Today's News On One Page
November 12th, 1999
| [5:30 PM] The Week's Top Stories For Week Ending 11/12/1999 |
| [4:45 PM] You Can Lead An AlphaNatix To Water... by Staff Monkey Byte Development has introduced a new game called AlphaNatix. The AlphaNatix series are centered around puzzles and the company says that this is merely the first in a series. According to Monkey Byte Software:
Each AlphaNatix title is priced at US$14.95 each with the special offer listed above applying. You can find more information on AlphaNatix at the Monkey Byte web site. |
| [4:45 AM] MegaChanges In MegaMineSweeper Update by Staff Carrot Software has released another update to MegaMinesweeper. This version, still in beta, includes many improvements. According to Carrot Software:
You can find more information and download links at the company's web site. |
The tech stocks head faked a continuation of their rally on the Nasdaq this morning then headed south, but they couldn't be held down, roaring back to post yet another all time high, in spite of Intel, Microsoft, Cisco and Dell trading down. What should of been the Dow's day in the sun, as the NYSE put in a strong advance, was dimmed by the Nasdaq's disdain for gravity. The US 3rd quarter productivity numbers showed strong growth with an increase of 4.2%. Economists expected closer to a 3.0% gain. Labor costs took a downturn, advancing only 0.6% during the quarter, much better than the expected 1.4% rise analysts were looking for. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said retail sales were flat in October. The economy is experiencing rapid growth with less inflation because increases in productivity are keeping wages and costs down. Just two more trading days till the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, but few seemed worried. The Nasdaq rose 23.6 points (0.74%) to close at 3220.89 on a volume of 1.4 billion shares traded, the 4th highest volume in history. Today was the 10th time in 11 sessions that the Nasdaq has set new record highs. The Nasdaq ends the week up 46% year to date, led forward today by the Internet stocks, the online brokers, and financial stocks. Semiconductor issues experienced heavy profit taking in spite of Merill Lynch's upgraded to its price target on the sector yesterday. Merill said that demand for computer chips will stay high for several years. The Dow settled near the day's high, up 174 (1.64%) to close at 10769 on a volume of 880 million shares, led by strong financial stocks. This places the Dow in range to challenge the significant 10800 resistance level next week which, if broken, could lead to a broadening of the rally. Moreover, the good productivity numbers out this morning may give the bulls some confidence next week. The S&P 500 advanced 14.5 points (1.05%) to close at 1396. Apple spent the day retrenching in the 90 range, down 1 5/8 (1.76%) to 90 5/8 on less than half the average volume. Speculation that Apple is planning a serious retail development project leaked out beyond the Mac community today. Perhaps, investors took this as a nod to the success of Gateway's Country Stores concept since Gateway rose 5 5/16 to 81 5/8 with little explanation. Intel (INTC) got whacked today with a downgrade by Joe Osha of Merrill Lynch to accumulate from buy. Mr. Osha said that the next generation of Intel chips, "will prove disappointing to investors who have high expectations for the first generation of that product." Intel lost 3 1/4 (4.0%) to end at 76 3/16. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) reported that it would break even in the 4th quarter turning around a recent downtrend in earnings. Advanced Micro lost 1 9/16 to close at 26 11/16. Dell was down 1 11/16 to close at 41 3/4 after reporting 3rd quarter earnings on target with analysts' lowered expectations of US$0.18 per share. Dell's earnings for the quarter had been revised down from $0.20 per share because high DRAM prices have eroded Dell's profit margin. Dell's earnings showed a decline of 25% over the same period a year ago. Analyst Andy Neff of Bear Stearns commented that, "Hardware profitability is under pressure and Dell is unable to offset it". Mr. Neff revised downward his profit forecast for the next fiscal year to US$1.00 per share from US$1.05. Microsoft (MSFT) lost a 1/2 point to close at 89 1/8. In Apple related stocks, Adobe posted gains, up 2 11/16 to 75 1/8, and so did Macromedia, up 15/16 to 58 15/16. Akamai, Arm Holdings, Motorola, and Symantec were down. Oracle hit a new all time high, up 3 1/16 to close at 65 1/8, boosted ahead by news that they plan to collaborate with IBM to develop a Unix based OS designed for the next generation of Intel processors. IBM advanced 7/8 to 95 7/8. Sun Microsystems was also very strong today up 4 9/16 to 48 5/16 after shareholders approved a two for one stock split. For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled this set of quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. We also have many of these same quotes reported live (20 minute delay) on our home page. For other stories regarding Apple's stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.
