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

To: johnd who wrote (38731)	2/28/2000 4:06:00 PM
From: johnd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

For the first time in several days, MSFT closed up on a day when NASDAQ was down. Does that tell us anything?

To: johnd who wrote (38731)	2/28/2000 4:16:00 PM
From: Thunder	Respond to of 74651

johnd: I agree. SEATTLE, Feb. 28 - Campaigning in Microsoft's backyard, Texas Gov. George W. Bush strongly suggested that if he had been president, he would not have authorized his Justice Department to file an antitrust suit like that being battled by the software giant. "If you're looking for the kind of president I will be, I'll be slow to litigate," Bush declared Sunday night after touching down for two days of campaigning before Tuesday's Washington state primary. Bush, speaking just 15 miles from the Microsoft Corp. headquarters in Redmond, Wash., added that as president he would "stand on the side of innovation, not litigation. "My first question will be, 'Are the entities innovative, are jobs being created, the economy better off?'?" he said. "I'm asked about the Microsoft lawsuit; I'm not going to comment on the particulars of the suit. But as president, the question should be innovation, as opposed to litigation." Bush, scrapping with Arizona Sen. John McCain for the Republican presidential nomination, said he was "worried" about the consequences "if this company were to be broken apart, this engine of change, engine of growth . . . but we'll see what the courts say on the issue." Bush's blunt remarks about Microsoft and the laissez-faire stance he would take toward business came during a news conference at King County Airport here. But they were overshadowed by his release of a letter of apology for his failure to condemn Bob Jones University's anti-Catholic heritage when he spoke there before the South Carolina primary. A dozen high-tech executives, including a Microsoft general manager, were arrayed behind Bush and in front of his new banner, "A Reformer with Results." Bush, who brought up the Microsoft case in his introductory remarks, was asked if is possible to be innovative and a monopoly at the same time, Bush said, "That's what the court will decide." Later, Bush added, "I think it's very important for our society, when there's innovation taking place, to understand the consequences of litigation. We're a very litigious society, as you know. We're trying to sue our way to all kinds of end results. I've always been one that believes that litigation ought to be a last result." Pressed further, Bush said, "I'm unsympathetic to lawsuits, basically; write that down. I'm worried about the effect of lawsuits on job creation." He said that as president, he would encourage such "entrepreneurs and innovators." "It starts with understanding the role of government is not to create wealth but an environment in which entrepreneurship flourishes, in which capital flows freely, in which somebody who feels like they've got a better idea . . . feels the confidence to take the risk to achieve the American dream of owning a business or an enterprise," Bush said. "It's important to have a president who understands most of the new job growth in America comes from entrepreneurs and small businesspeople," he continued. "Our vision is that small businesses grow to become big businesses. It means we've got to have a pro-growth tax agenda ? one that reduces all marginal rates. I believe that much of the growth today that occurs in our economy is a result of the tax cuts of yesterday." Decrying the legal system's current incentives for lawsuits seeking huge damages, Bush said, "I'm a tort reformer. I have been a tort-reform governor. I'll be a tort-reform president." washingtonpost.com