Monday Activity

Today was a trading day for the record books. After falling nearly 450 points in intra-day trading, the Dow Jones Industrial average closed for the day down only a bit over 45 points. Just after 2: 30 PM EDT in New York the Dow reached its low on the day, falling about five percent from its opening level before value hunters sparked a rally in the final ninety minutes of trading.

The markets continue to search in vain for leadership as the Dow retested September lows. Ironically, trading in the technology industries served as a catalyst for rising prices as the blue chip index reversed course late in the day.

On Monday, the NASDAQ Composite Index recorded its lowest levels since May 1997, before bouncing off its intra-day low to finish marginally higher. There is little good news to be found on Wall Street, but in response to the precipitous drop in prices over the past several weeks Bank of America strategist Thomas McManus raised the ratio of monies invested in equities in his model portfolio. This indicates that analysts and experts are seeing the sharp drop in prices as a buying opportunity for investors.

Monday Market Close

At the close of trading on Monday the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 8,639.19. The S&P 500 was off 3.46 at 917.93. The NASDAQ Composite Index closed up 9.12 at 1,382.62. Apple gained $.73 to end at $18.23.

Apple

In statements apparently timed for the opening of the New York MACWORLD Expo, Microsoft attempted to bully Apple over the lack of an evangelization effort for OS X reflected in the low sales of Microsoft Office for OS X. In response, a senior Apple executive threw the issue back at Microsoft, suggested that the nearly $500 retail price for the office productivity suite was too high. The head of Microsoftis Mac software unit stated rather bluntly that continued development of Office for the Macintosh platform is in jeopardy unless Apple does more to spur Mac OS X software sales. Observers have noted that Microsoftis tough statements come on the heels of Appleis high-profile "Switch" campaign.

On Tuesday Apple Computer will release results for the June quarter. Last month Apple issued an earnings warning, indicating that sales and earnings would be below previous estimates and expectations. Analysts expect Appleis results to be in line with the lower June estimates.

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