The following is the spin put on yesterday's action by the WSJ:
Ascend Communications gained 2 1/16 to 28 15/16 on Nasdaq. Appearing at a conference, a company official said the networker expected to live up to analysts' profit forecasts.
What rumor? This kind of blurb ties ASND's rising stock price to the generally increasing positive sentiment and positive momentum that I had referenced earlier. If inertia is now carrying ASND forward, with positive items (not all necessarily true) such as (1) a 56K standard having been reached, (2) ASND being "in play," (3) 4Q numbers being no problem, (4) FY98 numbers being no problem, etc., then I just do not see the predicted (by some) rapid 5 point drop on Monday (which would take ASND back to 24).
Moreover, the week ahead may see additional positive items: (1) Sector Investor's AT&TWorldnet news conference on Wednesday may contain positive ASND-related news (i.e., ATM in the backbone), (2) a CPQ buyout?, (3) analyst upgrades?
Furthermore, when the momentum or fundamentals are up, the occasional bad news loses significance (e.g., the class action...what impact did that have on price?) Just like, when the momentum or fundamentals were down, the occasional good news lost significance (e.g., the NTT contract, the UUNET contract).
Gary Korn |
