Ups and downs

(Downs) to the hospital fiasco. No matter what the outcome, the region’s health care system will take years to recover from the blight left on it by the battle over PHS’s hospital holdings. At least PHS didn’t own UH or the Clinic. Then we’d be on life support.

(Downs) to the extremely volatile stock markets. If you’ve got your money in the NYSE or NASDAQ these days, you probably keep a package of Rolaids (NYSE: WLA) nearby. Even if you’re reaping double — or triple — digit returns, that could just as well be the fluctuations in your blood pressure readings. Such are the caveats associated with playing the stock game.

(Ups) to OPEC. Finally, member countries made a decision with long-term business strategy in mind. Sure, their original goal was simply to boost crude oil prices from $11 a barrel to something a bit more profitable. But when gas prices hit $2 a gallon, even they saw the error of their ways — you can’t keep customers if you price them out of the market.

(Downs) to Microsoft. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled the software powerhouse was a monopoly and shook the high-tech industry to its foundation. While Bill Gates vows to appeal the decision, it could lead to massive changes in Redmond, Wash. Could this be Ma Bell all over again?

(Ups) to Cleveland for landing the 2003 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. It’s the third time in the fair’s 50-year history that Cleveland has been named host city. While the fair is aimed at students in grades nine through 12, as the only international science project competition of its kind, it should prove a financial windfall for the local economy. And while we’re at it, how about an (ups) for the Cleveland Convention and Visitors Bureau, whose relentless efforts to draw organizations to the city have really been paying off.