Silicon Valley waits for bad news to end

Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The fear, frustration and dread produced by the stock market dive are old hat in Silicon Valley. The main question in the high-tech capital: When will the bad news cease?

"Not a single CEO that I've talked to sees any end in sight. It seems like every day unfolds with the knowledge that it can get worse," said Carl Guardino, head of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, an organization of 190 technology companies.

Plunging markets certainly don't help matters. Silicon Valley needs the business world's confidence to pick up so the stinginess in corporate technology spending finally can fade.

A recent San Jose State University survey found that fewer than half of local residents expected business conditions would improve in the next year.

Still, Silicon Valley has not entirely lost its trademark optimism.

"Maybe I hang out with a positive group of people, but I think we all get that it's life," said Josef Robey, 25, who was laid off from Internet music flame-out Napster Inc. in March. "You've got to roll with the punches, and things have to pick up."