Firms that built the nerve center were once booming, but are now deflating as demand for their devices slows. This time last year, stock in Cisco was soaring. Its value was greater than the combined capitalization of General Motors, Citigroup, and WalMart combined . However, today its share price has dropped 80 percent.
Cisco is one of the so-called four horsemen of the Internet.
Another is Massachusetts-based EMC Corp, which also makes computer storage systems and will announce its first quarter earnings tomorrow. To get the low down on the local high tech economy, we turn to John Edmonds, Professor of Finance and the Director of the Cutler Investment Center at Babson College. The leading developer and supplier of technical computing software in the world. To listen to archives, you need RealPlayer media plug-in. Download the free plug-in .