Yeoman's work by Barron's Eric Savitz, who pens the must read techblog Tech Trader Daily, in assembling a laundry list of stocks downgraded by GS (published Friday after the bell). The money quote from Goldman analysts states they have become "incrementally more cautious on tech fundamentals given the current macroeconomic backdrop." Additionally, "with software a typically back-end loaded sale, if there is any concern on budgets in the early part of 2008, we would expect CIOs to hold off their purchases until later in the year." The main area of concern: "Companies with large enterprise exposure and significant dependence on the U.S. consumer." Ouch. I have long advocated deciding on an exit strategy prior to owning a stock. While these downgrades may not mean immediately selling them, at the very least you should be revisiting your pre-planned exits. If you are unsure about selling, your trailing stop losses should give you some protection in the event of a selloff. If you are not using trailing stops, then you may want to tighten up your existing stops -- especially on those names that have enjoyed a good run. What follows is a list of stocks affected by estimate cuts and/or price...

Yeoman's work by Barron's Eric Savitz, who pens the must read techblog Tech Trader Daily, in assembling a laundry list of stocks downgraded by GS (published Friday after the bell). The money quote from Goldman analysts states they have become "incrementally more cautious on tech fundamentals given the current macroeconomic backdrop." Additionally, "with software a typically back-end loaded sale, if there is any concern on budgets in the early part of 2008, we would expect CIOs to hold off their purchases until later in the year." The main area of concern: "Companies with large enterprise exposure and significant dependence on the U.S. consumer." Ouch. I have long advocated deciding on an exit strategy prior to owning a stock. While these downgrades may not mean immediately selling them, at the very least you should be revisiting your pre-planned exits. If you are unsure about selling, your trailing stop losses should give you some protection in the event of a selloff. If you are not using trailing stops, then you may want to tighten up your existing stops -- especially on those names that have enjoyed a good run. What follows is a list of stocks affected by estimate cuts and/or price...