International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM)’s Newest Offering Signals the End of DS3500 Array

The existing DS3500 array will soon be passé with International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM)’s Storwize V7000 being introduced in the market. It has SVC SAN virtualization capability, a XIV-style GUI and enterprise-class features.

The DS3500, a low-end array, belongs to the DS8000-DS6000-DS5000-DS4000-DS3000 product family. Although the DS3500 will be available, new products like XIV and Storwize arrays marks the end of the DS3500 line.

The V3700 comes equipped with a system to hold up to 120 disk drives and is a 2U enclosure with dual controllers. Drives can be 5-inch or 3.-5 inch disk drives (2TB, 3TB) or SSDs (200GB, 400GB). Small form factor drives might be 146GB or 300GB 15,000rpm, 300GB, 600GB or 900GB 10,000rpm, or 500GB or 1TB 7,200rpm SAS nearline drives. A large form factor enclosure contains twelve 3.5-inch drives and a small form factor one holds 2 dozen .5-inch drives.

Support for RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10 have been provided. The software supports internal virtualization, thin provisioning, one-way data migration and FlashCopy with up to 64 targets and has a dynamic Storwize V7000-style GUI.

According to IBM, their latest offering will change the face of entry-level configurations. The product has been developed keeping the requirements of SMB’s in mind, using which companies can collate and share information at reasonable rates because V3700 offers the same features that are available in costly systems.

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Housing starts data propels S&P 500 to third day of gains – IBM, ARNA, PFE, MTG, APOL, AONE

The benchmark S&P 500 rose for the third straight day on Wednesday after data released showed that housing starts hit a four-year high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was however under pressure after IBM posted weak results for the third quarter.

The U.S. Commerce Department said that housing starts rose 15 percent in September, the fastest rise since July 2008, and an indication that the nascent recovery in the housing recovery was gradually spreading to the economy at large.

The PHLX Housing Index also rose nearly 3 percent.

International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM)‘s results disappointed the markets after the company reported results that fell short of analyst expectations. The shares in the company fell nearly 5 percent, dragging down the Dow on which IBM has a heavy weightage. IBM closed at $200.63 a share.

The World's largest chip maker also lost about 2.5 percent to close at $21.79, after it guided for a weaker outlook. The S&P technology sector index slid 0.8 percent and was the only loser among the S&P 500's 10 industry sectors on Wednesday.

It’s just the start of the earnings season, but so far it has been much better than expected. Of the fourteen percent of S&P 500 companies that have already reported earnings, 65 percent have beaten analysts' expectations, ahead of the long-term average of 62 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) rose 5.22 points, or 0.04 percent, to 13,557 at the close. The S&P 500(INDEXSP:.INX) gained 5.99 points, or 0.41 percent, to finish at 1,460.91. The NASDAQ Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) advanced 2.95 points, or 0.10 percent, to close at 3,104.12.

Over the past three days, the S&P 500 has gained 2.3 percent - its best three-day advance in more than a month. The benchmark index is now just 0.33 percent off its 2012 closing high.

Pfizer Inc.(NYSE:PFE) continued to hit new highs and rose 0.16% to $25.84 after hitting a new high of $25.93.

MGIC Investment Corp.(NYSE:MTG) shares soared 20.70% after the firm S&P raised Radian & MGIC ratings after criteria revision.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(NASDAQ:ARNA) was among the big gainers in the healthcare sector and added 6.71% to end the day at $9.99. The stock has shown massive rally of 434% so far this year. Moreover, the company announced an addition to its research and development pipeline, a new treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Apollo Group Inc(NASDAQ:APOL) had a rough session as the stock slumped 22% company trimmed its full-year revenue outlook to $3.65 billion to $3.8 billion, less than the $4.07 billion analysts were looking for. Moreover, multiple analysts downgraded the stock following a weak earnings report.

A123 Systems, Inc.(NASDAQ:AONE) tumbled another 11.50% after falling 75% in the previous trading session. The company  said on Tuesday that it is likely to default on its debt obligations and it would soon seek bankruptcy protection. The company revealed this is a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)’s CEO Resignation & International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM)’s Down After Earnings

No change in direction: Citi CEO

Citigroup Inc.(NYSE:C)’s new CEO says that there will be no change in the direction of the bank on Vikram Pandit’s stepping down.

The new CEO, Michael Corbat held a conference call with analysts and reporters in which he praised Pandit for leading the company in the financial crisis in 2008 and the recession that followed. "Today's changes do not reflect any desire to alter the strategic direction of Citi, which we believe to be the right one," he said.

Has Citigroup Found The Bottom and ready To Move Up? Get Special Report Here

Pandit’s departure on Tuesday was a surprise for the Street and led to a lot of speculation on the reasons. However Citi board chairman, Michael O’Neill said the decision to leave was Pandit’s own.

