Cisco kid is a friend of mine

After the financial markets closed on Wednesday Cisco reported its fiscal fourth quarter results. While revenues and profits were down, the results were better than expected. What’s more, their CEO, John Chambers said there were signs in the quarter that the economy had reached a tipping point. Trading in Cisco after hours was brisk and up. Because Cisco is a tech bellwether I would expect an increase in the financial markets and especially in technology shares tomorrow.

While the earnings season is winding down, there are still results coming out daily that give updated views as to the quality and direction of the economy. Thus far, its obvious that the economy is still not operating at full steam. But its equally obvious that things are starting to stabilize. These were the very signs we were looking for as we entered this earnings season. Next up on the “wait and see” list is actual growth in profits for bellwether industries and then actual growth in GDP. Positive results there should portend improvement in lagging industries, like manufacturing, and in lagging economic indicators, like unemployment.

I hope all of you are well!

Jason