Tyco shares plunge after Reuters ahead of rivals with company’s warning

Reuters beat Bloomberg by more than a minute on Nov. 11 with headlines about Tyco International’s 2009 earnings warning, and by four minutes with Tyco’s first-quarter outlook —information that set off a 14-percent collapse in the company’s stock and helped drag down other industrial stocks. Tyco’s outlook was well below Wall Street estimates, even though those had been slashed in the weeks preceding the company’s quarterly report. The stock, which had traded up about 3 percent after Tyco’s fourth-quarter numbers topped forecasts, reversed direction in the seconds after Tyco gave its forecast on a conference call. Reuters clients had a full minute to digest news before Bloomberg sent out headlines, while Dow Jones was unsighted. Tyco shares closed down 14 percent that day and lost another 7 percent on the following trading day.