techMARK

The treatment of technology stocks on the markets has got past the panic stage now, but rather than mounting a recovery, the attitude towards the 'new economy' seems to be one of wary suspicion. As a result the techMARK 100 hasn't been showing such pronounced volatility as it has done over the past months, the story instead being one of gentle subsidence, with the index falling five per cent to 2630.Mike Lynch's Autonomy was in the news, trading punches with Merrill Lynch before reporting that revenue had tripled to .4 million. Pre-tax profits rose to million, against losses of .2 million last time. Shares in the knowledge management market leader have suffered a prolonged battering since listing in London at £32.76 and fell further following the latest figures, reaching £15.32 on the day. Part of the reason for this was a sharp decrease in profits in the fourth quarter compared to the third. However much of the blame for the share price troubles can be put at the door of Merrill Lynch, which maintains its Sell rating after being forced to withdraw a claim that former Autonomy employees are now working on a competing product on behalf of Microsoft.