Microsoft's decision to delay the launch of Vista also had a negative impact on local technology stocks.

There are a handful of citizens who want to delay the decision until Mr. George comes back. But that would mean we won't be able to apply for Issue 2 money for Taylor Road in 2006 and, in my opinion, would delay the project by another 18 to 25 months.

[The delay - and the subsequent spread of lasers into many areas of technology - meant that the patents were much more valuable than if he had won initially. Even though Mr. Gould had signed away 80 percent of the proceeds in order to finance his court costs,] he made millions upon millions of dollars, ... Even at the 20 percent he was left with, he in his last years was a rich man.

There wasn't any observable scientific or procedural reason for them to first decline and then further delay the decision, ... I had to make the inference this was a decision that was made on the basis of political pressure, and it seemed to me that was unacceptable.

There was talk the Chinese government will let its people visit Taiwan soon.

Mobile phone shipments in the first quarter are likely to be flat or better than those in the fourth quarter on launches of new handset models.