BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Wall Street cheered the Microsoft ruling, sending shares higher in a flurry of trading. Are investors going to be riding the Microsoft wave once again today? Let's check in at the CNN Financial News desk with Chris Huntington. Good morning, Chris.</s>CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Brian.</s>NELSON: What's Microsoft stock doing now?</s>HUNTINGTON: Well, it is up just a little bit, up about 40 cents in premarket trading, right now at a level of about $73.15 at close yesterday, obviously below $73. The initial reaction on Wall Street was very bullish. And, in fact, Microsoft shares traded up as high as well over $75 a share, basically a jump up of more than $4 compared to the preruling price. However, once folks got into that very complex 125-ruling, they realized that it was not a total unmitigated victory for Microsoft. And, indeed, the enthusiasm tempered a bit. Microsoft yesterday closed at $72.74, up about $1.60. The issue going forward for investors really has more to do with Microsoft's business fundamentals. Wall Street investors somewhat of a jaded lot, and they tend to -- they tend to sort of discount the impact of a long, protracted court case. By and large, the avoidance of a breakup had pretty much been factored into Microsoft's stock price. There were not too many investors who really believed that a breakup was going to be carried through. The ruling yesterday makes that proposition look even less likely. But as I mentioned, Microsoft investors really will be focusing on the core fundamentals of the business. They have their new XP operating system coming out, the Xbox game console, a whole new strategy called the "Dot-Net" strategy. And investors will be focused on how well that flies in the marketplace.</s>NELSON: All right, Chris Huntington, thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Will Investors Ride Microsoft Wave Again Today?