IBM stock under pressure

In the last few days the stock of IBM was hit quite hard. Two days with roundabout 5 percent decrease. You can wonder a little bit about this, but there is an interesting article in the “Between the lines” blog: What’s really ailing Big Blue shares? Hint: IBM is part bank. Larry Dignan writes:

Big Blue’s financing unit, which leases hardware and finances projects, is big enough that the Securities and Exchange Commission put IBM on the “do not short” list. This list is designed to get shorts–folks that bet against stocks–off the backs of financial services companies long enough to raise capital or at least survive.

Thus IBM is possibly hit by two trucks: By economic slowdown as a computer … sorry … consulting company and by the credit crisis as a financial company. The article is really an interesting read.