Congratulations beat me to it. This may be a good on for trading.
GT@Chips-Us.com
Friday May 5, 8:40 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Merrill Lynch Introduces Semiconductor HOLDRS
SMHs Begin Trading
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2000--Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER - news) today announced that Semiconductor HOLDRS (AMEX: SMH - news) are expected to begin trading this morning with an initial market capitalization of approximately $140 million. This is the first syndicated offering of HOLDRS and A.G. Edwards & Sons served as co-manager with Merrill Lynch.
Semiconductor HOLDRS represent investors' undivided beneficial ownership interest in the common stock of 20 companies that, among other things, develop, manufacture and market integrated circuitry and other products known as semiconductors, which allow for increased speed and functionality in components used in computers and other electronic devices.
``With the anticipated growth of the technology sector, many investors are attracted to semiconductor stocks, but because of their frequent and severe volatility, these investors are seeking a vehicle that will enable them to spread their risk across the sector,'' said Steve Bodurtha, head of Customized Investments at Merrill Lynch. ``By investing in semiconductor companies through the HOLDRS platform, investors can unlock the power of diversification through an extremely efficient investment vehicle.''
The annual expense for owning HOLDRS is $0.08 per share, or generally less than 0.10%. This expense is waived to the extent it is not covered by dividends on the underlying stocks.
An investor may obtain HOLDRS by purchasing them in the secondary market - just like any other stock - or by depositing with the HOLDRS Trustee the required share amounts of the 20 underlying stocks and paying an issuance fee of up to $0.10 per HOLDR to the Trustee. HOLDRS can only be traded, issued and cancelled in round lots of 100 HOLDRS.
Investors may cancel their HOLDRS and take possession of the underlying stocks for a fee of no more than $0.10 per HOLDR. This process is not a taxable event and will provide investors with investing and trading flexibility. HOLDRS also enable investors to implement a true buy and hold investment strategy.
The specific share amounts underlying each round lot of 100 Semiconductor HOLDRS are set forth in the chart below. These share amounts should not vary except for changes due to corporate events such as stock splits or reverse splits on the underlying securities or reconstitution events.
Ticker Name of Company Shares per
HOLDRS
INTC INTEL CORPORATION 15
TXN TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC 11
AMAT APPLIED MATERIALS INC 13
BRCM BROADCOM CORPORATION 2
MU MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC 9
ADI ANALOG DEVICES 6
XLNX XILINX INC 5
MXIM MAXIM INTEGRATED PRODUCTS 5
LSI LSI LOGIC GROUP 5
TER TERADYNE INC 3
ALTR ALTERA CORPORATION 3
LLTC LINEAR TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION 5
VTSS VITESSE SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION 3
AMD ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 2
KLAC KLA-TENCOR CORPORATION 3
NSM NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION 3
ATML ATMEL CORPORATION 4
NVLS NOVELLUS SYSTEMS INC 2
AMKR AMKOR TECHNOLOGY INC 2
SNDK SANDISK CORPORATION 1
In July 1998, Merrill Lynch launched its first HOLDRS product, Telebras HOLDRS (NYSE: ``TBH''), with an initial market capitalization of about $4.68 billion. Telebras HOLDRS represent investors' interests in 12 separate American Depositary Receipts.
Since its inception, TBH has traded on average almost 1.7 million shares per day.
In addition to Semiconductor HOLDRS and Telebras HOLDRS, there are a total of eight other HOLDRS: Telecom HOLDRS (TTH), Pharmaceutical HOLDRS (PPH), B2B Internet HOLDRS (BHH), Internet Infrastructure HOLDRS (IIH), Internet Architecture HOLDRS (IAH), Biotech HOLDRS (BBH), Internet HOLDRS (HHH) and Broadband HOLDRS (BDH).
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies with offices in 43 countries and total client assets exceeding $1.8 trillion. As an investment bank, it is the top global underwriter and market maker of debt and equity securities and a leading strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is one of the world's largest managers of financial assets. For more information on Merrill Lynch, go to www.ml.com.
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Contact:
Justin Meise, 914/591-5599
jmeise@riverinc.com
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