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Technology Stocks : Ultratech Stepper -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ian@SI who wrote (3185)	6/7/1999 10:29:00 PM
From: Demosthenes	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3696

Ian, <<Perhaps this was the "June News" of benefit to all UTEK that Demosthenes mentioned last week. ???>> Maybe so. I'm not sure. I guess I was thinking of something technology related. I'll call UTEK tomorrow and report back here. I understand Bruce is a top tier choice for CFO. I am right now trying to quantify how big a deal it is for a company like UTEK to get someone like him to sign on. 1) Is there some special synergy that he brings to the table beyond his significant industry experience? 2) Is there a correlation to Tencor's past customers and customers targeted by UTEK? 3) To what degree does his industry experience bring legitamacy to UTEK? 4) Can UTEK getting him be considered a "huge feat?" I'd like some comments on these questions If anyone has some input. Thanks, D

To: Ian@SI who wrote (3185)	6/7/1999 11:30:00 PM
From: Demosthenes	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3696

All, The UTEK annual meeting was interesting, not exciting. AZ made his presentation with slides that were also in the paperwork given to each attendee. There were about 25-30 people at the meeting. Coffee, muffins, yogurt, etc., was available before and after the meeting. I sat on the front row. The legal stuff was done in about 3 minutes, which is to be expected. Then AZ started his slide presentation. He said the downturn was the worst he had experienced in his 35 years in the biz. He showed various line charts showing the expected demand for chips and equipment over the next 3 years--nothing we haven't seen around here. It was really pretty basic, and when I heard some of the questions from the audience I realized I probably knew more than 99% of the attendees. One guy asked, "what kind of growth can we expect from 2003 and beyond?" Halfway through the question I flashed Art a big smile as I tried to keep from giggling. "Don't do that to me," Art replied and then said, "I don't know." There were other questions, but I'm going to save myself from repeating them. I asked a few focusing on "When will the V2000 be accepted?" His response, "later this year." He referred to P-gild as a home run technology and I wanted to ask if it worked better than the V2000, but thought that would never do <GG>>. AZ finished with positive comments about future potential and said shareholders would be rewarded in the short term. The last slide of his presentation was of a traffic light. Next to the red light on top was: 1998, the yellow light: 1999, the green light, on the bottom: 2000. The interpretation: Everyone buy now because the green light is almost here and UTEK is the drag racing machine that's going to burn big rubber and lurch past all competition soon when the light changes. <<GGGG>> I stood around afterward and spoke to Dave Markle, Chief Tech Officer, about P-gild and the neverending stream of patents. He's a stoic guy but exuded some enthusiasm for the potential of this process. Dan Berry, President, was an affable guy who told me about increased outsourcing of the electronic units that go in UTEK products. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, there's my take on the event. Any comments? D