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Technology Stocks : America On-Line (AOL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: C Nelson Reilly who wrote (28604)	8/5/1999 6:02:00 PM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 41369

Microsoft Uses Free PCs, Instant Messaging to Compete With AOL Bloomberg News August 5, 1999, 2:42 p.m. PT Microsoft Uses Free PCs, Instant Messaging to Compete With AOL Redmond, Washington, Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. said it will help provide more free personal computers and expand its instant-messaging service as the world's biggest software maker battles No. 1 online service provider America Online Inc. Microsoft plans to team up with more PC makers, retailers and Internet service providers to offer free PCs to MSN Internet Access customers, said Rob Bennett, a product manager in Microsoft's consumer and commerce group. The software powerhouse also intends to widen its instant-messaging service beyond AOL, which is fighting Microsoft's connection to its own service, Bennett said. Microsoft's focus on AOL is part of its move beyond desktop computing and into Internet computing on a variety of devices ranging from the PC to cell phones to television set-top boxes. The software maker is betting that free PCs and lower Internet access fees will encourage consumers to spend more, by shopping and paying bills online. ''Most ISPs drop the access fees only after finding a way to make up the lost revenue through online shopping or other transactions,'' said analyst William Epifanio of J.P. Morgan Securities, who has a ''buy'' rating on Microsoft. ''Microsoft doesn't have to wait,'' he said, referring to the company's $17 billion of cash reserves. Improvements Microsoft is considering various ways of improving MSN Internet access, including trimming or scrapping monthly fees, though no decision has been made, Bennett said. Last month, the company dropped its $9.95 monthly fee for premium services on its MSN MoneyCentral Web site, which provides stock-portfolio tracking and information for individual investors. Microsoft has joined PC maker Lan Plus Inc. and office supplies retailer Staples Inc. to provide a free PC to customers who sign up for three years of MSN Internet Access. ''We're talking to other partners about broadening that,'' Bennett said, declining to identify them. Agreements are expected ''fairly soon,'' he said. Microsoft is also discussing the linkup of its MSN Messenger instant-messaging service to other companies' services, Bennett said. Instant messaging is real-time e-mail that's become especially popular with teenagers and executives. MSN Messenger was introduced two weeks ago, with a link to AOL's Instant Messaging service, sparking a row with the online service provider. Last week, Microsoft lined up allies such as AT&T Corp., Yahoo! Inc., Excite At Home Inc. and Infoseek Corp. in its camp against AOL. They urged AOL to join an Internet industry group working on instant-messaging standards, and to remove barriers to instant messages. AOL enlisted Apple Computer Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Novell Inc. They joined an advisory group on instant-messaging standards. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, rose 13/16 to 85 3/4. AOL, based in Dulles, Virginia, fell 3 1/2 to 83 15/16.

To: C Nelson Reilly who wrote (28604)	8/5/1999 6:08:00 PM
From: Dr. David Gleitman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 41369

Forget the Y2K problem. I think we have a problem here called the month of August which will be later followed by the month of October. These months contribute to a negative market sentiment. Been there, seen that. At the one-way getting around this is like everybody all agree and remove the month of August and October from their calendars. Starting tomorrow, it will now be September 1st and market can resume a decent rally. I was also a bit dumb struck by the opening and the subsequent fall of AOL this morning. Realizing that in the past AOL has taken these types of falls, only to recuperate a short time later. Although this time it is not too short. All we can do at this point is either trade or hold our positions until the powers that be (those 12 gods somewhere located in Hoboken NJ wore nothing more than cigar chopping demagogues who decide which stocks will go up at which stocks will go down). You'll see soon that the analysts will soon come out screaming that AOL is extremely undervalued only after the large funds have picked up their shares. That's the way the market works. We become a bit schizophrenic about valuation of stock. On one hand we want a stock to go down to a certain level so that we can pick it up at a bargain basement price. On the other hand, once it does go down to bargain basement prices, we abstain from purchasing them for fear of the going lower and why would anybody want to have the stock at that level. Once it goes back up, we kick ourselves saying "now why didn't I buy some or Icould have bought some at those levels". Good luck to us all David