MSFT - Microsoft Corporation
137.50 +1.37 (1.01%)
Pre-Market: 5:52AM EDT
| Previous Close | 133.68 |
| Open | 134.88 |
| Bid | 137.22 x 1100 |
| Ask | 137.42 x 3200 |
| Day's Range | 134.72 - 136.45 |
| 52 Week Range | 93.96 - 141.68 |
| Volume | 25,026,151 |
| Avg. Volume | 24,384,423 |
| Market Cap | 1.039T |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 0.97 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 26.90 |
| EPS (TTM) | 5.06 |
| Earnings Date | Oct 22, 2019 - Oct 28, 2019 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 1.84 (1.38%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2019-08-14 |
| 1y Target Est | 154.41 |
- Reuters
Microsoft, Nvidia team up for more realistic visuals on Minecraft game
Real-time ray tracing, or the ability for the chip to simulate how light rays will bounce around in a visual scene, helps video games and other computer graphics more closely resemble shadows and reflections in the real world. Last week, Nvidia posted quarterly results ahead of Wall Street targets and said its profitability was getting a boost from new high-end graphics chips for video gamers. "I think we've put all of the pieces in place to bring ray tracing into the future of games.
- Bloomberg
Masa’s Visionary Sequel Has a Desperate Look
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- It looks like SoftBank Group Corp.’s Masayoshi Son may be struggling to start his next epic journey.A month after announcing an eclectic mix of investors for its Vision Fund 2, SoftBank is leaning on its own employees for cash, planning to lend them as much as much as $20 billion to buy stakes in the venture-capital vehicle, the Wall Street Journal reported at the weekend. The report adds to signs of possible funding gaps in the $108 billion cash pile Son is targeting. SoftBank itself is already putting in $38 billion.Add the potential contribution from employees, and we’re looking at 54% of the money coming from directly inside the SoftBank family. Son may account for $15 billion of that $20 billion target, the Journal reported. SoftBank is looking to charge staff interest of around 5% and in most cases will require little money down, the newspaper said. That hints at desperation.Encouraging, or even enabling, workers to own stock in their employer isn’t so unusual. Companies do that often, and it’s common practice within the hedge fund industry. There’s an argument to be made for allowing employees to have skin in the game, which then aligns corporate and employee incentives.Yet this doesn’t feel like a simple case of share and share alike. When SoftBank announced the size of Vision Fund 2 on July 27 and listed some of its participants, the lack of an external cornerstone investor stood out. That’s in stark contrast to news of the first Vision Fund back in October 2016. While both press releases spoke of memorandums of understanding, rather than signed pledges, the first incarnation had a clear lead investor – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – and a specific figure: $45 billion.The 2016 statement even had a quote from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who’s the chairman of PIF. (This connection now casts a dark shadow over the Vision Fund given Saudi links to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.) The original Vision Fund later grabbed another $15 billion from Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co.So far, however, there’s no big outside name behind the second fund. With the news of loans to employees, it looks like SoftBank itself will take on the cornerstone role. No corporate is likely to pledge more and the only sovereign the July announcement mentioned was Kazakhstan. Beyond that one nation, the investors appear to fall into two categories – industry buddies such as Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and long-time friend Foxconn Technology Group – and a collection of Japanese banks. It’s telling that not one of these was quoted or had a dollar amount put against their name. Having two big outside backers and a slew of unicorns to pick from made raising the first fund relatively easy, as I noted previously. The lack of those rich uncles and the slowing pace of unicorn births mean Fund 2 doesn't look quite as compelling.In the end, SoftBank will probably scrape together the money it needs by casting a wider net and calling in favors. The company will use plenty of FOMO (fear of missing out) to try to convince fence-sitters to pull out the checkbook. But when it does get there, I suspect few investors will big as enthused about Son’s latest big adventure as they were for the first. To contact the author of this story: Tim Culpan at tculpan1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Matthew Brooker at mbrooker1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Tim Culpan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. He previously covered technology for Bloomberg News.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Investor's Business Daily
Dow Jones Futures: Trump's China Trade News Aids Stock Market Rally; Analyzing Apple, These Top Stocks
Stock futures rose amid President Trump's China trade comments. The choppy stock market rally is hard to handle, with Microsoft and other breakouts struggling. Apple and Zscaler lack bases.
