And we should remember to make special note of Aug 8 announcement....
NEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Salomon Smith Barney on Tuesday said it cut its ratings on hard-disk drive and component stocks Read-Rite Corp. (NASDAQ: RDRT), Maxtor Corp. (NASDAQ: MXTR) and Hutchinson Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: HTCH), on a recent "turn for the worse" in the second half of 2000.
In a research note, analyst John Dean said:
-- cut Read-Rite to outperform from buy, target price cut to $5.50 in 12 months from $8 in 18 months.
-- cut Maxtor to outperform from buy, 12-month target price cut to $7 from $16.
-- cut Hutchinson Technology to neutral from buy, cut target price to $16.50 in 12 months from $40 in 18 months.
No, no, no.....don't even think it. A firm as august and ethical as Solomon would never stoop to issuing a press release to depress the market price of a stock on behalf of its clients. No, Solomon's premier analyst, Mr. Dean, was just honestly and ethically wrong....could happen to anyone, even guys that go to college and get degrees.
Wasn't it Smith and Barney that made money the old fashioned way? By "earning" it.
I personally think Sam has it about right and we should see 18-19 sometime before the next story breaks....if the next story breaks. Meanwhile we can entertain ourselves watching the markets manipulating the markets :o)
Best ....... Tom |
