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Hewlett Packard (HPQ), the Silicon Valley pioneer, reported a 14% jump in profit Monday night, thanks to cost-cutting measures that more than offset an 8% reduction in revenue. The results weren't a surprise: HP provided guidance earlier this month, when it announced plans to acquire 3Com, the networking giant.

"We believe that HP will outperform the market," HP CEO Mark Hurd said in an upbeat appearance on CNBC. "Spending will continue to be prudent in 2010, but it will be better than 2009."

Despite the profit growth, investors weren't that impressed. HP shares were trading down over half a percent late Monday in after-hours trading.

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Existing home sales jump 10.1% in October

By Joseph Lazzaro | Nov 23rd 2009, 12:00PM EST Filed Under: Economy

The nearly year-long positive trend in the U.S. housing sector is continuing. Existing home sales surged 10.1% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million units, the National Association of Realtors announced Monday. That's the highest level for existing home sales in more than two years.

The consensus of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had been for October existing home sales to come in at a 5.7 million unit annualized rate. The annualized existing sales number for September was revised to a 5.54 million units, and for August to 5.1 million units. Existing home sales are also up 23.5% in the past 12 months.

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How psychology is driving the economic rebound

By Jonathan Berr | Nov 23rd 2009, 12:30PM EST Filed Under: People, Investing, Media

Earlier this year, Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert interviewed Jim Cramer about market psychology against a video background of puppies and kittens. Did it help the market rebound from its March lows? Who knows? But investors are sure feeling better about themselves.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's Volatility Index (VIX), the so-called "Fear Index," has fallen this year as stock prices have rallied. It dropped recently to 22.19, down from a record high of 80.86 in November 2008, though it remains above its 20.28 average over its 19-year history, according to Bloomberg News. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has jumped 27 percent over the past six months.

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Wall Street's no-longer-so-secret society: High speed trading gets scrutiny, rivals

By Matthew Scott | Nov 23rd 2009, 3:30PM EST Filed Under: Investing

An arms race has begun in the secretive world of high frequency trading, the practice of making a high number of trades netting small gains that can add up to big profits at the end of the day. Fueling the competition is the entry of more players into the field as well as technological advances that continue to enhance the speed and quality of trades. A sense of urgency comes from the fact that the industry is bracing for new regulation.

Becoming increasingly popular in the last couple of years, high frequency trading uses technology and computer algorithms to take advantage of sub-millisecond arbitrage -- or essentially the spread between the buy and the sell price of a stock or commodity that can appear in fractions of a second. But the trading technique has come under scrutiny for several reasons. Some fear that stocks could be manipulated by the practice. There's also the concern that high speed trading gives an unfair advantage to high-rollers and major institutional clients who can afford the expensive, high-tech setups needed to participate.

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Facebook spying costs Canadian woman her health benefits

By Bruce Watson | Nov 23rd 2009, 5:30PM EST Filed Under: Technology, Economy, People, Healthcare, Media, Facebook

On the surface, the twisted tale of Nathalie Blanchard seems to be yet another cautionary tale about how Facebook isn't really private, how social media can get you fired, and how the internet is a cruel mistress. On a deeper level, Blanchard's story indicates the growing popularity -- and danger -- of Facebook spies.

Blanchard, a Quebec employee of IBM, has been on longterm sick leave since Valentine's Day 2008, when she was diagnosed with major depression. For the ensuing year and a half, she has lived off monthly payments from her health insurance company, Manulife.

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Campbell Soup's stock looks m'm, m'm good

By Dan Burrows | Nov 23rd 2009, 4:45PM EST Filed Under: Investing, Earnings, Campbell Soup Company, Stock Picks

When you're the world's biggest soup maker, it's important to have good stock.

Campbell Soup (CPB) reported Monday that its fiscal-first quarter earnings rose 17%, beating Wall Street's view by a hearty 6 cents a share. True, revenue dipped slightly, but that was more due to difficult year-over-year comparisons and the fact that Campbell rolled out its major soup-season marketing campaign a couple of months early this year.