- Investopedia
What Do AA+ and AAA Credit Ratings Mean?
Moody's just downgraded China's credit rating. So, what does it matter if you hold a AAA or AA+ rating?
- American City Business Journals
Need to know: The plane paparazzi, Facebook's Renton plans and Zillow's success
The Business Journal Untucked catches you up on Seattle-area business news from the past week, including an in-depth look at plane spotters, the rapid growth of Zillow Offers and Facebook's interest in Renton.
- Zacks
Why Is Microsoft (MSFT) Down 0.2% Since Last Earnings Report?
Microsoft (MSFT) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.
- Morningstar
How to Create a Master Directory
To help light a fire under you to complete a master directory, we've created a template. Note that this template is designed for users with access to Adobe Acrobat, which enables you to password-protect your document. If you are opening this template with Adobe Reader (rather than Acrobat), you'll need to print the document and write your answers in the fields provided.
- American City Business Journals
Patti Payne's Cool Pads: Former Microsoft exec puts San Juan compound on the market (Photos)
The 18-acre estate — which includes an art gallery, a 12-car garage, and two guest cottages — is listed at $3.85 million.
- GuruFocus.com
Julian Robertson Buys 3 Stocks in 2nd Quarter
New positions include David Tepper’s former top holding Micron Technology Continue reading...
- American City Business Journals
Tom Gibbons goes from video games to jet wings as head of Boeing supplier
After leaving Microsoft, Tom Gibbons started a second career as president of Aviation partners and CEO of its new data driven unit ApiJet.
- Investopedia
How Does Fortnite Make Money: Online Gaming, eSports
Fortnite is the most popular battle-royale game world wide, and generates huge revenues even though it is offered for free by developer, Epic Games.
- Zacks
Nvidia Impresses Investors With A Bright Future Ahead
As both Nvidia and AMD compete to create the next best AI and cloud computing GPUs, the tech is only going to proliferate in performance and both companies stand to gain.
- InvestorPlace
Amazon Stock Looks Poised to Be Hit by Multiple Compression
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock has continued to fall along with the market. For the most part, the decline is not the fault of the company. An intensified U.S.-China trade war and the yield curve inversion have made investors uneasy, weighing on AMZN stock and most other equities.Source: Shutterstock However, problems unique to AMZN have also hurt the stock. Moreover, the company does not pay a dividend, and its valuation exceeds that of other mega-tech companies. Given these factors, the price-earnings (PE) ratio of Amazon stock appears set to fall further. Beware of Falling ValuationsThe yield-curve inversion has an effect on AMZN and other hot tech stocks that receives little attention. Specifically, the inversion facilitates multiple compression.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsAmazon stock has traded at an elevated PE ratio, often reaching PE ratios of 100 or higher. Investors can attribute much of its recent swoon to the law of large numbers. However, in recessionary environments, even the hottest of companies struggle to hold onto their premium valuations. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On The forward PE of AMZN stock has now fallen to about 53. Even after the company's disappointing earnings report issued in July, analysts still, on average, expect profit growth of 16.6% this year and 41.4% next year. Typically, given the high profit-growth estimates, the elevated PE would not concern me. However, I see disturbing signs coming from the company itself.Specifically, analysts' profit estimates for AMZN continue to fall. Analysts, on average, had previously expected earnings for the fiscal year to come in at $27.46 per share. Due to AMZN's lowered guidance, they now forecast $23.49 per share. Moreover, the company's cloud unit, which accounts for the majority of its profits, has been hurt by stronger competition from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG). The cloud unit generated $8.38 billion of revenue last quarter, versus analysts' average outlook of $8.48 billion .That should worry investors because they have treated and valued AMZN more like a cloud company than an e-commerce firm. Other Challenges Facing Amazon StockThe antitrust investigation that's likely to include AMZN as well as Alphabet, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) will also weigh on Amazon stock.But I question whether the probe will hurt AMZN stock over the long-term. Jeffries & Co. analyst Brent Thill estimates the value of the cloud business as a standalone company at $400 billion. I think a spin off of the cloud unit would unlock a significant amount of value. But the probe will breed more uncertainty in the short-termAmazon has also been blamed by President Trump for the losses of the United States Post Office (USPS). Thus far, the decision by FedEx (NYSE:FDX) to not deliver Amazon packages has probably hurt FedEx more than it has AMZN. Still, I think FedEx's