The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which technology editor/analyst Brenton Flynn discusses topics around the investing world.

It was a good day to be a tech investor, with the Nasdaq index rising 1.2% to lead all major indices in today's trading. The tech headlines were dominated by software giant Microsoft, which announced its most recent entry into consumer hardware with its new Surface tablets. While it will be months before investors see whether the tablet can eat into the iPad's success, initial reactions were positive and sent shares higher. In the following video, Brenton details the Microsoft announcement, as well as two other tech storylines of the day.

While these companies are dominating today's headlines, there is an emerging trend that hasn't received its fair share of coverage: the rise of "Big Data." To discover one company Fool analysts believe will rule this emerging area of technology, we've created a free report called "The Only Stock You Need to Profit From the NEW Technology Revolution." Inside the report, we'll reveal a company that has gone on to gains of more than 200% since first recommended by the Fool. Best of all, it still has room to run. You can click here to access your report -- it's totally free.