After looking at the demographics of our audience, the types of content sharing, it’s social distribution, and finally based upon requests from our audience, I am introducing an experiment here at SiliconANGLE called the Wall Street Angle or (WSA). This will be a new focus and Angle section for us.

Since this is new we’ll be starting to just pump out content with the eye on incremental improvements as we generate more income to support it. So we’ll be starting week in review content.

Dell Putting Up Bucks for Datacenter Innovation

Dell (DELL) has announced today that it intends to invest $1 billion world wide this year to build and develop data centers in order to move deeper into the market of offering cloud computing services. By doing so, they are offering increased competition in this space, going up against entities such as Amazon (AMZN) and their web based services (AWS), IBM, and VCE, a partnership of VMware, Cisco, and EMC, to offer remote access to data storage and computing capacity and web based delivery of software applications.

By doing so, Dell is attempting to grow revenues and earnings since their core business of manufacturing hardware is not the growth engine for them it once was, and they are acknowledging this by trying to find other ways to drive growth. They are also looking for acquisition opportunities in China to support their offerings in areas such as cloud based computing and remote storage but have not yet identified any specific targets, according to Michael Yang, Dell’s president for the Greater China region.

Seems like Dell is a bit late to the party here. Some major players are already in this space and enjoying first mover advantages. Looking for other businesses to get into to drive their top and bottom lines would seem to be an indication that there is some concern about the prospects for their core business. The stock today closed around $14.84 on mediocre volume and is currently stuck in the middle of a trading range between $13-16 and has now closed above its’ 50 day moving average for two consecutive days.

Google Anti-Trust – Doing Evil?

Google (GOOG) continues to grow new, and extend existing, tentacles into myriad areas of ecommerce. They are planning to make a $100 million investment in a major revamping of their YouTube website as they try to position themselves for the impending arrival of televisions that will allow people to watch online video in their living rooms. By doing so, they are preparing to compete with broadcast and cable television networks for content and, according to people familiar with the matter, are planning to spend $100 million to commission low cost content designed exclusively for the web. YouTube executives say they want people to "watch YouTube" the same way they "watch television" as it aims to create a network of ad-supported channels that users can tune into and spend more time with. The site is currently hiring people to help implement these initiatives which are projected to be up and running by the end of 2011 and phased in over time.

On another front, Google is near an agreement with the Justice Department that would clear their $700 million acquisition of flight data company ITA Software, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The agreement would allow government antitrust monitoring of a part of Google’s operations in order to assure that Google doesn’t unfairly use its’ control of ITA’s airline data to put rivals at a disadvantage. Google has never before formally agreed to government conditions as part of an acquisition. The agreement is not yet complete and still could fall apart. Spokespeople for Google, ITA, and the Justice Department have declined to comment while discussions are still underway.

Google stock closed around $580.30, up $6.12 on average volume in the middle of a recent trading range of $550-$595

SEC verses Facebook and Private Companies

The SEC is reviewing decades old rules and regulations governing issuance of shares by private companies with an eye toward easing constraints that limit the potential market for the trading and investing of private shares. The steps under consideration would potentially fuel the fast growing market in private shares of companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Zynga by helping such privately held companies to raise more money without incurring the increased reporting and other burdensome requirements of becoming a public company.

According to people familiar with the matter, possible changes could include raising the number of allowed private shareholders from the current 499 without the companies being required to open their books and allowing the companies to more easily publicize private share offerings. Current restrictions limiting such "general solicitation" led to the withdrawal by Goldman Sachs of a well publicized offering of shares in Facebook earlier this year to private individual investors.

By allowing private companies to more easily raise capital without having to go public, the normal path of tech companies going public via IPO’s could be shifted, derailing and shifting the traditional model of venture capitalists providing private funding in early rounds and seeking a return on their investment by offering shares for sale to the general public. By easing private investment in fledgling companies and allowing them to potentially raise more private capital, the potential SEC action would also limit the transparency into the financial status of these companies and the market for investors to qualified individuals with a net worth of $1 million or more.

An SEC spokesperson has declined comment.

VC Funds Flush with Cash

Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, run by one time tech entrepreneurs Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, has raised a new $200 million fund for co-investing in "growth stage" companies, reflecting a trend in the venture community to look for and invest in later-stage technology deals. Andreessen Horowitz partner John O’Farrell states that they have raised the fund because they "continue to see great new growth companies" that have "significant capital needs" and want to remain private longer and avoid the burdensome regulations and disclosures governing an IPO which would allow capital to be raised in the public markets. The co-investment fund won’t charge a management fee and not all of Andreessen Horowitz’s investors have chosen to participate in the new "later stage" co-investment fund.

The recent ease and spurt of fundraising by venture firms stands in stark contrast to the relatively tepid fundraising environment of 2009 and 2010. Other venture firms such as Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers have also recently raised and completed substantial funds. Many of the funds now being raised are being aimed at doing later stage technology deals, investing in companies such as Facebook, for example, as opposed to the more traditional venture model of investing in earlier stage companies and start ups and nurturing them along until they are ready to be sold or go public via an IPO.

Andreessen Horowitz has also made other later stage investments in Zynga in 2009 and Groupon earlier this year and has purchased private shares in Facebook and Twitter in recent months.

Expedia Spin Off – TripAdvisor

Expedia (ticker symbol EXPE)has announced that it is spinning off its’ TripAdvisor unit in a deal that could value TripAdvisor at as much as $4 billion, a move that has been referred to by Expedia as a "shareholder friendly transaction". Expedia is an online travel agent with brands like Expedia.com, Hotels.com, and Hotwire, while TripAdvisor is an travel media company driven by advertising. Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi states that TripAdvisor has grown to the point where it can stand on its own as pure play media company.

Analyst Frederick Moran of Benchmark Capital feels that the spin off will unlock shareholder value by enabling the market to recognize the strong revenue growth in TripAdvisor separately from the relatively sluggish performance of Expedia. Travelzoo (TZOO), which publishes travel, entertainment, and local deals, currently trades at a multiple of 64 times earnings, for example, compared to 12 multiple for Expedia. Shareholder value will be created if the market recognizes TripAdvisor’s growth by assigning it a multiple more along the lines of Travelzoo than Expedia’s.

The credit default market, however, isn’t looking at the transaction quite as benignly. Credit default swaps for Expedia have risen to their highest prices since January, indicating the increased cost to protect or insure the debt of Expedia. The spin off transaction will result in "slower revenue growth, lower margins, and higher leverage" for Expedia going forward, according to Dave Novosel, an analyst with gimme Credit LLC in Chicago.

The announcement was made after the market closed last week. Expedia shares rose 14% in after hours trading and hovers around $25.43, $2.03 higher than their close yesterday and rising above their 200 day moving average, although the shares are declining intraday but seem to be finding support at their 200 day moving average.