STOCKS TO WATCH: AT&T, CMGI and Microsoft

AT&T Broadband's decision last week to halt delivery of pending orders roughed up the likes of CommScope (NYSE: CTV), Antec (Nasdaq: ANTC) and Scientific-Atlanta (NYSE: SFA) Friday, but company officials assured investors that this was just business as usual.

AT&T Broadband spokesman Steve Lang told Reuters the request from its high-speed Internet division was ``absolutely not'' the result of reduced demand but a normal, seasonal budget decision.

AT&T Broadband, which provides cable television and high-speed Internet access, already had enough supply of components on hand to last through the end of the year without taking additional deliveries, he said.

``This isn't unusual,'' Lang said. ``This is normal end-of-the-year budget balancing, and does not affect our customer targets.''

AT&T shares closed up 63 cents to $19.31 Friday, just above its 52-week low of $18.38 set earlier this month.

Monday should be an interesting day for CMGI investors hoping that Friday's rally marked the beginning of new hope for the beleaguered Internet incubator.

The stock shot up $2.75, or 27 percent, to $12.81 Friday as it and other technology stocks enjoyed something of a renaissance.

CMGI shares had slipped to an all-time low of $9.75 a share last week, a far cry from the $163.50 it was trading at in January.

Despite its recent woes, nine of the 14 analysts following the stock maintain either a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation.

Microsoft should be active after it argues against findings that it violated antitrust law and an order that the company be split in two in a filing due Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals.

It doesn't hurt that George W. Bush was certified as the winner of the Florida election-- and likely the presidential election, a development that some experts say will benefit Microsoft in the long run.

The brief is the first of written arguments due over the next three months, ahead of oral presentations by Microsoft and the government to the court, scheduled for late February.

"Our brief will outline a full and powerful argument for why the District Court's judgment should be reversed and judgment should be granted for Microsoft,'' said company spokesman Jim Cullinan last week.

On June 7, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found Microsoft used its monopoly power in personal computer operating systems to compete illegally. He said the software giant should be split in two to prevent future violations but stayed the order pending appeals.

In the company's arguments for sending the matter to the appeals court, Microsoft had said it would challenge the findings that it illegally maintained a monopoly in PC operating systems and that it attempted to monopolize the market for Web browsers.

Microsoft shares closed up $1.69 to $69.94 Friday.

Reuters contributed to this report.>