One of the most dangerous characteristics about the destructive internal dynamics that plague stalled companies is simply recognizing them. It’s hard enough for insiders to see them, let alone for someone looking in from the outside. Still, in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal there was an interesting juxtaposition of news about Intel and AMD, fierce competitors in the semiconductor industry, that sheds light on what may be going on inside both companies.

One article featured the headline, “Intel to Spend Heavily on U.S. Plants, Calls on Others to Invest.” The other was titled, “AMD, Short of Votes, Pushes Back Spinoff.” The first article highlighted Intel’s willingness to keep the pedal to the metal to the tune of $7 billion in capital investments over the next two years. That will save jobs today and create them tomorrow, as it positions Intel to remain lean and mean for some time to come. CEO Paul Otellini said about the decision–made in the face of a 90% drop in fourth quarter net income–“I thought it was important for a company like Intel to stand up and say we have confidence.” Clearly, neither he nor his board of directors is suffering from a lack of nerve.

Intel’s rival, on the other hand, is having trouble gathering the shareholder support it needs to proceed with spinning off its manufacturing operations to a new corporation jointly owned by AMD and an entity affiliated with the Abu Dhabi government. While the company says that thus far the majority of the votes have been in favor of the deal, one analyst was quoted as saying, “We were largely expecting this to be just a formality, so this does certainly give us increasing cause for concern.”

While the future is always unpredictable, we may be witnessing internal dynamics at both companies that will have a significant long-term impact. While AMD is stuck at the intersection, turn signal blinking, waiting for the shareholder consensus it needs to move forward with its plans, its chief rival is cruising at highway speeds. Perhaps it’s telling that when the newspaper’s paste-up team laid out the page they put the article about Intel atop the AMD piece. Stay tuned.