Microsoft Jumps as Remedies Reprieved
Somehow the story does not mention that MS opposed having the case expedited to the Supreme Court.
MS Wins To Have Case Go to Appellate Court >>> MS Up
MS Loses When Appellate Agrees Trial Court to Expedite Hearing by Supremes >>> MS UP
MS Broken Up >>> MS Up
MS Not Broken UP >>> MS Up
You can't get such good odds at the dog track.
By William L. Watts, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:08 PM ET Jun 21, 2000 NewsWatch
Latest headlines
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Microsoft shares surged Wednesday to their highest level since April, boosted by a federal judge?s decision to delay a series of sweeping conduct restrictions until after the software maker exhausts appeals in the landmark antitrust case.
The unexpected stay order, issued late Tuesday, also allowed investors to turn their focus to the company?s upcoming announcement of a new Internet strategy, analysts said.
Shares of Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs) rose 5 3/4, or more than 7 percent, to 80 11/16 in heavy trade. The software giant?s rally was credited with boosting the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU: news, msgs) and the technology-dominated Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPQ: news, msgs).
So now a company whose future, regardless, is bad news is holding up $INDU and $COMPX. Isn't there a song "I'm walking on sunshine"?
Microsoft's shares have rebounded by more than 25 percent in the last several weeks but remain about $40 below their 52-week high.
The staying of the remedies is certainly a positive development for Microsoft since the company?s efforts to compete in the emerging markets could have been hindered had this not happened,? said Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette analyst Joe Farley in a note to clients.
Dodging conduct restrictions bullet
Microsoft had argued that its ability to push ahead with the company?s business strategy would be severely undercut unless the entire court order was stayed. In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, the company said its share price could suffer if the conduct restrictions took effect as planned on Sept. 5.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson certified the case for direct review by the Supreme Court, a move that could result in the company?s appeal of the antitrust ruling skipping by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
The move wasn?t unexpected, but it was still a rare maneuver for a federal judge to take.
It will be up to the Supreme Court to decide whether to hear the case or send it through the usual appeals process via the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Jackson, in a June 7 ruling, ordered Microsoft split into two companies to remedy violations of antitrust law.
The judge automatically stayed the physical breakup until the company exhausts its appeals, but the clock was started on a number of conduct restrictions that were initially slated to take effect within 90 days. He had also ordered the company to submit a detailed breakup plan within four months.
Jackson?s decision to certify the case for review by the Supreme Court followed an intense round of legal wrangling between the government and the company over the shape of the appeals process.
The government has argued that an immediate Supreme Court review is needed given the economic importance of the case. Microsoft, which received a favorable ruling from the appeals court in an earlier antitrust case, has strenuously argued that the appeal of Jackson?s breakup ruling should next move to the appellate level.
Predictable reactions
A Microsoft spokesman on Tuesday applauded the judge?s decision to stay the order but said the Redmond, Wash.-based company still feels the appeals court is the most appropriate venue for its appeal.
The Justice Department applauded Jackson?s certification of the case for high court review.
?As our filings in district court explained, this is an appropriate case to go directly to the Supreme Court under the Expediting Act because of its importance to the American economy and to all consumers,? the Justice Department said in a statement.
But the government said the decision to stay the appeal, which it had argued against, makes it imperative that the case be decided as quickly as possible.
?Given the district court?s decision to stay the remedy during the appeal process, the direct appeal to the Supreme Court is of particular importance to the national interest,? the Justice Department statement said
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