Shares of Citigroup rose another 1.50% after gaining 1.60% in yesterday’s session.

Flat earnings, fall in revenue for IBM in 3Q

International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) declared its results for the third quarter on Tuesday. While revenue fell below expectations thanks to jittery customers and a weak Euro, the net income of the company was steady.

In a conference call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge said that the third quarter which started in July had begun with a bang but the last month of the quarter, September, turned out to be a challenging month.

On declaration of the results, shares of the company fell $9.65 or 4.60 percent to $201.39 in the opening session.

IBM made profits of $3.8 billion in the quarter which works out to $3.30 a share. In the corresponding quarter last year, the company’s net income was the same. But then, the earnings per share were 14 cents lower than this year because of greater outstanding stock.

Revenue for the quarter fell 5 percent to $24.7 billion. This missed analysts’ expectations by $700 million. Although analysts had taken into account the strengthening dollar when arriving at the estimate, they had underestimated the impact on company revenue.

The results included a onetime charge of $160 million because of a UK court’s decision that will result in higher costs for the company when paying pension to some of its retired employees.

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News Recap: International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM), Citigroup Inc.(NYSE:C)

Citigroup Inc.(NYSE:C)’s new CEO says that there will be no change in the direction of the bank on Vikram Pandit’s stepping down.

The new CEO, Michael Corbat held a conference call with analysts and reporters in which he praised Pandit for leading the company in the financial crisis in 2008 and the recession that followed. "Today's changes do not reflect any desire to alter the strategic direction of Citi, which we believe to be the right one," he said.

Has Citigroup Found The Bottom and ready To Move Up? Get Special Report Here

Pandit’s departure on Tuesday was a surprise for the Street and led to a lot of speculation on the reasons. However Citi board chairman, Michael O’Neill said the decision to leave was Pandit’s own.

Shares of Citigroup rose another 1.50% after gaining 1.60% in yesterday’s session.

International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) declared its results for the third quarter on Tuesday. While revenue fell below expectations thanks to jittery customers and a weak Euro, the net income of the company was steady.

In a conference call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge said that the third quarter which started in July had begun with a bang but the last month of the quarter, September, turned out to be a challenging month.

On declaration of the results, shares of the company fell $9.65 or 4.60 percent to $201.39 in the opening session.

IBM made profits of $3.8 billion in the quarter which works out to $3.30 a share. In the corresponding quarter last year, the company’s net income was the same. But then, the earnings per share were 14 cents lower than this year because of greater outstanding stock.

Revenue for the quarter fell 5 percent to $24.7 billion. This missed analysts’ expectations by $700 million. Although analysts had taken into account the strengthening dollar when arriving at the estimate, they had underestimated the impact on company revenue.

The results included a onetime charge of $160 million because of a UK court’s decision that will result in higher costs for the company when paying pension to some of its retired employees.

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Early Movers: Citigroup Inc.(NYSE:C) & International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM)

No change in direction: Citi CEO

Citigroup Inc.(NYSE:C)’s new CEO says that there will be no change in the direction of the bank on Vikram Pandit’s stepping down.

The new CEO, Michael Corbat held a conference call with analysts and reporters in which he praised Pandit for leading the company in the financial crisis in 2008 and the recession that followed. "Today's changes do not reflect any desire to alter the strategic direction of Citi, which we believe to be the right one," he said.

Has Citigroup Found The Bottom and ready To Move Up? Get Special Report Here

Pandit’s departure on Tuesday was a surprise for the Street and led to a lot of speculation on the reasons. However Citi board chairman, Michael O’Neill said the decision to leave was Pandit’s own.

Shares of Citigroup rose another 1.50% after gaining 1.60% in yesterday’s session.

Flat earnings, fall in revenue for IBM in 3Q

International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) declared its results for the third quarter on Tuesday. While revenue fell below expectations thanks to jittery customers and a weak Euro, the net income of the company was steady.

In a conference call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge said that the third quarter which started in July had begun with a bang but the last month of the quarter, September, turned out to be a challenging month.

On declaration of the results, shares of the company fell $9.65 or 4.60 percent to $201.39 in the opening session.

IBM made profits of $3.8 billion in the quarter which works out to $3.30 a share. In the corresponding quarter last year, the company’s net income was the same. But then, the earnings per share were 14 cents lower than this year because of greater outstanding stock.

Revenue for the quarter fell 5 percent to $24.7 billion. This missed analysts’ expectations by $700 million. Although analysts had taken into account the strengthening dollar when arriving at the estimate, they had underestimated the impact on company revenue.

The results included a onetime charge of $160 million because of a UK court’s decision that will result in higher costs for the company when paying pension to some of its retired employees.

