Macro

The Asian financial crisis from July destroyed commodity demand, crashing base metals, and central-bank selling drove gold sharply lower toward $290, a deepening loss for a materials owner.

Consolidation finished with the Boeing-MDD close and Raytheon absorbing Hughes/TI defense; the budget sat at trough but a handful of efficient primes now dominated.

A steady year of restructuring under deregulation with stable rates, and the autumn Asian-crisis scare drove a defensive bid back toward our reliable dividends.

A firm first half near $23-25 gave way to trouble as the Asian financial crisis erupted in July and gutted regional oil demand, pulling crude and margins lower through the back half of the year.

A strong U.S. expansion, low unemployment, and capital fleeing the Asian crisis into safe U.S. assets supported domestic property values; the Asian turmoil barely touched U.S. real estate.

Strong US demand and the Boeing-MD merger buoyed owners, but the Asian crisis and October mini-crash threatened export order books late in the year.

US finance boomed on a raging bull market, Amazon's IPO, and consolidation (Travelers-Salomon), even as the Asian crisis (Thai baht float, October 27 mini-crash) introduced volatility. Capital fleeing EM into US assets actually helped an owner's book;

A booming pharma bull year, but September's FDA-forced fen-phen withdrawal over heart-valve damage hit Wyeth/AHP with enormous liability and re-introduced litigation risk; the October Asian-crisis wobble was cushioned by my defensiveness.

Strong consumer confidence and spending

Telecom/internet buildout and robust ad demand kept owners bullish, dipping only on the October Asian-crisis mini-crash before WorldCom's MCI bid revived M&A. High, with a brief scare.

Compaq Computer agreed to acquire Tandem Computers, a maker of fault-tolerant servers, extending its push into higher-end corporate computing. The deal reflected the wave of consolidation among hardware makers as the PC and server markets matured. It followed Compaq's rise to become the world's largest PC maker.

The tech sector is feeling optimistic this month, buoyed by Compaq’s $3 billion acquisition of Tandem Computers, a move signaling confidence in high-availability computing and enterprise expansion. This strategic consolidation reflects growing strength in core infrastructure plays, reinforcing a positive near-term outlook for the sector. The broader market backdrop supports this tone, but the momentum is clearly driven by decisive corporate action within tech itself.