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Technology Stocks : QUANTUM
QNTM 9.940-0.6%Dec 5 9:30 AM EST

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To: james who wrote (6596)12/11/1997 9:26:00 PM
From: Rational  Read Replies (2) of 9124
 
James:

This is again another point of success for the smart young Harvard-Stanford trained CEO of QNTM.* He did not hedge much (if at all) for currency risk because it was the dumbest thing to do. A lot of SEG's losses were mainly from currency hedging. The DD makers are not selling much in Asia, they are buying (labor) there.

SEG got into forward contracts (say) in June to buy ringgat in September for a currently (as of June) agreed-upon price of ringgat in US$. Ringgat lost about 30% between June and September and SEG got sucked in because of the promise to pay 30% more dollars than it would have paid without hedging. [I am not exact about SEG's contracts, but the picture is roughly what I am describing.]

Companies like IBM, SUNW and DELL hedged and protected their earnings well because they sell in Asia. SEG hurt itself and most of the losses on SEG Q10 are still not realized!!

QNTM did not hedge much (if at all) because it had a better understanding of the situation. The CEO is a highly talented business/finance guy, IMHO. SEG CEO is very talented in DD innovation (and there is little left to innovate now), but he depends on others on esoteric concepts like hedging!!

Sankar

quantum.com

* Michael A. Brown

Michael A. Brown, chief executive
officer of Quantum Corporation,
joined Quantum in 1984 and held
various marketing positions until
1989, when he became director of
product marketing. In 1990, Brown
was promoted to vice president. He
became executive vice president
responsible for the company's hard
drive business in 1992 and chief
operating officer in 1993.

Brown's contributions include
developing the strategic business plan
for the company's entry into the
3.5-inch product market. Before
joining Quantum, he served two years
as a research associate at Braxton
Associates, a strategic planning
consulting firm.

Brown holds a B.A. in economics
from Harvard University and an
M.B.A. from Stanford University.
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