oh.... and like we didn't notice eh !
Tuesday November 16, 7:54 pm Eastern Time
Canadian high-tech stocks surge in season of shows
By Lydia Zajc
TORONTO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Canadian high-tech stocks continued to star on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday, commanding center stage during the season of technology shows.
Research In Motion Ltd. (NasdaqNM:RIMM - news)(Toronto:RIM.TO - news), hot maker of e-mail pagers, topped gaining issues in Toronto, up C$7.70 or 11 percent to close at C$77.20 after peaking at C$80.00.
On its heels was Internet security company Certicom Corp. (Toronto:CIC.TO - news), up C$6.85 or 24 percent to C$35.10.
Nortel Networks Corp.(Toronto:NT.TO - news), one of the world's biggest makers of communications systems, extended recent gains to hit a record high of C$114 earlier in the day before beating a small retreat. By the close, it was up C$2.20 at C$112.00.
Fund manager Duncan Stewart at Tera Capital said that Canadian technology issues tend to grab the spotlight from November until spring, because of a stream of technology conferences.
The industrial products index on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which encompasses most high-tech issues, soared to 7801.31 points at its summit on Tuesday, a gain of about 9.4 percent from last Monday's low of 7132.66.
The season when technology companies parade their wares began last week with the American Electronics Association show in San Diego and extended into this week as the huge Comdex computer products show in Las Vegas captivated investors, Stewart said.
Comdex excitement gave extra punch to some stocks including software maker Corel Corp. (Toronto:COR.TO - news), the second most active issue in Toronto, up C$1.80 to close at C$16.70 after hitting a high of C$16.95 earlier. Volume topped 4.3 million shares.
``There's a tremendous seasonality in the high-tech business. Every year between November and March, you see this terrific run in technology stocks. And since 1982, that cycle has never been broken,' Stewart said. ``You've got the normal seasonality, plus you've got Comdex, plus a lot of good news for these companies.'
Corel Chief Executive and founder Michael Cowpland said on Tuesday that the booth for his Ottawa-based company, which is launching its desktop computer version of the Linux operating system version at Comdex, has been swarmed.
``We've been surrounded by hundreds of zealots all show and we've had by far the most crowded booth at the Linux Pavilion. Way more crowded than Red Hat (Inc. (NasdaqNM:RHAT - news) of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) for example,' Cowpland told Reuters from the show.
Linux, seen as a rival to the dominant Windows system from Microsoft Corp., is an open source system with an estimated 10-12 million users.
Adding to the fever, Corel said on Tuesday that it had joined a fast-growing Application Service Provider industry group. These companies offer Internet services and software via the Internet instead of on discs.
Corel soon will be able to offer Linux via the Internet.
``It's quite significant,' Cowpland said. ``There's an estimate that 50 percent of the business might move to Web-hosted software by 2003.'
On the negative side, Corel said on Tuesday that it had lost a lawsuit launched by Sacramento, California-based DigArts Software for breach of confidence, breaking an agreement and copyright infringement, with damages totaling about $32,600.
Software companies were not the only sought-after technology issues. Mark Pavan, analyst at Yorkton Securities, said that wireless data companies were ``going to the moon.'
Research In Motion was active while wireless modem maker Sierra Wireless Inc. (Toronto:SW.TO - news) hit a 52-week high of C$41.95 before fading slightly to close up C$1.95 at C$36.95.
One of the few losers in the high-tech scene was Newbridge Networks Corp. (Toronto:NNC.TO - news) -- down C$2.25 to C$27.25.
The computer networking company is rumored to be a takeover target. But the Globe and Mail newspaper reported that French telecommunications gear group Alcatel Alsthom said it was not interested in buying it, Stewart said.
($1=$1.47 Canadian)
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More Quotes
and News: Certicom Corp (Toronto:CIC.TO - news)
Corel Corp (Toronto:COR.TO - news)
Newbridge Networks Corp (Toronto:NNC.TO - news)
Nortel Networks Corp (Toronto:NT.TO - news)
Red Hat Inc (NasdaqNM:RHAT - news)
Research In Motion Ltd (Toronto:RIM.TO - news; NasdaqNM:RIMM - news)
Sierra Wireless Inc (Toronto:SW.TO - news)
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