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

To: JC Jaros who wrote (44414)	5/6/2000 5:52:00 PM
From: TechMkt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

Saturday May 6 4:25 PM ET Microsoft Settlement Predicted SEATTLE (AP) - Some antitrust experts predict the Justice Department won't settle its landmark case against Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) until President Clinton leaves office. The predictions were made by Microsoft legal consultant C. Boyden Gray, who served as an aide to Presidents Reagan and Bush, and Nicholas Economides, dean of New York University's Stern School of Business, at an NYU legal conference on the case held late last week. ``I think the likelihood is that it will be settled,'' Gray said - but after the November election. The Justice Department would be ``more the same with Gore, but there would be a change. Any administration is going to put new people in.'' Economides predicted an appeals court would overturn the trial court's finding that Microsoft illegally tied its Internet Explorer Web browser to its Windows operating system. The weakened case would be settled under Al Gore (news - web sites) or George W. Bush (news - web sites), he said - but not Clinton. ``I think the current administration would have a hard time settling,'' he said. Microsoft's legal fees would reach $6 billion by that time, Economides said, and the lengthy legal battle would leave the company unable to make acquisitions it might otherwise pursue over the next two years. If Bush is elected, his antitrust enforcers would likely bring a less impassioned approach, Economides said. ``But I wouldn't be surprised if Gore cut a deal as well,'' he said. ``His incentive would be: `It's an old case, we inherited it - let's come up with a solution everyone can be happy with.''' GOP front-runner Bush has criticized Justice Department handling of the case, saying he hopes government lawyers don't ruin the nation's largest software maker. But a spokesman for Bush declined to say whether Bush would side with Microsoft if he were elected. The government late last month outlined its proposal to halve the company - into one selling the Windows operating system and another selling software applications. Microsoft is scheduled to present its own proposal Wednesday.

To: JC Jaros who wrote (44414)	5/6/2000 10:49:00 PM
From: rudedog	Respond to of 74651

JC - All good questions. 80% of my current MSFT holding is from 1988, and has a cost basis of about 60 cents. I sold half of my MSFT position in the mid-90s as a diversification move. I added a small amount in May of 1999 - just balancing up MSFT and INTC to 10% of my overall holdings, no great insight. I can't even remember my original reasons for buying MSFT, but I have held over the years because I believed they had a fundamental position in the industry (along with INTC, CSCO, and the 3 computer vendors I hold, CPQ, DELL and SUNW). I still think that, they aren't going away any time soon. My "diversification strategy" was to get to 10 or so stocks, evenly balanced. I sold some CPQ and DELL and added TYC, LU, NOK, JDSU, JBL, and CIEN. Also a big LEAP position in QCOM. I don't pretend to follow any of these closely enough to accurately predict their performance - but I think in general, some of them will do very well, and few will be losers. I plan to pretty much stand pat with this set of stuff and play options to enhance my return.