Buy-Buy Microsoft

NEW YORK: Want to know how well the appeals court treated Bill Gates? Look no further than Microsoft's stock price, which immediately picked up four points to approach the $100-per-share mark in afternoon trading. Along for the ride was Gates loyalist Dell Computer, which gained nearly five points.

Of course, that's hardly surprising. "Microsoft's a clear buy -- and it's still a buy," says FORTUNE writer Nelson Schwartz. "The appellate court's sympathy with Microsoft's side just confirmed what people on the Street have been figuring for a while -- that the Justice suit isn't much of a threat." As TIME Wall Street columnist Daniel Kadlec wrote on June 1, the history of the stock swings over the course of Redmond's battle with Justice suggests that the dips are the time to buy. The price that day? $85. Hope you listened.