Preopen Trading: Hewlett-Packard's Miss Sets Up Ugly Start for Stocks

H-P tumbles before the bell and Internet incubator CMGI's slide continues.

Author:: Betsy Riley
Publish date:: Nov 13, 2000 8:08 AM EST

H-P tumbles before the bell and Internet incubator CMGI's slide continues.

So, the day's already gotten off to a bad start -- that's not a good sign for an already nervous market.

Hewlett-Packard

(HWP)

announced this morning that it missed fourth-quarter estimates by 10 cents. The company also announced this morning that it ended discussions to acquire the consulting arm of

PricewaterhouseCoopers

. The bid had been seen as a move to bolster the services part of its business. Hewlett-Packard, a computer and imaging giant, lately was down $5.13 to $34 in heavy before-the-bell trading on the electronic brokerage

Instinet

TheStreet.com

wrote more about

H-P's earnings in a separate story this morning.

Internet incubator

CMGI

(CMGI)

continued the slide it started last week after an online advertising company in which it has a majority interest,

Engage

(ENGA)

, announced lower-than-expected revenue. CMGI lately was down 6.4%, or $1, to $14.62.

Let's call a spade a spade. There's not much green on Instinet's list of the 20 most actively traded stocks in preopen action, with