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Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony @ Equity Investigations, Dear Anthony, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: majormember who wrote (52018)	2/22/2000 3:48:00 PM
From: Hockeyfan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 122087

VISX News NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of Visx Inc. (VISX), the nation's largest manufacturer of lasers used in vision-correcting eye surgery, fell as much as 13% in trading Tuesday, partly due to news about its litigation against a Japanese rival and speculation that the company will make an announcement after the market close. Visx shares fell to a new 52-week low of 20 1/8 in morning market action before slowly regaining ground to trade at 22 1/2, down 3/4, or 3.2% after more than 4.2 million shares exchanged hands. Visx rival Nidek issued a press release Tuesday morning announcing that a federal panel granted a motion to consolidate the pretrial activities of five separate patent infringement lawsuits by Visx. Meanwhile, Wall Street sources said Visx had notified analysts that an announcement, of some sort, is coming after the market close. "I think people know there is an announcement coming. No one knows what it is," said one Wall Street analyst. Visx did not return repeated calls requesting comment.

To: majormember who wrote (52018)	2/22/2000 4:21:00 PM
From: Anthony@Pacific	Respond to of 122087

it looks bad..so far dtock is off 80% off its high

To: majormember who wrote (52018)	2/22/2000 6:13:00 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 122087

Traded 16-9 aftermarket. Catched itself and now at 18.5 Isn't it actually cheap at this price?

To: majormember who wrote (52018)	2/22/2000 6:34:00 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 122087

Visx to Cut Laser Eye-Surgery Fees, Buy Back Shares Santa Clara, California, Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Visx Inc., the biggest maker of vision-correction lasers, said it will cut fees charged to doctors 60 percent to hold onto its No. 1 position in the U.S. market as competition intensifies. The company also said it will buy back as many as 10 million, or 16 percent, of its 64 million shares outstanding. Visx shares have lost three-quarters of their value since a U.S. International Trade Commission judge in December said Visx's patents weren't infringed upon by rival Nidek Co., which doesn't charge a fee for each use of its lasers. Other eye-laser makers such as Nidek and Summit Technology Inc. are gaining ground in the U.S. market as Visx loses some patent battles and competing lasers receive regulatory approval for new uses, analysts said. Visx's fee reduction is an attempt to reverse that trend. ''Their market share is eroding fast now,'' said Robert Faulkner, a Chase H&Q analyst with a ''market perform'' rating on Visx. ''They're trying to do what's right for their business, and that is, first and foremost, preserve their market position.'' Shares of Santa Clara, California-based Visx fell 1 3/8 to 21 7/8 on the Nasdaq Stock Market and later traded as low as 17 1/8 on electronic networks after the close of U.S. exchanges. The majority of U.S. adults require aids such as glasses or contact lenses to see clearly. Laser surgery can be used to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism for some of those people. Competition Visx shares were pushed down further by its announcement last month that there was little or no increase in the number of U.S. operations performed with its lasers in the fourth quarter from the third quarter. Analysts said that while this reflects a slowdown of the whole U.S. market, some doctors who might have bought Visx lasers chose Nidek lasers after their fears of patent lawsuits were reduced by the International Trade Commission decision. Summit Technology has also gained ground after winning U.S. government clearance in October for treating farsightedness as well as nearsightedness. Visx said earlier this month that it had won a review of part of the commission judge's ruling that closely held Nidek didn't infringe Visx patents. The initial ruling, though, has helped some new and potential competitors decide against negotiating with Visx over potential patent violations, analysts said. LaserSight Inc., an eye-laser maker, earlier this month said it had filed suit challenging some Visx patents. Visx, which charges U.S. doctors $250 for each use of its lasers, said it will reduce that fee to $100. The company said it hopes the price cut will lead to a lower cost for patients, attracting more customers. The reduction, though, will likely reduce Visx's future revenue and earnings increases, at least in the short term, analysts said. ''The average price today for (correcting the vision in) two eyes is approximately $4,000,'' Faulkner said. ''The impact of an additional $300 (reduction) in consumer pricing is likely to be marginal in the long run, and for Visx will almost certainly not offset the 60 percent reduction in fee revenue.'' Feb/22/2000 18:13 For more stories from Bloomberg News, click here.