Crash? What crash?
Stocks have recovered almost all of what they gave away a week ago. And tech issues are leading the rebound.
Technology stocks enjoyed a fantastic run Monday that pushed both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ composite up near the levels they were trading at before last Monday's 554-point loss.
The Dow surged 232.31 points, or 3.1 percent, to 7674.40; while the NASDAQ rose 36.54 points, or 2.3 percent, to 1630.15.
Just a week removed from the largest one-day point loss in market history, investors on Monday resumed trading with momentum established Friday and a renewed sense of confidence in the global economy. Before losing 554 points last Monday, the Dow was trading at 7715.41 -- or about 40 points higher than Monday's close.
"Anyone who says they know why the market's up today is lying," said Jim Poyner, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. "Part of it is due to what happened in Asia and part of it is people realize these blue-chip tech stocks are solid and will be through the fourth quarter. There's also an element of American pride, too."
Remember, it was the plunging stock markets in Asia and Latin America that played a central role in last week's 554-point dive. And if only briefly, American investors found themselves in the unusual role of reacting to foreign markets rather than dictating to them.
"Some people decided they weren't scared of the foreign markets, at least not enough to change their investment strategies," Poyner said. "They're saying that although the markets are off abroad, the fundamentals of these stocks, your Dells, Compaqs and Microsofts, haven't changed to the point that justifies last week's sell-off."
Fast forwarding to Monday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 5.9 percent overnight. In essence, the Hong Kong market caught a dose of optimism originating from Wall Street on Friday, when the Dow gained 60.41 points to 7442.08 while the NASDAQ surged up 23.18 points to 1593.49.
Virtually every segment of technology stocks provided evidence of a rebound Monday.
Among PC makers, Dell Computer Corp. was up $3.13 per share to $83.25. Compaq Computer Corp. rose $3.25 per share to $67.25, while Gateway 2000 and IBM were up 31 cents and $3.13 per share, respectively.
So-called new-media stocks, which took a tremendous drop in last week's meltdown, made a robust recovery. E*Trade Group Inc., which came under fire for delays in online stock transactions during the slide, gained $1.94 per share to $32.81. American Online Inc. was up $2.81 per share to $79.81, while Internet search firms Yahoo! Inc. and Excite Inc. were up $2.25 and 69 cents per share, respectively.
Microsoft Corp. was up $4.13 per share to $134.13. Oracle Corp. picked up 9 cents per share to $35.88 and Sun Microsystems Inc. gained $2.38 per share to $36.63.
In the networking segment, Cisco Systems Inc. improved $2.69 per share to $84.72. 3Com Corp. rose $2 per share to $43.44 and Bay Networks Inc. shot up $2.63 per share to $34.25.
Even the beleaguered disk drive stocks got a boost. Iomega Corp. shares soared $1.69 per share to $28.50 while Quantum Corp. rose $2.06 per share to $33.69.
Timing may also be on the side of technology investors as more than 500 high-tech firms began pitching their promise to financial analysts at an American Electronics Association conference in San Diego.
"(The conference) will shed some light on what we can expect in the next couple of months," Poyner said. "After all the fretting and near-panic of last week, I expect it will have a positive, calming effect. At least, I hope it does."