovators and have certainly created an amazing brand of well-made products that live up to the hype. But I want to talk about Apple 'the stock'. You know, there is an old adage; a great company is not necessarily a great stock, and vice-versa. I challenge you to find a better company than Apple (AAPL), or a better stock for that matter. The performance this year, heck for the last five years has truly been unreal. However, the future may not be so pleasant for the hardware maker. The law of large numbers may have a way of stopping the stampede of this stock price. Oh, I expect more great products on the horizon, but the love affair between the stock and investors will be shorter term than those who really love the products. Complete Story »

Steve Alexander submits:Think back a decade ago to mid-2000. The average person probably owned a single desktop computer and accessed the Internet through AOL (AOL) dial-up. Few people bought products on-line. Nearly everyone still purchased CDs to own music and VHS tapes to own movies (DVD did not outsell VHS until 2001). Film cameras were found in 90% of homes while digital cameras had only penetrated 10%. Digital cameras still took relatively small, low-quality photos - 3 megapixels was state-of-the-art at the time. Digital video was barely even being used in Hollywood, let alone in the hands of consumers.Most computer files were small, text-based word processing or spreadsheet documents that could easily be backed up onto floppy drives, Zip drives, or CD-ROM disks. Back in 2000, the largest hard drives you could find were about 80 gigabytes (GB) in size, and most computers had disk drives in the 20-40 GB range.Complete Story »

Trefis submits:
Personal computer manufacturers such as HP (HPQ), Dell (DELL) and Apple (AAPL) tend to outsource their hardware manufacturing to contract manufacturers in China. A recent New York Times article reported that cost of making consumer electronics devices like PCs, digital cameras and smartphones in China is likely to increase due to soaring labor costs, inflation and China’s strengthening currency, which makes Chinese exports more expensive.In an earlier article, we concluded that rising input costs are unlikely to impact Apple’s stock price because the company sells premium products like the iPhone and enjoys very high profit margins. HP and Dell are different in that their PC businesses are characterized by high volumes and low margins. Both companies face significant downside risk if they are unable to pass increased input costs on to their customers. Our analysis follows below.Complete Story »

Frederic Ruffy submits: SentimentStocks are trading mixed late Wednesday, with strong earnings from Intel (INTC) helping support the tech-heavy NASDAQ, but disappointing retail sales numbers and a dim view on the economy from the Fed weighing on other sectors of the market. Stock index futures rose late Tuesday after Intel posted solid second quarter earnings and also raised estimates for the third quarter. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened only modestly higher after the Commerce Department reported that retail sales fell .5 percent in June, and more than double what economists had predicted. The Dow was holding modest gains into midday until the minutes from the latest FOMC meeting showed Fed officials revising downward their forecast for economic growth to 3 to 3.5 percent in 2010, down from earlier predictions of 3.2 to 3.7 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now down 36 points. The NASDAQ is up 1. With forty-five minutes left to trade, the CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX) edged up .58 to 25.14. Trading in the options market remains active, with about 6.6 million calls and 5.5 million puts traded so far.Bullish FlowAK Steel (AKS) is up 95 cents to $14.25 after Goldman raised the steelmaker to Buy from Neutral. Options volume is running 2.5X the average daily, with 25K calls and 2600 puts traded so far. Most of the action has been in smaller lots, with the exception of a buyer of 5000 September 15 calls at 90 cents and a buyer of 5000 December 15 calls at $1.73. Volume in those two contracts is more than 6000. Meanwhile, implied volatility is up 5 percent to 61 ahead of a July 27 earnings report.Complete Story »

Frederic Ruffy submits: SentimentA busy week of economic news kicked off with a report on personal incomes and spending Monday morning. While incomes rose .4 percent in May, and .1 percent less than economists had predicted, spending increased by 2 percent and two times more than expected. Consumer confidence numbers are due out Tuesday and investors get their first peek at the June jobs situation courtesy of ADP’s private sector report Wednesday. Weekly claims, construction spending, ISM, and pending homes sales are slated for Wednesday. The Labor Department releases its jobs numbers Friday morning. Meanwhile, Europe’s equity markets traded quietly higher Monday after G-20 members met over the weekend and ironed out plans to cut debts and deficits. Germany’s DAX paced the advance with a 1.4 percent gain. Similarly, in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 45 points. With an hour left to trade, the CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX) is up .15 to 28.68. Options volume is light, with roughly 4.1 million calls and 3.3 million puts traded so far.Bullish FlowHome Depot (HD) is down 53 cents to $29.67 and the Aug 32 – 34 call spread is apparently bought at 39 cents, 20000X on PHLX. It might close or roll, as open interest is sufficient to cover in both contracts. Implied volatility in HD is up about 6.5 percent to 32. Earnings due out mid-Aug, possibly before the expiration. If this is an opening trade, it could be interesting heading into earnings. Excluding commissions, it offers a $1.61 pay-off if shares rally to $34 or more by the August expiration. So, the strategist is risking 39 cents to make $1.61, or a ratio of more than four-to-one. Of course, reaching the max profit potential from the spread requires a 14.4 percent rally in HD in 53 days. The breakeven at expiration is $32.39.Complete Story »

Trefis submits:
Dell (DELL), which competes with HP (HPQ), Acer, Apple (AAPL) and Lenovo in the global PC market, is ready to enter the lucrative smartphone market with a range of mobile phones that are scheduled for release over the next year. We estimate that the smartphone business will add slightly more than $1 billion in value to our valuation of Dell’s stock if Dell can achieve a modest 0.5% market share within the global mobile phone market and maintain smartphone prices comparable to many of the existing players in the space.Complete Story »

Larry Dignan (ZDNet) submits: EMC and NetApp (NTAP) gained share in the first quarter as pure play storage makers shined, according to IDC data. IDC’s market share standings tell the tale:Complete Story »

Frederic Ruffy submits: SentimentStocks are holding modest gains following several days of high volatility. The table was set for morning losses on Wall Street, as major averages were once again under pressure throughout much of Asia and across Europe. However, European benchmarks battled back and finished mixed. Meanwhile, financials, which had faltered in morning trading after the Senate passed its Financial Reform bill, led the Dow Jones Industrial Average back into positive territory. JP Morgan (JPM), BofA (BAC), and American Express (AXP) are the best gainers in the Dow. The industrial average, which lost 376 points yesterday, is up 35 heading into the final hour. The options expiration is likely adding to the volume and volatility today. About 9.6 million calls and 12.2 million puts traded so far.Bullish FlowSalesforce.com (CRM) is up $3.19 to $82.22 and options volume is 10.5X the recent average daily. Shares experienced volatility early after the company reported earnings and issued a full year outlook that fell short of some expectations. However, Wedbush analsyts said CRM should be bought on any weakness and some investors seem to agree. Shares are up 11.2 percent from session lows. In the options market, the bulk of the activity is due to an Aug 85 – 100 call ratio spread, sold at $2.45, 13000X on CBOE. It likely exits a position opened at $2.90 on April 12.Complete Story »