To: techtonicbull who wrote (42983 ) 4/22/2000 6:40:00 PM From: SC Respond to
It doesn't get much more "structural" than what was imposed on ATT. First of all, the judge had to approve everything ATT did for years. Next, the judge ordered ATT to lease it's long lines infrastructure to mci, sprint, and everyone else who wanted a piece of the long distance business at rates that were basically at cost. Then, in order to complete the remedy, ATT was broken up into many different companies. What other structural remedies could have been imposed? Which technology stocks are inexpensive, based on generally accepted, and time-tested valuation criteria, such as p/e ratio, free cash flow, etc.? Don't get me wrong, I would like to see the present situation continue as I really don't want to sell my CSCO, QCOM, INTC, MOT, LU, etc. On the other hand, I have held things like MOT and sold things like MU when they have fallen out of favor and stayed out of favor for years (I think I like the term comatose money rather than dead money). Each to his own, but I regret that I sold MU at a small profit several years ago, and I don't regret not selling MOT at a small profit several years ago. This thread has been an education in different investing styles and you can do well by strictly following the discipline of any one of them. I prefer buy and hold because the buy decision is easy and the sell decision is difficult and I prefer not to get whipsawed by poor timing on the sell, compounded by poor timing in buying back in. You're entitled to your own opinion, and you should always do your own due diligence. IMHO I can't conceive of a situation where MSFT @ $20 wouldn't be a sure fire 10-bagger within 5-10 years. If you don't think that 50-100% per year is a good return on your money you haven't looked at a 30 year chart. These are remarkable times but they won't continue forever. One of the surest sell signals is when your chart looks like a parabola approaching the asymptotic line, and there sure have been a lot of tech stocks that have had that appearance lately.
