Out with the new (tech) and in with the old (blue chips). That was todayis theme in the markets. Big news in the petroleum world as Phillips announced they would be buying Tosco, a multi-billion merger of mega-giants. Continued worries about the slowing economy and various earnings concerns dragged down most tech stocks, including most of the stocks we track in the Stock Watch. Dataquest released a report saying that though consumer computer sales were down in 2000, Work Station and Server sales actually rose. Sun Microsystems and Dell benefitted the most from that increase.
Apple cut the price of the high-end Cube by US$300 today and created a new high end model at the same time. A research group at UC Berkeley released a report that says 802.11b networks like AirPort are vulnerable to being intercepted and even redirected. We launched our new Apple Financial Boards today, so make sure you stop in and say hi. AAPL dipped as low as 19 13/16 in intra-day trading, and came within a hairis breath, but never topped, its opening price of 20 5/8. Apple has been trading above its 50 day moving average the middle of January, but still trades well below the 200 day moving average.
Apple closed lower again today at 20 3/16, a loss of 7/16 (-2.12%) on light volume of 5,825,200 shares trading hands.
The Nasdaq closed at 2643.21, a loss of 17.29 (-0.65%).
The Dow gained today to close at 10965.85, a gain of 101.75 (+0.94%).
The S&P 500 joined the Dow in positive territory to close at 1354.17, a gain of +4.70 (+0.35%).
Akamai has now given up most of the gains made during its bullish run in January. Akamai closed at 24 7/8, a loss of 7/8 (-3.40%) on strong volume of 2,049,500 shares trading hands. Apple is a major shareholder of Akamai.
Adobe posted a gain today to close at 45 3/8, a gain of 1 13/16 (+4.16%) on volume of 4,506,700 shares trading hands.
IBM closed at 112.22, a gain of 1.95 (+1.77%) on volume of 5,113,700 shares trading hands.
Motorola closed at 20.41, a loss of 0.92 (-4.31%) on volume of 11,578,100 shares trading hands.
Earthlink benefitted from Microsoftis announcement that they would discontinue their US$400 rebates for signing up with the ISP. That sort of pricing pressure was apparently weighing the ISP sector down. In addition, rumors that Microsoft would be buying Earthlink in a grab for markets hare continued to circulate. The stock performed well to close at 9 13/32, a gain of 7/16 (+4.88%) on volume of 2,073,900 shares trading hands.
Gateway closed at 19.68, a slight loss of 0.03 (-0.15%) on light volume of 2,162,300 shares trading hands.
Dell closed at 24 7/16, a loss of 3/4 (-2.98%) on light volume of 23,625,900 shares trading hands.
Hewlett Packard closed at 35.30, a loss of 0.45 (-1.26%) on volume of 4,528,600 shares trading hands.
Intel suffered along with the entire chip sector. The companyis stock closed at 34 11/16, a loss of 15/16 (-2.63%) on volume of 45,150,900 shares trading hands.
Microsoft announced a new naming scheme for its next generation of Windows software (Windows XP). The company also found out that someone else owns the trademark of Xbox. Oops. MSFT closed at 61 15/16, again of 1 1/8 (+1.85%) on volume of 28,046,200 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.