(FORTUNE Magazine) – Post-Sept. 11, the already beaten-down tech sector briefly enjoyed a nice little rebound. Surely, many investors were telling themselves, once-mighty stocks (and still well-run companies) like Cisco or Sun had to be screaming buys at these bargain prices. But was this really the long-awaited bottom, or just a sucker's rally? To get the answer, we asked editor at large and Silicon Valley bureau chief Brent Schlender to survey the landscape and report back on the deep trends roiling technology. At the same time we sent three of our best investment writers to probe the prospects of specific companies. Their conclusion, I'm sorry to tell you, is that this is no time to load up on yesterday's tech leaders. "While tech will surely recover over the long term," they say, "few (if any) of the majors look like safe bets over the short term." But like unhappy families, tech stocks aren't all the same, and a lot of investors are already in the game. So for an in-depth look at 12 of the largest, most widely held tech stocks--including specific buy, sell, or hold recommendations--see "The Tech Wasteland."

When news gets hot, editors need to keep their cool. And nobody's better in a crisis than Jim Impoco. Jim, who has edited our last three cover stories, joined us last fall after 12 years with U.S. News. He understands economics and has a knack for subtly shaping and lifting copy. Sadly for some of my pool-playing colleagues, Jim can also put an eight ball into the corner pocket with the same icy dispatch he displays while closing a story. (Hey, losers, you know who you are.)

Making magazines is a physical as well as an intellectual process. Every two weeks, after the able folks in our imaging department fire off a final stream of data to our plant in Clarksville, Tenn., FORTUNE moves from the world of the digital to a world of large presses that churn out mountains of perfect-bound copies. That's where Mark Glatzhofer comes in. As production director, Mark is the master of that analog realm. Lately he's been busier than ever as we push the envelope on our normal print schedules to stay on top of a fast-moving story. By juggling presses and doing things like hiring extra trucks to rush shipments to the coasts, Mark ensures that what we have to say and show will continue to end up, on time, in the hands of the people who matter most--you, our readers.

She loves ripping apart income statements. But every now and then senior writer Bethany McLean has to take a walk on the wild side. You may recall her memorable feature last year on the head-banging business of the World Wrestling Federation. In this issue she's back with a fascinating look at a far more elegant sport--the $14-billion-a-year world of horseracing. Part of the problem, Bethany reports, is that while off-track betting is exploding, fewer people are going to the tracks. Hmm. Given the parlous state of our economy, it just may be my civic duty to go place a few bets at Belmont Park.