Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DlphcOracl who wrote (15362)	11/19/1999 10:14:00 PM
From: bobkansas	Respond to of 57584

You are one smart "doctor" in being able to diagnose the market for good stocks! I have represented lots of C.P.A.s and M.D.s over the years in malpractice cases. If you approach medicine with the smart mind with which you approach stock picking, it is unlikely you will ever see the inside of a Court Room! Thanks for the post. I will do more DD on PVSW. Best regards, Bob Martin

To: DlphcOracl who wrote (15362)	11/20/1999 6:33:00 AM
From: DlphcOracl	Respond to of 57584

Addition/Correction to my post #15362: Comparison of stock prices between PVSW, ALLR and VIGN does not matter or tell us anything; it is comparison of market caps that is important. Here they are: PVSW: 194 million; ALLR: 1.53B; VIGN: 4.83B The point, however, is the same. PVSW (IMHO) is way undervalued relative to its peers.

To: DlphcOracl who wrote (15362)	11/20/1999 1:18:00 PM
From: carepedeum2000	Respond to of 57584

delphi- agree with you, bought pvsw last week at 11 5/8, same kind of chart as cnqr, only question is how fast they can roll out the new software, but that is where the big growth is, just a matter of time before market gives them credit for new initiative in hot growth area

To: DlphcOracl who wrote (15362)	11/22/1999 12:15:00 AM
From: DlphcOracl	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57584

Potentially interesting telecom play: opinions solicited. Williams Communications (WCG) Story: WCG is the IPO that was spun out from Williams Companies on Oct. 1st. It was offered at $23, rose 27% the first day, and is now trading slightly above its IPO offering price. Williams Cos. (WMB) is the largest US natural gas transporter with 27,000 miles of US interstate natural gas lines. Years ago, they began installing fiber-optic cable along their decommissioned natural gas pipelines and have built a 22,000 mile fiberoptic network that connects 125 cities in North America. This pipeline is already functional and they are in the process of installing another 11,000 miles to their fiberoptic network. The IPO was intended to spin out the telecommunication stake from WMB to allow investors to value it separately from its energy business; in short, this is the fiberoptic telecom equivalent of what Sprint did with Sprint PCS in the wireless sector. WMB sold a 6.4% stake during the IPO and retains 86% of shares. The remaining shares were sold to SBC, Intel, and Telefonos de Mexico (TMX) through private placements. As I see it, WCG is a unique pure play in the fiberoptics market, capable of providing voice, data, Internet and video services to communications providers. Their customer list is impressive, including: NT, CSCO, COMS, BEL, USWQ, and LU. What is especially exciting is that they are building this out to be a cutting-edge fiberoptic network and have announced two significant alliances, one with Ciena (becoming the first customer to deploy Ciena's MultiWave CoreDirector intelligent optical core switch) and one with Corvis, a state-of-the-art private co.in the fiberoptic sphere. For those unfamiliar with Corvis, its was founded by Dr. David Huber, one of the leading figures in the field of optical communications and the founder of Ciena Corp. (Aside: if this co. ever goes public with an IPO, it will be a first-day moon-shot similar to JNPR and SYCR). WCG and Corvis announced on Nov. 19 that they would join in a field trial of a breakthrough terabit optical network created by Corvis which pushes the boundaries of optical technology to an unprecedented 2.4 terabits per second. This will allow WCG to harvest more bandwidth from their network than anyone else in the industry. The trial will begin early next year. on Williams fiber-optic route from Houston to Atlanta to Herndon, VA. The only negatives I can see to explain why this stock still trades near its IPO offering price are: (1) it has large losses and has assumed a lot of debt to build out the network. They offered $2 billion in senior notes consisting of $500 million in 8-year, 10.7% notes due in 2007 and $1.5 billion in 10 year, 10.875% notes due in 2009. However, this is not dissimilar to Sprint PCS and that stock has rocketed this year. (2) Some investors may perceive that they are "late to the game" and that there is sufficient fiberoptic cable capacity with other carriers such as Qwest. Aside from its future stock appreciation, I think WCG makes an attractive target for a large telecom company, specifically SBC or Southeastern Bell (?) -- I'm referring to the co. that recently failed in its bid to acquire Sprint after MCI WorldCom made its move. Frankly, a merger with SBC would create a telecom giant that would make grown men/women (and investors) weep. I believe this stock (WCG) bears watching. If anyone has opinions as to this stock's future prospects and poor performance to date, they would be appreciated. In my gut, I think this is an IPO that has slipped under everyone's radar screen. Disclosure: I do not own any shares of WCG at present.