Happy 1987!
Today is the anniversary of the 1987 stock market
crash that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average fall 22%. The major indices
are trading lower on the day of the 14th anniversary of the crash, but much
less severely, with all three major indices paring earlier losses and now
suffering just fractional percentage losses or a slight gain. Still,
once-high-flying networkers have shown phenomenal losses during the bear
market of the past 18 months.
The Dow is down 40 at 9123, the Nasdaq is up 1.34 at
1654.06, and the S&P 500 is down 4.02 at 1064.59.
An anthrax scare still hangs in the air as the
uncertainty of bio-terrorism disrupts Washington’s political machinery,
workplaces and normal life. The travel and airline industries have been
affected by the recent spate of exposures, and the anthrax problem is likely
to hinder overall economic activity.
With the focus on national security and personal
safety, traders are also focusing on dreary performances from some of the
tech world’s biggest firms. Microsoft
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estimates, but excluding charges. The Dow and Nasdaq 100 component is down
.55 at 56.20.
Although Microsoft is gearing up to release its
Windows XP software next week in New York, traders are looking at how well
the behemoth is trading its own account. Microsoft is taking a second
straight quarterly charge of $980 million for “investment” losses.
This follows last quarter’s loss of $3.92 billion for a half-year loss of
almost $5 billion in its undisclosed investment portfolio. With quarterly
revenue of $6.13 billion, this means the company has been losing about 40
cents on its investments for every dollar of product sold.
Xilinx
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on the semiconductor index
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chips, said sales to networkers and communications outfits fell by half. The
stock has clawed its way back from a 4% loss to breakeven levels and is
trading at 26.44.
Bolstering Xilinx’s complaint, Corning
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beat lowered Street estimates, but the largest maker of optical fiber warned
it will miss estimates next quarter. The stock has fallen a whopping 93% in
just one year and is trading at an all-time low, down .28 at 7.73.
Joining the hit parade of fallen once-high-fliers,
Sycamore
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PowerRating) scaled back revenue expectations, blaming lower demand
from telecoms, and announced it would fire an additional 250 employees. The
fiber equipment gear firm is 97% off its March 2000 high of 199.50, trading
down .56 at 4.28.