Stocks took a huge hit today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 5.5 per cent. The Dow Jones US Technology Index went a little further than that, sliding 5.8. But overall, the tech sector was, well, not completely horrifying.
There were a few bright spots. Or at least, less dim. Apple, which had more cash on hand than the US Treasury last week, was hit hard, dropping more than 20 points. But in fairness, at 5.46 per cent it did slightly better than the market as a whole. Microsoft and IBM also beat the Dow today. (Although Dell was hammered, losing 7.37 per cent. Oracle even more so, losing 8.22 per cent.)
And when you compare the US Technology Index to other US indexes on the Dow, it’s doing comparatively better. The overall US index was down 6.95 per cent, for example, while the US Financials index lost 9.73 per cent, and Oil and Gas lost 8.4 per cent. The Dow Jones US Total Stock Market Index fell a full 7 per cent.
Is this good news? No. It was a terrible day. And whether or not there’s a technology bubble on top of everything else remains to be seen. But if you were heavily invested in tech stocks, you can take some small solace in knowing that it could have been worse.