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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul V. who wrote (30977)	6/14/1999 11:49:00 PM
From: A. Edwards	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 70976

ML's comments: Any Recovery in Japan Would Be A Major Positive for Semi-equipment Group Merrill Lynch June 11, 1999 Investment Highlights: · Any recovery in the Japanese economy would certainly benefit the semiconductor capital equipment sector. Japanese semiconductor Cap-Ex spending has fallen to historically low levels as a percentage of global spending. · Not only would Japanese recovery mean better growth for US semi-equipment companies, but greater pricing power for device companies as the country is a major consumer of semiconductor parts. · The stocks in the group with a large exposure to the Japanese market are Applied Materials (AMAT, B-1-1-9), Cymer (CYMI, D-1-1-9), KLA-Tencor (KLAC, B-1-1-9)and Novellus Systems (NVLS, B-1-1-9). · The growing digitization of consumer electronics and the emergence of the network appliance are major opportunities for the Japanese consumer electronic companies. These end market applications could very well be the catalyst that kick starts the Japanese semiconductor industry into higher gear.