To: John Madarasz who wrote (13599 ) 9/14/2001 3:02:12 PM From: stockman_scott Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 209892 Market not doomed... September 14, 2001 12:00 AM ET by Michelle Rushlo The nation, and the financial community, in particular, continues to reel from the heart-wretching terrorist-caused deaths on the East Coast. Some market watchers had initially predicted the attacks would tip the faltering economy into recession, but many now expect the economy to prosper in the long term. "There's certainly sectors that will feel the impact," said John Davidson, chief investment officer at Circle Trust Co. But "I see some opportunities here for greater and swifter economic and monetary policy to give us stronger growth going forward." Following the destruction of the World Trade Center, the Federal Reserve board made it clear that it was monitoring the situation and would provide more liquidity if necessary. Davidson believes that may lead to more aggressive interest rate cuts. Congress also seems ready to stop fighting over the budget, at least temporarily, and will apparently approve $20 billion in emergency spending to help deal with the crisis. Bullish in the long term U.S. equities markets are closed for the fourth day this week, the longest New York Stock Exchange shutdown since the start of World War I. Market officials say trading should resume on Monday. When the markets do reopen, analysts generally expect a drop, as individual investors retreat and some institutional investors trim positions. Airline and insurance company stocks are obvious targets for selling, and the specter of a U.S. military reaction casts more uncertainty over the markets. "From a psychological perspective, it pushes consumer confidence over the edge," said Briefing.com technology analyst Damon Southward. But he and Davidson both say that overall, the financial picture does not necessarily look bleak. If the market drops 10 percent or 11 percent in the first week after the reopening, it could provide the market capitulation that many have been waiting for, Southward said. "Fund managers are actually getting bullish," he said. "It's a long-term positive. Short-term, I would be worried." Tech stands to gain But he and Davidson both say technology stocks overall could stand to gain. Data backup and recovery could be of particular interest as many companies think twice about putting off those projects in light of the World Trade Center destruction. Data recovery and backup "is a pain and it's expensive," Davidson said. With tight budgets, some companies may have thought they could squeeze by on older systems, but Tuesday's events will probably make them think twice about procrastinating further. And, an update of backup systems could drive more sales of personal computers, servers and software, he said. "That may give an earlier start to tech companies than we might have otherwise achieved," he said. Southward agreed. He said more interest in data storage and disaster recovery companies could benefit firms like data storage giant EMC (EMC) and SunGard Data Systems (SDS), a lesser-known information technology provider focused on financial companies. Investors and fund managers know that technology will still be a leading play over the next several years, he said. "So when they buy it, they are going to buy a lot of it. They'll buy it hot and heavy."