Dell Disappoints, AND "Pulls The Plug"?

In what's getting to be a more familiar story all the time, Dell (NASDAQ DELL) has once again rattled Wall Street with an earnings forecast disappointment. Mid-morning, their stock is down below $20 (a 14% plunge, almost matching Yahoo's dive earlier in the week), with others, including HP (NYSE HPQ) down in sympathetic moves. At the same time a Consumer Reports piece entitled "Dell to pull plug on confusing deals" offers a summary of Dell's recent announcement to simply their end-user pricing, including eliminating rebates and offers like "free" printers. Is there a connection?

Comments