Liste Newsletter

Index Performances
EPITEX, EPITA’S INDEX, Nov. 30, 2004: 80.52 (EPITEX set at 100 on Aug. 31, 2001)

News

MARKET FOCUS

U.S. stocks ended lower on Tuesday amid concern that Intel’s mid-quarter update may be weak, while the U.S. dollar’s recent slide remained a worry.

The U.S. dollar fell to a new all-time low against the euro, trading at $1.3335 against the European currency, a worst level than the prior low of $1.3328 set on Nov. 26.

There were worries about the global economic outlook as well, as the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development lowered its 2005 forecast for the United States, Japan and the eurozone, citing the negative impact of high oil prices.

The Chicago PMI regional manufacturing index came in at 65.2 in November, down from 68.5 in October but above forecasts.

OUTLOOK

The ISM national manufacturing index for November is seen at 56.8, unchanged from December.

The market will next brace for the November employment report on Friday, when forecasters anticipate the addition of about 200,000 jobs following a gain of 337,000 in October, while the jobless rate should slip to 5.4 percent from 5.5 percent.

THE NUMBERS

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 47 points, or 0.4 percent, to 10,428. The Nasdaq composite index lost 10 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,096 while the Nasdaq-100 index of large capitalization tech and biotech stocks ended off 0.5 percent at 1,571.

Profile

Dell is shipping the new McAfee SecurityCenter, the first comprehensive security solutions bundle factory-installed on personal computers to help protect consumers and small businesses against potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) commonly referred to as spyware or adware.

The McAfee SecurityCenter bundle, developed in close partnership with Dell, features the enhanced McAfee VirusScan 2005 that now helps detect and can remove PUPs such as spyware, adware and dialers, and provides advanced, real-time protection against viruses, mass-mailing worms and Trojans.

The bundle also includes McAfee Personal Firewall Plus, McAfee Privacy Service and McAfee SpamKiller. These tools also specifically address phishing scams, fraudulent emails disguised as notification from respected brands that lure recipients into providing personal or financial information, and malicious spam that can lead to identity theft.

McAfee noted the steady increase of spyware detected on users’ computer systems over the past year and responded by incorporating additional anti-spyware functionality into the latest version of the McAfee VirusScan service.

The new features include extension of spyware, adware, dialers, and other unwanted programs, detection of inbound and outbound e-mail, and Instant Message scanning.

Effective security software and customer education are two of the most critical steps the industry can take to curtail the spread of spyware and other online threats.

Dell has entered into a partnership with the Internet Education Foundation (IEF) to launch the Consumer Spyware Initiative (CSI), whose goal is to reach the 63 million U.S. consumer broadband users in the next year.