A drop in the number of newly laid-off workers and upbeat remarks from bellwether Cisco Systems injected confidence about an economic recovery ahead of this morning’s highly expected October jobs report, propelling the Dow average to its first close above 10,000 in two weeks. 

Cisco Systems’ (NASDAQ:CSCO) CEO John Chambers said he now sees a global economic recovery, fueling a rebound in the company’s sales this quarter.  The Dow average jumped 203 points, or 2%, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ, riding high on Cisco’s forecast, bolted up 50 points or about 2.4%. 

All ten S&P 500 industry groups ended in the green, with banking shares advancing 2.6% as analyst Dick Bove of Rochdale Securities noted the group will double by the end of 2010.  Technology shares advanced 2.2%.  Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) jumped 5.4% to $43.85 and Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP) gained 3.9% to $25.37 after it was raised to “buy"

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• Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) reported better-than-expected first quarter adjusted earnings of 36 cents a share, versus 37 cents a year ago, beating Zacks estimates of 26 cents a share.  Revenues of $9 billion, though off last year's $10.3 billion, exceeded Zacks projections of $8.75 billion. Current quarter revenue guidance was lifted to 1%-4% growth from a year ago to $9.9 billion-$10.2 billion.  CEO John Chambers said the numbers "continued to reflect strong sequential growth trends," as he noted an improving economic outlook

• Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) reported a surprise quarterly profit and halved its annual loss estimate as both its revenue and cost-cutting expectations beat estimates after vehicle demand grew in the US and Asia. The company said it now sees a $2.2 billion loss for its fiscal year ending March

• Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) reported same-store-sales rose 5% in October, ahead of estimates of a 4.7% gain, as a weak dollar

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Cisco Systems (CSCO) earned 27 cents per share during its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8%. The results were below the previous year’s 35 cents, however.

Net sales of $8.5 billion slipped by 18% on a year-over-year basis. CEO John Chambers observed that the fourth quarter saw both the first positive sequential product order growth. Furthermore, he also stated that it was the first quarter in the entire fiscal year that was anywhere close to having normal sequential order seasonality.

"For me personally, this was the most important takeaway in the quarter," said Chambers. "In other words, while it is too early to say that this is a definite trend, and therefore the much anticipated recovery, the sequential order numbers were very solid and more along the line of our normal seasonal quarterly results for the first time in the last four quarters."

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Through the 90’s, Cisco Systems [CSCO: 18.91, -0.12 (-0.63%)] was known as one of the “4 Horsemen of IT” and was even the largest company by market cap ($500 B) at the peak of the tech bubble in early 2000.   The web is the driver of all information worldwide over the past two decades, thus all recent tech trends revolve around the internet: mobilization, cloud computing, virtualization, social networking and much more.  Consequently enough, Cisco is the dominant provider of the networking gear that runs the internet.  More specifially, Cisco’s bread and butter has been the ethernet switches and overall routers markets with approximately 70% and 50% of the market share, respectively.  To sustain revenue growth, companies like CSCO must adapt to tech trends and enter new markets outside of its core business.

Breaking Ties

On March 16th, CSCO unveiled its two-year secret project: the

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I titled my blog post about today's employment data Eye of the Storm Has Passed. For someone who has been bearish, this might come across as surprisingly bullish, but it's just not that simple.

The economy is clearly showing a relative improvement. Take a look at the data we've seen over the past week or so. The ISM manufacturing index is at its highest level since last October. April's job loss estimate was the lowest in 7 months. Cisco System's (CSCO) CEO, John Chambers, said customers are "seeing some stabilization". MGM Mirage's (MGM) CEO, Jim Murren, observed a "sequential increases in occupancy levels" at his properties.

However, the economy is still going downhill. Manufacturing continues to contract and the unemployment rate is at its highest level since 1983. It's just that the pace of economic deterioration is slowing. A positive sign, but still a long way from

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Cash Rich in a Cruddy Economy: The Perfect Storm for Technology Takeovers

The Takeover Trader Email – #262
By Louis Basenese

As the market plumb’s new depths, we have two choices. Either pack it in. Or keep hunting for opportunities. As you probably guessed, I’m opting for the latter. And for good reason…

Prices for most stocks – particularly small technology firms – are down significantly, below cash in many instances. Yet the titans of the industry – Oracle, Cisco, and Microsoft – are sitting cash heavy with $29.5 billion, $20.7 billion and $10.6 billion, respectively.

Like a proverbial kid in a candy store with a five-dollar bill, don’t expect it to last very long…

In the past year, Oracle made more than a few impulse buys, scooping up 10 smaller firms for a combined $750 million. And CEO Larry Ellison is an unashamed takeover addict, not interested

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