HP on a roll despite soft markets

Hewlett-Packard is having a very good year despite the softening demand for new technology in the United States. While some tech companies, including IBM, are warning that the IT market is on a down cycle, HP seems to have ducked the bad times. Last week, HP reported a strong fourth-quarter in both profit and sales. And it predicted growth in the coming months. HP's chief executive, Mark Hurd, said the company does not depend on the financial industry for its sales, one reason it is likely to keep ahead of the curve. "This is very different from what we heard from I.B.M. and Cisco, in particular," said Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research. "H.P. continues to execute in this very tough environment. The key reason is that they're very global."

For more on HP's very good year:
- See The New York Times article