HEXUS.sharewatch: HP and NVIDIA recover some lost ground

We've often remarked how nerve-racking being an equity investor must be these days, with everybody so unsure about what the immediate future holds in the global economy. Last week was a relatively good one for share prices but, if recent history is anything to go by, this week will be the opposite.

One of the most consistently volatile tech stocks is graphics chip maker NVIDIA, and last week was no exception. Having fallen the previous week, that lost ground was regained. There was no obvious reason why, so maybe investors realised their error in fleeing the stock previously and welcomed it back with open arms. People are still trying to work out how well NVIDIA is going to do in mobile, but the imminent launch of the next gen Kal-El chip should help.

HP was, of course, pummelled when the previous CEO effectively announced the company was trying to get out of the consumer product game, despite being the world's number one PC maker. Since then the CEO has been replaced, and the acquisition of Autonomy has been completed, so maybe investors are feeling a bit more optimistic about the tech giant now.

Lastly it's interesting to see Apple significantly underperforming the market for once. Its founder and figurehead Steve Jobs died last week, of course, and while he'd already handed over the reins, and the initial effect on Apple's shares was minimal, maybe investors are a bit nervous about Apple's ability to keep up the scary levels of growth it managed under Jobs.