PATSE etc...Hi Zeev, haven't seen you since the CYMI days. My take on the superconductors was that when CDTS came out with the following release last week, that was the catalyst for the surge. And while that was the reason for last week's blowout this additional article from marketwatch indicates it's been a building pressure.....that's likely to be shorted soon.
As far as PATSE, still a somewhat limited downside here. I'm sure these are on the verge of a near term correction, perhaps offering better entries, because if they follow the patterns they will surge again....but the time frame, I have no idea.
I might buy a handful on pure speculation on any settling, then watch over the coming days, just can't say at this point. I know nothing about the company per se.
Your knowledge on semis is far greater than mine.
Good luck.
The CBS article followed by the initial CDTS release.
Conducting massive profits
Investors rack up the gains in superconductor stocks
By Shawn Langlois, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 5:20 PM ET Feb 28, 2000
NewsWatch
Your thoughts
Could the newfound superconductor buzz get any louder?
Companies positioned to capitalize on the growth of the wireless world
are all the rage lately. More specifically, superconductor stocks, with their
eye-popping gains have taken center stage on the Street, and Monday's
buy-fest only fueled the enthusiasm. But are these scorching stock rockets
getting a little ahead of themselves?
Not in the least!
According to investors
on the message
boards, all this hubbub
is just the snowflake
before the snowball.
The major players --
Superconductor
Technologies (SCON:
news, msgs), Conductus, Inc. (CDTS: news, msgs) and Illinois
Superconductor -- have all enjoyed obscene gains this year and more
folks are stepping up to take notice. The few, the proud, actually hitched
their wagon to this sector before the masses caught wind, and these
risk-takers have been racking up some gaudy returns.
On Raging Bull, thanks to posts like this way back in December 1999,
JoeyStockMarket was getting some serious cyber-recognition for his
prescient stock picking:
"I have a 'pound the table, strong, JSM buy' for all of you, your friends,
and family ... I am very excited about my recent investment in Illinois
Superconductor (ISCO: news, msgs) This is like buying a company for
pennies before they go public. We all know that the wireless Internet is
the future, and Japan is introducing this 3rd generation wireless, where the
internet merges voice, data and streaming video. I wouldn't be surprised if
by January and February, when Japan orders these filters, if we're around
$10."
That little nugget surfaced when the stock was
trading a notch below 40 cents a share -- you can
bet that ol' Joey was grinning ear to ear when
ISCO nudged past $34 early in Monday's trading
session.
But he wasn't the only one enjoying the moment --
Shiner25 was right there with him: "SCON,
CDTS, and ISCO are the players and although it is
amazing what they've done, we are just at the
beginning -- the technology these guys are
implementing will help the 'wireless revolution'
occur and we will be rewarded handsomely for it."
Any incomprehensible pop is bound to bring out
the short sellers, and there were party-poopers
aplenty on Yahoo. JJ2000 couldn't believe his
eyes when he took a gander at SCON's meteoric
rise: "Way, way overvalued! A good indication of
pump and dump. Now the pump part is very well
done, and it's now the job of the dump part."
Well, JoeyStockMarket and the gang weren't
about to listen to a few naysayers -- if they were
prone to buying into the pessimism, they never
would have held the stock to this point.
But the question remains: Can these high-flying stocks keep up the frenetic
pace? As is usually the case, surfing the boards is bound to give you the
answer you want to hear -- be it bullish or bearish.
CDTS.........................
Wednesday February 23, 8:45 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Conductus, Inc.
Conductus ClearSite(R) System Dramatically
Improves Performance in CDMA Field Trial
First CDMA Trial Results Exceed Predicted Outcome
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Conductus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDTS - news), a leading manufacturer of
superconducting wireless systems, announced today that the first field trial of its ClearSite© system at a CDMA cell site
demonstrated dramatic improvement in base station performance. The testing showed that the ClearSite system can increase
cell site coverage area by as much as 50 times (5000%) and can increase capacity by a comparably large amount when strong
interfering radio frequency (RF) signals are present. Without the filtering provided by the ClearSite system, the presence of
strong interferers caused the coverage area to be reduced by more than 98 percent, representing a virtual collapse of the cell
site.
