The Easdaq, the European equivalent to the Nasdaq, added five more US high technology stocks--including Apple computer Inc--to its growing list of American companies that trade on its board.

According to a report from CBS Market Watch:

'Easdaq also added Network Associates (NETA) Qualcomm (QCOM) and Xeikon NV (XEIK) to its listing of 10 other Nasdaq stocks, which joined the exchange for high-growth companies on Jan. 13.

...this year has proved to be a boom trading year for exchanges across Europe, with volumes soaring to record levels, as they've done in the United States. The first batch of 10 Nasdaq stocks were listed on Easdaq's duel trading platform at the urging of Easdaq's market makers. Easdaq, which now trades shares of 71 companies, said there are more Nasdaq companies waiting in the wings but it wants to bring them on board slowly.

So far, the only way to buy Easdaq stocks is through a private broker. But Easdaq plans to broaden its platform to online trading by June this year, and it's currently talking with the likes of Charles Schwab and E-Trade.'

For other stories regarding Apple's stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.

The Mac Observer Spin: The European exchanges are still in an unsettled rapid growth phase since the event of the European Union. It's an important step for Apple to become listed early in order to project the company's market leader profile into what is one of the fastest growing equity markets in the world.

The stock markets climbed a wall of inflation fears signaling to traders that a quartile interest rate increase expected from the Fed tomorrow afternoon is fully priced into the market. They say the market is never wrong, but it certainly does sometime defy conventional wisdom.

James Bianco, of Bianco Research, appearing on CNBC placed the odds on an interest rate hike at 100%, with a 67% chance for a 25 basis point hike and a 33% chance of a 50 basis point bump.

The US economy officially entered a historical twilight zone as the current economic expansion continued into its 107 month, crushing every record going back to the halcyon days of capitalism in the 1850's. Running parallel to the economy is the stock market, which is experiencing its single greatest expansion in history too.

The second longest growth period lasted 106 months in the 1960s. Third longest was in the 1980's at 92 months. Economists point out that the expansions are historically growing in length, while recessions separating periods of expansion declined in length dramatically in the second half on the 20th century.

Most economists concur: The strong economy will continue thanks to the unprecedented productivity growth due to innovations in communication and digital technologies. Historian John Steel Gordon, who believes technology will continue to drive the economy forward, exclaimed on CNBC, 'the computer is the most fundamental technology since the steam engine.'

Apple sagged 3 1/2 or 3.37% to close at 100 1/4 on light volume. There was just no buying pressure on AAPL after yesterday's roller coaster $10 price range and high volume exhausted demand. Today, profit taking took control once more. If it's any consolation, computer hardware stocks were soft all day.

Apple's Fiscal first quarterly report was posted at EDGAR Online this morning. The bottom line: Apple's total assets increased from $5.161 billion in September to 7.586 billion in January due largely to Apple's savvy equity investment in Akamai and ARM Holdings.

Other highlights from the report: inventories declined and long term debt remained flat at $300 million from a quarter earlier, while total shareholders' equity (total asset minus total liabilities) soared to $4.4 billion from $3.1 billion last quarter.

The Nasdaq climbed 111 points (2.83%) to close at 4051 with 1.4 billion shared traded. Internet stocks led the way higher today. The Nasdaq traded an average of 1.6 billion shares a day in January up over 20% from December.

The Dow gained 100 points (0.92%) to close at 11041, on volume of 978 million shares traded. Financial and retail stocks led the way higher.

The S&P 500 climbed 14.82 points (1.06%) to close at 1409.28.

The bellwether 30-year US Treasury bond traded up 26/32 to 96 1/32, pushing the yield down to 6.42% from 6.48% on Monday. Many investors are turning to the intermediate bonds which they believe are tracking the volatile stock markets closer than long bond so far this year.

In Apple related businesses, Akamai lost 10 dollars to close at 239, Adobe gained 13/16 to close at 55 7/8. Earthlink, Apple's new Internet partner, traded up 1/2 to 43 1/4. Motorola gained 7/8 to close at 136 7/8, while IBM sagged 2 7/16 to close at 109 13/16.

Apple's competitors: Compaq gained 11/16 to close at 28 3/16. Dell climbed 1/2 to 38 15/16. Gateway slipped 1 7/16 to end at 59 3/4. Hewlett Packard gave back 2 7/16 to close at 105 13/16. Intel shares climbed 2 1/2 dollars to close at 101 7/16. Shares of Microsoft were up 5 dollars to close at 102 15/16.

