Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 in
Blog : by Editor
Applied Materials Inc. (NasdaqGS: AMAT), one of the largest chip equipment makers in the world, is one of the lone bright spots in the financial news today. The company recently signed a $1.9B deal with a unnamed international private entity to supply equipment, installation and warranty services for a number of factories that will produce solar, electricity generating modules.
Shares surged up more than $.80 in morning trading on the news, which will certainly attract more focus to the solar sector as many others falter on weaker than expected corporate earnings.
In other not-so-great news this am, the dollar is hitting all-time lows while oil hits all-time highs and OPEC holds firm on their stance of not increasing supplies. All of this while Bernanke states that the mortgage problem is not over.
As the broader market becomes increasingly volatile, we could be seeing history repeat itself in the sense that the small and micro-cap markets begin heating up.