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- BUSINESS, Page 59Business NotesWALL STREETA Bad Case Of the Blues
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- Few stocks can move the market like Big Blue. IBM, whose $63
- billion value ranks No. 1 among U.S. public companies, is
- America's most heavily traded stock, typically accounting for
- at least 25% of the stock market's activity. Last week the
- world's largest computer company demonstrated its mighty
- influence when it stunned Wall Street with a disappointing
- earnings report. After IBM announced Tuesday that first-quarter
- profits would be $514 million instead of the $1.03 billion
- analysts had expected, the stock plunged, cutting the company's
- value $7 billion in a single day. The rest of the market
- followed, tumbling 62 points in the biggest one-day loss since
- Oct. 9. The market lost 89 points for the week, one-third of
- the decline attributed to IBM.
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- With 61% of its revenues coming from abroad, IBM blamed an
- international economic slowdown and the Persian Gulf war for
- poor earnings. Big Blue's bad news was especially troubling for
- other computer companies, such as Digital Equipment and NCR,
- whose stocks also fell as traders anticipated similar earnings
- declines.
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