NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- So much for the tech sector keeping the economy afloat.Despite strong earnings reports from IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) in the past two days, the news Thursday morning that Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) was cutting up to 5,000 employees -- including 1,400 that will be losing their job today -- is a sobering reminder that few companies, even in technology, are immune from this recession.
Tech stocks, not surprisingly, took it on the chin Thursday. Microsoft plunged 8.5%, helping to drag down the Nasdaq by more than 3%.
One bright spot was Apple, which gained about 7% Thursday morning following the company's better-than-expected sales and profit report Wednesday. However, one market strategist noted that Apple is the exception, not the rule.Talkback: Is tech in worse shape than the rest of the economy?"The Microsoft news is a reflection of what is really going on in the technology industry as opposed to the Apple earnings," said Alan Skrainka, chief market strategist with Edward Jones in St. Louis. "Apple's news is company specific. It has had a hot hand for awhile and had products that were in strong demand during the holiday season."
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