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.

1. Morning Prep

By Ken Wolff
8:25 a.m. EST

Jobless claims came in a bit better than expected but we had an upward revision to previous figures and the market is not reacting. We had a pretty decent day for the bulls yesterday, with the early buying pattern repeating. I expected the top to be around $44.50 on the PowerShares QQQ Trust(QQQQ Quote), which would be indicative of a strong market, but we only made it up to $44.18. Selling came in similar to the day before, going under the early low then doing the narrow uptrend thing. I will be looking for early buying and a retest of yesterdays high, then I will want to short again because it seems the market is stumbling and may fall. I am interested in Brocade(BRCD Quote) off 8 bucks; should move to $8.50.

Positions: None

2. Intel-AMD

By Jim Cramer
9:11 a.m. EST

I have been very worried about the endless lawsuits between AMD(AMD Quote) and Intel(INTC Quote). They remind me of the Broadcom(BRCM Quote)/ Qualcomm (QCOM Quote) battles and the Nokia(NOK Quote) / Qualcomm battles. Both times the settlements produced pops in the stocks. Something to keep in mind as the Nasdaq futures bizarrely remain under pressure despite the 3Com(COMS Quote) acquisition...

Positions: Long QCOM

3. WalMart -- a Case of Low Expectations

By Brian Gilmartin
9:34 a.m. EST

If you want a perfect example of how expectations factor into an important earnings report, watch Wal-Mart(WMT Quote) today. Yesterday's caution on the Christmas selling season on top of lackluster stock action this year has resulted in the stock being very out of favor but still a pretty good long-term value in our opinion if readers can look beyond the immediate action.