"Financial issues are going to affect both business spending and consumer spending, and particularly ... spending by the financial services industry," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told reporters at a news conference in Oslo earlier today. That's a reversal from his claim last week that tech sector worriers were probably watching too much CNBC. On the last day of the sales quarter, the always-bouncy Ballmer was refreshingly blunt: "Whatever happens economically will certainly effect itself on Microsoft." (Photo by AP/Erlend Aas)

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