The Ice Man has cometh. Witness the high- tech meltdown on Wall Street, the bankruptcies, the layoffs, lower corporate earnings, reduced capital spending and overall loss in consumer confidence.
The downward spiral that began with mobile satellite firms is now dragging down paging, mobile phone, dispatch radio, local fixed wireless and long-distance companies-established and start-ups alike.
As for the dot-coms, virtual reality has wrought virtual profits. Oops, we found an accounting error that shows we’re losing money. No thanks to all those media-savvy and sometimes-conflicted Wall Street analysts who hype stocks on Bloomberg TV, CNBC, CNNfn and the rest. We’ll make it easy for you. Place an order-day or night-on your cell phone and/or Palm Pilot.
Yuppy Internet execs, holding loads of schlock options, cry foul. Why should they be punished just because they don’t make money? It’s so unfair. Oh, well, nothing that Starbucks coffee and Krispy Kreme doughnuts can’t fix. Now there are a couple of winners in a sea of losers on the Nasdaq.
Interestingly, an inverse relationship exists between the rise of Starbucks and Krispy Kreme and the fall of high-tech issues.
There’s only one logical explanation: Fueled by high octane caffeine and deep-fried sugary carbs, digerati wannabes are up day and night brainstorming and writing business plans for the Next Big Thing. Of course it will work and, of course, people will love it. And why not, it’s the Internet! Instant success, instant wealth, instant gratification.
But who’s fueling whom? Dot-coms will come and go, but coffee and doughnuts are here to stay. Have you noticed what’s happening? Old Economy companies are co-opting the New Economy.
The malaise on Wall Street has not gone unnoticed by president-elect George W. Bush, racking his brain for answers while fishing with daddy in brother Jeb’s sunny electoral state of Florida last week. The chads weren’t biting.
Yep, one of Dubya’s first moves-after hiring a bunch of pop’s old buddies-was to voice caution about a possible recession. The warning, aired by Dubya for political gain during Recount 2000 and now criticized by legacy-minded Clintonites, was legitimate as a practical matter. Why even Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has uttered cryptic words to that effect. Otherwise, as a political matter, it was a magnificently mindless thing for Dubya to say. Ever hear of a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Perhaps it’s part of a grand plan to dumb down expectations for George W.’s presidency. Maybe we’re being lulled into being grateful for anything that happens to go right the next four years? This could be what Dubya means by subliminbable perception.
