International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM)

This stock has surmounted the Big Company Complacency period (thanks to Lew Gerstner ) and embarked on exploitation of its natural advantages ( culture of research combined with emphasis on marketing thanks to Sam Palmisano ). Better than GE its culture provides a successful succession plan so that future management promises to be as wise and flexible as the (post-Opel) era has been. They are big in the latest trends (e.g. cloud, linux, etc ) and are again the "go-to" choice for corporate deciders who want to play things safe and not be blindsided by better suppliers of services (and hardware.)
It is so close to 200 that passing this milestone seems inevitable.

Always on the forefront of technological development and is not losing its lead

rated 10 out of 10 at moneycentral. gototoy $IBM http://stks.co/2K94 193.15 is a Kirby shelf -- looking for the big breakout.

this train is on a big roll again

Here's the video pitch:

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/01/30/the-5-year-outlook-for-this-dow-stock-ibm.aspx

Services will be a major source of income

always has; management stable, confident and capable

IBM has a plan to dramaticly reduce employee numbers and use temporary staff with expertise in the specific area of their current research and development.
This will reduce staff and use people already trained in a particular regimen.
This should reduce costs and improve efficiency.

big lead in business service software

Big moat of solutions-based expertise. A bespke tech business on a grand scale.

IBM has done a great job modernizing their business model. While many just talk about their new "services" focus, that misses the point. What IBM has figured out is the shear value of turning business data into actionable information. Every single business depends on that for success. In the early days of Business Intelligence (BI) a few smaller companies like cognos, hyperion Business Objects... pumped out some really cool software but many businesses implemented it poorly. The consulting side of this business is worth as much or more than the software itself. The real value is when you know how to apply the technology. IBM is focused on delivering this value and making a ton doing it. The market for this is massive.
As the economy recovers businesses must invest in BI or be left in the dust. They can't afford not to.
ohhh... and cloud computing... kinda like a modern version of mainframe/teminal approach right?
IBM has plenty of growth to come.

heck why not

With Warren Buffetts long term badge, find any weakness to add this position to your portfolio. The only negative is the share buyback (these never seem to work). The 1.67% dividend yield will help provide some income during any future economic times.

IBM's in way deeper than the few who've noticed they're in at all realize.

First they took over the back-office work, creating the forged docs, for a few banks. They seem to pretty much run JPM's entire operation, servicing centers typically in the middle of nowhere.

At the same time they purchased a defunct servicer w/ a shady background and changed the name to IBM Lender Processing, ramping up their own operation.

Like I said, they've now changed the name again, probably realizing the havoc this will unleash on the core brand. But too late.

12/17

A man, who has more than 50 years of experience in invesment and invested his billions of dollars in International Business Machiness Corp., and his name is Warren Buffett...

Operational excellence

ROI is through the roof and fundamentals still show it to be cheap.

They are making the largest and fadtest super computer in the world. They are also well planted in the IT departments in large companies.