S&P to Junk Lucent?
It seems like it was just yesterday that Lucent Technologies was the darling of the investment
community. Lucent of course, is the world’s largest maker of telecommunications equipment and
they have seen their stock price plummet in the last year, from a 52-week high of $67..to now less
than $10 per share.
Adding further wind to the storm, Standard and Poors announced they have placed Lucent’s debt
ratings under review for possible cut to speculative grade...otherwise known as junk status.
The problem? Lucent’s enormous debt load..$3 billion in long term debt and another $12 billion
coming due during the rest of 2001....Their recent spin-off of Agere Systems raised only slightly
more than half the money they were hoping for. To make matters worse, Lucent has time and again
disappointed the market with lower than expected profits and sales.
The good news is that Lucent can still access more than $4 billion in available credit lines and might
sell its fiber-optic cable business to raise more cash.
The overall markets appear to be touching their feet on the bottom, looking to see if the ground is
solid. Many analysts think the worse is over and it appears bargain hunters are now scavenging for
good deals.
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Touchstone Resources, Ltd. (CDNX: TUT) President Mark Bush updated the audience about their
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Anthony Lapine, CEO of Semotus Solutions, Inc. (AMEX: DLK) spoke about the future of the
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Steve Rosenthal, President of The Majestic Companies, Ltd. (OTC-BB: MJXC) spoke of the recent
press his company has been receiving about their passive restraint system for school buses.
Gary Smith, CEO of High Plains Corporation (Nasdaq: HIPC) announced revenues and earnings
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the USA’s 7th largest producer of ethanol.
Ed Kelly, CEO of Tasty Fries, Inc., (OTC-BB: TFRY) spoke of his company’s recent progress with
their french fry vending machine, which “can cook up to 500 orders without being refilled. Because
the product is dehydrated, their are no spoilage concerns”.
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