Livedoor shares suspended

The shares of Livedoor, a leading Japanese internet services company, under investigation for alleged market manipulation, were temporarily suspended as a newspaper reported that the Japanese internet company had falsified its 2004 earnings.

Oops, and now the Japanese stock exchange has had to be closed and trading suspended as their systems ground to a halt under a wave of sell orders.

Tech and internet leaders in the US and Europe have also seen falls as earnings at Yahoo, Intel and IBM disappointed.

The tech bull market has now been raging for over a year and valuations are getting a little heady again. It's not surprising that inestors get jittery on any bad news of substance. Let's hope the Livedoor rumours don't reveal another Enron or MCI Worldcom.