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International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) set to continue its record of robust earnings

Technology company International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) is expected to continue its winning streak of reporting healthy earnings for nearly a decade.

 Analysts, on average, are expecting earnings of $3.61 per share on revenue of $25.4 billion.

The earnings estimate excludes the costs of past acquisitions and certain other items unrelated to IBM's on going business.

IBM earned $3.28 per share last quarter, after subtracting certain items, on revenue of $26.2 billion.

The world's largest technology services company will be announcing its results on Tuesday after market closes. The company has been profitably pursuing its strategy of selling software and range of technology services to businesses and government agencies.

The company follows a sound business strategy of locking its customers into contracts which guarantees it regular payments so that it has committed cash flows even during tough economic conditions.

Technology companies have been hit by slowing growth in Europe and China where technology spends have been declining.

Now that IBM is no longer in the business of selling personal computers, the sales slump in that segment is not having any impact on the company.

Business software and technology services are high margin business and this is working in the company’s favour.

These are all the factors due to which analysts are confident that IBM's earnings for the three months ending September will at least match the projections that influence investors' decisions on whether to buy or sell a stock.

If IBM hits the target set by analysts, it will be the 39th consecutive quarter in which IBM's earnings have been higher than the same time in the previous year.

Shares of IBM are up 0.42% to $209.80 in early trading.

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International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Expands Puresystems Line For Handling Data Responsibilities

International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) has expanded its PureSystems line of pre-integrated systems to incorporate new models to manage business analysis and online transaction processing.

The PureData systems have been brought together to excel at three standard common tasks within enterprise computing – near real-time data analysis, online transactional processing and business intelligence.

Each of the aforementioned systems is designed to serve the purpose of a particular application. They are integrated by design. It is not a mere bundle of technology incorporated together, as per IBM vice president of big data product management, Phil Francisco. The systems have been designed as such they can be promptly installed and maintained with ease.

IBM is not the only one to offer pre-integrated systems for heavy workloads. It was last week when Oracle introduced the most recent version of its Exadata system that is designed for intensive workloads.

IBM’s director of PureSystems marketing, Pete McCaffrey said that the firm has a far different approach than Oracle. Oracle has adopted a single system to fit the needs of all systems whereas IBM has optimized the specific type of data workload. This is why IBM is coming out with different models aligned to different types of workloads.

IBM has designed one of its systems, the one meant for transactions, for credit card processing and other fast-paced transactional works in financial services and retail operations. Such systems are meant to manage heavy workloads. Francisco said that this system has been made to deliver high performance with the help of shared data bunched architecture.

Another system for analytics is capable of processing huge amounts of data that are recorded in the order of billions of data. This system involves the Netezza data warehousing technology of the firm and also a library of diagnostic functions.  

Each of these systems can be operational in a few hours, as per Francisco. 

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International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Gears Up For Project Sparta To Simplify Big Data

Computing giant, International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) seems to be close to declaring a new product that is aimed at simplifying how firms manage so-called ‘big data’ issues stemming from handling and analyzing the massive amounts of data generated through their daily operations.

People, who are familiar with the firm’s plans, have told AllThingsD that the product is known internally as project Sparta. It is believed to be the most recent result of a 4-year, $2 billion research and development attempt that has yielded two offerings. Information about the new product has been tough to confirm. 

However, IBM has scheduled a declaration for 9^th October at a company event in Boston.

Initially announced in April, the PureSystems line is supposed to bring together all the essential pieces that are required for handling complex computing issues requiring a combination of products from several vendors.

The first two products in the line were PureFlex and PureApplications. The former is a combination of computing, systems managements, data storage and networking components in a single incorporated product that is pre-configured for a customer and is meant for easy deployment in a data centre. PureApplications is a machine designed for web-based transactions and database. The firm says that PureSystems line can save time that is required to set up a data centre.

The PureSystems line can be compared to a new line of products from Oracle, a rival of IBM. Oracle has acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010. Since then is has started selling ‘engineered systems’ that are sold under names like Exalogic, Exalytics and Exadata. The Exa line incorporates a combination of hardware that is aimed at specific applications. Oracle is believed to make a number of announcements related to the Exa line at its yearly Oracle Open World Conference to be held in San Francisco.

IBM has refused to comment on this matter, even though it is clear that the product will have the word ‘pure’ included in its name. 

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International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) Fights Back Against Amazon.com (AMZN) and Salesforce (CRM)

For the first time ever, Amazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) and salesforce.com, inc.(NYSE:CRM) have surpassed the popularity of tech giant International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) and have also started penetrating prestigious accounts that have been under IBM for years.

