Steve Mehs
06-27-02, 03:02 AM
Another financial scandal for the markets - this one involving WorldCom and its disclosure of almost $4 billion in accounting irregularities - sent satellite, cable and other telecommunications stocks on a roller coaster ride during trading Wednesday.
During the day, the Dow fell 200 points, but managed to gain a lot of what it lost before the market close. The NASDAQ went positive, ending up 5.34 points at 1,429.33, after approaching its post-Sept. 11 lows. The recovery was attributed to the Federal Reserve opting to keep rates unchanged.
EchoStar shares fell more than 9 percent during trading, ending at $16.99. Hughes fell a little more than 5 percent, to $9.70. Pegasus tumbled to 77 cents a share. On the cable side, Cablevision was the loser, with shares falling more than 26 percent to $9.50.
In addition to WorldCom, Adelphia finally filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move was expected after the cable company lined up about $1.5 billion in debtor-in-possession funding last week.
As for a satellite angle to the WorldCom debacle, the telecommunications company became a giant in 1998 when it got MCI. Before that, MCI was the licensee for the 110-degree DBS orbital location, and was a partner with News Corp. to develop that slot for what was then known as American Sky Broadcasting. However, after a failing attempt to use the slot for its troubled PrimeStar partnership, News Corp. relinquished the orbital location to EchoStar to settle litigation with the satellite TV company.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com) (Used with Permission)
During the day, the Dow fell 200 points, but managed to gain a lot of what it lost before the market close. The NASDAQ went positive, ending up 5.34 points at 1,429.33, after approaching its post-Sept. 11 lows. The recovery was attributed to the Federal Reserve opting to keep rates unchanged.
EchoStar shares fell more than 9 percent during trading, ending at $16.99. Hughes fell a little more than 5 percent, to $9.70. Pegasus tumbled to 77 cents a share. On the cable side, Cablevision was the loser, with shares falling more than 26 percent to $9.50.
In addition to WorldCom, Adelphia finally filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move was expected after the cable company lined up about $1.5 billion in debtor-in-possession funding last week.
As for a satellite angle to the WorldCom debacle, the telecommunications company became a giant in 1998 when it got MCI. Before that, MCI was the licensee for the 110-degree DBS orbital location, and was a partner with News Corp. to develop that slot for what was then known as American Sky Broadcasting. However, after a failing attempt to use the slot for its troubled PrimeStar partnership, News Corp. relinquished the orbital location to EchoStar to settle litigation with the satellite TV company.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com) (Used with Permission)