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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (47920)	5/21/2010 3:13:08 PM
From: Donald Wennerstrom	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95471

Thursday, May 20, 2010 Technology Shares Slide As Growth Prospects are Questioned The volatility in the markets Thursday struck the technology sector more than the broader market, with large-cap technology names such as Google (GOOG: 472.91, -2.1, -0.44%), Applied Materials (AMAT: 12.59, -0.1, -0.79%) and Cisco Systems (CSCO: 23.13, -0.18, -0.77%) all down sharply in midday trading. The sharp loss on the Nasdaq Composite, which is comprised of many large technology names, follows a nearly month-long pattern in the technology sector, which has posted sharper declines (and larger gains) in comparison to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 during the ongoing European debt crisis. The Nasdaq Composite is on pace for its worst month since February 2009 and the SPDR Select Technology ETF is down 10.3% this month alone. As severe as the selling on Nasdaq has been Thursday, it's not close to ranking among the worst single days ever, on a point or percentage basis. The vicious selling that hit the market in April of 2000 stands alone; the Nasdaq lost a stunning 355 points on April 14, 2000. In fact, the four worst selloffs ever came in the first two weeks of that month in 2000, with additional losses of 349, 286 and 258 points. On a percentage basis, the shellacking on Oct. 19, 1987, remains unrivaled, an 11.4% selloff that amounted to 46 points at the time. Among the names down Thursday, Dell (DELL: 13.2925, -1.0275, -7.18%) shares were off 4% ahead of the PC maker's quarterly results after today's closing bell. Analysts expect Dell to report a profit of 27 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters. Semiconductor maker Applied Materials saw its shares fall more than 3.2% despite swinging to a quarterly profit in its fiscal second-quarter. The per-share results were barely above estimates and sales fell slightly short. With today’s losses, the Nasdaq Composite is now down 1.57% for the year, compared with the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s loss of 2.14% and the S&P 500’s loss of 2.6%. But the Nasdaq is down more compared with its 2010 high; the Nasdaq is up 11% compared with the Dow’s 2010 climb of 6.7% and the S&P 500's climb of 8.4%. The technology sector traditionally has what’s known as a “high-beta,” where tech stocks have more exaggerated moves during the market's rises or falls. Traders said with the concerns in Europe, growth investors who typically purchase technology names have been pulling out of the market at a quicker pace than more vanilla investors, causing technology to fall more sharply. “With the nervousness in Asia and Europe, growth investors have been bigger sellers in the last couple weeks,” said Michael James, senior equity trader with Wedbush Morgan in Los Angeles. James expects that when the Europe debt crisis abides, technology investors will return to the market. foxbusiness.com