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Technology Stocks : John, Mike & Tom's Wild World of Stocks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: accountclosed who wrote (741)	3/29/2000 10:10:00 AM
From: johnsto1	Respond to of 2850

TDY...getting orderly gap fill from yesterdays halt. So far 22 was bottom;not a bad place for partial position for those thinking this story has legs. Maybe it can make it to 20.5 by lunch but expect afternoon rally. my 2 cents.

To: accountclosed who wrote (741)	3/29/2000 8:54:00 PM
From: John Pitera	Respond to of 2850

Wow, big move in FMO.. I see that Carl Icahn has picked up 5.2% for "investment purposes" I know you bought some last week and had commented to me. I know when I was looking at the fundamentals FMO looked pretty darn cheap. take a look at WMI for a category leading company that is selling for rock bottom prices. I've been buying down here at 13.5-14.2 in the past week and a half. I pretty sure that the accounting problems have been flushed out. John ---------------------- Wednesday March 29, 4:58 pm Eastern Time UPDATE 2-Icahn groups buy 5.2 percent of Federal-Mogul (adds background, updated stock price in grafs 3, 6 and 11) By Ben Klayman DETROIT, March 29 (Reuters) - A group controlled by investor Carl Icahn has acquired 5.2 percent of auto supplier Federal-Mogul Corp.'s (NYSE:FMO - news) outstanding stock, leading to Wall Street speculation that the company could be broken up or sold off entirely. The well-known financier, through High River LP and Riverdale LLC, purchased 3,668,500 shares of the Southfield, Mich.-based company for more than $63.6 million for ``investment purposes,' according to documents filed late on Tuesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Federal-Mogul's stock was up 2-1/2, or 20 percent, at 14-3/4 a share in late Wednesday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, and rose as high as 15-7/16 a share. That is still far below the 52-week high of 55-5/8 a share. Merrill Lynch analyst John Casesa said in a research report on Wednesday the stock would react positively to the news as investors speculate on actions Icahn may pressure the company to take. ``Replacing management is a real possibility,' Casesa said. Dresdner Kleinwort Benson analyst David Garrity agreed: ``Icahn's filing indicates that the shareholder suffering may be near an end, but that for management it is likely just beginning.' Icahn's group said in the filing it ``may at any time and from time to time determine to seek to contact (Federal-Mogul) regarding means of increasing stockholder value.' A spokesman for Icahn declined further comment. ``The 13-D (SEC filing) speaks for itself,' he said. Federal-Mogul spokesman Steve Feeney confirmed Icahn's investment, but was unaware of any desire to oust management. ``We've had no contact with the Icahn group at all,' he said. ``There's been no talk that we're aware of of anything like that.' Federal-Mogul has a shareholder rights plan, but Feeney could not say at what level of stock ownership by a single group or person it activates. Garrity said it triggers at 10 percent. PaineWebber analyst Joseph Phillippi pointed out Icahn *bought the stock for as high as $17 a share,* and he could push for a management change, for a faster and broader restructuring than Federal-Mogul is currently undergoing or for a sale or break-up of the company. ``Clearly Icahn does not want to run an auto parts company,' he said. ``He's an investor and he saw value at the $17 level and continued to buy the stock even lower.' Phillippi said suppliers like Delphi Automotive Systems Corp.(NYSE:DPH - news), Ford Motor Co.'s (NYSE:F - news) Visteon parts unit and Dana Corp. (NYSE:DCN - news) all would have interest in pieces of Federal-Mogul, which boasts a strong stable of brands. Casesa said the auto supplier has constraints for increasing shareholder value. Its debt level and asbestos liability make a large share buyback unlikely,** a company break-up would be difficult because demand for auto suppliers is depressed and the most attractive units generate a lot of cash that is needed to pay down debt. However, Icahn could accelerate the long-term ``meat-and-potatoes' restructuring under way at Federal-Mogul to cut costs and restore revenue growth, Casesa said. The company said last week it would cut 1,500 jobs, or 3 percent of its work force, and close or scale down 58 plants and distribution centers worldwide. Icahn's group said in the filing it bought over 2.8 million Federal-Mogul shares between Feb. 4 and March 16 at prices ranging from $13.62 to $17.07 a share. The billionaire financier is known for buying distressed companies and then selling them whole or piecemeal at a profit. In 1985, he won a battle to take over airline TWA and took it private in 1988, recouping his $356 million investment. The airline filed for bankruptcy in 1992 and Icahn resigned as chief executive officer and gave up control the following year.