Most Widely Traded 48 Hour Clock: Will McAfee Flank Symantec

24/7 Wall St. has begun coverage of the 36 most widely traded stocks, eighteen each from the NYSE and the NASDAQ. Most of these stocks trade over 50 million shares a week. This new feature will highlight each of the 36 stocks at least every 48 hours giving investors fresh infomation and perspective on the companies whose shares are most likely to move the broader markets.

Stocks: (SYMC)(EMC)(RSAS)(MFE)(MSFT)


The CEO of McAfee has been talking big (www.cio.com). The company releases its next major software product next month, while Symantec's Norton 360 product will not be out for a year.

The worries about Symantec's competitive advantages helped drop the stock to a 52-week low last week. The stock now trades at $15, down from its 12-month high of $24.38. In late 2004, the stock got close to $35.

Symantec's numbers have been good. The March 31 quarter was the fourth in a row with rising revenue, and the company had on operating profit of $180 million on a topline of $1.239 billion.

But, with Microsoft launching Windows Live One Care and EMC moving into the overall software security market with its purchase of RSA Security, Wall Street is worried that Symantec can't hold its share.

With McAfee coming out with its new product and Microsoft entering the market, the pessimism about Symantec has a foundation in fact. No wonder the McAfee CEO is raising his voice.

Douglas A. McIntrye can be reached at douglasamcintyre@gmail.com. He does not own securities in companies he writes about.