Nasdaq's Mighty Few
from Summer 2000
In 1999, Nasdaq was an eight-cylinder powerhouse-its incredible 85% gain largely driven by eight stocks, which together accounted for 34% of the increase. Come the April crash, the cylinders began to misfire. Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Yahoo! all fell in value. Microsoft alone dropped by 37%, equal to a market cap loss of $222 billion. The five survivors defied Nasdaq`s overall tumble, however, and actually rose in value by an average 35% which helped cushion the market`s fall.
Come late May (see opposite page) Nasdaq began to pull itself out of its dive. The Mighty Eight`s five survivors continued to flex muscle, notably Intel, which by June 9 had notched up a 55% gain for the year.
But their gain was wiped out by the three miscreants. Microsoft was down 40%, Qualcomm by 53%, and Yahoo! by 33%. The net result: The Mighty Eight barely managed to break even over the period.
The 5,000 or so other companies comprising the rest of Nasdaq did slightly worse, falling an average 3.4% from December 31.
