cisco systems, ibm or microsoft? now, the payoff. ibm. >>> i'm bertha coombs at the nasdaq. milestone 3,000 for the first time in over 11 years. the nasdaq easing off. we're seeing profit-taking this afternoon. microsoft was one of the drivers to the outside today. now is one of the drags. it hit $32 for the first time since april of 2008. we're also seeing selling in telecom and chips as well. amazon also a big drive today. apple easing off of a fresh all-time high. near 550. it hit 547 and change this morning. this afternoon, though, it is on track for yet another new all-time closing high. bill and maria. >> bertha, thank you very much. we've got about 15 minutes left in the trading session. time for a quick stat check on the nasdaq itself. looking less likely to set a five-day winning streak. just off the lows of the session at 2966. after trading above 3,000 as bertha mentioned earlier. the volatility index, let's see what it's going on here. yes, it is moving higher, now up 1.7%, as the stock market moved lower, the vix was moving higher. we were talking to peter about

large soft wear companies that have been entrenched in the enterprise for a long time, be it microsoft or ibm with their existing solutions. and as you said, the sales force.com offering, which is really resident in the silo of the enterprise that they've been very successful in, which is sales automation. chatter is the first attempt at delivering some form of first generation collaboration for that silo. sales people. jive's all about the whole enterprise, both all of the employees facing as well as customers and partners ex termly as well. we speak to the whole of the enterprise, while the sales force solution at least currently is targeted at the silo that they've been most successful with with their sas offering. >> are you expecting any impacts from the facebook ipo? >> i think we've already seen some. look, facebook has changed the world. they have changed the way we communicate. they changed the way we personally interact with our personal friends and family members. it has created opportunities for companies like jive to take that paradigm and bring it to the place where we work ever

ibm for instance. i even looked at microsoft, intel or across the board. if you're looking at hewlett-packard it's been an absolute value trap. i think meg whitman is starting to get this turned the right way. she talked about spending. >> what makes you believe that? >> because she talked about r&d. they've just sat back and started to become this acquisition company without going out and actually spending on what they've acquired and actually producing what they needed to produce more. now she is talking about products. she is talking about r&d spent and i think that combination is 12 months out. >> talking about it and actually turning things around in your words are two different things. you could make the argument she is no closer to actually turning things around today than she was the day she sat in the chair. >> she has the strategy and i think they're going to implement that strategy. she talked about by the end of 2012 that is when you should start to expect to see something. >> take a look at the dow here holding near session highs. flirting wit

. >> if you had fresh dollars to put to work today, in ibm, a stone's throw near a 52-week high or microsofthich hit a new 52-week high in jyesterday' session or hewlett-packard? >> not hewlett. ibm transition that's seamless. two management transitions at hewlett-packard that are horrendous. hewlett-packard, no. >> just no. just say no to hpq. >> nancy reagan philosophy. >> within technology also watching a level three morgan stanley upgrading the stock this morning. >> there used to be axes all the time. guys who knew something versus the other guys. simon flannery at morgan stanley has had the edge in telecommunication. this upgrade is astounding to me. one of the most hated companies. people left it for ted. jim crow, ceo -- i have to point that out. people think, cramer, come on. he's delivering. i like him. i always liked him. he's surfacing. lblt is a buy. >> here we are with the opening bells on this thursday morning. take a look at the cnbc realtime exchange. here at big board, the united states commodity funds chief investment officer john hyland. at the nasdaq star of bravo's mill

microsoft, cisco. >> ibm. >> these have been the leaders the last six months. not google or oracle.nk you want to continue to stay with these. i completely agree to him. but we have some bad trade data out of germany today and a lot because they weren't exporting very well to their neighbors because of austerity in places like italy and spain. very curious to hear what cisco has to say about international spending. >> final trades when we come back. to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement. [ leanne ] appliance park has been here since the early 50s. my dad and grandfather spent their whole careers here. [ charlie ] we're the heartbeat of this place, the people on the line. we take pride

microsoft here. and also ibm, just about 20 cents or so away from a fresh 52-week high. to large cap technology, really leading the way here. >> first, though, rick santelli, what are you working on for the next hour of "squawk on the street"? >> if it's february, there must be a new housing program around the corner. think back to three years ago. we're going to talk about housing. we're going to talk about taxes. and believe it or not, there may be some more information on mf global. all that at the top of the hour. my job is to find the next big sound. they sound awesome tonight. and when i do find it, i share it with the world. you landed the u.s. tour ? done. this is fantastic ! music is my life and i want to make the most of it thout missing a beat. fly without putting your life on pause. be yourself nonstop. american airlines. >>> gold has a great january. up over 11%. will it climb back to last year's high over $1,900? time to ride the gold bull or should you be hibernating with the bears? suki cooper is a bull. richard hastings is a macro and consumer strategi