------------------------------------------------------- OCTOBER 21, 2003 ------------------------------------------------------- Source: CNN Money http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/21/commentary/streetlife/streetlife_serwer/ Telecoms dial down the Dow SBC and Ma Bell hurt the blue chip index. Plus: chicken or beef? And why Fortune rocks! By Andrew Serwer NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -- Some bad apples spoil the whole bunch, baby! With all apologies to Michael Jackson, a couple of baddies did drag down the Dow today. Those would be SBC and especially AT&T (What, you still own that stock?) -- more on that below. Otherwise, broader indices were up on Tuesday. Dow fell 30.30 to 9,747.64, while NAZ climbed 15.76 to 1,940.90 and the S&P was up 1.34 to 1,046.03. Hey, watch me, Rick Wakeman ("Close to the edge, down by the river. Not right away..."), I mean Andy Serwer on CNN's "American Morning," and "In the Money." Read Loose Change to find out what Soledad O'Brien is calling me now! 'YARD Okay so earnings season is finally starting to run down, thank goodness. SBC (and AT&T -- see below. Really.) posted lower revenues and margins as price wars eroded their biz! Just wait until Nov. 24, number portability day, for the REAL price wars!... Amazon posted better-than-expected numbers after the market close -- its first profit outside the fourth quarter. Stock was off slightly for the day... Amgen also reported after the bell, and revenues were up 47 percent from last year. The stock was up nicely today on news of a new FDA approval of its arthritis drug (Enbrel) for weekly doses... Loudeye (don't call me cloud!) was active today, up 42 cents to $2.60 -- digital media power!... Wow, did you see Dell up at $37 today? Stock is at, what, a three year high? 'Course, Dell was above $55 back in the day, but a very nice comeback. (P/E is back at 40!)... T-I lookin' good today. Street loved its performance and the stock cruised... Brinker International (owns Chili's and a bunch of other lesser emporiums) got clocked today after missing numbers. Interesting headline: 'U.S. restaurants push chicken as beef prices soar.'... Kodak up on news of a fight! Roar! (Lions) Roar!...("There are things I'd like to say but I'm never talking to you again." -- Bob Mould) AT&T And you thought accounting scandals were passe! Not at Ma T! Caught a couple of employees with their hands in the cookie jar -- to the tune of $100 million plus! Oops! That and they came out with numbers that didn't meet expectations...well, what do you expect from them? I was looking to blame my horrible AT&T wireless experience on them too, but they happily reminded me that AWE was its own company now. May you all rot in hell. T was down over 5 percent today to $20. AWE down too! ROCK AND ROLL - So we had the Fortune Battle of the Corporate Bands on Saturday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. We had bands from AmEx, Harley, Briggs & Stratton, and more. I was the emcee (of course!) Judges: Johnny A, Roger McNamee, Marky Ramone (!), and Seymour Stein (a great guy.) Some highlights were the return of PeopleSoft's Raving Daves (Kill Larry!) I was blown away by Chain-Garden, a grunge tribute band from Autodesk out of SF. Dude won best guitar, and he deserved it. Best band, however, went to The Residuals from Fleet Bank out of Providence, RI! Did a splendid version of the Blasters: "So Long Baby Goodbye." Also some Santana. Great percussion too!... Had a great time, except that Michelle and Elizabeth both drank me under the table! And I lost my Von Dutch hat to some girl in a girl band. Ah well, that's rock and roll! Loose Change Saw "School of Rock" the other day. So great! Jack Black is funny!... Did you see Snapple's new Apple Pie flavor? Soooo wrong!... Um, I can't believe that Soledad O'Brien called me a 'hottie homeboy!' Hey, I've been called worse!... Hey, have you ever listened to Adam Sandler's "What the Hell Happened to Me?" Love it! Especially the Talking Goat... Sorry, Lloyd Blankfein, now that I've met you, I'm still not going to retract my comment about you being a good guy!... From Deep Blue re: Red Sox... Walter Shapiro, welcome to Fortune magazine! Heard that Apple has sold a million Windows tunes. Sorry Yoko!... Hey, Glenn H! What were you guys thinking with that Antoine Walker trade? On the other hand, I think Dallas has turned into another Nellie freak show. Too many shooters! (And I prefer Jello shots!) How could the Yankees lose? Marlin luck is all. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, inquiries, corrections, or additions, contact yitp@yesservices.com