Economic aftermath
Industry watchers will get a better idea of how the events of Sept. 11 effected the U.S. economy this week.
Following are some of the notable tech-related events scheduled for the week of Oct. 29 through Nov. 2.
Monday, Oct. 29
Industry watchers will get a better idea of how the events of Sept. 11 effected the U.S. economy this week.
The U.S. Department of Commerce will release data Wednesday on third-quarter Gross Domestic Product(GDP), the value of goods and services produced in the United States, a key measure of the nation's overall economic well-being.
Growth has slid the past three quarters from 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2000 to just 0.3 percent in the second quarter this year. Many economists believe that the attacks on Sept. 11 further dampened the economic mood, and predict that growth will actually fall 0.7 percent in the third quarter.
Earnings information will continue to flow on Wall Street as companies large and small report third-quarter results. E-commerce companies Priceline.com and Homestore.com will report this week along with chip manufacturing giant United Microelectronics and telecom industry players Alcatel and Verizon Communications.
On the conference front, giants in the wireless telecom industry like Nortel Networks, Ericsson and Nokia will gather Wednesday for the CDMA Congress in San Diego to discuss issues related to Qualcomm's CDMA (code division multiple access) technology and a new standard called CDMA 2000.
The information was gathered from First Call, Hoover's Online, CCBN's StreetEvents and CNET Investor.
Other events scheduled this week:
TECH EVENTS
Monday, Oct. 29
- Joe Tucci, chief executive of storage giant EMC, will announce Monday in New York the company's first storage "virtualization" software products, part of an initiative called Auto IS that shields servers from the details of the storage systems with which they communicate. The first products will let EMC's control software operate with storage systems from numerous EMC competitors.
- The Computer Security Conference takes place at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C., Oct. 29-31. The event is for IT professionals interested in protecting business networks from hackers and other threats.
- Market Access will host a conference on homeland defense on Oct. 29 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. The event is for individuals in business and government interested in how federal government institutions will handle new issues in national security.
- Business Communications Review will conduct a course on IP communications at the Wyndham Gardens Hotel in Costa Mesa, Calif., Oct. 29-30. IP (Internet protocol) is one of the methods of moving data through telecom networks, and is increasingly being used to handle voice calls.
- TechLearn takes place at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 28-31. The conference is for corporate IT trainers and will focus on ways to train employees by computer and the Internet. Featured speakers include former General Electric Chief Executive Jack Welch.
- Mobile Government convenes at the Swissotel in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 29. The event is for federal, state and local government official who want to learn how wireless technology can improve their operations and efficiency.
- The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) will stage a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the installation of its new supercomputer, the Terascale Computing System (TCS), on Oct. 29 at 10:00 a.m. in Monroeville, Penn. The TCS is the most powerful computer in the world that will be used for non-military research. The PSC is a partnership between Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Westinghouse Electric. Compaq Computer and the National Science Foundation also contributed to the TCS project.
- A group of companies that use InfiniBand technology will hold a conference at the Four Season Hotel in Austin, Texas on Oct. 30. InfiniBand is a computer connection technology sponsored by Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft and others. The conference will feature presentations by companies like Banderacom, BMC Software, Crossroads Systems, Lane 15 Software, OmegaBand and VIEO.
- Windows on Health kicks off at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif., Oct. 29-Nov. 1. The event is for people in the health care industry who want to learn how to use information technology (IT) to improve their information systems.
- The CDMA Americas Congress takes place at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif., Oct. 31-Nov. 2. CDMA (code division multiple access) technology was developed by Qualcomm and is used with cell phones and other devices for wireless communication. Keynote speakers include George Gilder of the Gilder Group and Qualcomm CEO Irwin Jacobs.
- Active Communications will hold a conference on use for Java technology in the wireless market at the Hilton & Towers in San Jose, Calif., Nov. 1-2. Java is a programming language for computer graphics and the gathering will explore how to use the technology on cell phones and other wireless devices. Participating companies include Sun Microsystems, Palm, Motorola, DoCoMo Labs and Cingular Wireless.
Monday, Oct. 29
- Canon makes office equipment and consumer products like cameras. No estimates were available.
- KPNQwest is a telecom carrier joint venture between Qwest Communications International and KPN that provides services to companies in Europe. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: loss of 17 cents.
- ON Semiconductor makes chips for telecom, industrial and automotive uses as well as in consumer products like cell phones, DVD players and pagers. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: loss of 38 cents.
- United Microelectronics is a contract chip manufacturer. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: loss of 4 cents.
- CenturyTel is a local phone operator that is currently being pursued by Alltel in a hostile takeover bid. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: profit of 39 cents.
- Ingram Micro is a wholesale distributor of computer products. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: profit of 2 cents.
- Perot Systems provides computer consulting services to businesses. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: profit of 16 cents.
- Read-Rite makes components for computer disk drives. Per-share consensus estimate for the fourth fiscal quarter: profit of 1 cent.
- SCI Systems is a contract manufacturer of electronic components. Per-share consensus estimate for the first fiscal quarter: profit of 9 cents.
- Verizon Communications is a local "Baby Bell" telecom carrier that provides local phone service to individuals and businesses in the northeastern United States. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: profit of 77 cents.
- Alcatel makes equipment for telecom carriers. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: loss of 13 cents.
- Comcast provides cable TV and Internet access to U.S. consumers. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: loss of 34 cents.
- Qwest Communications International is a "Baby Bell" phone company that provides telecom services in the western United States. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: profit of 3 cents.
- Alltel is a telecom carrier that provides services in 24 U.S. states. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: profit of 75 cents.
- Homestore.com is a real estate Web site that provides home and apartment listings as well as e-commerce services. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: loss of 1 cent.
- Priceline.com runs a name-your-price e-commerce Web site that sells airline tickets, hotel reservations and car rentals. Per-share consensus estimate for the third quarter: profit of 1 cent.
Tuesday, Oct. 30
- Consumer Confidence will be reported by The Conference Board for the month of October. This figure, measured by an index, represents consumer sentiment towards the economy. Economist expect confidence to drop to 95.0 from the previous month's 97.6.
- The Commerce Department will issue an advance estimate of Gross Domestic Product numbers for the third quarter of 2001. GDP represents the value of U.S. goods and services produced within a certain time frame and is a measure of the nation's overall economic health. Wall Street expects GDP to fall 0.7 percent compared to the second quarter's increase of 0.3 percent.
- Initial Claims refers to the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits each week as reported by the Department of Labor. Claims will be reported for the week of Oct. 27.
- Personal income shows the monthly percentage change in household income from the Commerce Department. This number is expected to rise 0.1 percent for September compared to no change in August.
- The National Association of Purchasing Managers index tracks how many hard goods were purchased by purchasing managers. The NAPM index is expected to drop to 44.8 percent in October from 47 percent in September. Index values above 50 indicate an expanding economy, while values below 50 are indicative of contraction.
- Construction spending tabulates the dollar amount of newly completed building structures in a month as reported by the Commerce Department. Wall Street expects spending to fall 0.7 percent in September versus a decline of 1.1 percent in August.
- Nonfarm Payrolls represents the change in total nonfarm employment. This number is expected to drop by 275,000 for October compared to last month's loss of 199,000 jobs.
- Hourly earnings are the percentage change in hourly earnings in the private sector as estimated monthly by the Labor Department. Analysts expect earnings to rise 0.3 percent for the month of October versus a 0.2 percent climb in September.
- Average workweek for October is the average amount of hours worked per week in the private sector, as estimated monthly by the Labor Department. Economists expect hours worked to slip to 34.0 hours in October versus 34.1 hours in September.