Was that you writing or buying all the calls, John?
On a more serious note, here's today's SEMI BTB news:
NORTH AMERICAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY POSTS
DECEMBER 1999 BOOK-TO-BILL RATIO OF 1.18
Second-Straight Record Month for Semiconductor Equipment Bookings
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., January 20, 1999 -- The North
American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment
posted a second-straight month of record orders in December
1999 and a Book-to-Bill ratio of 1.18, it was reported by
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).
A book-to-bill of 1.18 means $118 in orders were received
for each $100 worth of products shipped.
The three-month average of worldwide shipments in December
1999 was $1.56 billion. The figure is one percent above the
November 1999 level, and is 69 percent above the December
1998 shipments level of $921 million. The three-month
average of bookings in December 1999 was $1.83 billion. The
bookings figure is eight percent above November 1999 and
108 percent above the $883 million posted in December 1998.
While December bookings increased only slightly over the
previous month, they were an impressive twelve percent
above the previous cycle peak of $1.63 billion booked in
November 1997 and nine percent above the previous record
high of $1.69 billion posted in February 1996.
"The strong semiconductor equipment order pattern that
began last Fall has continued through December," said
Stanley T. Myers, president of SEMI. "As the semiconductor
industry continues to report strong sales, the move to
invest in new technologies has been accelerating. The
conversion to 0.18 micron process technology is in full
swing and requires a significant investment by chip
manufacturers."
The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving
average bookings to three-month moving average shipments
for the North American semiconductor equipment industry.
Shipments and bookings figures are in millions of U.S.
dollars.
Month Shipments Bookings Book-to-Bill
July 99 1,375.2 1,530.9 1.11
August 99 1,440.7 1,565.1 1.09
September 99 1,412.9 1,510.7 1.07
October 99 (final) 1,484.3 1,609.5 1.08
November 99 (revised) 1,541.7 1,700.7 1.10
December 99 (prelim.) 1,557.8 1,832.5 1.18 |
