Chris Nerney

If I were one of the millions of customers whose personal information may have been exposed because of a security flaw in Microsoft’s vaunted .NET Passport service, I’d be pretty concerned. If I were running a business that depends on Internet transactions, I’d be pretty ticked off. This is exactly the kind of high-profile incident […]

In the weeks and months following 9/11, I thought morale in the U.S. IT industry couldn’t get any worse. Already reeling from the dot-com implosion, an incipient recession and a seemingly ceaseless wave of layoffs, American IT workers shared in the shock and horror of an unprecedented, deadly terrorist attack. Now, nearly 18 months later, […]

Like everyone else on the planet with an email address, I suffer a daily bombardment of spam. Wednesday was quite typical with 240 messages finding their way to my corporate email inbox. A mind-boggling 116 of them (or roughly 48 percent) were unsolicited commercial emails. And that total doesn’t even include several personal financial appeals […]

Stocks began their first full post-holiday trading week with an impressive show of strength Monday, as all major exchanges opened up and gained altitude through most of the session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 34.2, or 2.5%, to close at 1421.3, while the Dow Jones rose 171.9, or 2.0%, to finish at 8773.6. The S&P climbed […]

For some years now we’ve been hearing about the inevitable, even imminent, fall of Microsoft, the software giant that everyone loves to hate. From the Internet to Java to the U.S. Department of Justice, there was always some brave white knight on the horizon ready to cut the Redmond colossus down to size. Through all […]

More good economic news helped stocks rebound Wednesday from a one-day setback, giving the market new momentum as it reaches the Thanksgiving holiday trading break. The Dow Jones gained 256, or 3.0%, to close at 8932.8 while the Nasdaq rose 44.3, or 3.1%, to 1488.7. The S&P 500 advanced 27, or 3.0%, to 940. Despite […]

Stocks retreated from a seven-week rally Tuesday as investors appeared to engage in profit-taking prior to the Thankgiving holiday trading break. The Nasdaq tumbled 37.5 or 2.5%, to 1444.4, while the Dow Jones fell 173, or 1.96%, to 8676.4. The S&P 500 dropped 19.6, or 2.1%, to 913.3. Traders responded to positive economic news Tuesday […]

Stocks recovered from a midday slump to finish on the upside Monday as investors were buoyed by a surprisingly strong report on home sales. The Dow Jones rose 44.6, or 0.5%, to 8849, while the Nasdaq climbed 13.2, or 0.9%, to 1482. The S&P gained 2.3 to 933. It was a good start to a […]

Four years, millions of dollars in legal fees and countless court documents have passed since the U.S. Department of Justice launched its antitrust case against Microsoft. In the wake of Friday’s court ruling affirming a settlement between the software giant and the DOJ, it’s fair to say that this arduous process has brought one major […]

A bad week ended on a worse note for investors Friday as the Dow Jones fell for the ninth time in the past 10 trading days and shares of tech giants Sun Microsytems and AOL Time Warner were pounded. The Dow tumbled 390 points, or 4.8%, to 8019, its lowest close since September 1998. The […]

After a one-day respite, stocks resumed their grim descent Thursday, with all major indexes giving up Wednesday’s gains and much more amid a slew of mixed earnings reports. The Dow Jones tumbled 133 points, nearly twice Wednesday’s gain of 69, finishing at 8409. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also nearly doubled Wednesday’s gains with losses, dropping 40 […]

After starting strong and then wilting into the early afternoon, stocks rebounded enough Thursday to post modest gains and give shaken investors some hope that a bottom is near. The Dow Jones ended a seven-day skid — its longest in 18 years — to finish the day up 69 to 8542. The Nasdaq gained 22 […]