Good Jobs Data Will Stabilize Tech

This column was originally published on RealMoney on Dec. 8 at 9:27 a.m. ET. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers. For more information about subscribing to RealMoney, please click here.

The impact of this employment number, a robust one, should be best felt in technology -- and we need it. We had a real rocking of tech last night off the Xilinx(XLNX Quote) and National Semi(NSM Quote) numbers, coupled with the cautionary Corning(GLW Quote) update about big-screen televisions. You can't get a more widespread collection of data than from those three. They cover everything from big-screen TVs to electronic gadgets and cell phones to telco equipment.

If we had been given a weak employment number, unquestionably tech would lead us down today. Instead, I believe people will look for reasons to isolate these particular tech stories as an issue and focus on winning tech, notably Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote) ahead of what I think will be a robust analyst day.

The truth is, of course, that Xilinx has been incredibly inconsistent, that Corning may no longer be as good a barometer as it was because there are a lot of glassmakers out there and National Semi has become an also-ran of late -- as has Texas Instruments(TXN Quote), by the way (and I note this because of its upcoming midquarter update). ...