Apple Dips To 18 1/2, Recovers In Afternoon Trading To 19+

There has been a lot of money sitting on the sidelines for the last couple of weeks. This has been especially the case in the last two days as Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan exerted his on special brand of the jitters on investors. By the time todayis session was coming to an end, the bargain hunters could resist the many lows sitting their waiting to be picked, and the Nasdaq regained some lost ground. A positive earnings announcement from Applied Materials, who beat Street estimates by some 3 cents, also helped kick off the late afternoon rally.

Microsoft is taking some surprising heat from some mainstream press outlets for their Windows XP introduction. Many have characterized the event as vague and lacking anything of substance. Some have even gone so far as to suggest some Apple influence in regards to the moniker itself, Windows XP/Mac OS X, and Microsoftis approach for the OS called the "connected home." A developer quoted by C-Net summed it up nicely:

"This is so sad. Theyire just lamely trying to copy Steve Jobsi Apple presentation--right down to the guy having a black shirt and black pants," said one Whistler tester who watched the Seattle event via Webcast and requested anonymity. "Itis almost like Windows ME 2. Or as Apple might call it, Windows Me Too."

We couldnit have said it better.

Apple traded in negative territory for most of the day, and dipped as low as 18 1/2 at one point. The stock started moving higher in late afternoon trading as it followed the general technology trend. The days trading range was 18 1/2 - 19 5/8. Most of the stocks we track in the Apple Stock Watch moved higher by the end of the session.

Apple closed at 19 1/2, a gain of 3/8 (+1.96%) on light volume of 5,461,800 shares trading hands.

The Nasdaq closed at 2491.40, a gain of 63.68 (+2.62%).

The Dow took it on the chin and closed at 10795.41, down 107.91 (-0.99%).

The S&P 500 closed at 1315.78, down 3.02 (-0.23%).

Akamai gave ground today, even as Intel pulled out of the streaming content delivery market. AKAM closed at 21 3/4, a loss of 1 3/16 (-5.18%) on strong volume of 4,048,600 shares trading hands. Apple is a large shareholder of Akamai.

Adobe closed at 40 1/16, a gain of 2 7/8 (+7.73%) on volume of 4,437,400 shares trading hands.

IBM closed at 115.10, up 1.35 (+1.19%) on volume of 7,008,600 shares trading hands.

Motorola closed down at 19.10, a loss of 0.65 (-3.29%) on volume of 10,309,100 shares trading hands.

Earthlink traded in a narrow range that was bolstered by the ongoing rumors that they might be purchased by Microsoft/MSN. The stock churned its way to 3 times normal volume to close at 9 7/32, a gain of 3/32 (+1.03%) on heavy volume of 7,032,900 shares trading hands.

Gateway closed at 19.76, up 0.11 (+0.56%) on volume of 2,037,500 shares trading hands.

Dell will be reporting on Thursday, and the stock regained some of yesterdayis losses that were precipitated by a downgrade from Merrill Lynch. The stock closed at 22 15/16, up 11/16 (+3.09%) on light volume of 26,235,100 shares trading hands.

Hewlett Packard will also be reporting tomorrow. HWP closed at 34.39, a gain of 1.19 (+3.58%) on volume of 6,495,100 shares trading hands.

Intel benefitted by good news coming from the semiconductor markets. The company also pulled out of the streaming content delivery market today. INTC closed at 34 1/8, a strong gain of 1 11/16 (+5.20%) on volume of 47,260,900 shares trading hands.

Microsoft closed at 58 3/8, a gain of 3/16 (+0.32%) on volume of 30,719,600 shares trading hands.

For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled this set of quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. For other stories regarding Appleis stock activity, visit our updated Apple Stock Watch Special Report. You can also check out our Apple Financial Boards, a new moderated forum for Apple Investors and people who are interested in Appleis financial dealings.