Apple opened trading today at US$16.13 and is currently trading at $15.75, down more than $2 from yesterday’s close. Salomon Smith Barney downgraded Apple to Neutral from Buy, saying that the company would have posted a loss of 1 cent per share in its third-quarter if not for an increase in channel inventories and a lower than expected tax rate. The firm cut its 2003 earnings estimates to 18 cents per share from 75 cents per share and the price target was also cut to $15 from $25.