A 3.4% drop for Boeing (BA) after a Wachovia downgrade spearheaded the Dow’s 0.70% drop to 12,477 on Monday.

Concerns over forthcoming earnings reports deflated tech stocks, which appear to be experiencing a natural pullback after outperforming all other sectors month-to-date. There are concerns, however, regarding chip maker AMD and software giant Microsoft, both of which are expected to report sub-par results. In AMD’s case, increased quality has led to increased competition from rival Intel. For Miscrosoft, the problems are internal, as the company has failed to deliver its forthcoming Vista operating system on numerous occasions.

Apple, which lost almost 2% on the day, has been slumping since hitting a 52-week high of 97.80 on January 10, the day after it reinvented the phone. Since that time the stock has lost over 11.25%, and closed at 86.79.

Three giants in tech will report earning this week, and here’s the rundown:

• Ebay (EBAY): Wednesday, Ebay will announce its earnings, which are expected to be up 40% from last year, with a 25% increase in sales.
• Microsoft (MSFT): Thursday, Microsoft is expected to disappoint investors with decreased profits, much the same way it has disappointed its users with the delayed release of its next-generation Windows product, Vista. The two are not unrelated, as Microsoft has deferred 1.5 billion in revenue for prepurchased OEM versions of the software until next quarterk, possibly creating a buying opportunity if Thursday’s results are poorer than anticipated.
• AMD (AMD): AMD will announce fourth quarter results Tuesday, revealing exactly how costly the chip wars have been to the Intel (INTC) rival. Intel reported last week that its sales have stabilized and increased steadily after a tumultuous few years of stiff competition from AMD. Further, according to Marketwatch, Intel and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) have reportedly reached an agreement, which would be a hit to AMD, Sun’s sole chip supplier.

In an otherwise lackluster day, Alcoa (AA) announced plans to buyback 10% of its outstanding stock and raise its dividend by 13%, lifting shares to 31.40, up 3.6%.

IBM fell three percent after forecasting 10% earnings growth in 2007, which is lower than investors had anticipated.

For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 closed nearly flat, while the Nasdaq dropped 2.1%, after disappointments from Intel (INTC) and Apple (AAPL), which closed at 88.50, down 9.4% from last week’s high of 97.80

Stocks ended the day down on anticipation of stable rates from the Fed and oil under $51 a barrel.

Apple (AAPL) fell more than 6%, closing at $89.07, fully 10%
lower than its high a week ago after announcing the iPhone.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), IBM, and Intel (INTC) also fell today, despite increased earnings from IBM, an overall decrease in hardware sales weighed down the tech sector.

The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all retreated a bit from their earlier highs, largely due to an increase in the Producer Price Index and concerns that the Fed, which is supposedly going to ease interest rates, will raise or maintain current rates.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) regained most of its earlier loses for the week, up 1.2%, and a 68% jump in fourth quarter profits helped JP Morga (JPM) gain 0.1%.

Intel (INTC) dropped 5.6% after it announced that fourth quarter profits were down 39%, which led the way for other tech stock declines, IBM, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), and Apple (AAPL), which released its outstanding earnings after the bell.

If you have ever left a job where you had a 401(k) you’ve asked this question. Depending on your circumstances, the answer may differ from case to case. While nothing beats advice from a professional who can evaluate your situation fully, here are some basic situations that may lead to the right decision.

Is your human resources department reliable and easy to communicate with?

This is the stickler that most people can answer with a resounding NO!

If you keep your 401(k) with a previous employer, it will typically be the human resources department at that company that you deal with whenever you want to make a change to the account. If they are approachable and easy to communicate with now, they will likely be so after you move on to your new employer.

If, however, they are hard to set an appointment with, incompetent or disinterested, or if you have burned any bridges with them, you won’t want to leave your money with them.

Are you satisfied with the options your 401(k) had?

This is different than, “Did the investments in your 401(k) do well.” Rather, you have to evaluate the different investment options available to you and determine if there will be enough variety to suit your needs in different circumstances. If you’re 27 and moving on to your second job, the stock funds you’re in may be perfectly suitable, but if the 401(k) doesn’t have adequate fixed income (bond) options, you may need to make changes as you get closer to retirement.

