Brocade shares hammered by downgrade

Brocade Communications shares tumbled 16 points, or 15 percent, to 94 1/4 at midday Monday after USB Piper Jaffray cut the maker of equipment for storage area networks from a "buy" recommendation to a "hold." Analyst Ashok Kumar downgraded Brocade (Nasdaq: BRCD) after privately held Nishan Systems rolled out a rival product that could erode its head start in this burgeoning market. Full story. -- Larry Barrett, ZDNet Inter@ctive Investor