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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gottfried who wrote (35662)	7/7/2000 8:04:55 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 70976

Applied Materials Receives Supplier Excellence Award From Texas Instruments Total Parts Management Program Earns the Award for the Second Consecutive Year SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 7, 2000--Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT - news) today announced that Texas Instruments (TI) has honored it with a Supplier Excellence Award for the second consecutive year. Applied Materials is the only semiconductor equipment company to ever receive this recognition for demonstrating outstanding performance in spare parts and service. ``Applied Materials' achievement of earning two consecutive Supplier Excellence awards for their Total Parts Management(TM) (TPM) service is an exceptional accomplishment,'' said Rob Simpson, director, worldwide capital equipment procurement for Texas Instruments. ``They exceeded their outstanding performance of last year, proving an exemplary commitment to continuous improvement and quality. The efficiency of the TPM service team to manage and assure parts supply helps make TI successful and deserves recognition. Additionally, Applied Materials and TI continue to work closely to find ways to reduce our cost of operations and make TI more competitive. This close teamwork has resulted in benefits for both TI and Applied Materials.'' Winners of TI's annual Supplier Excellence Award are an elite group of companies that exhibit excellence in the combined areas of cost; environmental, safety & health; technology; responsiveness; assurance of supply and quality. Less than one percent of TI's supplier base receives this award. ``We are proud to receive this prestigious award from Texas Instruments and remain committed to continue delivering competitive value,'' said David Fried, corporate vice president, Applied Materials' Installed Base Support and Service Business Group. ``We deeply appreciate TI's acknowledgement of the value we provide by managing spare parts for Applied Materials' equipment in their fab. TI's high quality standards are an inspiration for us and by working together we can further our shared goal to maximize customer value worldwide.'' Applied Materials, Inc. is a Fortune 500 global growth company and the world's largest supplier of wafer fabrication systems and services to the global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol ``AMAT.'' Applied Materials' web site is appliedmaterials.com.

To: Gottfried who wrote (35662)	7/7/2000 8:41:49 PM
From: Jeffrey D	Respond to of 70976

Again, from Briefing.com today. Jeff <, 15:42 ET ****** Chip Equipment Sector : The next couple of weeks should tell the story for the chip equipment group... Despite near universal expectations for strong Q2 sales and earnings numbers, the group has labored over the past couple of months, with most of the component issues trading well off their respective 52-wk highs... Why the weakness? Maybe Salomon was right - at least that's what the market seems to be telling us... Weakness in the group in the face of tremendous earnings growth suggests that many large investors, fearing an end to the industry upturn within the next six months, are booking profits... Basically, if you wait for clear evidence that the industry has rolled over you'll have waited too long to get out at a good price... Of course if the skeptics are wrong and company after company gives bullish guidance for the next several quarters, then the current pullback provides a very good (re)entry opportunity for growth oriented investors... With a slew of chip equipment companies holding analysts meetings next week (see our Events Calendar), followed by an avalanche of earnings reports over the next 14 days, investors won't have to wait long to know how to act... Our bet is that the stocks will get a nice run over the next few weeks, jumping as much as 15%-20%... However, few will set new highs and big investors will continue to sell into strength on fears that tough comparison periods and slower economic growth mean the industry upturn is very near its end. -- Robert Walberg, Briefing.com

To: Gottfried who wrote (35662)	7/8/2000 10:27:06 AM
From: Kirk ©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

RE: the B of A targets are silly for a new coverage. If I took them seriously I'd ask "why bother taking the risk". So I'm asking myself what motivated BofA to give new buy recs with such limited upside? Perhaps they want to have room for upgrades? The way I read it, they were silly to be so late to the party in the first place. The low targets might give them wiggle room to issue upgrades and not look so silly as a "johny come lately". I can hear the conversation. Boss: "Hey, semiconductor Cap something or the other is hot! Who do we have covering it?" Employee: "Er, nobody sir. You took us off that group in 98 when it looked to be in the toilet and we were going back to horse and buggy days. You put the analyst on Wal*Mart adn Dell Computer." Boss: "Humph... how have those stocks done since then?" Employee: "They've done OK, but not anywhere as good as AMAT and LRCX" as this chart shows: chart.bigcharts.com Boss: "Well, we better get someone on those stocks so we don't look silly." Employee: "Right sir. I'll assign someone, but we ALREADY look silly if we call the top" Boss: "Well, then make the targets sure hits and we can upgrade often and drop it like a hot cake if the market sours so we don't get caught with our pants down selling at the bottom like we did in the fall of 1998!" Employee: "Yes sir." ========================================================= My concern, when the clueless start to arrive at the party (characterised by their late arrival) then I start to worry more about a top. To me... it says it is time to worry.