Herald staff
NEW YORK — Stocks fell sharply Monday, pulling the Nasdaq composite index below 3,000 for the first time in more than a year, after Hewlett-Packard became the latest high-tech company to announce disappointing earnings. Bargain-hunting late in the session helped offset some of the losses.
The slide continued a downturn triggered last week by a series of bleak earnings reports and forecasts. Analysts, saying volatility remains the only constant on Wall Street, cautioned against reading too much into the late rebound, which briefly lifted the Nasdaq into positive territory.
Weyerhaeuser eyes Willamette Industries: The forest products giant Weyerhaeuser Co. disclosed Monday it is trying to acquire rival Willamette Industries Inc. and might launch a hostile takeover. Weyerhaeuser said it offered $5.3 billion last week in a bid to unite two of the largest forest products companies in the Pacific Northwest, but that Willamette’s board didn’t go along. Weyerhaeuser said it was pursuing its other options, which include pursuing a hostile takeover by offering a higher price to the shareholders.
Monday prices: Gold sold for $264.85 a troy ounce, silver sold for $4.71 and platinum sold for $585.60.
Recycling project: IBM Corp., one of the world’s biggest computer makers, hopes to provide relief to a problem some environmentalists see as one of the biggest solid waste issues to emerge in decades. Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM on Tuesday is kicking off a program aimed specifically at individual consumers and small-business owners, two sizable groups of computer users struggling to find ways to rid themselves of unwanted hardware.
