Oracle shook up the software industry on Friday when it made a hostile bid for PeopleSoft
.
PeopleSoft soared 18% on the news – 10% higher than Oracle’s $16 offer price – on speculation that other companies may now make a bid for the enterprise application company.
PeopleSoft called the move “atrociously bad behavior,” and called Oracle’s offer an attempt to derail PeopleSoft’s attempt to acquire JD Edwards . JDEC stock rose only 3.2% on the day – the widening gulf between JDEC and PSFT stock means that investors now see increased risk for the companies’ merger plans.
The broader market initially soared on a better than expected jobless report – but then sold off hard the rest of the day on near-record volume.
The Nasdaq fell 18 to 1627, the S&P 500 lost 2 to 987, and the Dow gained 21 to 9062. Volume rose to 1.84 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.98 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led by a few issues on the NYSE, and by 17-14 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 56% on the NYSE, and 62% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 577-2 on the NYSE, and 446-5 on the Nasdaq.
Microsoft fell once again on concerns about growth, the Linux challenge and insider selling.
IBM lost 2.3% on a Business Week article that said an SEC investigation into the company’s revenue recognition practices may be broader than reported.
Intel slipped 0.4% despite a mid-quarter update that was initially well received.
HP , up 0.6%, remains the top storage company, although IBM and Dell
are growing fast.
Leaders eBay , Yahoo
and Amazon
lost 4-6% each.
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