In other market news: The NAPM composite index derived from a survey of corporate purchasing executives, was at 56.3 in January as expected by economists. The December reading was revised up to 56.8 from 55.5. A reading above 50 indicates economic expansion, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction.

From the Wall Street Journal, 'Though the index fell slightly, the NAPM report showed a troublesome jump in the prices of raw materials, with the prices-paid subindex soaring to 72.6 from a revised 68.3 the month before. The latest reading was the highest since April 1995, when the price index hit 74.5.'

Increases in productivity due to high tech capital improvement have allowed corporations to offset the higher prices of raw materials, but economists worry that eventually some of the cost will have to be passed along to consumers in the form of price inflation. Others claim that the super competitive pricing environment engendered by the Internet will limit any consumer price hikes.

For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled this set of quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. We also have many of these same quotes reported live (20 minute delay) on our home page. For other stories regarding Apple's stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.

CompUSA reported lower sales for the last quarter of 1999, the company's 2nd fiscal quarter of 2000. The company had gross sales of US$1.38 billion, down from US$1.75 billion a year ago. Despite the lower sales, the company reported a less than expected loss of US$2 million, or US$.02 per share. The consensus call for the company had been a loss of US$.05 per share.

CompUSA is the home of the Apple Store-within-a-Store. The company has already agreed to be purchased by Mexican retailer Grupo Sanborns for US$10.10 per share. The company's stock is currently trading higher at 9 3/4, higher by 1/16.

CompUSA is in the middle of a mandatory quiet period in relation to their buyout by Grupo Sanborns.

The Mac Observer Spin: CompUSA has been somewhat reticent to disclose their Apple related sales for much of the last year. Shortly after the company launched their Store-within-a-Store plan, Apple related sales increased to 14% of total sales. Since then, mum has been the word. Apple's outstanding 1st fiscal quarter (calendar 4th quarter, and the same quarter being announced by CompUSA at this time), as well as the PC Data stats that give Apple 10% of retail market share would hint that CompUSA has benefited as well.

The company has also been able to increase their gross margins during the quarter. This is a feat indeed, considering the fact that the margins on their products are razor thin and not known for increasing. According to a Reuters report:

CompUSA said gross margins in its core business, which excludes the new Internet computer sales subsidiary cozone.com, rose for the second quarter in a row. It said this was a sign that its decision last June to concentrate on more profitable products was bearing fruit.

Gross margin rose to 16.3 percent for the second quarter from 13.6 percent a year earlier.

That is an interesting choice of words considering that Apple has the highest margins in the industry. These increased margins also contributed to the company's less than expected losses.

It will be interesting to see how or whether the buyout by Grupo Sanborns will affect the company's relationship with Apple. We don't imagine that it will have a negative impact at all.

Apple is obviously always working hard, but occasionally something happens that lets the outside world know about it. Patents and trademarks are two such areas and Eric Pollitt has been prowling the US Patent and Trademark virtual offices and came up with some interesting developments. According to the US Patent and Trademark server, Apple has recently been granted 2 new patents and a trademark.

The first, and perhaps most interesting, is registration of the name AirSurf. Apple has registered AirSurf/Air Surf, and with recent speculation about iPhone, one gets a sense that Apple might have something brewing. AirPort, although receiving mixed reviews, has been a hit. With an Apple branded handheld seemingly inevitable, AirSurf may tie into wireless browsing, a la the Palm VII. The trademark information as uncovered by Mr. Pollitt:

Word Mark: AIRSURF
Pseudo Mark: AIR SURF
Owner Name: (APPLICANT) Apple Computer, Inc.
Owner Address: 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino CALIFORNIA 95014 CORPORATION
CALIFORNIA
Attorney of Record: Michael W. Hicks
Serial Number: 75-754412
Filing Date: 07/19/1999
Section 1(B) indicator: SECTION 1 (B)
Mark Drawing Code: (1) TYPED DRAWING
Register: PRINCIPAL
Type of Mark: TRADEMARK

On the trademark side, Apple has been granted a trademark for 'The ornamental design for a modal window for a computer display screen, as shown and described.' This could very well be in relation to technology behind the new Aqua interface in Mac OS X, though it could also hint at some other future development. The patent information as uncovered by Mr. Pollitt:

Inventors: Coleman; Patricia J. (Montara, CA).
Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc. (Cupertino, CA).
[**] Term: 14 years.
Appl. No.: 86,243
Filed: Apr. 8, 1998
Related U.S. Application Data
Division of Ser No. 38,433, May 5, 1995, Pat. No. Des. 393.Intl. Cl. :
1402
Current U.S. Cl.: D14/114.2
Field of Search: D14/114, 114.1-114.9; D18/24-33; D20/11; D19/6;
D21/324-33; 345/326, 339-40, 347-57

