PalmOne has been at the center of speculation in the handheld space this week.
On Tuesday, shares of PalmOne plunged 11% on high volume after an A.G. Edwards research report mentioned possible competition from Nokia for the company’s highly-regarded Treo 600. If true, the move could be good news for beleaguered Nokia, and a potential setback for PalmOne’s high-flying Treo sales.
On Wednesday, Sierra Wireless tumbled after the company warned that it may lose PalmOne’s Treo business, but the stock managed to recover most of its losses by the close.
On the plus side, investors finally ignored the steady drumbeat of negative analyst comments about Intel’s upcoming mid-quarter update long enough to send tech stocks higher on Wednesday. The broader market lagged on weak manufacturing reports and rising oil prices.
The Nasdaq rose 12 to 1850, the S&P 500 added 1 to 1105, and the Dow slipped 5 to 10,168. Volume rose to 1.13 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.43 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 20-12 on the NYSE, and 18-12 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 64% on the NYSE, and 73% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 176-7 on the NYSE, and 109-40 on the Nasdaq.
Fairchild Semi rose 4% after reaffirming guidance.
Copper Mountain plunged 33% after the company said it is exploring strategic alternatives.
Open Text tumbled 23% after missing estimates. Ingram Micro
rose 2% after reaffirming guidance.
Education stocks rose on strong results from Corinthian Colleges . Apollo
gained 4%.
eBay climbed 1% on a move into Korea.
SCO declined 3% on its results.
Drugstore.com climbed 5% on a contract with the state of Ohio.
CryptoLogic rose 5% on an upgrade, while Cohu
fell 6% on a downgrade.
