Thursday: Big Turquoise Bops the Dow
By
John J. Edwards III
Staff Reporter
Just as expected, this morning's negative
Wall Street Journal
story on
IBM
(IBM) - Get Report
has put a hurting on Big Turquoise's shares and has contributed to a continuing loss in the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
. But what wasn't expected was how modest the Big Aquamarine effect has been.
"The IBM news in the paper today was kind of old news," one trader said. He acknowledged there are concerns about Big Azure's ability to meet its earnings estimates, but he said there's been little spillover to other stocks: "There are a lot of bottom-fishers in technology today."
Another trader agreed. "We haven't really seen too much overflow on the Nasdaq side," he said. "Most of our tech names are within a point either way."
Indeed, while IBM's slide of 3 1/8 to 130 5/8 has taken about 9.4 points out of the Dow, many other tech issues are holding their own. By midmorning,
Hewlett-Packard
(HWP)
was off 1/2 to 50 1/8, but
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Report
was up 3/4 to 48 1/4,
Bay Networks
(BAY)
had added 1/8 to 16 3/4 and
Cascade
(CSCC)
had jumped 2 1/8 to 28 1/4.
"Clients feel that we're getting close to a place where the market's going to bottom out," a trader said. The
Nasdaq Composite Index
certainly reflects that, finally poking above water after yesterday's close a point from 1200.
IBM wasn't alone in depressing the Dow. Negative
Merrill Lynch
comments on the oil industry knocked
Chevron
(CHV)
down 2 to 65 1/8 and dropped
Exxon
(XON) - Get Report
2 1/8 to 102 7/8.