Apple has also been granted a patent for the round USB mouse that has been shipping with iMacs and PowerMac G3s (Blue & White) and G4s for the last year. You can see it at IBM's patent site. Thanks to those Observers who have written in to help us with this. The patent information as uncovered by Mr. Pollitt:

Inventors: Jobs; Steven P. (Palo Alto, CA); Ive; Jonathan P. (San
Francisco, CA); Coster; Daniel J. (San Francisco, CA); Stringer; Christopher
J. (Pacifica, CA); De Iuliis; Daniele (San Francisco, CA); Andre; Bartley K.
(Menlo Park, CA); Howarth; Richard P. (San Francisco, CA); Seid; Calvin Q.
(Palo Alto, CA); Satzger; Douglas B. (San Carlos, CA); van de Loo; Marc J.
(Palo Alto, CA).
Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc. (Cupertino, CA).
[**] Term: 14 years.
Appl. No.: 96,012
Filed: Nov. 3, 1998Intl. Cl. : 1402
Current U.S. Cl.: D14/117.1
Field of Search: D14/100, 114, 117.1-117.9; D13/158; D21/385, 333; 200/5
R, 5 A, 6 R, 6 A; 273/148 B; 345/156-67; 74/471 XY; 463/36-39

The Mac Observer Spin: It is extremely likely that the patents are in reference to existing technologies or at least announced technologies. The trademark might hint at a future product. According to Observer Eric Pollitt, whom we thank for bringing this information to our attention, patents and trademarks can not be registered on a whim.

Please keep in mind that Apple doesn't always use the trademarks that they register. But, by trademark law (in general), one MUST have a product/service if they are to register a name. One can not simply have a trademark on something that doesn't exist. Of course, I'm not an attorney, but I'm sure that some large corporations like Apple can 'pre-register' for a particular period of time before a product introduction.

Stay tuned for more information, and congratulations to Apple for the new patents!

Thanks to the many Observers who wrote in about this story.

For those day time talk show fans among us, yesterday's Oprah Winfrey show was quite a treat. One of Oprah's guests was apparently in live with her new iMac DV. A large segment of the show was dedicated to showing the features of the new iMac, and how simple iMovie was to use. Oprah and the studio audience seemed very impressed, and with good reason.

Thanks to Observer Stan for bringing this to our attention.

The Mac Observer Spin: The popular media roller coaster that Apple is on took a turn for the positive yesterday with, arguably, the most popular talk show host in America spending time extolling the virtues of the iMac DV. Oprah's target audience, the 'common' consumer,' is the exact crowd that Apple hopes to wow with iMovie, the self proclaimed 'Next Big Thing.'

Despite some obvious oversights by the popular press (see yesterday's story about the CNN.com site), more and more Apple is getting a fair shake, and some great advertising from sources like the Oprah Winfrey Show and The Wall Street Journal. Things continue to look up for our favorite computer company.

Most importantly, a company just can't buy exposure like this. Having the iMac featured like it was on Oprah will sell more iMac DVs for Apple than a whole slew of commercials with Jeff Goldblum and a bunch of kids jumping on a bed. Not that those commercials are bad, it is just that many fans of America's talk shows are looking to be guided in the first place.

CTM Development has released a public beta of the heavy duty e-mail client, PowerMail. Version 3.0b3 has been released, and addresses a number of stability issues found in previous versions. According to CTM Development:

PowerMail 3.0b3, is now available. It is based on the PowerMail Engine, a robust, cross-platform foundation encapsulating over eight years of e-mail and directory experience at CTM Development.

What are the long-term objectives of PowerMail ?

• Offer a lean, mean and efficient alternative e-mail client for people who care about e-mail
• Focus on offering a state-of-the-art Macintosh user-experience
• Contribute to the ongoing diversity of mail clients on the Mac
• Evolve our new code foundation on a regular basis to meet user needs more quickly
• Recognize the value in our user's data and offer reliable storage, high-speed indexing and the ability to export to a variety of standard formats
• Excel in supporting multi-lingual, word-wide mail users

Among some of the many bug fixes in this version include:

• Fixed a pretty serious Kanji incompatibility
• Fixed crash when selecting 'Show header' while no message was being displayed
• The counters which would display negative numbers have been fixed
• There is a now message in the 'Empty mail trash' progress dialog instead of just ':'
• Upon exporting the Out tray, the 'Date modified' was changed!
• Fixed bug in the base64 encoder for message bodies, which was meant to cut lines at 76 characters
• Fixed bug when hiding the preview pane, where the whole browser would turn grey
• Importing from non-Japanese Eudora mailbox files could freeze
• Found one case in which Claris Emailer import could time-out. There are others yet to be identified.
• Fixed the fact that the 'Welcome' window would show under the Import assistant on first launch if you had an old version of PowerMail

You can find more information, download links, and a full list of changes in the latest version at the CTM Development web site.

