Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Tuesday, September 21, 1999
Investors slice 12% off Apple's stock
CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Apple Computer Inc. shares fell 12 percent today after the personal-computer maker warned of lower fiscal fourth-quarter earnings because it didn't get enough Motorola Inc. processors to meet demand for new machines.Apple dropped $9.81 to $69.25 on trading of just under 30 million shares, making it the most active U.S. stock, according to Bloomberg News. Apple reached an intraday record $80.12 yesterday and had risen 93 percent this year before the warning.
The lower earnings are a setback for interim Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who has presided over seven quarters of rising profit by cutting workers and unveiling new products. Apple will sell only about half as many machines with the new G4 chip as forecast.
It also couldn't meet demand for its new PowerBook laptop computers earlier this year.
U.S. trade gap hits another record
WASHINGTON -- America's trade deficit ballooned to a monthly record of $25.2 billion in July as a flood of foreign cars, machinery and consumer goods pushed imports to an all-time high. The U.S. deficit with Japan, China and Western Europe all set records. The Commerce Department reported today that the trade deficit grew by 2.4 percent in July, surpassing the June imbalance of $24.6 billion. America's trade imbalance has climbed to new highs for seven straight months, pushing the gap between imports and exports to an annual rate of $247 billion.
Oracle, H-P sign deal to develop software
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Hewlett-Packard Co. and Oracle Corp. said today that they have reached a joint marketing pact to develop and deliver Oracle Internet software on a Hewlett-Packard platform. Under the pact, Hewlett-Packard Co. will use and promote the Oracle Sales component of Oracle Corp.'s Customer Relationship Management software suite. Oracle will make Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX(1) the strategic development platform for its e-business software.