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To: waverider who wrote (78641)8/16/2000 12:03:47 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer  Respond to of 152472
 
Purchasing GSTRF, given the huge debt in front of the common shares, does not seem to be a very safe investment, though it should do all right eventually. If it is a good investment, then investing in Loral, which owns some 42% of GSTRF shares, looks even better, particularly because Loral is abnormally depressed for reasons regarding its defense business and other areas of interest. I still like the G* junk bonds, yielding close to 50% to maturity. The stock can't go anywhere unless the bonds remain viable.



To: waverider who wrote (78641)8/16/2000 2:13:29 PM
From: marginmike  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 152472
 
What are you refering to?



To: waverider who wrote (78641)8/16/2000 3:08:19 PM
From: S100  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 152472
 
Try this link for PCM holdings

freeedgar.com

VALUE SHARES/
NAME OF ISSUER (x$1000) PRN AMT
--------------- -------- -------
ADE Corp-Mass $49,144 2569612
Aceto Corp $9,066 824175
Aehr Test Systems $8,660 1283018
Alico Inc. $7,049 444006
Alltel Corp. $103,013 1663170
American Standard Companies In $47,683 1163000
Analogic Corp $42,774 1069359
Andover Bancorp Inc. $17,391 603581
Andrew Corp. $423 12600
Arctic Cat Inc $14,355 1208800
Atalanta Sosnoff Capital Corp $341 34100
Avatar Holdings Inc. $16,924 735807
BHC Communications, Inc. - CL $198,007 1302680
Bancwest Corp New $24,875 1513300
Bandag Inc Cl-A $61,513 2674467
Bank United Corp-Cl A $21,559 612700
BankNorth Group Inc. New $22,428 1464687
Bear Stearns Companies Inc $82,479 1981484
Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc Cl A $28,242 1129682
Brush Engineered Materials Inc $25,627 1640152
CFM Technologies Inc. $8,384 540900
CPB Inc. $16,494 659762
Carramerica Realty Corp. $6,665 251500
Cavalier Homes Inc. $2,692 1656582
Charter One Fincl Inc. $143,031 6218720
Chittenden Corp $33,034 1351770
Chris Craft Industries, Inc. $110,351 1670408
Cognos Inc $298,207 7207417
Commercial Federal Corp $36,454 2342400
Computer Associates Intl. $5,170 101000
Connecticut Bancshares Inc $5,568 380700
Cornerstone Realty Income $4,040 404000
Curtiss Wright Corp. $10,163 273300
Datascope Corp. $45,763 1271189
Deltic Timber Corp. $7,710 360700
Dime Bancorp Inc. $18,038 1145290
Dole Food Co. Inc. $30,899 2207052
Dundee Bankcorp Cl A $36,194 3298202
Electro Rent Corp. $ 65,758 5367965
Elmira Savings Bank F.S.B. $1,332 74025
Equifax Inc $20,493 780700
FAB Industries Inc. $10,436 982181
Fahnestock Viner Holdings $56,480 3012290
Fedders Corp $2,404 413644
First American Financial Corp $24,899 1739666
First Defiance Financial Corp $3,613 448100
Forest City Enterprises Inc CL $81,861 2452771
Forest City Enterprises, Inc. $13,784 387593
Frozen Food Express Industries $2,162 720800
Furniture Brands Intl. $50,927 3367100
Garan Inc. $18,625 823190
Genesee Corp-Cl B $1,021 54800
Globalstar $45,173 5019228
Greenpoint Financial Corp. $4,140 220800
Guitar Center Inc $12,650 1204800
Gyrodyne Co of America $1,065 60861
Harbor Florida Bancshares Inc $9,687 928100
Harrah's Entertainment Inc. $77,071 3681003
Health Care Properties $7,278 267100
Herman Miller Inc. $102,487 3960831
Hibernia Corp-CL A $42,227 3882900
Hudson River Bancorp Inc. $8,374 705200
Imation Corp. $158,206 5385737
