• IBM is said to be in talks to acquire rival Sun Microsystems for about $6.5bn, potentially marking a major consolidation in the computer hardware manufacturing industry. The move would boost IBM’s hardware offerings, but the deal could face major regulatory hurdles.
• Oracle reported lower sales and profit for the quarter, but the results beat analyst estimates, sending shares higher. Some watchers were predicting a much worse decline. Oracle announced it would pay its first dividend – 5 cents a share – since the company went public in 1986.

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