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Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) recently announced its decision to slash prices for its Windows Azure cloud services as part of an effort to better compete with Amazon's (AMZN) cloud computing platform. The decision to slash prices by 21% to 33% for some of its online data services will help Microsoft to match the prices offered by Amazon [...]

The world’s largest software company Microsoft (MSFT) reported earnings just after the bell, EPS $0.72, surpassing Zacks consensus estimate of $0.67.  Revenues came in just below Zacks estimate of $20.5 billion, at $20.49 billion. Analysts were concerned about PC sales/demand; Q1 was the fourth consecutive quarter with Y/Y decline in PC sales, the single worse quarter [...]

In December 2006, Bill Gates wrote an article about a new technology that's about to change the world. Seven years later, his prediction is coming to fruition...

Few investors understand the long-term drag on returns that comes with active investing. Even if you guess right your share of the time, the higher volatility that comes from a more concentrated portfolio costs you money. I did a small experiment to illustrate this effect. Jim started 20 years ago with $20,000 that he planned to invest in only Microsoft and AT&T. He gave $10,000 to one money manager with instructions to always keep the money split evenly between the two stocks. Jim...

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and NBC Sports Group have announced a partnership to use Windows Azure Media Services across NBC Sports' digital platforms. NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. The group broadcasts premier sporting events and its diverse program portfolio includes "Sunday Night Football," PGA TOUR, Triple Crown horse racing, French Open [...]

The world’s largest software maker Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) announced that power and automation technology major, ABB Ltd. (ABB) chose to deploy its Office 365 and Yammer social network service in its offices globally. The reason for deploying the Office software and Yammer is to equip ABB with advanced technologies involving the cloud, which is expected to [...]

LM Ericsson Telephone Company (ERIC) recently signed an agreement with Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) to acquire the latter’s TV solution Mediaroom business for an undisclosed sum. Through this acquisition, Ericsson intends to become the leading provider of IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) and multi-screen solutions. The deal is expected to be closed by the second half of 2013 [...]

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) plans to launch a 7-inch Surface tablet later this year to catch up with its rivals, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company launched its 10.6-inch screen Surface tablet in October last year with a price tag of $499.0, which made it comparatively larger and more expensive than Apple’s (AAPL) 7.9-inch iPad [...]

Reportedly, Electronic Arts (EA) is downsizing its Montreal game studio. The downsizing comes on the heels of the sudden resignation of its chief executive officer (“CEO”) John Riccitiello on Mar 30, 2013. The Montreal studio, which comprises a mobile team, is well known for developing games such as Army of Two. Although EA has declined to [...]

Stocks tend to be most volatile around earnings season, when a good or bad report can make or break it. However, a good or even great earnings report doesn't necessarily translate into a huge pop for a stock. During earnings season, BullMarket.com publishes a comprehensive 25- to 40-page Earnings Preview report for the week ahead each [...]

Synopsis: A former Microsoft R&D strategist reveals three reasons to be bullish on technology. (Interviewed by Louis James, Editor, International Speculator) Ed. Note: In the economic turmoil of the last five years, a lot has transpired. World markets lost nearly half their value in the panic, but have since recovered – albeit only in nominal value, with a massive lost opportunity cost over that time, and inflation taxing the...

Synopsis: How a new tracking tool can help technology investors time the market to improve profits. By Adam J. Crawford, Research Analyst Getting in on the ground floor is the dream of all i...

The world’s largest software maker Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) Office 365 is gaining traction in the healthcare sector with organizations such as FHI 360, Gwinnett Hospital System, Kindred Healthcare Inc. and Mihills Webb Medical all opting for it. The suite won on different counts at these players. While FHI 360 chose the solution to smooth its transition [...]

December 2, 2004 was a pretty good day for Steve Ballmer.  On that day, the 48-year-old CEO of Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) received a dividend check worth $1.2 billion.  So did Bill Gates, co-founder and Chairman of Microsoft at the time. On that day he collected more money in dividends than most people could earn in a thousand [...]

The world’s largest software maker Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) announced that it is teaming up with Chinese telecom giant Huawei to release a low-cost Windows Phone 8 in Africa. Microsoft expects the phone to strengthen its position in the smartphone market in Africa. The new Phone called the Huawei 4Afrika Windows Phone has a 4-inch screen, 480 [...]

During the past 18 months, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) army of software engineers worked feverishly to prepare for the tablet revolution. The company's newest version of Windows was aimed at taking back lost market share from the likes of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). Yet as I noted in this article, the launch for [...]

The PC era seems to be drawing to a close. The once dominating force in the technology sector – Wintel – is not what is used to be. The two companies involved, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), continue to search for a new path for success in the rapidly-expanding smartphone and tablet era. Take Intel, for example. The company's most recent earnings report showed profits fell 15 percent as revenues and profit margins dropped in 2012, thanks largely to declining...

