Tech stocks took a huge hit today, following the house's failure to pass a bailout plan intended to rescue the nation's financial system and the Dow tumbling 778 points. To give a sense of how it hurt the broader telecom, wireless and communications-related stocks, of the 25-or-so stocks I regularly monitor, only one increased. Clearwire ( NSDQ: CLWR ) jumped nearly 8 percent or 90 cents to close at $12.50 a share, and that was likely because Sprint ( NYSE: S ) launched its first commercial WiMax network in the U.S. But companies like Motorola ( NYSE: MOT ), Nokia ( NYSE: NOK ), Palm ( NSDQ: PALM ), Qwest, Qualcomm ( NSDQ: QCOM ) and Sprint all saw double-digit percentage declines. So, the big question is will the nation's financial problems be temporary, or will it hurt the wireless industry long-term? The timing is interesting because wireless is undeniably hitting a stride, and is entering a new phase with the popularity of the "mobile Internet" and the iPhone, which has educated people that they can use their phones for more than calling and texting. What do you think? Do you have any examples? Here's supporting information for both sides of the argument: Yes, wireless will be affected: -- In this scenario, at the end of the day, wireless startups and mobile companies facing periods of growth won't be able to go unaffected because they may not be able to get the funding they need if there's a banking crisis and they don't have access to capital. If company's aren't able to go public, and if other companies don't have the capital to make acquisitions, there's going to be fewer incentives for VCs to invest. But more troubling is that even for the best ideas, the money might simply dry up, as TechCrunch notes . Typically, the limited partners in a fund commit to contributing a certain amount of funding to a fund, but don't actually pony up the money until VCs decide to make an investment and call for it. But...
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