After falling sharply Thursday and slipping below $125 per barrel in London earlier Friday, oil prices were recently rebounding in New York trading.

Still, oil's fall from its recent peak above $135 has revived discussion about whether the "oil bubble" has popped.

While it's undeniable speculation has contributed to oil's rise, it's premature to declare an end to the oil boom -- if only because so many speculators are betting on falling oil prices. Bubbles typically don't peak until all the bears throw in the towel, and we're a long way from that when it comes to crude.

It's also important to note that crude has had 20%-plus corrections in each of the last five years -- short, sharp corrections being classic bull market activity.

Fundamentally speaking, factors such as the weak dollar and rising demand from emerging markets likely have contributed much more than speculation to crude's ascent. Many oil exporters in the Middle East are using more crude as their local economies grow, meaning there is less oil to export, as The Wall Street Journal reports.

Finally, advocates of "peak oil" theory will tell you that oil's rise is almost exclusively about fundamentals.

It's a day ending in "Y," so there must be new speculation about goings on at Apple.

The latest: Apple is going to announce big back-to-school promotions, "some of the biggest incentives in the company's history," according to AppleInsider.com.

Henry wonders if promotional activity is really a "good thing," because Apple typically hasn't had to put stuff on sale. My take is that Apple may be willing to sacrifice margins in order to gain market share, a smart strategy as it tries to cement its dominance with the under-25 consumer. (Imagine being a college student going to class with a boring Windows-based laptop or, heaven forbid, a Zune.)

At the same time, Apple would be wise to take advantage of demand for its products from adults, too, especially as Microsoft loses its grip on corporate IT budgets.

Meanwhile, the closing of New York's 24-hour Apple store has some folks buzzing about the possibility of a 3G iPhone commercial. More important, Apple continues to rack up agreements with international carriers as it prepares (we all assume) to soon roll out the 3G iPhone.

Dell shares were big winners Friday morning after the company reported better-than-expected results after the close.

The skeptics will say Dell merely cleared a low bar and benefited from the weak dollar, while noting Dell offered cautious comments about U.S. IT spending.

While the latter is undeniable -- "we continue to see conservatism in the U.S.," said CFO Don Carty -- the reality is Dell had stronger-than-industry growth in a number of sectors, most notably servers and notebooks.

Furthermore, the bulls will note that Dell's "easy comparisons" really don't come until the second half of the year, meaning this turnaround story may just be getting started.

Plus, will Dell be temped to follow H-P's lead into services?

As shareholders grudgingly approved JPMorgan's takeover yesterday, Bear Stearns Chairman Jimmy Cayne offered some words of remorse: "I have no anger, only regret," Cayne said, according to published reports. "14,000 families were affected. I personally apologize. I feel an enormous amount of pain and management feels an enormous amount of pain."

Bear staffers were having none of it, reportedly meeting Cayne's comments with stony silence while expressing outrage in other forums. And Cayne didn't do himself any favors by saying Bear "ran into a hurricane."

As Henry and I discuss in the accompanying video, there are reasons why buildings are made to withstand hurricanes and/or people buy hurricane insurance. CEOs reaping huge salaries can't take all the credit for the good times and then blame "acts of god" when things go bad -- as they inevitably do.

The bottom line in Bear's saga is the same as it ever was: Bear's management gambled the firm by taking huge leveraged bets and lost.

Famed inventor Dean Kamen is back in front among the tech elite this week with a new invention. The last time we heard from Kamen, he was unveiling the Segway, a product he hoped would revolutionize human transportation, and solve problems like pollution and urban congestion. But unlike the Segway, Kamen hopes his new product never reaches a mass market.

It’s a prosthetic arm that weighs as much as a human arm. It boasts the same range of motion, and the same tactile sensitivity. When the government called on him two years ago to build it, even Kamen wasn't sure his team could build it. In this video he tells us about the experience, what it meant for his career, and what he learned from the Segway experience.

For clip one on the creator of the Segway, click here.

Venture capitalist David Hornik is the king of tech conference hallways. He rarely attends a panel, instead spending his time making deals and capturing buzz outside the scheduled panel sessions. This year’s All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif. is no exception.

So I cornered Hornik, dragging him out of the hallway and got his take on what the real buzz of the conference had been. No surprise: Topic A was Yahoo and Microsoft and how on earth the Valley is going to monetize social media.

Dell reported fiscal first quarter earnings of 38 cents a share and revenue of $16 billion vs. consensus expectations of 34 cents and $15.7 billion.

"We are executing on all points of our strategy to drive growth in every product category and in every part of the world," chairman and CEO Michael Dell said in a statement.

Dell shares are up 8% in the initial after-hours reaction.

Either Michael Dell has a very good poker face or people misread his "body language" at the AllThingsD conference, where his presentation was widely panned as lacking excitement or new info.

Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg had a long day of grilling executives at their All Things Digital Conference. But they saved Rupert Murdoch, their Wall Street Journal overlord, for last.

While his political comments and near-endorsement of Barack Obama made the most headlines, Murdoch addressed a range of topics important to technology and the world in his typical, unapologetic style. For instance, he spoke of expanding the Journal's coverage and, regarding the ongoing Microsoft-Yahoo drama, said, "I'd get on with it."

I caught up with Kara once they got off stage to discuss her newfound admiration for the outspoken mogul.