Rick Sherlund Investors Quotations

The appeals court has twice overturned the judge in this case, so I think investors are optimistic that this case could be significantly modified or overturned on appeal.

might put a somewhat more favorable spin on the news and give investors some more tangible basis for optimism.

We believe investors will need to hunker down for a potentially long process, possibly leading through appeal into 2001, ... For now, this will be a prominent issue but may become a back-burner issue during lulls in the action.

This effectively takes the wind out of the sails of investor sentiment at a time when investors were beginning to warm up to the prospects for accelerating earnings momentum.

It's bad to surprise the Street. It's harmful to the stock because investors are looking for the rewards of this big product cycle next year flowing through to earnings.