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Jeff, Part of my answer depends on the type of trading you do. I use
Aufhauser for their short sale rebate, and they are fairly low priced
on everything else. I use Stock, Cross for low option commissions on
Leaps and smaller orders (3 and under).
I use Brown & Co. for flat fee option commissions on larger orders and
they also have the best margin rates, though I don't use margin.
Remember, it isn't just commissions that count. If they don't get
the orders right, trade them in a timely basis, or pay close
attention on the option specifications, zero commission is too much
to pay. MU eps could be anything from negative $1 to positive 25
cents. It depends on how much they demolish the balance sheet to
show good numbers. I think an honest accountant would look at all the
info as of Aug 31 and come up with a negative 25 cents or so. But
there are so many tricks they can play that the real game is likely
to be the balance sheet and the footnotes about recognition of
revenue. Some games I've talked about before. Since they are losing
money on every chip they make, they can just hold more in inventory.
They did a lot of that last quarter and could do more this time. Or,
they could write down inventory and call it a one-time charge and post
some number ex that as their "operating earnings." There will almost
certainly be more equipment sales this quarter. They also could sell
the Lehi fab building,
but we are running short of days on that one. Also,
I think it would have to be sold at a loss, unless they find somebody
really dumb to pay for a fab nobody wants right now. But I am no
expert on Utah real estate. They could also lease it out and count
the lease payments as revenues, which they certainly are. They are
renegotiating the debt on which they were in technical default.
As they do with 3rd-world countries, the banks may allow them to
capitalize the interest due as an increased loan and therefore lower
interest costs for this one quarter. In other words, this is a touty
company given to playing games, so this report will be a lot of fun
to read. MB PS, they could also sell more of MUEI, but I haven't
heard any murmurings in that direction. It is overpriced now, so that
may be a bit too smart for them to consider. -G- |