Independence Community Bank $55,432 4183527
Industrial Bancorp Inc $5,582 470034
International Game Technology $189,990 7169417
Interstate Bakeries Corp $24,483 1748800
John Hancock Bank & Thrift Opp $988 147700
John Wiley & Sons Inc Cl-A $23,243 1033000
Kankakee Bancorp Inc. $2,496 121000
Kimball International Inc-Cl B $12,678 859540
Knight-Ridder Inc $43,433 816600
L S Starrett Co Cl-A $6,414 366500
LaSalle RE Holdings Ltd. $2,530 178300
Lancaster Colony Corp $655 33600
Landamerica Financial Group $18,024 785806
Lawson Products Inc. $4,068 165200
Libbey Inc. $49,810 1550500
Magnetek Inc. $18,350 2293700
Mandalay Resort Group $4,457 222871
Marcus Corp. $70,021 5774914
Marion Capital Holdings Inc. $1,824 87900
Massbank Corp-Reading Mass $9,562 341493
McClatchy Co-Cl A $78,884 2381416
McGrath Rentcorp $593 34900
Mentor Graphics Corp. $135,787 6832065
Mercantile Bankshares Corp. $26,606 892436
Michael Anthony Jewelers Inc. $537 195400
Midas, Inc. $33,486 1674300
Mine Safety Appliances Co. $26,602 1108432
NCR Corp New $22,856 587000
National City Corp $6,690 392100
Pacific Century Financial Corp $25,926 1772750
Paine Webber Group Inc. $71,269 1566358
Penn Engineering & Mfg Corp. $49,324 1399255
Pope Resources L.P. $32,381 1693146
Premier National Bancorp Inc. $2,795 215036
Prime Hospitality Corp $547 58000
Progress Software $49,587 2764411
Puerto Rican Cement Co. Inc. $9,685 348232
Qualcomm, Inc. $111,487 1858114
Quorum Health Group Inc. $38,055 3690169
RFS Hotel Investors Inc. $5,688 484100
Rainbow Technologies Inc. $77,155 1586727
Raymond James Financial $39,667 1762996
Regis Corp $10,458 836600
Roadway Express Inc. $45,665 1948361
Roslyn Bancorp Inc. $25,750 1550302
Ryans Family Steak Houses Inc. $35,486 4205799
Scientific Games Holdings Corp $55,348 2253372
Second Bancorp Inc. $4,623 304386
Security Capital US Realty $1,569 88400
Shaw Industries Inc. $74,776 5982048
Skyline Corp. $30,380 1413032
Software Spectrum $14,029 810331
Sothebys Holdings Inc CL A Ltd $55,687 3182100
Sterling Financial Corp $1,523 132400
Stewart Information Services C $23,746 1623648
Suffolk Bancorp $12,085 462568
Superior Industries Internatio $45,196 1755192
TF Financial Corp. $3,777 277200
Texas Industries Inc. $54,888 1900890
Thomas Industries $2,123 120000
Topps Co. $23,151 2013100
Trinity Industries $80,758 4365317
Triumph Group Inc New $47,483 1703433
Troy Financial Corp $4,407 446251
UCBH Holdings Inc. $23,319 873798
Unionbancal Corp. $6,250 336700
United Asset Management Corp. $83,976 3592571
United Stationers Inc. $76,203 2353752
United Television Inc. $50,071 388898
Universal Health Services Clas $321,953 4915314
Universal Health Trust $13,189 696439
Virco Mfg Corp. $14,052 952698
Vital Signs Inc $13,584 749465
Washington Post'B' $27,616 57775
Webster Financial Corp $32,545 1466800
Weis Markets Inc $22,776 695448
West Pharmaceutical Svcs Inc. $22,272 1029900
Whitney Holding Corp $29,709 869003



To: waverider who wrote (78641)8/16/2000 10:32:49 PM
From: T L Comiskey  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 152472
 
Rick..OT..
To: Andrew L. Burk who wrote (15819)
From: Gregg Powers
Wednesday, Aug 16, 2000 6:30 PM ET
Reply # of 15833

To all:

Perspective.

We assiduously avoided investing in Globalstar on a pre-commercial basis. Given the project’s international scope and complexity, we wanted to see
management pull together all of the technological and regulatory pieces together first.

