Intel's Fuse Awaits Spark

Updated from 6:54 a.m. EST

Intel(INTC Quote) shares are once again on the verge of breaking above $25, which until this week represented an eight-month high that the stock had failed to breach on several occasions. The company's midquarter update after the bell Thursday should help to determine whether the stock will continue to dance around this level or surge to higher ground.

Though the stock of the world's largest chipmaker is up 11% since the beginning of February, it's the movement of the past week that finds the shares once again at this interesting level. Intel finally closed above $25 on Monday and traded above that level during each of the past four sessions. The shares had attempted to top $25 four times -- in early August, mid-November, mid-December and mid-February -- only to pull back. It rose 10 cents to $24.94 early Thursday.

"The stock has been absolutely dead, but it seems people are now edging in," said Bill Priebe, co-president of Geneva Capital Management. ...