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War for grounds: Coffee firms Peet's and Green Mountain sweeten Diedrich bids

By Tim Catts | Nov 23rd 2009, 4:00PM EST Filed Under: Company News

coffee-competitors-sweeten-bids-for-roaster-diedrich

There's a bidding war brewing over Diedrich Coffee (DDRX), the maker of single-serving cups of joe for home or office percolation.

Diedrich agreed on Nov. 2 to sell itself to Peet's Coffee and Tea (PEET), the java chain that is said to have inspired Starbucks (SBUX). But now Peet's has competition from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), owner of Keurig, the maker of the machine that brews Diedrich's cups.

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People@Work: Social media gives job seekers a leg up in finding work

By David Schepp | Nov 23rd 2009, 2:00PM EST Filed Under: Economy, People

Welcome to People@Work, DailyFinance's new weekly workplace column written by career columnist David Schepp. In the weeks and months to come, we'll explore a wide range of topics, including workplace etiquette, worker productivity and strategies to get your career heading in the right direction. We'll also look to get your feedback and invite you to ask your career questions, which we'll pose to experts. So stayed tuned.

In this inaugural column, we take a look at social media and how it's becoming a powerful tool for finding work in an increasingly crowded job market.

No one needs to tell anyone who has lost a job recently that finding a new one in this economy is difficult. The good news is job seekers today have many more tools at their disposal than they did even five years ago. Beyond online job boards and resume submission, social media Web sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are playing an increasingly important role in helping unemployed workers and job-changers find someone they can connect with at virtually any company or organization.

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Upset about deceptive 'free' credit reports? FTC wants to hear from you

By Lita Epstein | Nov 23rd 2009, 11:00AM EST Filed Under: Economy, People

A lot of people like the catchy jingle on the television ads for FreeCreditReport.com, but the monthly fee that accompanies the service offered on the site is less appealing. It seems that some people who sign up for a free credit report at the website don't realize they also signed up for Experian's Triple Advantage credit monitoring service, which costs $14.95 a month, until they get their next credit card bill.

The Federal Trade Commission wants to prevent the deceptive marketing of "free credit reports." In October, it announced new guidelines known as the Free Annual File Disclosures Rule, and now the FTC has extended the public comment period on the new rule, now called the Free Credit Report Rule, to December 7. The deadline was extended in response to a request by the Illinois Attorney's General's Consumer Protection Division because it needs more time to "compile data and file comprehensive comments." If you would like to comment on the proposed rule, you can do so at the FTC website.

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Wikipedia volunteers dropping like flies

By Jonathan Berr | Nov 23rd 2009, 10:30AM EST Filed Under: Technology, Media

Volunteers who maintain Wikipedia are quitting in droves, burnt out from the stress of maintaining the free online encyclopedia.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the site has seen a net loss of 49,000 editors during the first three months of the year, 10 times the net loss of 4,900 during the same period a year earlier. Wikipedia officials, however, told the paper that they still have enough people to get the work done.

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Jamie Dimon for Treasury chief? Or will Geithner be Obama's Rumsfeld?

By Peter Cohan | Nov 23rd 2009, 9:50AM EST Filed Under: Economy, JP Morgan Chase, American International Group, INC.

During the reign of America's 43rd president, calls came in to replace Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who took the blame for the administration's failure to deliver a quick military victory in Iraq. But George W. Bush refused to give in to those who wanted Rumsfeld's head until after the 2006 midterm election. Now, as another midterm election approaches, I wonder whether President Obama is taking the same attitude toward Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have a very definite opinion about this issue. For example, when Geithner first testified in front of Congress about his plan for fixing the financial system, I thought he could have done better. And I've been disappointed with the administration's failure to sufficiently investigate the causes of the financial collapse and fix what went wrong. I attribute that to Wall Street's having effectively purchased the Treasury Secretary's position.

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