To All: The latest Smart Money Magazine (April, 1998) has an article on SI titled "Hopelessly Devoted" (page 104 from the hardcopy of the magazine).
The article points out that "With bulls to bears running 20 to 1 on SI, it's not exactly the place for a calm discussion of all points of view." (page 110)
Another thing mentioned in the article is that one member of SI is currently being sued by a small company for comments made.
I wonder what comments the thread has about the above, and the article in general. The fact that there are more bulls than bears is understandable, but 20 to 1 implies that there may be a bit too much optimism. Perhaps the risk of legal action for negative comments is partly to blame.
One last thought: The PE of Dell is currently at 49 per Friday's WSJ. I looked up some old WSJ's in the library and found that the PE of Dell was 25 at about this time last year, 12 in 1995, and 18 in 1992 (sorry if any errors, but I think I got this right). It seems that there may be considerable downside risk if earnings growth slows. Negative arguments about the stock can include the low-priced PC (still getting lower), the high PE of the stock, the attempt by other manufacturers to emulate Dell's business model (at least partly), and the current lack of applications requiring really fast PCs (or so it seems to me). Positive arguments can include the CEO (in my opinion), the business model, the fact that Europe is looking up, and the continued fast growth of the internet. I see it as somewhat of a toss-up right now. Any comments?
Best wishes to all,
John
|
