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

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (32599)	11/7/1999 12:55:00 PM
From: t2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

JFD, As you are someone probably follows politics; what do you make of Orin Hatch's tone down attacks of MSFT on CNN a few minutes. It almost makes me think that he trying to avoid shooting down his political chances (which are close to nil anyways). Said nice things about Herbold (who also made an appearance). Overall there seems to be a somewhat conciliatory tone. Said nice things about BG and company. Is he expecting some funding for his campaign? Sure seemed like it. Herbold declined to talk about settlement talks because of their agreement with the DOJ. Joel Klein is one scary looking individual when he is smiling. Just kidding, kind of. (He is probably is a nice guy who means well). When asked about what they are looking for, he does not give any indications at all. Maybe they don't know what they want in a settlement, which is something that could complicate any talks. He stated they are consulting the industry. I find it hard to believe that MSFT would give in to major concessions. Taking out the browser from Windows and selling it as a separate product makes no sense. What about future voice recognition technology? Having stated all that-----Here is what MSFT plans, IMHO. Windows2000 is coming out in a few months and is not a monopoly. That will have IE in it. Only if it attains monopoly status, which could be 3 to 4 years away, will the government be able to take action against MSFT. MSFT now knows that they can't leave a trail of tough talking emails for all to see. I doubt they need to resort to heavy handed tactics anyways---they never should have. When the consumer version of NT comes out, it would compete with the upgrade to Windows98. What becomes the standard in the corporate world will become the standard for the home user, sooner or later---familiarity with the OS helps achieve this. I think they should spin off the current operating system! It will attract a high valuation in the marketplace. Shareholders will be happy. That is a reasonable settlement----maybe even keep a 40% stake in the new company to facilitate exchange of information. BTW--Of course i could be way off like i was about the possible outcome fact finding.

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (32599)	11/7/1999 1:39:00 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 74651

Not a spinoff, but a believer. Warren Buffett is a value investor - meaning that he looks for intrinsic value. So do I. Buffett, however, stays away from technology investments, prefering to deal with companies that he understands. (Every annual report from Berkshire Hathaway warns investors not to suggest that his company purchase technology stocks that they don't understand.) Because of my own experience in investing (almost 50 years), and graduate training in sciences, I do look carefully at tech stocks and believe that I have at least some understanding of the factors that influence the outcome of investments, particularly in hardware, software, and some of the biotechs. When I evaluate MSFT on the basis of the court factfinding, I can only go by the evidence cited by the court in that 206-page document, together with my own experience in this area. Apparently many people on this thread feel that the judge has no basis for drawing the conclusions he has concerning the facts that were presented to him at trial. Fine. If you and others believe there are some really wild, off the wall conclusions, it would be helpful for all of us if you would indicate the page numbers of the document (the one released by the Govt. Printing Office) and explain why you think he's wrong. If you're right, you'll be doing a service to all investors, and I assume, partly by the very name of this web site, that most of us are investors. Cite the page number, the facts referred to, and why you believe the judge interpreted this evidence wrongly. That will be constructive and educational for everyone. Art Bechhoefer