Proving that too much of a bad thing is never enough on Wall Street, Microsoft has taken a leap in after-hours trading Thursday on word that revenues and profits fell in the last quarter. It would appear that the same dolts who overestimated Amazon’s earnings underestimated Microsoft’s. In the Bizarro stock-market world, as we know, it is not important whether companies make money or not, but whether they beat analysts’ estimates. This attitude has long prevailed in the sports-betting world, where it’s not win, lose or draw that matters, but whether a team covers the point spread. In Microsoft’s case, it helped that the company was able to move a hundred million saps from Windows 7 to Windows 10, a change that is about as useful and necessary as upgrading the knobs on one’s car radio. From a technical standpoint, the rally looks like it will sputter out shortly at p2=56.94, or D=59.55 if any higher. A tightly stopped short from either pivot is suggested. _______ UPDATE (February 3, 2:34 a.m,): The stock is falling without having gotten any higher than 55.09. A print below 50.30 now would be especially bearish.
