Pulse: Sellers Continue to Gut Tech Shares

Technology stocks came under renewed pressure after a midmorning rebound, as sellers remained in control of the sector.

The Nasdaq ended down 82.06, or 2.1%, at 3896.35 after trading as high as 4008.46. TheStreet.com Internet Sector index finished down 10.67, or 1.3%, at 798.24. There was no specific trigger for the losses. Concerns over pre-earnings warnings, weak seasonals and a worsening technical outlook contributed to the selloff.

Net/Tech Indices INDEX CHANGE % VALUE TSC Internet 10.67 -1.3% 798.24 TSC E-Commerce 0.59 -1.3% 46.64 TSC E-Finance 9/32 -0.6% 49 5/16 Nasdaq 82.06 -2.1% 3896.35

Profit-taking was seen in a number of stocks. Juniper Networks (JNPR Quote), one of the most popular stocks of late, closed down $14.56, or 7.4%, at $183.06. It peaked at $228 on Sept. 5. Check Point Software (CHKP Quote) closed down $8.19, or 5.6%, at $138.06 despite a favorable mention in Barron's over the weekend. The feature piece in Barron's was on "The Best Tech Stocks," but timing of the article did little to stop the bleeding in the sector.

Commerce One (CMRC Quote) closed up $3.75, or 5.3%, at $75.13, though it traded as high as $78.13. Gains came on reports that the Federal Trade Commission was expected to approve the online auto parts marketplace that will be run by Commerce One technology.

But other business-to-business stocks fell prey to profit-takers. i2 Technologies (ITWO Quote), which traded as high as $171.50 after some friendly words from Robertson Stephens, closed down $2.38, or 1.5%, at $158.13. And Ariba (ARBA Quote) finished down 19 cents, or 0.1%, at $153.56 after trading as high as $161.88.

priceline.com (PCLN Quote) closed up 75 cents, or 2.9%, at $26.50, though it traded as high as $27.50. The stock edged higher on news that Saudi Prince Alwaleed had agreed to invest $50 million in the company.

2:17 p.m.: Analysts Fear Comp Could Slide More

Buyers were waiting for this morning's weak open to step in. But after a brief excursion higher, tech stocks resumed their move to the downside.

Technical analysts agree that more losses are likely for tech stocks.

Net/Tech Indices INDEX CHANGE % VALUE TSC Internet 7.33 +0.91% 816.24 TSC E-Commerce 0.03 +0.06% 47.26 TSC E-Finance 0.19 +0.38% 49.78 Nasdaq 17.2 -0.43 % 3961.2

In recent trading the Nasdaq was off 17.2 to 3961.2 after trading as high as 4008.46. TheStreet.com Internet Sector index was up 7.33 to 816.24.

Dick Dickson, technical analyst with Scott & Stringfellow, noted in his pre-open call that most of the tech group indices had broken below short-term support levels, suggesting additional losses should be forthcoming. He also noted that seasonal tendencies also call for a lower market over the next four to six weeks.

But Dickson spent most of his note talking about sentiment indicators. He noted that his sentiment model continues to display very high valuations for the market and low levels of bearishness. This was especially true among individual investors, with only 8.5% bearish compared to 62.5% bullish, the lowest number of bears his poll has shown in the seven years he has kept the indicator.

"As a contrary indicator, that number is scary," Dickson wrote. "We won't discount the possibility of one more spike higher for the market, but if it does we would use any such spikes to raise cash. We're not getting apocalyptic here and we don't expect any sort of market melt down, just a garden-variety correction of 7-10%. It could be even less if recently-weak sectors of the market, such as the consumer staples and some of the cap goods groups pick up the slack."

But Dickson also indicated that prices can head higher into the end of the year once the correction runs its course by mid- to late October. "But for now, we would be very careful with this market," he said.

Over at our RealMoney.com sister site, technical analyst Helene Meisler wrote that she saw signs the current weakness was just a correction, and not something bigger. She noted that the breadth of the NYSE , as measured by the advance/decline statistics, continues to show positive signs on the downside. And on the Nasdaq, the cumulative volume indicator made a higher high than the July high, which typically is not a negative sign.

"In addition, there has been very little expansion in the stocks making new lows, which means that the stocks being sold are those that are up: In other words, there's a lot of profit-taking going on, which is what happens during a correction," she wrote. But she notes that one of the signs that the correction is coming to an end will be an increase in volume. And the market has not seen a surge in volume on the downside, "which is one of the reasons I believe the correction is not over."

