My daughter had another softball game last night and she hit a moon shot. The ball made it all the way to the middle of the outfield grass -- that's big time for a 6-year-old. And it’s funny: Because she’s the smallest kid on the team, the parents in the stand gave her the nickname "The Babe" after that shot.

I smell scholarship.

Asian stocks ended mixed. The Hang Seng was up 0.39% while the Nikkei was off 1.38%. European stocks, however, were in positive territory earlier this morning. And here in the US, we're currently trading lower.

Here's what I’m focused on this fine Thursday morning:

3Com Corp. (COMS):
 The one-time high-flyer was out with its fourth-quarter numbers earlier this morning. 

Excluding items, it put up a dime per share in the period. That was an impressive nickel better than expectations, and the stock should get a nice goose in today’s session.

Some other quick thoughts: 

1. It will need to get above (and stay above) that $5 level if institutional players are going to really cozy up to it.

2. That said, on a price-to-expected-earnings basis, it does look pretty.

3. It had about $1.64 or so in cash, equivalents, and short-term investments at quarter end. Not too shabby.

Its top line wasn’t all that impressive, and it will have to put the pedal to the metal in terms of revenue before I get really jazzed up.

Walgreen (WAG):
 Walgreen’s board announced a pretty hefty dividend increase last night.

Per the release: “The board of directors of Walgreen today increased the quarterly dividend 22.2% to 13.75 cents per share from the previous rate of 11.25 cents per share. The dividend is payable September 12, 2009, to shareholders of record August 21, 2009.”

Some thoughts:

1. This move shows a good amount of confidence; that’s a pretty big bump up on a percentage basis.

2. Thirty-four. That's how many years it’s upped its dividend in a row, according to that same release. That says a lot about the board’s focus on its shareholders. It’s also a string of successes I"m sure it doesn't want to break, so I'm optimistic it could happen again down the line.

3. After it came out with its June sales numbers, I noted in a previous article that this was the best ballpit to play long term in the drugstore space. 

4. After decent June comp numbers and now this announcement, will it be able to keep pulling rabbits out of its hat? It’s setting the bar very high.

5. As I also mentioned previously in this column, I’d be a bit keener on this cookie if it was around $25. I'd also like to see executives pony up some decent coin for the shares.