Wouldn't you know it. Just when the world and its mother has succumbed to the allure of Telecom Eireann shares, the telecoms sector gets hit by a bout of the jitters.

Those who opted for a quick profit will be patting themselves on the back as the short-lived leading stock in the Irish market took a hit amid negative sentiment for telecommunications stocks.

Profit-taking in the sector was a sideshow in the plundering of Internet stocks with whose future telecoms issues are so closely tied.

Still, playing the equity market is a marathon game and investors should be wary of following the lemmings at this first setback. After all, they are still well ahead on their investment to date.