President Obama – who only weeks ago warned of the greatest financial meltdown since the Great Depression if his $1.1 trillion stimulus package wasn’t passed by Congress - now says that he sees a “glimmer of hope” that the financial trauma is ending and that things could be stabilizing.
Call me a cynic – and many have – but how do we go from financial meltdown to financial “glimmers” in a period of seven weeks? Especially since most of the money in the President’s stimulus plan isn’t supposed to kick in until 2010?
It smells funny to me. Get elected on the heels of next Great Depression, then announce it was all just a big mistake, and, oh yeah, the economy isn’t actually that bad after all? Oh, and that $1.1 “stimulus” package that’s really just a time-release pill for the 2010 elections? Well, it’s passed and there isn’t anything we can do about that now.
Talk about getting snookered. The sad things you won’t hear a peep about this in the mainstream media.
Anyway, in the technology sector, Yahoo (YHOO), boosted by rumors of renewed merger talks with Microsoft( (MSFT) saw its stock price rise by 7% on Monday.
Last Friday, when the stock market was closed for the Easter weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo and Microsoft would merge on a massive search engine marketing effort -- if talks were successful. That bit of information helped Yahoo’s stock rise to $14.42, even as Microsoft’s stock fell slightly, by 0.4%, to $19.59
Here’s the skinny on some other key tech stocks in Monday trading:
- Google(GOOG Quote) shares rose 1.5% to $5.61.
- eBay(EBAY Quote) shares fell 2.6% to $14.63.
- Amazon(AMZN Quote) fell 1% to $78.94.
Elsewhere, news that Dell (DELL) is introducing a new cell phone is falling on deaf ears.
Collins Stewart analyst Ashok Kumar says the Dell phone is a non-starter with major carriers, all of whom have opted to pass on the new phone. Kumar cites “a non-compelling product with a roadmap that lags competition,” as the reason for the cold shoulder to Dell’s new phone.
“Dell committed itself to the handset business with a poorly planned feature set and cost targets,” he writes. Research In Motion (RIMM), Apple (AAPL) and Nokia (NOK) “each has a stronger roadmap and a customer footprint that Dell is likely to displace with its current offering.” He says the company could still decide to “cut its losses and shoot the product before mass production.” But if they go forward, a move that will provide “larger marketing funds,” then Kumar contends “the company is unlikely to get sufficient traction for returns on its investment and to develop a next generation product. Thus, such a course would doom its handset and the ecosystem around it to a slow death.”
Dell’s stock closed Monday trading at $10.45.