Four Horsemen of Tech Look Lame

This column was originally published on RealMoney on Sept. 13 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers.

Four blue-chip tech stocks ruled the roost in the 1990s. Analysts and advisers pounded the tables back then, telling every baby boomer to buy these leaders and hold them until retirement.

That was great advice for a few years, but things changed considerably after the bubble burst. These four horsemen of the tech revolution, Intel(INTC Quote), Dell Computer(DELL Quote), Cisco Systems(CSCO Quote) and Microsoft(MSFT Quote) have underperformed the market throughout the three-year bull advance.

On Monday, I discussed why the tech sector is critical to the longevity of this rally. Today I'll look at price action in these blue-chips and see if they're helping or hurting the bulls' cause. Considering their high exposure to key indices, these stocks can mean the difference between life and death for this uptrend.

Dell Computer

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