Unmarked Software has released a public beta of the text 'cleaning' application, textSOAP. Version 2.6b3 fixes several problems present in the previous release. According to Unmarked Software:

Continued improvements for this beta include:

• New cleaners: stripping 1,2,3, or more tabs, spaces, CR's
• New cleaners: support for Level 2 quoting ( quoted text)
• New cleaners: misc.
• Highlighting bug when activating window
• Fixed additional problems with wrapping text
• Fixed bug in preferences dialog that kept new lists from being updated
• Fixed a couple other preference related bugs
• Fixed problems with recognizing new cleaners automatically

The 2.6b3 beta release expires February 11, 2000.

This time limited beta release is available for free. You can find more information at the Unmarked Software web site.

This week's World Without Borders Mac web chat is going to feature Chuck Joiner, President of the Hershey Apple Core Group. The Hershey Apple Core Group, is among the longest running Mac User Groups in the country. According to World Without Borders:

The Hershey Apple Core is the oldest Macintosh User Group in Central Pennsylvania. Originally formed in 1985, they have a large and diverse membership, with substantial resources. The Hershey Apple Core is fortunate to include among their members, home makers, business people, computer professionals, retired people, computer novices, corporate officers, educators, students, medical professionals, consultants, illustrators, administrators, graphic artists, ladies, gentlemen, and children of all ages, to name a few. While they are located in Hershey PA, there have members from across the state and beyond.

Macintosh User groups offer the greatest support bargain for most computer users. Within these groups you'll find some of the most helpful and knowledgeable computer experts, and they're willing to share their experience and advice. Each month the online user groups will schedule speakers and events that give you a chance to keep up-to-date and learn more about the possibilities of your computer.

The chat with Mr. Joiner will take place on February 1, 2000 at 6:00 PM PST (9:00 PM EST). You can visit the World Without Borders web site for more information.

Club Photo has announced a public beta release of their Mac service. Club Photo is an online service for sharing photographs. According to ClubPhoto:

Club Photo Inc., the industry leader in making photo sharing and finishing a simple and meaningful experience, today announced the beta release of the industry's only online photo sharing and finishing software solution designed specifically for Apple Macintosh enthusiasts. The beta software is now available for free and is compatible with all Macs (OS 8.5 above) including the G3, G4, and the fruitful array of colorful iMacs.

Living Album for the Mac, the newest of Club Photo's free Internet photo sharing tools, gives Mac users a simple, flexible, and fun way to organize and share pictures on the desktop and with friends and family around the world on their own free Club Photo Web site.

'Until now, the Mac market has been overlooked,' said Andrew Wei, president and CEO of Club Photo. 'We are very pleased at how enthusiastically our Living Album software was received during its preview at MacWorld last month in San Francisco. We're hoping that the beta program will provide valuable feedback as well as an opportunity to show Mac enthusiasts just how powerful and easy the Club Photo solution really is.'

Club Photo Makes Sharing Simple Club Photo provides a complete and free photo sharing solution supported by fully integrated online photo finishing services. Instead of archiving favorite pictures never to be seen again, or having to reprint individual pictures and send them by 'snail mail,' Club Photo members can create albums and share them over the Internet for all to enjoy within minutes.

The company has not yet added information specific to Mac users to their web site, but we are expecting it sometime today.

Frank Reiff has released a major update to MacBreakZ!, his app that helps keep working on your Mac as ergonomic as possible. The new version, 2.1, contains all manner of improvements. According to Frank Reiff:

MacBreakZ! is a personal ergonomic assistant which monitors your keyboard and mouse activity and helps you structure your computer use in a healthy manner which prevents computer-related injuries from developing.

The new version contains many new features and changes requested by MacBreakZ! 2.0 users and fixes all known problems. MacBreakZ! now contains many new configuration features which allow the tool to be tailored to the individual requirements and preferences of its users.

You can find more information on the product at the MacBreakZ! web site. The update is free to registered users, while the full version is priced at US$25.