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To: Gary Wisdom who wrote (23078)	7/16/1999 9:08:00 PM
From: Jeff Dryer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27307

>Here's the schedule for the Internet conference that starts >tomorrow. Note that TK speaks twice on Sunday, being interviewed by >Mary Meeker as one of his appearances. I believe you have quite accurately and aptly described the proceeding of events as a show... as in... entertainment and hype festival. I don't believe Mary Meeker is a real analyst who gives honest opinions. She is like an advertising agent. Her job is to create celebrities... create a good feeling by saying "Strong Buy!". The institutions control the individual investor with people like Mary Meeker and Henry Blodgett. Since they are in control of the game, they can buy and sell with confidence with and against what individuals are doing... creating the effect that is often witnessed ====> individuals buy in at the top long after the institutions have vacated their positions but interestingly enough the "Strong Buy!" ratings are often still in place. Only after the stock plunges 50% or more do the institutions downgrade and drive the stock even lower. Sometimes after they downgrade and drive the stock lower, the institutions then start buying again. Do you think most investors are aware of the games that institutions play? I don't think so. I am generalizing quite a bit here, but I think what I'm saying accurately describes part of what goes on (the part of the story that doesn't get told very often). There was an episode several years ago when Mary Meeker was one of the most prominent analysts covering Compaq. The day (or a few days) before Compaq announced earnings, Mary was saying that Compaq would BEAT estimates (the estimates put in earnings per share format). She had everyone excited, including my father who was a Compaq shareholder at the time. Compaq missed estimates, but it was worse than that. Mary Meeker came out and admitted that she was using the wrong number of shares because she wasn't factoring in an acquisition (I believe it was the Digital acquisition). So, it turned out that her earnings per share estimate was way high. Somehow, she rebounded from this embarrassment to become a crowd favorite again. Many seem to prefer the manipulated fantasy over reality.