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To: Riskmgmt who wrote (3574)	9/10/1999 2:53:00 PM
From: DEER HUNTER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5232

PeopleSoft up on possible sales boost Takeover speculation also swirls cbs.marketwatch.com By Mike Tarsala CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 12:51 PM ET Sep 9, 1999NewsWatch Silicon Stocks PLEASANTON, Calif. (CBS.MW) -- Shares of PeopleSoft Inc. jumped for a fourth day Thursday on takeover speculation and expectations for a surge in software sales by year-end. Today on CBS MarketWatchNet stocks, bonds lead Street higherFriendly PPI data emergesBond market cheers tame inflation updateAOL's Andreessen steps asideMicrosoft, U.S. ready final responsesMore top stories...CBS MarketWatch ColumnsUpdated: 9/10/99 12:52:50 PM ET PeopleSoft shares (PSFT: news, msgs) were up as much as 1 1/2, or 9 percent, at 17 1/8, after having climbed as much as 10 percent Wednesday. The shares have gained more than 25 percent in the last week on optimism that PeopleSoft's corporate customers could begin installing more ERP software now that they have largely completed work on Year 2000 problems, said Rob Kugel, an analyst with First Albany Corp. in Burlingame, Calif. Most ERP companies had dismal earnings in the first quarter, and have struggled since, Kugel said. Customers put ERP projects on hold to focus on electronic commerce software, customer relationship management applications, as well as Y2K "The first two priorities haven't changed," Kugel said. "But a lot of companies are finishing Y2K efforts and are going back to projects that were put on hold." Shares of competing ERP companies also rose. J.D. Edwards (JDEC: news, msgs) rose 1 1/4 to 19 3/8. Germany's SAP (SAP: news, msgs) rose 1/4 to 37 7/8. Baan [baanf] rose 5/8 to 14 15/16. Analysts expect PeopleSoft to report per-share earnings of one cent in the third quarter, three cents in the fourth quarter and 8 cents for the year, reports FirstCall. A possible PeopleSoft buyout has also been on the tongues of Wall Street traders, which could have added to PeopleSoft's gains Wednesday, said Stephen Palfrey, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. One potential buyer's name bandied about was Computer Associates International Inc (CA: news, msgs). Kip Meintzer, investor relations manager for PeopleSoft refused to comment Wednesday about any possible acquisition. Representatives of Computer Associates couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Computer Associates is interested in selling applications similar to PeopleSoft's most popular software. But marriage between the two companies probably isn't in the cards, Bernstein's Palfrey said. "You could imagine it, but it strikes me as being pretty unlikely," Palfrey said. It makes sense for PeopeSoft to merge with another company -- just not CA, said Andrew Roskill, an analyst with Warburg Dillon Read LLC in New York. "CA is run more as a tight financial machine, while PSFT is known for a much nicer corporate culture," Roskill said. "Their work environments are entirely different."