move will be worrisome for AMZN if the President criticizes the retail giant's use of the USPS again.None of these challenges will undermine the company's operations. Still, investors now have a lot more reasons to question the multiple of AMZN stock, making the shares a poor bet in the shorter-term. The Bottom Line on Amazon StockMany signs suggest that the valuation of Amazon stock will drop. First, the inverted yield curve indicates that a recession is looming. Stock valuations tend to fall when recessions are looming. Moreover, the slowing growth of the cloud unit and the underwhelming growth of other divisions could lead investors to doubt the attractiveness of Amazon stock at its current levels. .I also agree with the assertion of another InvestorPlace columnist, James Brumley that Amazon will emerge as a winner after the slowdown runs its course. I also do not expect AMZN to be broken up, despite President Trump's feelings about the company.However, since AMZN does not pay a dividend and the outlook of AMZN stock is dimming, I would not recommend buying AMZN stock at this time.As of this writing, Will Healy did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. You can follow Will on Twitter at @HealyWriting. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On * The 10 Biggest Losers from Q2 Earnings * 5 Dependable Dividend Stocks to Buy The post Amazon Stock Looks Poised to Be Hit by Multiple Compression appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Investing.com
Stocks - S&P Rallies as Techs Climb and Trade Tensions Ease
Investing.com - Stocks rallied Friday, finishing near their highs for the day, as trade tensions appeared to ease and reports suggested Germany might consider ideas to stimulate its faltering economy.
Motley FoolIs It Time for Microsoft to Spin Off Skype?
With talent and resources going into Teams, it's probably time to re-evaluate Skype's future.
- Motley Fool
ESG Investing: Is Microsoft a Responsible Investment?
If you’re searching for a feel-good stock, see how Microsoft, the world's largest company, scores on The Motley Fool’s ESG framework.
- Yahoo Finance
These are the largest companies in each U.S. state
Do you know what the largest company is in your state?
- Zacks
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Garmin, CDW and Microsoft
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Garmin, CDW and Microsoft
- Zacks
Tencent (TCEHY) Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Up Y/Y
Tencent's (TCEHY) second-quarter 2019 results benefit from robust FinTech and Business Services revenues despite sluggish ad environment in China.
- InvestorPlace
3 Big Stock Charts for Friday: Freeport-McMoRan, Microsoft and Coca-Cola
It could have been worse. At one point on Thursday, the S&P 500 was down as much as 0.5% before rallying back to end the session up a quarter of a percent. Investors entertained doubts about the idea that the recent yield curve inversion has to lead to a recession.Source: Shutterstock Walmart (NYSE:WMT) gets the bulk of the credit for yesterday's gain. Shares of the retailer jumped more than 60% after the company delivered second-quarter numbers that exceeded expectations. E-commerce revenue remains particularly impressive for the world's biggest retailer.Yet, though the broad market made gains, the number of advancers was only slightly higher than the number of decliners, and bearish volume was actually greater than buying volume.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsWeighing stocks back more than any other name was General Electric (NYSE:GE), down more than 11% on accusations that it has been doctoring its accounting statements in a way that covers up a great number of liabilities that will cost the company billions. Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) plunged nearly 9% after serving up lackluster guidance stemming from the tariff war underway with China. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On As the last trading day of the week kicks off, however, it's the stock charts of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) that merit the closest looks. Here's why. Freeport-McMoRan (FCX)Although most stocks bounced back from recent weakness on Thursday, it's not surprising that Freeport-McMoRan didn't. Shares have been trapped in a downtrend for years, and that selloff was renewed at the beginning of last year when a rising support line was snapped.It's possible, however, yesterday's 4% tumble may have also served as a capitulation that ends up becoming the low point of the current bearish swing. That dip pulled the stock back to an established floor, forcing the bulls and the bears -- if not both -- to finally make a commitment. * Click to EnlargeAlthough you have to go back to 2017 to see the initial low that serves as the first node of a falling support line, plotted in blue on both stock charts, it's clear that FCX has been getting pushed toward the tip of a converging wedge pattern. * The weekly chart also indicates Freeport-McMoRan shares broke below what had been a technical floor at $9.50, marked in yellow on the weekly chart that also plots the rising support line, in red, that