Top Takes From RealMoney

The RealMoney contributors are in the business of trading and investing all day on the basis of ongoing news flow. Below, we offer the top five ideas that RealMoney contributors posted today and (if applicable) how they played those ideas.

Morning Prep

By Ken Wolff
8:42 a.m. EDT

The PowerShares(QQQQ Quote) is gapping up this morning, futures in positive territory after a day of early selling and dip buyers coming in to take us up all afternoon. ... Microsoft(MSFT Quote) came in above expectations which is giving us a nice boost. ... I saw what I consider signs of a top on Wednesday but as with any topping market we can see some big spikes up and down. ... I am going to look for about 10 to 20 cents in selling and a pop to QQQQ 44 if the market is going to be a strong one. I am seeing some suspicious gaps that would indicate more selling than predictable, such as Apple(AAPL Quote), First Solar(FSLR Quote), Google(GOOG Quote).

Positions: None

Amazon

By Alan Farley
8:53 a.m. EDT In line with my Amazon(AMZN Quote) column earlier this week, any pullback to the "red box", whether today or in the next week, should mark a great buying opportunity.

Positions: None

MSFT Earnings

By Sham Gad
9:00 a.m. EDT

Microsoft(MSFT Quote) apparently deferred 12 cents in this quarter, so EPS were actually 52 cents. These numbers, without the aid of Windows 7, which is garnering very favorable acceptance, suggest a bright outlook. I've recently begun favoring the bigger quality names -- companies like MSFT, Kraft(KFT Quote), Pfizer(PFE Quote) -- as this rally continues to head north without any real improvement in housing or jobs. These quality names have underperformed lesser-quality stocks this year, and their strong balance sheets are comforting for what may be ahead.

Long KFT