“The last 12 months has seen the Dow Jones industrial average
rising just over 4 per cent while the NASDAQ composite index has
doubled. In the same period, Microsoft’s share price has gone up
just 23 percent, and so is seriously underperforming in the
high-tech market.”
“Thoughts are increasingly turning to the question of
whether there will be meltdown in the share price if Microsoft has
a bad quarter. Many investors will certainly have an exit strategy
in the form of a stop-loss sell order on their holdings, and once
these begin to be triggered, a dramatic fall is a serious
possibility.”
“The evidence to hand suggests that any such fall would not
greatly upset NASDAQ companies unless they had a high reliance on
Microsoft. However, with Microsoft now being a component of the
Dow, the chances are that the Dow would be dragged down to below
levels of a year ago. In looking for a target for their wrath, it
would be hardly surprising if the financial analysts did not decide
that the clay pigeon was Microsoft, and dumped their Microsoft
holdings.”