(Reuters) - Big U.S. Internet computing companies should outshine their plainer PC cousins when earnings season kicks off next week, as corporations and fast-growing Web players dramatically accelerate their pace of hardware spending.Corporations are increasingly turning to new technology to make ...

Cirrus Logic shares fall after Stifel Nicolaus analyst downgrades to 'hold' from 'buy'Cirrus Logic Inc. shares fell Thursday after a Stifel Nicolaus analyst downgraded the chip maker's stock to "hold" from "buy."THE SPARK: In a client note Thursday, Stifel ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are unlikely to break above a key technical level next week unless monthly jobs data and consumer company results paint a more promising picture of the recovery.The Standard & Poor's 500 index has been stuck ...

Insurer UnitedHealth announces start of quarterly dividend of 12.5 cents per shareManaged care company UnitedHealth Group says it will start offering a quarterly dividend of 12.5 cents per share, a big increase from its typical dividend of 3 cents per ...

Stifel Nicolaus to accelerate buyback of auction-rate securities in settlement with statesFinancial services firm Stifel Nicolaus & Co. will complete the buyback of auction-rate securities from individual investors six months early under a settlement reached Monday with Missouri and other states.The regional ...

ICF International prices public offering of 3.1 million shares at $24.56 per shareICF International Inc., a policy, management and technology consulting company, said Friday it has priced a public offering of 3.1 million shares at a price of $24 ...

LeapFrog shares jump after Stifel Nicolaus upgrade; analyst sees higher profits next yearShares of LeapFrog Enterprises Inc., which makes educational toys and software, rose Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised its rating on the stock, predicting higher profits next year.In a note ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of consulting company Watson Wyatt Worldwide < tumbled 8 percent on Monday as analysts cited concerns about its $3.5 billion merger with Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby.The deal, announced late Sunday, will create the biggest human resources consultancy ...

Investors hope Royal Caribbean's 1st-qtr results show stable bookings, higher cruise pricesCruise operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. reports earnings for its first quarter on Thursday. Royal Caribbean's first quarter encompassed the cruise industry's all-important "wave season," the period from ...

Find out what stocks he thinks will benefit, thoughWhere's the price of oil and gas going? One down the cap structure that I have been highlighting a lot is Petrohawk Energy Corp. (NYSE: Itll probably end up in the hands of ...