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To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (9185)	8/8/2000 12:00:09 AM
From: chic_hearne	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

patron, you mentioned before that IBM would be a good short. FWIW, July 1st IBM changed its employee stock purchase plan. Before, you were allowed to use up to 10% of your salary to purchase IBM stock at 85% of its market value on the day you were paid (twice a month). This same deal is in effect, but with one new edition. Twice a year, July 1st and Jan 1st, the price is locked in for 6 months. You are given the choice of the best price. On July 1st, IBM closed at about $108, so as long as IBM is over that price for the next 6 months, employees can purchase shares for about $90 each. If you sell the shares, you are no longer allowed to purchase shares at a discount. Therefore, as long as shares can be purchased at a good discount and future business looks good (it looks real good), you are stuck holding the shares and you would be stupid to not buy as many shares as you can at $90 when the current price is $116 and looks to be going higher. I have no idea how much influence a couple hundred thousand IBM employees can have, but it's something to think about.