Micromuse Falls on Downgrades
Updated from 8:54 a.m.
Micromuse
(MUSE)
was down 9.2% in early trading after suffering a slew of downgrades on fears that slowing IT spending in Europe will hurt earnings.
CIBC World Markets
downgraded the stock to hold from strong buy,
Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown
downgraded it to buy from strong buy,
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
to neutral from strong buy, and
Wit SoundView
to buy from strong buy.
Shares fell 19% Wednesday on rumors that the software company would warn on third-quarter results. At a technology conference in New York Wednesday, CEO Greg Brown did not offer specific guidance, but added that the business environment was the most difficult he has seen.
Other business software stocks were suffering today, including
Siebel
(SEBL)
, down 10.7%, and
i2
(ITWO)
, down 11.4%.