It will be interesting to hear NVEI's perspective on how Supercomm went:
Sector dips, gets no Supercomm lift
By Jeffry Bartash, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 5:16 PM ET June 5, 2002
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Telecommunications stocks slid lower on Wednesday, failing to get a boost from the industry's big annual powwow.
Hundreds of telecom companies gathered in Atlanta this week at the Supercomm to show off new products and services, but the trade show didn't generate its typical buzz.
With so many companies failing or struggling financially, Wall Street has soured on the industry and few are predicting a rebound anytime soon. On Wednesday, Ericsson's chief executive told Financial Times that the industry slump might last beyond 2003.
At day end, the American Stock Exchange's Networking Index, which represents large manufacturers, fell 2.1 percent. Every stock in the group declined except for Nokia (NOK: news, chart, profile) and Juniper Networks (JNPR: news, chart, profile). Each rose about 1 percent.
Nortel Networks (NT: news, chart, profile) dropped 11 percent, down 20 cents to $1.60.
The Nasdaq Telecommunications Index, which tracks younger equipment manufacturers and phone carriers, dipped 0.9 percent.
Thirteen of the top 20 stocks retreated, though movement was muted. JDS Uniphase (JDSU: news, chart, profile) was one of the most active, down 6.6 percent to $3.12.
Meanwhile, big phone stocks, as measured by Standard & Poor's Communications Services Index, dipped 0.1 percent.
Small gains in BellSouth (BLS: news, chart, profile) and SBC Communications (SBC: news, chart, profile) pulled the group nearly even despite declines in all the other big phone stocks.
WorldCom (WCOM: news, chart, profile) decreased 2.5 percent to $1.41 amid news that the company may eliminate up to 20 percent of its workforce. After the markets closed, the company said it would exit the wireless business. See full story.
Elsewhere, wireless stocks ended narrowly mixed.
