The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Added some IBM today on the fallout from ORCL’s weak quarterly results:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323893504578557850044347578.html

Oracle Corp.'s revenue growth stalled for the second straight quarter, sending the tech giant's shares tumbling on concerns about demand for its business software and competition from online offerings.

…Oracle's third-quarter results, released in March, also showed no revenue growth, likewise triggering a sharp drop in its shares. At the time, the company blamed an expansion of its sales force, saying new personnel would do better at closing sales in the fourth quarter, traditionally the company's strongest in volume terms.

ORCL and IBM compete for some of the same business, but the overlap is relatively small. I’m betting that IBM, which had a rare bad quarter in 1Q13 (#msg-87045399), will return to form in 2Q13 and subsequent periods.