Stocks tend to be most volatile around earnings season, when a good or bad report can make or break it. However, a good or even great earnings report doesn't necessarily translate into a huge pop for a stock. During earnings season, BullMarket.com publishes a comprehensive 25- to 40-page Earnings Preview report for the week ahead each [...]

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) recently won a three-year Joint Enterprise Licensing Agreement for its latest software from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The $617.0 million contract will cover 75% of the defense personnel from the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). As per the agreement, the software maker will provide the [...]

Courtesy of Benzinga. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is expected [...]

How to Trade the covered call option strategy, also referred to as a buy write. The covered call trade strategy involves,  buying the stock and selling one call option, against every one hundred shares that is owned. Take a look at Microsoft stock ticker $MSFT as an example of buying and selling a covered call. If we [...]

By mid-December, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) plans to add more retail outlets from where its tablet, Microsoft Surface, will be sold. Further, Microsoft is transforming several holiday stores into permanent Microsoft retail outlets. Microsoft Surface was launched worldwide on Oct 26, 2012, and a price tag of $499.0 makes it comparatively expensive. However, it combines both the [...]

Currently Microsoft (MSFT) is attracting a lot of attention thanks to its launch of Windows 8 and many exciting new products based on this important upgrade. However, within all this attention there is a lot of negative bias applied to this blue-chip technology behemoth.  Consequently, the goal of this article is to provide the truth about Microsoft, the company and the stock.  Much of the negative commentary spoken about Microsoft is based on the poor performance of its stock...

Among the bigwigs of UK based hedge funds is Troy Asset Management's Trojan Fund. The flagship hedge fund has assets under management of $3.9 billion  in assets. A major portion of the hedge funds' assets are allocated in US and UK equities, index related futures, physical gold and gold related indexes. The fund is up [...]

During the past two years, software developers in Redmond, Wash., have been fine-tuning the millions of lines of code that comprise Windows 8, the latest version of Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) ubiquitous software operating system. It's been an ambitious task, as Microsoft has developed various flavors optimized for the proliferating number of computing devices. There's even [...]

Windows 8 is not on the list of must-haves this holiday season. Now analysts are expecting that Windows won't even make a dent in sales this last quarter. Although NPD vice president Stephen Baker said it was still a little too early to dismiss Windows 8 completely, he also said, "We still have the whole holiday [...]

How to trade a covered call, also referred to as a “buy write”? The covered call trade strategy involves,  buying the stock and selling one call option, against every one hundred shares that is owned. Let us use Microsoft stock as an example of buying and selling a covered call. If we were to buy 100 shares [...]

The world’s largest software maker, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) will invest $100.0 million in a new research center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The investment will cover research and development, and other entrepreneurial programs. This will be the fourth Microsoft Research Advanced Technology Laboratory built by the company in Brazil (previously opened in Germany, Israel and Egypt). [...]

This article was authored by John C. Tanner, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net. Microsoft says it will shut down its Windows Live Messenger in 2013 in a move to encourage users to migrate to Skype, which is now capable of importing Messenger contacts. The shutdown doesn’t include mainland China, where Messenger will still continue to be available [...]

Have to love that volatility when you're slinging covered calls on blue chippers! The market has now decided that Microsoft's outlook is not fatal, at least for the time being.  We initially bought MSFT at 29.76 on Oct 5th, selling one covered call simultaneously, and another one into the ensuing crash. This reduced our cost on these [...]

Closed out my Microsoft long trade this morning as the market opened higher. Microsoft Corporation   (NASDAQ:MSFT) gaped up at the open and my limit sell order hit. I lowered my profit target the other day not knowing what Sandy would bring to the markets. Yes I could have raised my sell order but, as Confucius once said "To go beyound is as wrong as to fall short." I'll take the money and know what ever happens after my sell. I made more then keeping it in the back for a...

In order to expand its cloud-based storage business, software giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has reached a definitive agreement to acquire StorSimple. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Based in Santa Clara, StorSimple offers Cloud-integrated Storage (CiS) solutions that combine physical data management services, such as basic storage, backup and recovery with cloud integration. [...]

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is scheduled to announce its first quarter fiscal 2013 results on October 18, 2012, and we notice downward movements in analyst estimates. Prior-Quarter Synopsis Microsoft’s fourth quarter non-GAAP earnings of 74 cents exceeded the Zacks Consensus by 11 cents, or 17.5%. Revenue was up 3.7% sequentially and 4.0% from last year to $18.05 billion. All [...]

