Top Ten Business & Investing Events of 2000
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"What was the top business/investing news story of 2000?"
Posted by your Guide
 Related Resources
• Y2K Bug Fizzles
• Internet Mania
• Tech Stocks Crash
• Fed Hikes Rates
• TSE Tops Dow
• Microsoft Decision
• Tech Recovery
• Nortel, TSE Crash
• TSE Tops Dow
• FOMC Changes Bias

Yeah, I like to pretend I'm David Letterman occasionally with a funny Top Ten List, but not this time. These are, in my opinion, the top ten business and investing news events for 2000 from a Canadian and international perspective. They're in chronological order. Some of the events are linked in the box at right.

  1. Y2K Bug Fizzles - The year started out with good news. Extremely good news! The much vaunted Y2K bug which was going to wipe out computers around the globe and end the world as we know it didn't materialize. Nary a glitch.
  2. Internet Mania Reaches Fever Pitch - Internet and related technology stocks, which had already been booming in 1999, fairly soared in the first two months of 2000, reaching a peak on March 10th.
  3. Technology Stocks Crash - Internet and Technology stocks crashed throughout March, April and May with such stalwarts as Ebay, JDS Uniphase, Yahoo and Qualcomm dropping 50% or more from their peak highs. Some fared better and others worse, but overall, technology stocks got slaughtered on both sides of the border.
  4. Fed Head Alan Greenspan Raises Rates for Sixth Consecutive Time - On May 16, the Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve raised the overnight lending rate by a half percent to 6.5%, the highest level in nine years. At the same time, the discount rate was raised from 5.5% to 6.0%. This after the market had already crashed. What was that fellow drinking?
  5. TSE Tops the Dow - Canadians were feeling pretty damn proud (some may even say snotty) when the TSE 300 closed above the Dow Jones Industrial Average on July 18, 2000 for the first time in five years. We would get our come-uppance later in the year (See #9 below).
  6. Judge Orders Microsoft Split - On June 7th, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his final judgment on Microsoft, ordering the company to be split in two. One technology newsletter boldly suggested Microsoft pull up stakes and move north to Canada. The repercussions of this decision are still manifesting themselves.
  7. Tech Stocks Stage Summer Recovery - After crashing in the spring and early summer, tech stocks staged a spectacular comeback in June, July and August as reflected by the top performing mutual funds for the summer.
  8. Martin's Mini-Budget Promises Record Tax Relief - On October 18, 2000, federal Finance Minister Paul Martin delivered a pre-election mini-budget that promised accelerated tax relief, including a lowering of income tax rates and a drop in the capital gains rate to 50%.
  9. Nortel Crashes; So Does TSE 300 - The mini-budget did not help Nortel Networks which dropped 25.5% on October 25, 2000. And since it made up 30% of the TSE 300, that index plunged 840.3 points or 8.12%. It was the largest point drop in TSE history and the second largest in percentage terms. In fact, the tech sector as a whole took it on the chin in October, November and December. Nortel's woes may well have been the catalyst for the continuing sector weakness. Across the border, the NASDAQ continued to hit new lows, closing at 2332.7 on Dec. 20th, off 54.6% from its high for the year.
  10. FOMC Reverses Interest Rate Bias - And the year ended on good news as the US Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee reversed its stand on interest rates declaring the the danger now was not inflation but recession.

Dishonorable Mention - Of course we must give a dishonorable mention to the election that wouldn't go away. Yes. The U.S. Election which went on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Canadians felt great pride when the TSE 300 topped the Dow, and great pride again when a Prime Minister was declared before the President was, even though our election came several weeks later. But then, they got Bush and we got Chretien. Who will laugh last?

Have a great New Year everyone!

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