snapped in the middle of last year to let a new pullback take shape. * Although technically weak and suffering from bearish momentum, Thursday's kiss of the lower boundary of a descending wedge pattern opens the door to the possibility FCX could attempt to rebound from here. The upper boundary of the wedge, in white, remains intact though. Microsoft (MSFT)Giving credit where it's due, Microsoft shares have impressively stood up to marketwide weakness that started to seriously undermine other stocks late last month. Since peaking in July, MSFT shares have only fallen less than 6%. The S&P 500 is also still decidedly below most of its key moving average lines, while Microsoft is still above its key lines, or only modestly below the ones it's under.Microsoft shares are slowly slipping into a funk, however, putting pressure on key support levels, and failing to find support at others. One, perhaps two, more bearish days could push MSFT over the proverbial cliff and pull the rug out from underneath this name that has rallied about as far as it can feasibly go for the time being. * 15 Growth Stocks to Buy for the Long Haul * Click to EnlargeThe key floor now under attack is the straight-line span connecting February's, June's and now this month's low, plotted as a light blue line on the daily chart. * Zooming out to the weekly chart of Microsoft it becomes clear that this year's rally has pushed MSFT stock to the upper edge of a rising bullish channel, where it has started to fade. Notice the weekly chart's MACD line is now below zero, after several weeks of lower lows. * Assuming history will repeat itself, MSFT shares are now positioned to slide back to the lower edge of that range plotted with a yellow line on the weekly chart. It now stands at $111.70, but is rising quickly. Coca-Cola (KO)Finally, Coca-Cola shares have been on a rampage since March, rallying more than 20% for the five-month stretch. More than that though, the advance has pushed KO stock out of a long-term trading range and into uncharted waters. Although overbought, shares even confirmed the strength of this breakout thrust by pulling back, finding support at a key line in the sand and then bouncing back above a long-term technical ceiling.While the momentum is undeniable, the scope of the rally thus far is unnerving. The risk of a wave of profit-taking is abnormally high. The good news is, the make-or-break line in the sand has already been identified and verified. * Click to EnlargeThe support level in question is the 50-day moving average line, plotted in purple on the daily chart. That line prompted the reversal that materialized two weeks ago, and is highlighted on the daily chart. * Backing out to a weekly chart, the basis of the worry becomes clear. Just in the past few weeks, KO stock has broken above a technical ceiling that has kept shares in check since 2013. It's plotted in white. * Although there's plenty of risk of a pullback that would bring Coca-Cola stock back to the trading range's floor near $46, marked in yellow, there has been an impressive amount of buying volume persistently through this unparalleled advance.At the time of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. To learn more about James, visit his site at jamesbrumley.com, or follow him in twitter at @jbrumley. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On * The 10 Biggest Losers from Q2 Earnings * 5 Dependable Dividend Stocks to Buy The post 3 Big Stock Charts for Friday: Freeport-McMoRan, Microsoft and Coca-Cola appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Bloomberg
Pentagon’s $10 Billion Brain Is Frozen by a Contracting Scandal
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- In the latest twist in the fraught competition for the Department of Defense’s $10 billion cloud-computing project, the Pentagon Inspector General’s Office announced a new investigation into whether there have been improprieties or corruption in the contracting process thus far. This probe, described to me as a very significant undertaking by Pentagon insiders, will complement a review already being conducted by new Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.The cloud project is formally known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure or, in a nod to “Star Wars” geeks, JEDI. It would provide a single managerial system and a single repository for storage of the department’s incomprehensibly vast data streams. As the controversy hit, the contract was reportedly about to be awarded, with the final competitors being Amazon Web Services Inc (the heavy, heavy favorite) and Microsoft Corp.The twin investigations were spurred by pressure from three sources: disgruntled competitors who felt they were out of the running; Congressional actors representing districts and states from where those competitors have a presence; and the Oval Office itself. President Donald Trump said in mid-July that he intended to review the JEDI contracting after receiving “tremendous complaints” about the process from “some of the great companies in the world,” including IBM, Microsoft and Oracle – each of which bid on the JEDI contract.None of this, other than direct