In another worry for the computer industry, the US Department of Commerce reports that orders for non-defence capital goods in the US fell 11.9% in September, the biggest downturn since January 1986, which was a scary month but turned out to be a false alarm and not an indicator of forthcoming malaise. But all the signs are that the already weak US general purpose computer market is getting weaker, and the September figures will do nothing for computer company shares, which are already decidedly soft on fears of a sustained downturn.
SHARP DROP IN US CAPITAL GOODS ORDERS WORRIES COMPUTER INDUSTRY WATCHERS
