TECH STOCKS: A Wild Ride, But Relatively Little ChangeTECH STOCKS: A Wild Ride, But Relatively Little Change

Our information 100 index took a licking Monday, falling almost 1%, or 3.12 points, to rest at 330.24. The fact is, most of the indexes could have shown a similar drop on such a raucous day. They all swung high and low before ending the day almost unchanged.

The Nasdaq was down just 0.2%, or 3 points, to 2,063.15, and the Dow was down 0.1%, or 11.11 points, to 10,499.18. The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, or 4.13 points, to 1,135.26. Trading was thin in the major markets, which no doubt contributed to the volatility.

Tech's drop is a bit of a mystery. An industry report Monday stated that 2003 worldwide chip sales rose 28% over 2002. Some have said it's possible that investors finally are considering the possibility that tech stocks are, indeed, overpriced. But they've ignored that worry for so long now, one wonders why it might be seen as credible now.

The Nasdaq-100 tracking stock fell 0.3%, or 10 cents, to close at $36.97 on relatively heavy volume of 93 million shares.