I find the analytical handwringing over, and micro-analysis of, the last six months subscriber data to be inane in the extreme. Iridium's failure, occurring near
contemporaneously with GSTR's launch, has engendered such deep-seated self loathing among IRID’s former sell-side sponsors that they feel compelled to
relentlessly vent their frustrations at Globalstar. Determined never to make the same mistake again, these witless scribes seem adamant about finding another
way to cost investors money. My personal favorite, silly-analyst quote, came from an insightful chap who opined "Globalstar is just like Iridium, only worse."
Oh well.

Iridium and Globalstar were both designed to sell satellite-supported telecommunications services. That's basically where the similarities end. Globalstar's
architectural design is dramatically better. It's direct cost per minute to deliver service is a fraction of Iridium's. Of parallel importance, it's service component,
marketing strategy and target customer are completely different. Viewed unemotionally, Iridium’s failure was a significant positive for Globalstar since it
eliminated a competitor (and a competing marketing message). On the downside, IRID’s bankruptcy cast such a pall over the satellite telephony space that I
suspect some customers, at least in North America, have been pushed to the sidelines by the fear of purchasing another orphan phone. That being said, this
issue will fade with time.

To start with the obvious, Globalstar L.P. (which we have invested in through its publicly-traded managing partner, Globalstar Telecommunications Limited),
wholesales minutes-of-use to marketing partners; little companies like Airtouch, France Telecom, China Telecom and GlobalTel. The marketing partners own
the terrestrial gateways, and are principally responsible for marketing the service. STOP. Let me repeat that. The marketing partners own the terrestrial
infrastructure and are principally responsible for selling the service to customers. This is a key point because it speaks directly to GSTR’s ability, or should I
say near-term inability, to directly influence the sales effort. This process is most akin to herding elephants...big, sleepy,bureaucratic, but also powerful and
rich...elephants. To stay within my metaphor, such elephants tend to show a profound respect for Newtonian laws. When at rest, they tend to stay at rest;
BUT, once prodded into motion, the resultant mass creates a lot of momentum.

Within this context, Globalstar’s launch seems to directly parallel Airtouch’s launch of CDMA in Los Angeles back in 1996. I remember vividly the horrified
pontification that accompanied the tepid subscriber numbers reported during the fall of that year. Pundits assured us that CDMA was a fraud destined to bring
plague and pestilence to all its adherents. Airtouch management simply shrugged and noted that it would ramp the marketing effort when the time was right.

Similar apocalyptic nonsense has been offered up for Globalstar a mere six months post commencement of actual commercial operation. While mine is
certainly a minority opinion, I think 13,000 subscribers by the end of June was pretty damn reasonable. So let’s establish my frame of reference. There are
three relevent investment questions: (1) does the system work, (2) will the company run out of money prior to implementation of the marketing plan and (3)
what is the true demand equation.

On the first point, even the bears seem to acknowledge that the network is performing extremely well. This is in stark contrast to the Iridium service, the voice
quality of which rivaled smoke-signals on a windy day.

The financing question obviously interrelates with the demand picture as the liquidity questions will evaporate as the subscriber count turns asymptotic. Here is
where contact with Globalstar’s carrier partners is most valuable. Simply put, I have spoken with the senior management at a number of Globalstar’s most
significant partners and to a man (and woman) they have indicated support, enthusiasm and confidence in the project. While some of the positive tone could
be ascribed to bravado, the commentary has overall has been quite balanced. For example, it has been acknowledged that the marketing plan for the United
States was somewhat ill-conceived and has been benefited from less than stellar execution. On the hand, Australia and Canada are ramping very nicely.
Welcome to the real world of a business start-up! Plans get conceived, some work well and can be executed as contemplated, others work less well, and get
reconstituted. It should be obvious that the deterministic time periods involved are substantially longer than six months.

