Satyam Off 90%-Plus; Other Indian IT Stocks Sliding

Satyam Computer Services (SAY) shares will open down more than 90% this morning, following the revelation that the company’s founder and now-resigned chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju, has confessed to cooking the company’s books. That’s shaken investor faith in other Indian IT outsourcing stocks.

In short, Satyam now looks like the Indian version of Enron, and Raju has become the country’s Bernie Madoff. It’s not good for the Indian stock market, and it is not good for IT services group.

Ergo, in pre-market trading:

• Cognizant (CTSH) is down $1.44, at $18.


• Infosys (INFY) is down $1.21, at $25.39.


• Wipro (WIT) is down 75 cents, at $7.66.


• Patni (PTI) is down 18 cents, at $5.80.

And Satyam is down $8.53, or 91.2%, to 82 cents.