From an NYT story about the exploding Dell computers. Identify the phrases that have me smirking!

Photos of the flaming and smoking notebook were posted on a technology news Web site called the Inquirer on June 21 (www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article =32550). The story was passed around to other Web sites and blogs like Consumerist.com. It was also the subject of a brief article carried later that day on the Dow Jones Newswires.

Two days later, Cindy Shaw, a securities analyst with Moors & Cabot, notified her clients about the publicity. Last Thursday, citing reports of a second smoking laptop, this one in Pennsylvania, she advised them that "should this story also hit the mainstream press, we believe there is headline risk and potentially negative demand ramifications for Dell."

Bob Pearson, vice president for corporate group communications at Dell, called Ms. Shaw's reaction "somewhat irresponsible."

Ms. Shaw said neither she nor her firm had made any financial bets that the company's stock would fall. She does, however, recommend that clients sell the shares.

So far, though, Dell's stock price has been largely unaffected.

Dell said its engineers examined and tested what remained of the flaming notebook computer for several days to find the source of the problem. They concluded that the fire was caused by a faulty lithium ion battery cell, but that the problem was unrelated to a recall last year of notebook batteries by the company and several other computer makers.

"It's very, very rare to have a thermal incident," Mr. Pearson said.