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Technology Stocks : Softbank Group Corp -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Yamakita who wrote (2611)	12/5/1999 7:38:00 PM
From: mact	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6020

hope this doesn hurt us tonight...also, mary meeker to leave MSDW for idealab...some competition for softbank and bill burnham. TOKYO, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Japan's economy contracted by a worse than expected one percent in the July-September period after showing surprising strength over the first half of the year, official data showed on Monday. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell an inflation-adjusted 1.0 percent in July-September from the previous quarter. Economists had forecast a range of 0.6 percent growth to a 0.9 percent fall. On an annualised basis, GDP was down 3.8 percent in the period. The latest GDP data comes after two consecutive quarters of growth in 1999. But Japan's Economic Planning Agency, which released Monday's data, said growth in the January-March period was revised down to 1.5 percent from 2.0 percent, while growth in April-June was revised up to 1.0 percent from 0.1 percent. Eleven out of 17 economists polled by Reuters late last week had expected GDP would contract in the July-September period. They said weak consumption, the largest component of GDP, remained a drag on the world's second-largest economy. The Japanese government in November crafted an 18 trillion yen ($175.3 billion) economic stimulus package to guarantee the recovery remains on track. It also raised its official growth target for the year to next March to 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent. Economists see full-year growth of around one percent. Japanese government bond (JGB) prices jumped after Monday's growth data and the yen slipped against the dollar to around 103.20 from 102.65 before the announcement. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei stock index opened higher. The latest GDP data comes after two consecutive quarters of growth in 1999. But Japan's Economic Planning Agency, which released Monday's data, said growth in the January-March period was revised down to 1.5 percent from 2.0 percent, while growth in April-June was revised up to 1.0 percent from 0.1 percent. Eleven out of 17 economists polled by Reuters late last week had expected GDP would contract in the July-September period. They said weak consumption, the largest component of GDP, remained a drag on the world's second-largest economy. The Japanese government in November crafted an 18 trillion yen ($175.3 billion) economic stimulus package to guarantee the recovery remains on track. It also raised its official growth target for the year to next March to 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent. Economists see full-year growth of around one percent. Japanese government bond (JGB) prices jumped after Monday's growth data and the yen slipped against the dollar to around 103.20 from 102.65 before the announcement. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei stock index opened higher. NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- High-profile Internet-stock analyst Mary Meeker may be resigning her post at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to take a job with Net incubator Idealab, according to a published report. Today on CBS MarketWatch Stocks on auto pilot after jobs report Mary Meeker said to be leaving Morgan for Idealab AT&T letter to FCC may align it with open-access advocates BEA Systems to announce reorganization The week's best from CBS MarketWatch More top stories... CBS MarketWatch Columns Updated: 12/5/99 2:09:22 PM ET The report, citing an unnamed source, appeared on the Red Herring's Web site Saturday. Neither Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MWD: news, msgs) nor Idealab representatives could be reached for comment. Speculation surrounding Meeker, who has been in her present job for eight years, is nothing new. Wall Street has seen other well-known Net names, including such notables as Robertson Stephens' Keith Benjamin and CS First Boston's Bill Burnham, take positions with venture-capital firms in recent months. See archived story. The latest buzz about Meeker follows news of a career change for fellow Internet analyst Alan Braverman. On Friday, NBC Internet (NBCI: news, msgs) said it had hired Braverman, the former senior managing director and head of Internet research at Banc of America Securities, as its new president of business-to-business operations. The stock fell 3/8 to 76 5/8. See full story. Meeker's loss could be costly for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter: Her presence at the firm is widely credited with attracting the business of promising start-ups aiming to go public. Idealab, headed by tech luminary Bill Gross, is planning an initial stock offering early next year, according to the Red Herring report. Its start-ups, according to Hoover's Online, have included EToys (ETYS: news, msgs), CitySearch and GoTo.com (GOTO: news, msgs).