But IBM is not cowering. It has come up with its own tactics by targeting mid-sized enterprises comprising less than 1000 employees, which is the territory of Salesforce and Amazon. They will be offering Big Blue clouds that have not been heard of and were previously deemed un-affordable due to IBM’s traditional carriage trade pricing. Prices will be slashed and IBM hopes that its techno-smarts and goodwill will make up the sum.

IBM is expecting small but steady sales that will turn out to be major money makers in the long run. Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce has stated that IBM is no longer the cutting-edge brand that it once was due to losing their sheen. They don’t rule the technology domain anymore.

The company is partnering with Infor, Highland Solutions and 1,400 MSPs to penetrate his flanks with IBM PureSystem technology and revamped OpenStack-beholden SmartCloud software in order to build private, public, and hybrid cloud. An analytics feature will also be present.

They will be using their own data centers and IBM’s money (in the form of zero percent loans). Shanghai, Tokyo, New York and Germany houses several centers of excellence where MSPs receive training. IBM has great plans for the program and has promised to donate a substantial sum from their marketing budget to make it better.

According to Gartner, the sales figures of cloud computing services will shoot to $58 billion this year, a jump of almost $8 billion as compared to last year. IBM hopes in generating lucrative revenue via analytics, smart cities, upcoming markets, and cloud computing.

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World stocks start new quarter on a positive note – GE, IBM, BIDU, TRV, NFLX, Sprint Nextel

An expansion in U.S. manufacturing in September for the first time since May helped world stocks start the new quarter on a strong note on Monday.

Though stocks came off their mid-day highs where they had risen by more than a percent, major indices ended on a positive note, with the exception of the Nasdaq.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average(INDEXDJX:.DJI) rose 77.98 points, or 0.58 percent, to 13,515.11 at the close. The S&P 500(INDEXSP:.INX ) advanced 3.82 points, or 0.27 percent, at 1,444.49. NASDAQ Composite(INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) dipped 2.70 points, or 0.09 percent, to close at 3,113.53.

The unexpected uptick in U.S. Manufacturing data was helped by new orders and a pick-up in employment, according to a report by the Institute for Supply Management.

Analysts however said that the market had rallied for a long time and it was due for a correction. The earnings season ahead was expected to induce volatility in the markets.

Among stocks weighing on the Nasdaq, Apple lost 1.2 percent to $659.39, dragging the tech-heavy index lower.

Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR)(NASDAQ:BIDU) shares fell 3.5 percent to $112.77 after Jefferies cut the stock to "hold" from "buy" and lowered the price target to $125 from $135.

A number of blue-chip stocks hit 52-week highs, helping the Dow outperform the broader market.

Shares of General Electric Company(NYSE:GE) rose 0.4 percent to $22.81, after rising as high as $22.99 earlier. International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) also hit a new 52-week high at $211.75 and The Travelers Companies, Inc.(NYSE:TRV) rose as high as $69.48 earlier in the session. IBM shares closed up 1.5 percent at $210.47. The Travelers shares gained 1.2 percent to $69.07.

While, Sprint Nextel Corporation(NYSE:S) shares hammered down by over 6% to $5.18, selling off after the recent strength.

Netflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX) jumped 3% after the company has made an additionto its offerings – The “Just for Kids” section on its web interface, set-top boxes, and gaming consoles. 

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International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM) to extend help to MSPs for growth and development

International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) has started taking concrete steps to ensure that clients are able to use the new cloud computing technologies. This is helpful to the company as well, because this will lead to the broadening of IBM’s Cloud ecosystem and this will also lead to the organizations being able to develop better services and solutions through the quality incentives that IBM has to offer.

The Local technology providers are better known as MSPs, or Managed Service Providers, who develop Could Computing for their clients so that they can avail the facilities in a much more economic, simplistic, and secure way.  The MSPs provide the clients with a defined set of technology-based solutions, and the clients have the option of paying for these solutions and services through a pay-as-you-go system.  The MSPs are very helpful for people who want to use cloud computing but who lack the required resources or time. These are mostly small organizations, such as healthcare units, which have become increasingly interested in the benefits of Cloud Computing.

In order to help the MSPs along, IBM has put up Global Centers of Excellence in Tokyo, New York City, Germany, Ehningen and Shanghai, in order to help the MSPs in an organized way. Through these centers, the MSPs can gain access to the technically superior ideas and skills provided by the larger company. They will be able to make use of IBM’s storage, cloud computing through IBM SmartCloud, PureSystems, security as well as collaboration. In order to deal with joint client engagements, the MSPs can gain access to the 40 Innovation Centers which have been put up by IBM in 33 countries.

Further, IBM will also make sure that the MSPs get the best of marketing and sales technologies. The MSPs will also be getting financial backing to resolve their previous financial issues which may have been weighing them down. The marketing will help them with better branding, and will help increase their popularity, thereby broadening their customer base, and this will lead to IBM getting more clients under their wing, indirectly. 

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