Both have been smelling pretty ripe for months now, but the diehard optimists kept spraying feelgood perfume, hoping to mask the odor. Now, the winds of change have blown away the remnants of the perfume. Now, there's no mistaking the smell of rotten economic eggs. The final blast of cold wind that cleared the air came on April 16th when Cisco Systems' chief executive, John Chambers, publicly kissed his stock value good-bye, by talking frankly about the gloomy prospects for his company. His honesty was admirable and refreshing.
Cisco is the world's leading supplier of the equipment that makes the Internet work.
The company is huge. At the peak of its stock price last year, it was the most valuable company in the world. It is no ephemeral dot-com. John Chambers announced that Cisco's sales have fallen dramatically and will continue to do so. The good news, in all the bad news, is that finally facing up to the bad news, is itself good news.