5 Tech Stock Losers of 2010

(TheStreet) -- Tech stocks enjoyed some fair winds this year and investors blew into the sector looking for a way to ride the would-be recovery. And even though tech's resurgence hasn't gained much headway, the Nasdaq managed a respectable 17% gain. A few names raced ahead, but not all stocks sailed smoothly. Here are the top five worst-performing tech stocks of the year. No. 5: Cisco Cisco CSCO, mighty Cisco, was having a decent year up until Nov. 10 when the company reported that it hit some "air pockets." Cable companies cancelled orders for set-top boxes and cash-strapped state and city agencies pulled the plug on networking gear purchases, leaving Cisco with a big hole in its sales forecast. The stock: The turbulence knocked Cisco down 16% in the span of two days and has left Cisco down 16% for the year. Generally a weather vane for the sector, Cisco appears to be in a squall all its own as investors fear the equipment giant may be losing an edge to rivals like Hewlett-Packard HPQ, Juniper JNPR and F5 FFIV, to name a few. Continue reading the article.