Back to stocks and numbers.

Business-to-business stocks were performing well, in part, due to some comments on both i2 Technologies (ITWO Quote) and Ariba (ARBA Quote) from Robertson Stephens. Also providing some enthusiasm was news the Federal Trade Commission is expected to approve the online auto parts marketplace that will be run with Commerce One(CMRC Quote) technology. Commerce One was recently up 6.9%.

In a wrapup of the Robertson Stephens conference from last week, analyst Eric Upin reiterated buy ratings on both i2 and Ariba Regarding i2, Upin suggested there would be "healthy upside" to third quarter estimates of $285 million in revenues and operating earnings per share of 10 cents. It was lately up 4.3%.

Regarding Ariba, Upin noted that three issues surfaced from the meeting-- the health of the Ariba/i2/IBM alliance; the strength of business in August and possible European softness; and the mix of revenue. But Upin wrote that he believed those issues "were blown out of proportion" and none of them would impact current fourth quarter numbers. Ariba was lately up 1.3%.

10:59 a.m.: Tech Feeling Stronger in Early Action on Bargain-Hunting

Technology stocks were placed in the spotlight in this weekend's Barron's, but the sector remained on the defensive early today in follow-through selling from Friday.

The Nasdaq was up 14 to 3992 in recent trading. The Comp has moved higher as traders are hunting for some bargains after last week's decline. TheStreet.com Internet Sector index was up 12 to 821.

Net/Tech Indices INDEX CHANGE % VALUE TSC Internet 9.49 +1.21% 818.71 TSC E-Commerce 0.26 +0.55% 47.49 TSC E-Finance 0.44 +0.69% 50.03 Nasdaq 9.63 +0.24% 3988.00

Barron's cover story was on "The Best Tech Stocks." Barron's did a roundtable with Kevin Landis, who runs several portfolios for Firsthand Funds, Roger McNamee, partner with Integral Capital Partners investment firm and Walter Price Jr. a managing director of Dresdner RCM Global Investors. All three gave their top picks in the sector.

Among McNamee's picks were Amazon.com (AMZN Quote), Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC Quote), BEA Systems (BEAS Quote), Extreme Networks (EXTR Quote); Exodus Communications (EXDS Quote), Flextronics (FLEX Quote), ONI Systems (ONIS Quote), Informatica (INFA Quote) PMC-Sierra (PMCS Quote) Portal Software (PRSF Quote)and 3Com (COMS Quote). He also mentioned a few other companies, including Sycamore Networks (SCMR Quote), ONI Systems (ONIS Quote), Corvis (CORV Quote), Copper Mountain Networks (CMTN Quote) and Tut Systems (TUTS Quote).

Among Landis' picks were DMC Stratex Networks (STXN Quote), Furukawa Electric (FUWAF Quote), Globix (GBIX Quote), P-Com (PCOM Quote), Teledyne Technologies (TDY Quote), TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT Quote), Wind River Systems (WIND Quote) and Zoran (ZRAN Quote). He also mentioned Teledyne Technologies (symbol Quote) as an optical play, but panned Eastman Kodak (EK Quote).

Among Price's picks were Ariba (ARBA Quote), BroadVision (BVSN Quote), Check Point Software (CHKP Quote), Compaq Computer (CPQ Quote), Commerce One (CMRC Quote), eBay (EBAY Quote), Electronic Arts (ERTS Quote), i2 Technologies (ITWO Quote), Motorola (MOT Quote) and Oracle (ORCL Quote).

Elsewhere, shares of Commerce One (CMRC Quote) were up 7.2% on news that the Federal Trade Commission is expected to approve the online auto parts marketplace -- named Covisint -- that will be run by Commerce One technology. Covisint was put together by Ford (F Quote), General Motors (GM Quote) and DaimlerChrysler (DCX Quote), who plan to use it to buy parts online.

priceline.com (PCLN Quote) was getting a boost from news that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal had agreed to invest $50 million in the company. It was up 3.9%. Under the terms of the investment, Prince Alwaleed will purchase from priceline.com founder Jay Walker a forward contract to buy two million shares of priceline.com common stock at $25 per share. The agreement entitles Prince Alwaleed to take title to the priceline.com shares no earlier than September 8, 2001, and no later than September 8, 2002. The prince invested $50 million in priceline and five other Internet stocks back in April.