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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (28060)	8/11/1999 12:10:00 AM
From: stephan boileau	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

News on settlement and Tracking Stock For your information at the same time last year Microsoft was $ 88 per share and in January it was trading at $ 155 per share. Judge Jackson has said that he does not want to drag on court case like IBM and AT&T which gave nothing. He wants a speedy closure. Judge Jackson will rule in favor of Microsoft for the following reason: Definition of Monopoly The ability to raise prices on products knowing that consumers have no alternative supply source and obliged to stick with this service since it becomes a necessity. Examples are: Electricity companies. Phone companies. In the case of Microsoft they cannot raise prices at will or competitor's will raid it's turf. Consumers benefit since they get more services for lower price. Consumer and innovation benefit. Microsofts key to success is it's continuation of adding new features to it's products by keeping the prices low that makes it difficult for other firms to compete. This strategy is not a barrier to entry but an aggressive method of doing business that will keep it prospering for many years. Not much can be done about this. This is reason Jackson wants a settlement so Justice can benefit from it. Otherwise all is lost. The simple fact that companies that complain about Msft behavior also engage themselves in similiar patterns when confronted to opening their markets. These are AOL on the messaging aspect, AT&T on the cable issue and so forth. This severly undermines the credibility of the plaintiffs since they are not of good faith. Look for possible settlement in september and estlishment of a tracking stock at the same time. I could never understand why people behave in a stampede mode. Microsoft stock is very cheap now. Buy it. Why wait till it is $150 and then rush with others. Profit now when no one wants it. Good luck friends.