By dramatically expanding the coverage area and capacity of cell sites, Conductus' ClearSite system could significantly increase
annual revenue to urban and suburban CDMA sites and result in paybacks of less than a year for the equipment. In cell sites in
particularly dense RF environments where such interfering signals could be present most of the time, the revenue increases
would be even greater.
In these tests, interfering signals of known magnitude and frequency, comparable to those observed from competing cellular
carriers, were generated in order to obtain reproducible results. Conventional filters failed to remove these interfering signals,
but the ClearSite system successfully filtered them out, resulting in the dramatic improvements noted above.
``We are pleased to report that our new ClearSite system performed so well in this first of several CDMA field trials and
showed better results than predicted by our engineering models,' commented James P. Simmons, Jr., Vice President,
Marketing and Sales for Conductus. ``We believe that our highly selective, compact, reliable ClearSite system is the most
advanced thin-film superconductor system in production. Major carriers agree that superconducting wireless systems must have
four characteristics before they will be widely deployed in their digital networks: outstanding RF performance (RF filter
sharpness and system noise figure), high reliability, compact size and a clear upgrade path to future digital wireless technologies
(2G, 2.5G, 3G). Compared to competing superconducting wireless systems or conventional technology systems, we believe
only ClearSite systems have all of these.'
Conductus' ClearSite systems offer outstanding performance in a practical, easily deployed package. The ClearSite systems
dramatic results are delivered in a compact, 19-inch rack-mount platform of less than 2.5 cubic feet, while many competing
products require three to five times this volume. Since CDMA networks are being deployed in urban and suburban areas
where there is a premium on space, many of these CDMA cell sites are located in shelters where room for additional
equipment is scarce. As a result, both RF performance and physical size will be important selection criteria for wireless
operating companies in deciding which products to deploy in their networks. ClearSite systems combine this very high
performance and reliability in a very small package.
Commenting further on the superconducting industry, Simmons added, ``Throughout our over twelve-year history Conductus,
like other vendors, has had to make crucial, defining choices in superconducting material, substrate, operating temperature,
coolers, design techniques and fabrication process technology. These choices define a technological direction that after many
years and tens of millions of dollars of development is very difficult to change. In each case, Conductus has chosen the highest
performance technology. As a result, we believe that ClearSite systems meet all the requirements for wide deployability and
have a significant competitive advantage.
``Many industry experts have predicted that CDMA networks would be the most interference-prone among the digital
protocols,' continued Simmons. ``Our RF models predict that our systems can provide even greater benefits for CDMA
networks than for TDMA. This trial has now validated these predictions. Furthermore, the major 3G world standards are
expected to be an extension of CDMA called wideband CDMA. Our RF modeling also indicates that our filter technology can
provide very large performance benefits for 3G networks. According to Paine Webber, while 18% of the world's wireless
subscribers today use CDMA technology, by the end of this decade 85% of the world's wireless subscribers will use CDMA
technology.'
During the past year traffic on wireless networks has greatly increased, resulting in coverage, radio frequency (RF) interference
and capacity problems in current generation, digital (2G) wireless networks. Many industry experts predict these problems will
get worse as new higher bandwidth (2.5G and 3G) wireless Internet services become available. ClearSite superconducting
wireless systems can expand coverage, reduce interference, and increase capacity for analog (1G), digital (2G), and next
generation high bandwidth digital (2.5G and 3G) wireless networks. In previous field trials ClearSite systems have increased
cell site minutes of use and thus revenues by 30% to more than 50% in coverage applications for 1G and 2G networks, and
have increased capacity at 2G networks by 80%.
About Conductus
Conductus, Inc., founded in 1987 and based in Sunnyvale, California, develops, manufactures and markets electronic
components and systems based on superconductors for applications in the worldwide telecommunications market. For many
applications, the unique properties of superconductors offer significant performance advantages over products based on
conventional copper electronic components. These advantages can provide improved price/performance at the system level
because of enhanced sensitivity and efficiency as well as reduced size and weight. Press announcements and other information
about Conductus are available online at conductus.com. |
