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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: A. Geiche who wrote (53181)	10/18/1999 10:11:00 PM
From: CpsOmis	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95453

Hi Sir GeicheMan: First....I was wrong about Slider. You were right. He is a self possessed manipulator. I apologize for beating on you a while back. Second....This Voltaire guy is lovable, but most definately a flake....Was an entertaining read though. Wish the world was as simple as conspiracy theroists cand create. My Take on Greenspan's speech is, yes, there is an agenda there, and it is to let the air out of the balloon in small, assumable bursts, rather than letting it burst in an explosion......

To: A. Geiche who wrote (53181)	10/19/1999 7:32:00 AM
From: oilbabe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95453

Oil Services: To buy or not to buy? By Susan Lerner, CBS MarketWatch NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- While analysts often have differing opinions on the same stock, the discrepancy surrounding some of the oil services stocks stuck out like a sore thumb Monday. Warburg Dillon Read's downgrade of several stocks in the sector seemed to prevail, however, as the PHLX Oil Services Industry Index sank 3.4 percent. Warburg analyst Byron Dunn cut his ratings on Global Marine (GLM: news, msgs), R&B Falcon (FLC: news, msgs), Diamond Offshore (DO: news, msgs), and Transocean Offshore (RIG: news, msgs) to "hold" from "buy" primarily citing valuations and the 2000 operational outlook for rig demand. Specifically for Global Marine, Dunn cited the company's surprise announcement of delays in the construction of the Luigs and Jack Ryan drillships combined with its high 7 percent debt-to-equity ratio and the probability of negative cash flow in 2000. "Our downgrade also reflects our expectation of flat rig demand in 2000 everywhere except the Gulf of Mexico," Dunn said in his research note. "Global has a high concentration of assets in the very weak West African and North Sea markets," Dunn noted. But Prudential analyst Matthew Conlan had a different take on Global Marine. He upgraded the stock to a "strong buy" from "accumulate" but was unavailable to provide further details on his action. It was a similar situation for ENSCO International (ESV: news, msgs). Warburg's Dunn reiterated his "hold" rating on that company's shares "until North Sea and West African market bottoms and we see Gulf dayrate caps removed." But Salomon Smith Barney analyst Mark Urness boosted the shares to "buy" from "outperform." ENSCO has excellent operating leverage to the Gulf of Mexico recovery, Urness told clients and "demand for ENSCO's international jackups is also improving," he said. Global Marine shares slid 6.9 percent to close down 1 1/16 at 14 7/16, while ENSCO shares slipped 5.3 percent, closing down 1 at 18. In yet another view, First Union Securities analyst Yves Siegel maintained his positive investment stance on the oilfield services group saying he believes "we are only at the early stages of an industry upturn." "We would continue to be buyers of our strong buy rated stocks," Siegel told clients. These include Baker Hughes (BHI: news, msgs), Halliburton (HAL: news, msgs), Schlumberger (SLB: news, msgs), R&B Falcon, Marine Drilling (MRL: news, msgs), and Transocean Offshore.