Except for a few funds invested in TMT niche markets, such as some Asian TMT shares, the month was disappointing. In America the WorldCom affair is not yet over and in Europe most of the former publicly owned telecoms operators (such as Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, KPN and Telefonica) are in a poor state. The mobile business appears to have a more positive future with companies such as Vodafone enjoying relatively strong balance sheets.
Technology services companies are suffering from the global economic slowdown as are media firms. AOL Time Warner indicated its results may not be as good as expected and all forms of media are suffering from the decline in advertising revenue.
In UK the prospective merger of Carlton and Granada shows that many media firms are having to restructure to survive. Others such as Kirch and Vivendi Universal have had to sell assets.
It no longer makes sense to buy technology shares simply because they look cheap. In these days of falling markets it could be argued that all sectors offer bargains.
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