Tag - Nz

Most of us have at one time experienced an attack of clutter when we discover that we desperately need a filing cabinet to keep all important documents organized. Now, imagine your documents piling up at such a rate that the one filing cabinet has become a warehouse full of filing cabinets, all containing records and receipts that aren’t immediately needed, but must remain accessible.

Although the situation rarely gets that bad for individuals, for the average business that stores most of its records electronically, it often seems like there are no limits, which is where Netezza Corporation (NYSE:NZ) comes in.

The seven-year-old Framingham, Mass.-based company is widely identified as one of the most promising of a group of data warehousing startups that offer technology to help companies make sense of the volumes of data they have in storage.

And sense, indeed, must be made. Many businesses are almost drowning in virtual data with the addition of new regulations mandating that many companies in the health-care and financial services industries keep more documents for longer lengths of time.

This same trend has also given rise to the data warehousing industry, which offers ways not only to store massive amounts of data, but to do so in an orderly fashion so that it can be called up as needed.

Netezza’s performance server allows companies to conduct detailed queries and sophisticated analyses of the data they have in storage, and its business is growing almost as swiftly as the amount of business-critical data in storage, estimated by International Data Corp. to be expanding at a rate of 50% per year.

Netezza’s shares have had a choppy ride since the company went public last July, swinging between $7.02 and $17.57, and closing at $12.43 on Friday. But all signs suggest that the long-term trend is up for this company, which has developed a superior data warehouse appliance that helps companies get a better view of what’s in all their virtual filing cabinets. Netezza is enjoying strong growth, and . . .

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) posted a steep decline today on news of an unexpected decline in U.S. retail sales and a scare from the financial sector. The small-cap index tumbled 15.05 points, or 2.11%, to 697.43, its lowest closing level in more than one year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) fell 277.04 points, or 2.17%, to 12,501.11.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 is down 8.96%, while the Dow has lost 5.76% and the S&P 500 has retreated 5.95%.

The odds of a U.S. economic recession increased today and Wall Street responded with a major sell-off.

The bears dominated from the start of trading following news from the U.S. Census Bureau that retail sales in December fell 0.4%, defying expectations of a rise of 0.1%. Sales for November were revised down to a gain of 1% from an initially reported 1.2%.

Purchases excluding automobiles also surprised economists, falling 0.4% instead of posting an increase of 0.1%.

A pullback in consumer spending, which comprises about 70% of U.S. gross domestic product, is a scary development for an economy already besieged by stagnating home prices, higher energy costs and a tightening of credit.

So far this year we have seen the unemployment rate climb to 5% from 4.7% as hiring slowed down significantly in December 2007. It is perhaps not surprising then that on Monday credit card issuer American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), announced that its card members have become more frugal.