It has been argued that the make-or-break data point for Globalstar will be if, and/or when, the partners put up more capital. Bernard Schwartz has stated
repeatedly that he expects that the partners will provide incremental dollars for Globalstar L.P. when needed. I think, though, that many miss the point that the
marketing partners are already pouring incremental funding into Globalstar. Each terrestrial gateway, each new distributor, each new marketing plan with
heavily subsidized handset prices, all represent substantial and sustained investment. On a worldwide basis, these expenditures certainly exceed the
incremental dollars necessary to support Globalstar L.P. through the end of 2001. It is incomprehensible that the partners would fund the marketing effort only
to allow the network provider to expire. Simply put, I believe Globalstar will get the funding that it needs.

But, all of this is moot if nobody needs the service right?! Well, I suspect that the “demand doubters” are largely ensconced in the quiet comfort of their
air-conditioned offices in Manhattan. My conversations with service providers confirm that the phones are proving marketable to exactly the customer types
anticipated. Far from being discouraged, the marketing partners seem almost universally positive. While there are distribution challenges, i.e. Globalstar
customers, at least in the U.S., do not by-and-large wander into a local cellular phone store and buy a phone, these issues are being addressed on a
market-by-market basis. This having been said, some vertical markets will adopt the technology more rapidly than others. Still I strongly believe that what has
demonstrably proven salable to customers in Australia and Canada will prove to be salable worldwide. It is also somewhat incongruous that Deutsche Telecom
is willing to pay $50+ billion for Voicestream (VSTR), and its sliver of the U.S. market, when the interest expense alone on this investment would purchase all
of Globalstar and its near worldwide footprint. Analyze D-T's capital adjusted cost-per-minute for VSTR against the market opportunity and you'll get the
giggles...

It is reasonable to presume that those living in urban/suburban areas of the industrialized world won’t substitute a satellite phone for their accessible, reliable
and smaller cellular phones. So what? That’s not the intended market. Still, I would point out that many people pay a premium to use their cellphone for calls
that could just as easily be deferred until within reach of a “free” wireline phone. It would appear that convenience, and the need to communicate, seemingly
overwhelm pragmatic economics. Nevertheless, the satellite phone user will primarily be motivated by necessity rather than convenience. Those who have
traveled outside the contiguous U.S. should understand that communication infrastructure is lacking, if not nonexistent, through huge tracks of civilized
geography. The argument that pervasive cellular deployment has obviated the need for Globalstar's service is, to my eye, perpetuated by the simple-minded.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates once commented that we would know that the Internet had arrived when it became part of our life and became something we felt
uncomfortable living without. In this vein, I will interject a personal experience. I am a private pilot and own and fly a single-engine airplane. While
exceedingly infrequent, an engine failure is a possibility to be considered by any conscientious pilot. Since certified light aircraft are designed to fly, glide a
considerable distance, and land without power, the critical path item is not to land safely, but to land safely in a place where one can be rescued. Within this
context, I NEVER fly without my Globalstar phone. With the phone and a handheld GPS, I can provide exact latitude and longitude information were I ever
forced to ditch in a Florida swap. No, GSTR shareholders aren’t going to get rich off my twenty-to-thirty minutes per month. On the other hand, I would argue
that there are roughly 300,000 private pilots in the U.S. who should consider a satellite phone as mandatory safety equipment. Kind of an interesting ‘little’
vertical market, wouldn’t you say, for an industrialized country with no need for satellite telephony?

Overall, I find it amusing that the acquisition of 13,000 customers in just over four months of true commercial service is somehow deemed a dismal failure.
Businesses rarely conform to spreadsheet models and ‘elephants’, i.e. GSTR’s marketing partners, do not tap dance on command. However, Globalstar’s
partners are settling into the task of making this business successful. Incremental functionality, in the form of data applications, should become available by
year-end and will expand the addressable market. I am additionally comfortable that Globalstar’s partners, i.e. Airtouch et al, will provide whatever
supplemental funding is necessary to get the job done. As subscriber counts begin to climb, investor’s will again focus on Globalstar’s enormous operating
leverage.

In the nutshell, while Globalstar is hardly risk-free, I believe that the rumors of its imminent demise have been vastly overstated. The Street-side naysayers
seem to be engaging in a rather mindless orgy of negativity that seems to contrast mightily with the ongoing investment by Globalstar’s deep-pocketed
marketing partners. Time will tell, but our position illustrates our convictions.