Company Commits to Full Wireless HP Photosmart Printer Lineup by 2010

Company Adds Viacom to Customer Roster for Managed Print Services

Google Leads Another Day Of Big Tech Losses

HP is just jealous. Really.

I'm going to buy.

A lousy economy means a smaller market for PCs this year and next year, which prompted Citi analyst Richard Gardner to trim his growth estimates for HP (HPQ) and Dell (DELL) today. Gardner now thinks the PC industry will grow unit shipments 13% this year, down from his previous estimate of 15%; and 5% next year, down from his previous estimate of 10%-12%.

Because of that, the recent strengthening of the dollar, corporate job loss, decelerating global GDP growth, and declining disposable income, Gardner made the following cuts:

HP:

• 4FQ08 from $34.3B and $1.01 to $33.4B and $1.01
• FY09 from $145.0B and $4.35 to $138.0B and $4.16
• FY10 from $153.5B and $5.02 to $142.6B and $4.75

Dell:

• 4FQ09 from $17.0B and $0.39 to $16.9B and $0.39
• FY10 from $69.5B and $1.66 to $65.7B and $1.58
• FY11 from $73.2B and $1.87 to $68.3B and $1.74

Last week, Gardner sharply sliced his estimates for Apple (AAPL), predicting the iPod business could shrink next year, and that Mac growth would slow to 2% year-over-year unit growth, down from his previous estimate of 15% growth.

See Also:
Dell: Want To Pay More And Wait Longer To Watch "Iron Man"? Do We Have A Deal For You!
Piper Ups Apple Estimates, Morgan Stanley Whacks Big Tech, Citi Warns On Forex
Will Apple's Growth Engines Grind To A Halt In A Downturn? No
Apple Plunges After Downgrades: Slowing Demand, Crappy Economy

Tech Stocks Close With Wide Losses; Nasdaq Falls 4%

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Dell (DELL), eBay (EBAY), General Electric (GE), Motorola (MOT), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Citigroup Inc. (C), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Alcoa Inc (AA), American Express (AXP), Boeing Co (BA), Whole Foods Market (WFMI), Research in Motion (RIMM), Merck and Co (MRK)

After today, there are probably no more doubters left. We are in a bear market and we are in a recession and anyone arguing otherwise is living in a made-up world. The only thing left to argue over is how to get out of this dire situation, and how long it will last. Looking at stocks since the beginning of the year, and over the past month since the feds seized Fannie and Freddie, the picture isn't pretty. Many familiar names have vanished, many -- luckily -- have just seen their market value cut about in half. What once were some large stocks are now some of the smaller ones, including some DJIA components.

The following list is of selected familiar names and large stocks that have plunged significantly over these time periods. It does not include the obvious names such as AIG, Wachovia, GM and the likes, but decent stocks we all liked and knew over the years. By comparison, the Dow industrials is down 25% year-to-date, the S&P 500 down 28% during the same time and the Nasdaq Composite down nearly 30%. Over the past month (since the Fannie/Freddie rescue), the Dow declined over 11%, the S&P 500 declined nearly 15% and the Nasdaq declined over 17%.

• Alcoa (NYSE: AA) -- aluminum giant Alcoa is feeling the pains of a global economic slowdown and higher costs even as aluminum prices remain high. Alcoa shares hit a 10-year low today. YTD, AA market value has been cut in half, and over the past month alone Alcoa lost 36% of its value.
• American Express (NYSE: AXP) -- the credit card company had large exposure to bad loans that affected its results. With analysts expecting credit card debt to be the next shoe to drop, AXP may see its stock fall more than the 42.2% it already has YTD. It plunged 23.68% this past month.
  
• Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) -- even this consumer tech darling couldn't escape the claws of the bears as worries over demand for its products increased. AAPL, one of the stocks that actually had a positive day today and closed at $98.14, is down 50.45% YTD, 38.73% this past month.
  

• Boeing (NYSE: BA) -- not even the Dreamliner can help Boeing if no one is manufacturing it as the machinists strike goes on, and as airlines might have to scale back. BA was down 4.7% today to $51.21 -- a 4-year low, but lost 41.36% YTD, 18.44% over the past month.
• Citigroup (NYSE: C) -- this bank -- need I say more than 'bank'? -- has been plagued by all that's been plaguing financials throughout this not-over-yet crisis. Citi saw its stock fall 40.86% YTD, 8.7% the past month.
• Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) -- Michael Dell returned to the helm of this computer company, but investors far preferred Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ). DELL shares saw a 39.37% decline YTD, 27.19% over the past month.
  
• eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) -- eBay's problems started long before this crisis started showing its signs. The once-hot auction web site concept may now be passe. EBAY shares have declined 46.1% YTD, 24.74% this past month.
  
• General Electric (NYSE: GE) -- as a conglomerate GE should have been able to withstand the headwinds better, but with a large exposure to the financial sector through one of its segments, GE slid 42.33% YTD, 23.31% the past month.
  
• Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) -- concerns over slowing growth overall induced by less advertising expenditures have plagued this search giant. GOOG, which closed down 4.6% today at $269.14, dropped 46.32% YTD, 16.44% this past month.
  
• Merck (NYSE: MRK) -- as it tried to settle the Vioxx suit, Merck continued to hit one road block after another. Shares declined 48.3% YTD, 12.42% this past month.
• Motorola (NYSE: MOT) -- living off the RAZR high days for a while, Motorola finally realized it needs new hot products. It teamed up with Google to use its Android platform for mobile phones among other initiatives. Until the fruits are seen, and as long as Motorola is susceptible to the same growth problems arising from lower consumer spending, it will likely continue to be depressed, despite already plunging 61.72% YTD, 32.23% the past month.
• Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) -- Sprint continued to lose customers to its rivals even as it decided the merger with Nextel was not the success it had hoped it would be and that it was finally time to part ways. Shareholders were not impressed and Sprint shares lost nearly 60% of their value YTD, 33.92% the past month.
  
• Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) -- like rival smartphone maker Apple, concern over this once high-flying growth stock include softer demand from business as the economy slows. RIMM, which split 3:1 in August 2007, has dropped more than 47% YTD, most of it -- 44.22% -- in the last month alone.
  
• Sirius XM (NASDAQ: SIRI) -- what many hoped was keeping this stock depressed -- the merger -- was finally approved in June of this year. Despite it, SIRI has seen its stock plummet 83.48% YTD, declining 61.49% this past month alone. SIRI closed at $0.50 today and as it continues to trade below a $1, it stands the risk of being delisted from the Nasdaq.
  
• Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) -- while Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Costco (NASDAQ: COST) continue to shine in this environment, "Whole Paycheck" is having problems. The merger with Wild Oats only seems to have added issues. WFMI shares plunged 56% YTD, but surprisingly held steady the past month.
  

 

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US Stocks fell sharply lower on Monday as credit crisis intensified and investors remained nervous, despite concerted effort by governments across the world. Dow finished below 10,000 for the first time since 2004 on concern the $700 dollar bailout packag[More...]

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), Dell (DELL), eBay (EBAY), General Electric (GE), Motorola (MOT), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Citigroup Inc. (C), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Alcoa Inc (AA), American Express (AXP), Boeing Co (BA), Whole Foods Market (WFMI), Research in Motion (RIMM), Merck and Co (MRK)

After today, there are probably no more doubters left. We are in a bear market and we are in a recession and anyone arguing otherwise is living in a made-up world. The only thing left to argue over is how to get out of this dire situation, and how long it will last. Looking at stocks since the beginning of the year, and over the past month since the feds seized Fannie and Freddie, the picture isn't pretty. Many familiar names have vanished, many -- luckily -- have just seen their market value cut about in half. What once were some large stocks are now some of the smaller ones, including some DJIA components.

The following list is of selected familiar names and large stocks that have plunged significantly over these time periods. It does not include the obvious names such as AIG, Wachovia, GM and the likes, but decent stocks we all liked and knew over the years. By comparison, the Dow industrials is down 25% year-to-date, the S&P 500 down 28% during the same time and the Nasdaq Composite down nearly 30%. Over the past month (since the Fannie/Freddie rescue), the Dow declined over 11%, the S&P 500 declined nearly 15% and the Nasdaq declined over 17%.

• Alcoa (NYSE: AA) -- aluminum giant Alcoa is feeling the pains of a global economic slowdown and higher costs even as aluminum prices remain high. Alcoa shares hit a 10-year low today. YTD, AA market value has been cut in half, and over the past month alone Alcoa lost 36% of its value.
• American Express (NYSE: AXP) -- the credit card company had large exposure to bad loans that affected its results. With analysts expecting credit card debt to be the next shoe to drop, AXP may see its stock fall more than the 42.2% it already has YTD. It plunged 23.68% this past month.
  
• Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) -- even this consumer tech darling couldn't escape the claws of the bears as worries over demand for its products increased. AAPL, one of the stocks that actually had a positive day today and closed at $98.14, is down 50.45% YTD, 38.73% this past month.
  

Continue reading Big Losers: 15 large stocks that have plummeted

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Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Employees, International Business Machines (IBM), Oracle Corp (ORCL)

Tech stocks are following financials into the toilet. Yesterday, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), the world's largest software company, said it was taking a look at hiring. That is probably code for the firm saying it plans to cut or level out expense growth.

According to Reuters, Microsoft said, "Given the current economic environment we are taking the prudent step of reviewing our hiring plans and will make some adjustments as appropriate."

There had been some hope that technology spending would be close to immune to a slowing economy. Recent earnings from Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) confirmed that. But, the rapid deteriorating of GDP improvement and employment are leading many analysts to think that economic conditions have gotten much worse in the last two weeks.

In just five days, shares of IBM (NASDAQ: IBM) are off over 12%. Shares in Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) are down 8% over the same period.

Tech has been one of the rapid growing sectors in the economy over the past two years. If hiring stops for these companies, or if the industry goes into a cycle of layoffs, it could deepen the recession very quickly.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

 

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Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Employees, International Business Machines (IBM), Oracle Corp (ORCL)

Tech stocks are following financials into the toilet. Yesterday, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), the world's largest software company, said it was taking a look at hiring. That is probably code for the firm saying it plans to cut or level out expense growth.

According to Reuters, Microsoft said, "Given the current economic environment we are taking the prudent step of reviewing our hiring plans and will make some adjustments as appropriate."

There had been some hope that technology spending would be close to immune to a slowing economy. Recent earnings from Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) confirmed that. But, the rapid deteriorating of GDP improvement and employment are leading many analysts to think that economic conditions have gotten much worse in the last two weeks.

In just five days, shares of IBM (NASDAQ: IBM) are off over 12%. Shares in Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) are down 8% over the same period.

Tech has been one of the rapid growing sectors in the economy over the past two years. If hiring stops for these companies, or if the industry goes into a cycle of layoffs, it could deepen the recession very quickly.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Schaeffer's Colleen S. King takes a look at activity on the Street after the market close

Schaeffer's Colleen S. King takes a look at activity on the Street ahead of the market open

Tom Dorsey and Tammy DeRosier Ask "Do You Feel Lucky?"

Schaeffer's Laura Houser takes a look at activity on the Street after the market close

Schaeffer's Laura Houser takes a look at activity on the Street after the market close