interference by the commander in chief, is particularly out of the ordinary for big defense acquisitions, given the byzantine procurement process in the Pentagon. As a newly selected one-star rear admiral in 2000, I was assigned to manage a complex agency-wide telecommunications contract that included creating a new constellation of satellites. By the time it was finally awarded, I had long transferred out of the Pentagon. And in 2013, as I was a grizzled four-star Admiral about to finish up my career, I was still wondering why the satellite constellation wasn’t yet fully operational. The short answer is that at the nexus of big money, political influence and uncertain technology, delays are a certainty.All of this begs the questions of why the U.S. military is pursuing this system, and how it can be brought on line rapidly – by whomever eventually wins the contract.JEDI will be an absolutely vital part of America’s future warfighting capability, especially in the increasingly complex new 5G environment. At heart, the vast cloud would allow a much more efficient information-technology system, replacing the hodgepodge of thousands of hand-tooled, inefficient networks that exist today. This is especially critical for the military, where so many personnel transfer every two to three years, often taking with them a hands-on knowledge of an individual network or complex of software. For a vast organization like the Department of Defense -- the largest “company” in the world – JEDI’s efficiency at scale will be crucial to optimizing expensive resources and operating efficiently.It’s not just about efficiency, though: JEDI should vastly improve resiliency and security. Instead of individual networks and organizations backing up their information locally, everything is stored in a much more defendable cloud structure - just as your personal data and photographs likely exist in the Microsoft or Apple Inc clouds today. The data can be seamlessly transferred, even in the intense crucible of combat. Cybersecurity experts tell us that there is great strength in reducing the number of individual portals that can be attacked and overcome; streamlining and unifying the defenses of the entire department make sense. This reduction of “threat surfaces” is crucial.Finally, from an operator’s perspective, there is great allure in one-stop shopping to stream data (a sort of military Netflix,), to record and store it, to create simple systems to “patch” software, and to build an infrastructure that permits constant monitoring of the entire department’s networks. Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan, head of the Pentagon’s Artificial Intelligence Center, commented recently on the operational capabilities necessary for the emerging era of great power competition, with China in particular.“Imagine the speed of operations in a fight in the Pacific, where you just do not have time to figure out, ‘How do I get my data, clean my data, move it from point A to point B.’” Shanahan said. “If I’m a warfighter, I want as much data as you could possibly give me. Let my algorithms sort through it at machine speed. It’s really hard for me to do that without an enterprise cloud solution.” His comments were echoed by the department’s chief information officer, Dana Deasy, in a rare on-the-record co-briefing to the press they held last week.In order to move quickly to find efficiencies, create new resiliency, and provide a single point of contact for all IT operations, the Department of Defense needs to thoroughly but quickly complete these investigations. If there are real instances of malfeasance, they should be uncovered and the perpetrators punished forthwith. Frankly, Secretary Esper has an unattractive set of options, including starting the competition over; pressing forward to award despite the external pressure; or searching for some middle ground that may satisfy nobody. Whether he can power through all the sand in the gears here will be the first test of his leadership abilities, and will be among the most important he will face.In the likely scenario that all this smoke reveals not much fire but rather disgruntled competitors and political angst (and a strong component of anti-Amazon influence from the White House, where Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos is despised), Esper should press through to a contract award as soon as is legally appropriate. Warfighting in the 21st century will be “brain on brain” combat, and a large, singular cloud structure is the gray matter the U.S. military needs.To contact the author of this story: James Stavridis at jstavridis@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.James Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former supreme allied commander of NATO, and dean emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is also an operating executive consultant at the Carlyle Group and chairs the board of counselors at McLarty Associates.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
3 Tech Stocks for Dividend Investors to Buy Amid Yield Curve & Trade Fears
Check out these 3 dividend paying tech stocks to buy as yield curve and trade war fears heat up...
