H-P's Daze Puts Fiorina Watch on High Alert

Sure, maybe tech spending will rocket back to its late-1990s form. But with each new signal to the contrary, Wall Street loses a little more patience with Hewlett-Packard (HWP Quote) CEO Carly Fiorina.

H-P warned Thursday that fiscal third-quarter sales would fall below well-lowered expectations, and set plans to fire 6,000 additional workers. It's the third time H-P has warned on its third quarter. It's the sixth time H-P has warned in 2001. And though there's little to be done about a global slowdown in demand for tech gear, it's raising the question of how short time is for the woman H-P chose to lead its recovery just two years ago last week.

"They wanted someone who would be just like [IBM's Lou] Gerstner," says Fred Hickey, editor of the High-Tech Strategist newsletter. "Someone who would buy back a lot of shares and financially engineer the company. H-P's shares weren't being rewarded and IBM's were. But she came in too late and ended up in a buzz saw. She's not long for the world." (Hickey has no position in H-P.)

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