Hewlett Packard Cuts Jobs to Prepare for Spin off of Enterprise Division

Hewlett Packard (HPQ) shares are down 25 percent in the past year while most major indexes are flat. Chief Executive Meg Whitman just announced another round of job cuts, some 30,000 from the enterprise division, which is HP's consulting arm. This makes HP a smaller, more focused company with just 2 months to go before it splits into two companies. Hewlett Packard plans to divide the company into 2 separate businesses on November 1st. One company will focus on selling data center equipment and business consulting. The other company will sell printers and personal computers. Like other so-called 'old tech' companies, HP has suffered from slowing demand for personal computers while customers choose smartphones and tablets instead. HP shares closed at $27.11 Tuesday, near its 52 week low but some chart watchers believe the stock is close to a bottom and could rally soon.