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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (31796)	6/9/2000 10:12:00 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Respond to of 50167

<<Focus: Microsoft May Benefit from Relief Rally; Analysts Remain Bullish MICHAEL TODD PAI NEW YORK (AFX) - Microsoft Corp shares may benefit from a relief rally following yesterdays widely-expected court ruling to split the company into two separate entities, with analysts remaining largely bullish on the company, dealers said. Prudential Securities Doug Crook said the ruling "should come as no surprise" and added "the issuing of a final ruling may relieve some of the pressure," as sentiment has been dragged down during the case by negative press reports surrounding the case. Crook reiterated his strong buy rating on the shares and 90 usd 12-month price target. George Godfrey at ING Barings agreed that "the worst news is out". "We expect any news coming out of the appeals process should be better by comparison," Godfrey said. Godfrey reiterated a strong buy recommendation on Microsoft shares and maintained a 135 usd price target. Although Goldman Sachs Rick Sherlund believes the shares will see "some upside" and regain some lost ground in a relief rally on the ruling, he does not expect the share price to return to previous highs. "Business is still rather sluggish, so we would not expect the stock to return to earlier high levels, but could perhaps sustain a 10 or 20 percent rally of the next few quarters," he said. Sherlund, who maintained a market outperformer rating, noted the stock could see "sharp" declines from current levels if an appeals court holds up the breakup ruling. Mary Meeker at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter said she is "relieved to see the case move to the next phase of its potentially long life". Meeker, however, continues "to look for longer-term catalysts such as a possible settlement to the case that would not include a breakup or, on a more fundamental level, an improvement in corporate PC demand, increased deployments of Windows 2000 and Microsofts Forum 2000 on June 22." Once the case reaches the appellate level, the chances increase that Microsoft and the government will restart negotiations, Meeker said, noting if that does not happen, the case could "drag on" for at least another 1-2 years. Meeker reiterated her outperform rating. Microsoft stands a "good chance" of winning an appeal, according to the ING Barings analyst, who said the company stands a 50/50 chance of winning the appeal case. While Microsoft is "most valuable" as a single company and a breakup would negatively impact its worth, Godfrey said he believes "that even broken-up, the combined pieces would still be worth more than where the stock is trading today, especially as the contribution from Windows 2000 has an increasing impact on revenue growth." Prudentials Crook agreed "shareholder value would be released if the company were to be broken up," with a split into two companies resulting in a 75 usd valuation in the stock today. A breakup into three companies could, however, unlock even more shareholder value, Crook said. He estimates a break out of Microsofts internet-related consumer, commerce and other properties could add an additional 35 usd to the share price, for a total breakup value of 110 usd a share. However, Sherlund at Goldman Sachs said his view of a breakup has been "pretty negative" and he remains "concerned" about the impact if the company were to actually be split. "We believe if one were to do a sum-of-the-parts analysis, it would show a valuation that is about 10 percent less than the current share price," Sherlund said. A duplication of Microsofts administrative and sales costs in a breakup scenario could negatively impact earnings by "about 5 percent or so," he added. The company could also face staff problems, Sherlund said, noting most staff and management would elect to join the applications company in light of the "severe" restrictions that would be placed on the operating systems company. Among other analysts commenting on Microsoft, Deutsche Banc Alex Brown reiterated a buy rating on their "assumption that Microsoft will not be broken up"; Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrettes Joseph Farley maintained a buy rating and 140 usd price target, saying the shares offer "compelling" value at current levels. Lehman Brothers also reiterated a buy rating. >>

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (31796)	6/9/2000 10:15:00 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

If DOT and IIX has to move up and take out as I suspect this 50 days MA I would like.. <<A Rare Medium Jun 6 2000 12:00AM by Christian Deuber Internet incubators continue to strengthen their e-marketing arms as they attempt to attract the anxious investors anticipating a NASDAQ comeback. Companies like Rare Medium (RRRR: news, msgs) have been lost in the shadows recently as investors have soured on the prospects of owning shares of venture capital players. The millionaire maker stocks of the past year like CMGI (CMGI: news, msgs) and Internet Capital Group, Inc (ICGE: news, msgs) have fallen from glory and taken investors to the cleaners with stock price swings ranging from $215 all the way down to $8. Money is starting to flow back into these Internet incubators as the companies strive to weed out the week start-ups and focus on the true technology infrastructure plays. Rare Medium invests in next generation Internet companies and provides end-to-end Internet Services. These services compete with those of pure e-marketing sector stocks as they encompass strategic and creative consulting for Web initiatives as well as online brand development and management. As the Internet incubator stocks have fallen close to 80% from their 52-week highs, investors and analysts have started to glance in their directions once again. A renewed interest has presented itself in the incubators as recent reports continue to highlight the fact that many of the once invincible B2C and B2B firms are burning their gross profits on marketing expenditures and quickly running out of cash. On one hand, the dot com competition in the major technology categories are weeding themselves out and on the other hand, the competitors are becoming desperate for financing. The Internet incubators have a win-win situation. As the NASDAQ engine continues to choke like that old lawnmower just one pull away from roaring to life, the Internet incubators need to make their move. So what do they need to do? We?ll for starters they could act like Rare Medium and announce a partnership with IBM to offer technical help that will let service companies and large corporations hook thousands of cell phones, pagers, personal organizers and other electronics to information inside computer networks. Or, like Rare Medium, they could higher an experienced industry executive from Intel to manage emerging technologies in the broadband and wireless markets. Public relations is a powerful stimulant at a time when market confidence is low. Over the last 5 trading days RRRR has gained 5 points while both CMGI and ICGE have climbed 14 points. The Internet incubators seem to be taking the appropriate steps to march back to the top of the charts where they once reigned supreme.>>