Microsoft is about to release their Surface Tablet computer, but not everyone is excited about the new gadget, in particular,  Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s CEO, Tim Cook, has some negative thoughts to share. During a recent earnings call, Tim Cook shared his thoughts on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)'s answer to the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)  iPad. He said, "“I haven’t played with a [...]

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is expecting that Windows 8 is the next big thing. They are gearing up to release their next operating system, Windows 8, which will come pre-installed in many mobile phones, tablets, and computers. Unlike previous  editions of Windows, this  has been available for free as a download for over a year. Despite the initial excitement [...]

Email service providers Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Google, and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) have all addressed security flaws in their services, which created leeway for people to spoof messages coming from their systems. The vulnerability was first detected by Zachary Harris, a mathematician. Harris received an email that seemingly appeared to come from a Google head-hunter.  Nevertheless, Harris got wind of [...]

The first Microsoft tablet was sold in Beijing today. According to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)'s chief executive officer in China, Ralph Haupter, "This is the first place in the world where people will be able to get Surface devices in their hands. Having it here in China is addressing the capability of the China market, the fact that [...]

The tech contrarian in me wants to believe that the post-PC era is going to be less apocalyptic for stalwarts like Intel and Microsoft.  Sure, Dell and HP are toast - but they've been dead in the water for some time. Intel, on the other hand, has a server-side business that is doing great.  Even if [...]

Celebrated Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) founder and Chairman Bill Gates has shared his insights on the Windows 8, ahead of the highly anticipated October 26th launch, which will also mark the launch of Skype for Windows 8. In a video interview with Microsoft’s Steve Clayton, the 56 year old billionaire echoes CEO Steve Ballmer’s remarks saying [...]

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is set to release Skype for Windows 8 on October 26.  This new version will be available on the same day Windows 8 and Windows RT become available. It's rumored that Skype will be preinstalled with Windows 8 on the top 12 Windows OEM machines, however it won't come preinstalled on Windows [...]

Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Microsoft Corporation (MSFT). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis: Company Description: Microsoft, the world's largest software company, develops PC software, including the Windows operating system and the Office application suite. Fair Value: In calculating fair value, I consider the NPV MMA Differential Fair Value along with these four calculations of fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed...

Microsoft Corporation’s (MSFT) first quarter earnings of 53 cents missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4 cents, as PC market slowdown and stock clearance before the Windows 8 launch impacted revenue growth. Revenue Revenue excluding deferrals of $16.01 billion was down 11.4% sequentially and 7.9% from last year, missing estimates by 2.5%. All except the Entertainment & [...]

Struggling smartphone manufacturer Research in Motion Limited (RIMM) has signed a licensing deal with the world’s largest software manufacturer Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) that will allow its customers to store and transfer larger files more easily. RIMM will use Microsoft’s Extended File Allocation Table or exFAT, which facilitates clear viewing and expansion of larger files like high [...]

During the Microsoft antitrust case, some institutional investors were keen for Microsoft to lose, and not because they were short its stock. They felt that Microsoft being in both the operating systems business and the applications business had become a negative. They believed that separating the two businesses would not only produce higher multiples over time for each as "purer" plays, but having each new business more narrowly focused would be better for growth in the long term. We have a...

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) has faced many different challenges in the past, but the company’s current situation is not ordinary. In fact, the majority of analysts believe the company is in deep financial trouble. Others suggested the possibility that Microsoft  Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) would soon acquire the Finnish company. The former world leader in mobile phone sales is [...]

We reported earlier this week that Microsoft Internet Explorer users may be at risk to hackers. These reports came, following incidents involving several defense contractors, who found that hackers had been targeting their computers through a loophole in the browser. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has announced that the problem has been resolved through an update, which [...]

Senator Carl Levin, Raised questions earlier today regarding taxes for tech companies. He specifically pointed to low tax rates, and the large foreign cash holdings of tech companies. We wanted to do a brief follow-up on the topic, based on statement sent to us by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) notes: Microsoft has a complex business [...]

The technology industry remains one of the most lucrative for investors, as exhibited in recent hedge fund filings, which we covered last month. The industry also attracts the fiercest of competitions, which has forced some of its notable giants to stare at a close proximity, at the possibility of a landslide fall. Nonetheless, some have done fantastically well [...]

Reuters reports today that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has repaired the security error in Internet Explorer, which allowed hackers to take advantage of some IE users. The attacks were enough to cause the German government and several security experts to ask people to temporarily seek another browser, in order to protect personal information. The security breach was finally [...]

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced an increase in its quarterly dividend, which is now up from $0.20 to $0.23 per share, payable from December of this year. The annualized return is $0.92. The 15 percent increase now brings the annual dividend yield to 3 percent. The expected annualized yield was somewhere in the range of $0.86-0.89, as mentioned in a [...]