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Technology Stocks : MFMI and ADVC -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jason Webster who wrote (134)	6/25/1999 12:50:00 AM
From: MakeMoney	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 388

To "Jason Webster". Well - you may be right about the "voyeurs" part (i like that term a lot more then "lurkers"). you might just want to try the RB (Raging Bull) MFMI message board for more "action" . i don't know why but that MFMI message board is a LOT more active then this one (1). Oh yeah - you're right about one (1) thing - i am most definitely still in the process of "loading up"!! take care, my friend.

To: Jason Webster who wrote (134)	6/25/1999 2:53:00 AM
From: bob	Respond to of 388

Could we be in LU's acquisition plans? Thursday June 24, 7:02 pm Eastern Time FOCUS - Lucent closes $24 billion Ascend deal (adds chairman quotes, details throughout, stock prices, byline) By Jessica Hall NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - Lucent Technologies Inc., the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, on Thursday completed its $24 billion acquisition of data networking company Ascend Communications Inc., a move that will help it challenge networking leader Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO - news) Lucent (NYSE:LU - news) expects to acquire more companies as needed to round-out its product portfolio, as it also continues to grow internally using its fertile development base -- Bell Labs. ''We're going to grow substantially organically...and acquire other companies for their great people, technology or market position or time to market. I see no change in that,'' Lucent Chairman Rich McGinn said in an interview. Lucent has made a series of small acquisitions since it was spun off from AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news) in 1996, but the purchase of Ascend (Nasdaq:ASND - news), the No. 4 data networking equipment company, was Lucent's largest and boldest move into the data market. Ascend's data technology and expertise will help Lucent, which traditionally supplied voice products for telecommunications companies, tackle the blurring markets of voice and data networks. ''Lucent now stands head and shoulders above the competition in its ability to deliver end-to-end, communications networks to service providers,'' McGinn said in a statement. Together, the companies will benefit from each other's existing customer relationships. Lucent recently said it aimed to land contracts with long distance telephone companies MCI WorldCom Inc. (Nasdaq:WCOM - news), which is an existing Ascend customer, and Sprint Corp. (NYSE:FON - news) *Lucent also plans to pursue a number of smaller acquisitions in areas such as wireless and call centers, said one Lucent executive who declined to be named.* Lucent declined to comment on industry rumors it plans to buy Nexabit Networks Inc., a privately-held Marlborough, Mass.-based equipment company. Nexabit earlier this week denied media reports that it was close to being acquired by Lucent and said it aims to launch an initial public offering next year. The Ascend deal formally closed after the Alameda, Calif.-based networking company's shareholders overwhelmingly approved the acquisition during a special meeting. More than 99 percent of the votes cast supported the deal. Under terms of the acquisition, which was announced in January, each outstanding share of Ascend common stock will be converted into 1.65 shares of Lucent (NYSE:LU - news). The deal is valued at about $24 billion based on Lucent's closing stock price on Wednesday. Lucent named veteran Ascend executive Curt Sanford, as president of Lucent's new InterNetworking Systems group, which provides data networking products to service provider and enterprise markets. Lucent also said it expects to expand further into the market of providing equipment to cable television companies, an area it has been slow in addressing even as one of its major customers, AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news), has expanded rapidly into that market. ''You should expect over time for this to be an important part of our business as broadband multiservice networks are put in place over cable networks,'' McGinn said. ''It's starting now and it's important in these days and it will be much more important three to five years from now.'' McGinn reiterated that Lucent remains on track to meet its financial growth targets for 1999. Lucent expects its revenues to increase 19 percent to 20 percent with 35 percent earnings per share growth. McGinn said Lucent is in talks to shed the remaining assets that were part of the now-defunct joint venture with Philips Electronics . Separately, Lucent said it landed a contract to suppy Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. with equipment that expands the capacity of fiber optic networks.