[4:20 PM] The Apple Stock Watch: The Dow Plays Catch-up, Apple Retrenches at $90 5/8
by Wes George
| [Column] The Back Page - The Freedom To Innovate? What A Load Of Bull! |
| [2:00 PM] VPC Helper Adds MacOS 8.x Compatibility, Easier Controls by Staff AuctionMac Software has upgraded the Windows emulation assistant utility, VPC Helper, to version 1.1. VPC Helper assists in configuring Virtual PC for optimal performance, allowing improved speed, greater ease of use, and more stability for the popular Windows emulator. The new version adds easier to manage controls, and better performance with OS 8.x. According to AuctionMac:
VPC Helper is available as shareware for US$8.99. You can find more information at the AuctionMac web site. |
| [12:30 PM] The iSpark: Another iMac Clock? (With Pic) by Staff
Thanks for the letter and the image Mark! The Mac Observer Spin: What is it with clock manufacturers that makes them want to make clocks shaped like an iMac? This one is not as elegant as the Timex manufactured device, but it's still nifty looking. It remains to be seen if Apple intends to do anything about this form of design theft. |
We received a note from an Observer named Mark from Nice, France, who found another iMac inspired clock, of all things. Mark sent us the note after reading our story about a
| [10:45 AM] Microsoft Eats Its Own: Follow-up by Staff We ran a story on Wednesday about an incident with a Microsoft retailer being sued by Microsoft. The original point of that story was to illustrate how Microsoft has such a voracious appetite that it will even eat those propagating their products. We received the following letter from an Observer who adds to the character support of the man being sued. Refer to the original article if you have questions on this. From Ken Sharp:
The Mac Observer Spin: Maybe this incident will convince Mr. Boles to become an Apple dealer and cast off the Redmond shackles. Of course, Apple too has had its own share of dealer-relationship problems in the past. Indeed, the company is even now rumored to be considering doing away with more of its retailers though VARs will supposedly remain. Still, when it comes down to it, would you rather be screwed by Apple or Microsoft? [Editor's Note: For the humor-impaired, that was a joke.] |
| [Editorial] Apple: Not Just a Hardware Company by Oliver Dueck |
| [8:00 AM] More FireWire Devices Burnin' Down The House by Staff EZQuest, hot on the heels of their new Boa Firewire CDRW line, has begun shipping a new line of Firewire hard drives. The new drives come in various capacities, but all feature the speed and ease of use provided by Apple's Firewire technology. According to EZQuest:
The Cobra Firewire hard drives range in price from US$359 to US$699. You can find more information at the EZQuest web site. |
| [8:00 AM] Spinning MP3s On Your Mac Just Got Easier by Staff Optima System has announced another preview release of SoundSpinner MP3 1.0. Preview release 2 allows for simplified handling of MP3 files through Apple's QuickTime 4.0. According to Optima System:
SoundSpinner MP3 is available as shareware for the introductory price of US$6.95. You can find more information at the Optima System web site. |
| [8:00 AM] Audiocorder Records New Features by Staff Black Cat Systems has updated Audiocorder to version 1.5.0. The new version of the multi-source sound recording utility, which allows your Mac to function like a digital audio recorder, adds the ability to set recording schedules. According to Black Cat Systems:
Audiocorder is available as shareware for US$20. You can find more information at the Black Cat Systems web site. |
| [8:00 AM] AliasMenu Adds Support For Default Folders & Mac OS 9 by Staff Benoit Widemann has updated AliasMenu to version 2.2. The new version of AliasMenu adds support for the popular utility, Default Folder. According to Mr. Widemann:
AliasMenu is available as shareware for US$25. You can find more information at the AliasMenu web site. |