The Economist: Some Like it Cold

“Technology vendors, investors and analysts have been poring
over data with a magnifying glass lately to find signs of a
recovery. But the data are inconclusive. One index of expected tech
spending by American firms pointed up in June, less up in July, and
even less up in August. Tech firms are also sending mixed signals.
Dell and HP, two hardware makers, made optimistic noises in August,
but Oracle, the world’s second-largest software firm, said in
September that its sales of new software were down by 7% in the
latest quarter. On September 29th, shares in Sun Microsystems,
another hardware maker, plunged when it said that its losses for
the past three months would be more than expected.

“The big picture does suggest that American companies are now
planning to spend a bit more again…”

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