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To: SJS who wrote (10179)	10/5/1999 12:54:00 PM
From: drsvelte	Respond to of 14427

Oil today reminds me of what it did in 1998. Are we back in the doghouse? Well, today, yes. Halliburton (HAL) 34 13/16 -4 15/16: Shares of Halliburton clearly out of favor today as investors aren't at all pleased with the company pre-announcing an earnings shortfall for its third quarter. After the close yesterday, Halliburton predicted earnings to be in the range of $0.11 to $0.13 per diluted share, or 32%-42% below First call estimates for a $0.19 profit per diluted share. The shortfall is tied, in large part, to a disappointing performance at its subsidiary Dresser Industries, specifically the Dresser Equipment Group which has significantly underperformed Halliburton's expectations, and is forecasting weaker operating results than had been anticipated for both its third and fourth quarters of 1999. In an effort to turn the tide, it was announced that Dresser would be selling its interests in the Dresser-Rand and Ingersoll Dresser Pump joint ventures to Ingersoll-Rand Company for total cash consideration of approximately $1.1 billion. Expecting to close these transactions on December 30, 1999, the sales are expected to result in an after-tax gain of about $380 million, or $ .84 per diluted share. The gain will be recognized in the 1999 fourth quarter. For today, however, it is the impending shortfall that is being recognized. Outside of the difficulties at Dresser, Halliburton also noted that it saw a decline in its downstream Engineering and Construction business segment, and acknowledged that earnings for its Energy Services Group would be flat to slightly up on a sequential basis due to continued low spending levels by its energy industry customers. This news, in particular, has cast a pall on the entire oil service sector today as earnings optimism was running high in the wake of the dramatic rebound in crude prices. Thus, a bit of a reality check for shareholders in the oil service companies as the surge in crude prices, apparently, has yet to translate into a surge in spending from their customers. -- PJO