And there's more bad news to come. Fundamentally the industry is healthy, with revenues and unit sales increasing. But the expectations were just too high. From a macroeconomic perspective, this week's news couldn't have been much better. The consumer price index grew only 0.2 percent in September, less than the 0.3 percent most economists had expected.
Inflation seems to be in check.
These same stocks had a good run for a long time and their valuations are at the high end. We're seeing a resettlement. Things are going to be a bit choppy for the next four to six weeks until we get an idea of how the fourth quarter looks. Some bellwether technology firms have yet to report their results. Microsoft Corp. and IBM will report on Monday.