Big Blue: Bargain or backlash?

By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney
2009-3-31 12:52:24

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's the last day of a first quarter that most investors would like to forget. Stocks may have bounced back a bit in March, but the Dow and S&P 500 are still down more than 10%.

In fact, only two stocks in the Dow are actually up year-to-date: IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Intel (INTC, Fortune 500).

IBM -- or Big Blue -- has been a steady performer, gaining 12% this year and defying the economic downturn with a diverse set of tech businesses that include software, services and hardware.

IBM could become even stronger if it pulls off the widely rumored acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA, Fortune 500), the high-end server maker that is also the creator of Java software.

But is IBM, which according to several reports may pay as much as $6.5 billion for Sun, now becoming a Big Blue risk? After all, a deal for Sun at the speculated price would be IBM's largest acquisition in its history.

	Investment Basic Investment Overview Investment Approache Fundamentals Data Investment Stories www.fxj108.com	Big Blue: Bargain or backlash? By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney 2009-3-31 12:52:24 NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's the last day of a first quarter that most investors would like to forget. Stocks may have bounced back a bit in March, but the Dow and S&P 500 are still down more than 10%. In fact, only two stocks in the Dow are actually up year-to-date: IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Intel (INTC, Fortune 500). IBM -- or Big Blue -- has been a steady performer, gaining 12% this year and defying the economic downturn with a diverse set of tech businesses that include software, services and hardware. IBM could become even stronger if it pulls off the widely rumored acquisition of Sun Microsystems (JAVA, Fortune 500), the high-end server maker that is also the creator of Java software. But is IBM, which according to several reports may pay as much as $6.5 billion for Sun, now becoming a Big Blue risk? After all, a deal for Sun at the speculated price would be IBM's largest acquisition in its history.