Technology has not gotten any breaks from the Wall Street meltdown, and it appears there will be no shelter here from any crisis. Technology stocks were once considered a safe haven from the financial sector, but this time around, the credit crisis is taking no prisoners.
Aaron Ricadela for BusinessWeek reports that as the credit crisis got worse, the values of tech companies went up because of their stores of cash, low debt and hefty overseas sales that take advantage of the weak dollar. The latest rally of the dollar is erasing currency gains, with layoffs, credit tightening and low profits squeezing information technology’s budget.
The major indexes soared in Friday, while Nasdaq hit a wall. In the last month, the tech index has been hit harder than the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average and has fallen by 8.8%. The Dow is off by 0.3% in the time, while the S&P is down 1.5%.
Tech stocks are threatened by consolidation, competition and conservative spending. Dell (DELL) said a few days ago that it was seeing lower demand on conservative IT spending. And since the dollar began to strengthen against the euro, stocks of Apple (AAPL) and Oracle (ORCL) have gotten hammered.
While tech stocks haven’t been doing so well, financial websites have: Wall Street’s volatile week has led many to the internet to check their portfolios, move money around or just to get more information, reports Barbara Ortutay for the Associated Press.
- Technology Select SPDR (XLK): down 21.8% year-to-date; Apple is 6.7%; Oracle is 3.8%
- iShares Dow Jones US Technology (IYW): down 18.5% year-to-date; Apple is 7.3%; Dell is 2.3% and Oracle is 4.4%
- iShares S&P GSTI Technology (IGM): down 17% year-to-date; Apple is 6.4%; Oracle is 3.9%
- PowerShares QQQ (QQQQ): down 15.4% year-to-date; Apple is 13.2%; Oracle is 2.9%
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.