If the options available in your 401(k) were not adequate, it’s time to shop around for an IRA, where you’ll have more investment options.

Are you in dire need of money immediately?

Most investment advisers and financial planners do not consider this possibility, mainly because of the tax consequences and penalty, but there may be times when you need to cash in some of your 401(k). Sometimes things just don’t work out as planned.

If you find yourself suddenly unemployed, with a mortgage, car payment, rent, a family to feed (not to mention your own voracious appetite), and, to top it all off, you need a new suit for interviews, it may be appropriate to take some of that 401(k) and put it to good use until you get to that next rung on the ladder.

Obviously, it’s a last-ditch effort, and adjusting your lifestyle is the first in a long series of steps that you need to take to get back on solid financial footing. But remember, by cashing out a retirement account prematurely, you not only have to pay taxes on the proceeds, but also will be penalized 10% for the early withdrawal of funds.

If you do find yourself in this situation, do it cautiously, and make every effort to preserve as much as you can to rollover into a qualified plan once you are back on your feet, since you have 60 days from the withdrawal to rollover into an IRA.

Do you want to manage multiple accounts?
You can have as many retirement accounts as you want, but they will have different fees associated with them and different investment options available to them.

If you’re not interested in evaluating each account every six months, it may be best to consolidate your retirement savings into a single IRA or a(new employer’s) 401(k).

If you are going to rollover your funds…

The most important thing when rolling over into an IRA is to do it quickly: you have sixty days before the IRS considers it a withdrawal and, therefore, taxable and penalized.

Every day you hear it, whether Ben Bernanke had the sniffles or whether one of the Fed governors made a statement about the economy: every investor is afraid that the Fed will act to “slow the economy.”

What exactly do journalists mean by this?

The Federal Reserve is charged with keeping inflation steady, and in order to do so they have control over two major interest rates: the Discount Rate and the Fed Funds Rate. Both are interest rates charged to banks for overnight loans.

The discount rate is the interest rate charged to banks toat loan funds directly from the Federal Reserve.

The Fed Funds Rate is the interest rate charged to banks that borrow from other banks at the Fed.

The Fed Funds Rate is the more important figure, since most banks would prefer to borrow from other banks than directly from the Fed.

While neither of these interest rates directly affect investors, they do affect banks and lending rates across the spectrum. If banks have higher interest for short-term lending, then that will trickle down to their customers having higher rates for lending as well.

The bottom line is, when these interest rates are low, then it is easier to borrow money. If the Fed acts to raise these rates, it is said to be “slowing the economy,” since it gets more expensive (harder) to borrow money as interest rates climb.

This higher interest rate leads to less borrowing and, hence, less spending and a general decrease in business transactions.

So, when some journalist frets about the Fed possibly “slowing the economy” or “Tightening the money supply” (another favorite), what they are really talking about is rising interest rates.

The Dow closed up 26 points Tuesday at 12,582, despite a 1.4% drop for Exxon Mobil (XOM), due to slipping oil prices.

The S&P 500 increased a mere 0.1%, while the Nasdaq dropped 0.2%. Symantec (SYMC) dropped over 13% after earnings came in below expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 41 points to close at 12,556, a new record., closing the week 1.3% up. Exxon Mobil (XOM) was the Dow’s biggest gainer, posting a 2.4% gain, despite the week’s 6% decline in oil prices.
Despite a nearly 10% loss by chip producer AMD, the Nasdaq closed at 2,502, a six-year high, and the S&P 500 logged a five-year high, closing at 1,430.

The bull market that has been in effect for the past couple years has not seen such consistent gains across the indices, and many are talking as if the real surge is yet to come.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 72 today to close higher than ever before, at 12,514.

25 of the 30 stocks in the index were up on the day, with tech stocks Intel (INTC), Hewlett Packard (HPC), and Microsoft (MSFT) leading the way.

Lower oil prices and overall commodities costs have largely been seen to fuel the rally, but the first earnings reports of the year (spearheaded by Alcoa’s 60% rise in year-over-year quarterly profits) have been very promising.

The Nasdaq closed at 2,484, its highest level in six years. Aside from the usual tech suspects, pharmaceutical giants Genentech (DNA), Astrazeneca (AZN), and Bristol-Myers-Squibb (BMY) reacted strongly to positive news.