- Zacks
Top Ranked Tech ETFs in Focus
Technology is still the best performing sector this year despite trade tensions and global growth concerns
- InvestorPlace
Microsoft Stock Is in Watch Mode, Not Panic Mode
Outside of all other context, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is, in my opinion, a candidate for a "forever" hold. However, no investment operates in a vacuum. Therefore, the massive 800-point plummet in the Dow Jones is an event you must consider when analyzing MSFT stock.Source: Shutterstock Let's start with the obvious. As a growth and technology play, Microsoft stock depends substantially on investor sentiment. Yes, it does pay a dividend. However, with a yield of only 1.4%, it's not nearly enough to justify an excessive position against a volatile backdrop.Further, the reason for the broader market downturn is especially problematic for MSFT stock. Initially, the U.S.-China trade war started out in some ways as a political stunt. Bolstering his image as the "sheriff," President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods for various acts of malfeasance, particularly intellectual property theft.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsHowever, the Trump administration may have miscalculated Beijing's resolve. With each side refusing to budge, then stepping up their retaliatory tariffs, the matter has seemingly spiraled out of control. On paper, that's pernicious for Microsoft stock. Outside of the U.S., China is the tech giant's biggest revenue stream. * 15 Growth Stocks to Buy for the Long Haul As if that weren't enough, the constant back-and-forth between the two nations may have exacerbated domestic economic weaknesses. Recently, the benchmark yield curve inverted when the yield for 10-year Treasuries slipped underneath the 2-year yield. In other words, investors are getting less reward for accepting greater time risk.It makes no sense. And not surprisingly, this dynamic represents a warning about a coming recession. Thus, investors see little reason to hold more "risk on" names like MSFT stock. No Need to Panic on MSFT Stock YetEven with a preponderance of negative news items, it's still tricky to figure out what to do with a blue-chip name like Microsoft stock. Clearly, this is no time to load the boat with the company's shares. With multiple headwinds cascading down like rainwater, you don't want to be a premature contrarian.That said, I also don't think it's a time to panic on MSFT stock. First, let's have a quick rundown about the yield-curve inversions and their implications. What this trend truly suggests is that the markets are very nervous about incoming events. Essentially, Wall Street is dealing with a math problem where key constants are replaced with variables.If you never liked calculus class, you can appreciate the sentiment. However, the increase of variables does not necessarily mean that everything is going to Hades all at once. As Credit Suisse reported, it takes on average 22 months following a "2-10" yield-curve inversion to spark a recession. Therefore, we may have some time to work things out.Optimists may note that next year is a key presidential election cycle. Thus, even a tough sheriff like Trump sees the value of seeking a peaceable solution. Naturally, that would bode very well for Microsoft stock, along with tech peers like Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).And positive signs do exist. Unexpectedly, the president delayed a ramp up in tariffs until after the Christmas shopping season starts. That's an important acknowledgement that the White House recognizes our economy's global interdependence.However, a trade war resolution may be some months off. In the meantime, stakeholders of MSFT stock can rely upon the underlying company's secular businesses, such as its dominance in endpoint management. Challenges for Microsoft Stock Drive EfficienciesFinally, I'd like to point out that a silver lining exists in this trade war malaise. Under bullish conditions, there's not as much incentive to push for corporate efficiencies. With the money flowing in, it's easy to get complacent.However, in a distressed ecosystem, every dollar of revenue counts. That's why if you own MSFT stock, you've got to love Microsoft's new "outsourcing" license policy as it pertains to its cloud business.Long story short, Microsoft is cutting a loophole that enables Amazon's and Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) cloud customers to bring with them their existing Microsoft enterprise software licenses.For years, Amazon promoted such "bring your own licenses" capabilities to prospective clients. This gave Amazon and Alphabet comprehensive usability at Microsoft's expense. Now, this loophole is closed, which should help Microsoft stock at least mitigate some volatility.Still, it's probably going to be a rough ride in the coming months. If you have a large position in MSFT stock, a little trimming makes sense. Otherwise, if you're looking to buy in, wait. Almost certainly, we'll see a better entry point for this iconic tech firm.As of this writing, Josh Enomoto did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Stocks Under $5 to Buy for Fall * 5 Stocks to Avoid Amid the Ongoing Trade War * 7 5G Stocks to Buy Now for the Future The post Microsoft Stock Is in Watch Mode, Not Panic Mode appeared first on InvestorPlace.
