Diamonds and Dogs

5/18/16

SAAS is playing NICE. Cloud software and networking company,  inContact (SAAS) jumped over 50% today after agreeing to be acquired by Nice Systems (NICE) for $14 in cash per share or $940 million. Nice Systems' stock jumped as well, up 4% on the news so it looks like Wall Street likes this cloud computing merger. So many good things are happening in the clouds.

Today's dog missed the dart board completely. The 6^th largest merchandise store company, Target (TGT) saw their shares drop over 7% on a cautious outlook. The company released their first quarter earnings report which beat EPS expectations and grew 16.5% year-over-year, but on the negative side their total sales declined by 5.4% during the quarter from the prior period and missed analyst expectations. The company expects price discounting to intensify as retailers try to shed excess inventory after a slow season. Target also said apparel sales rose during the quarter and were stronger than other retailers', but unseasonable weather hurt demand. That darn weather.