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To: Jill who wrote (760)	5/25/2000 3:04:00 PM
From: Jill	Respond to of 10876

As goes MSFT, so the NAZ to some extent. Maybe that's one reason ORCL strong today: Microsoft Value Seen Lower if Split NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp.'s (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) parts would be worth about 10 percent less than the whole if the software giant was split in three, said Rick Sherlund, an influential software industry analyst with Goldman Sachs. Sherlund also said Thursday that figure could be even 5 percent lower if the cost of doing business -- sales, offices and administration -- of three separate companies were considered. ``We continue to believe the stock is worth less if the company is dismembered, and the duplicate costs, loss of development momentum and risks of loss of key employees are all among the many concerns if Microsoft were not to win on appeal,'' Sherlund wrote in a research note. On Wednesday, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who is presiding over the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust trial against the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant, raised the possibility of splitting the company into three pieces. He said there would be no more hearings in the trial, setting the stage for a decision as early as next week. Microsoft has said it will appeal, whatever Jackson's final ruling may be. Speak your mind Discuss this story with other people. [Start a Conversation] (Requires Yahoo! Messenger) Jackson questioned whether the government's proposed two-way split went far enough to remedy the company's monopolistic power -- a move Sherlund called ``a stunning defeat for Microsoft.'' Sherlund said software vendors such as Oracle Corp. (NasdaqNM:ORCL - news) and Red Hat Inc. (NasdaqNM:RHAT - news), as well as Sun Microsystems Inc. (NasdaqNM:SUNW - news) and America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news) would be the beneficiaries of a Microsoft divided into three: one for its Windows operating system, another for its Office business software and a third for its Web browser. Sherlund also said that such as split could erode the support in the industry for Microsoft's underlying software products, such as its upcoming Next Generation Windows Services, expected to be unveiled on June 1. Shares of Microsoft Thursday afternoon hit a new 52-week low of 62, before recovering slightly in heavy trade on Nasdaq. On Wednesday, shares closed 2-3/8 higher at 65-9/16 after trading as low as 63.