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To: Dealer who wrote (29634)8/19/2000 11:27:58 AM
From: RocketMan  Respond to of 35685
 
Good link, and nice description of the various index instruments, SPY, DIA, QQQ. Can one do cc's on the SPY or DIA?



To: Dealer who wrote (29634)8/19/2000 12:24:05 PM
From: Dealer  Respond to of 35685
 
SSTI--From Wall Street City

Featured Stocks Aug 18 2000 10:41AM CST

Silicon Storage: A Flash in the Pan?
by Chris Connor

Silicon Storage {SSTI}, a flash memory maker, is definitely on a roll. Over the past year, SSTI has ascended over 300 percent as both revenues and earnings have been skyrocketing. Earnings have been soaring to such a degree that Silicon Storage has blown earnings estimates away in its last five quarters. Over those last five quarters, Silicon Storage beat estimates by 46.15 percent, 100 percent, 10.53 percent, 47.83 percent, and 73.17 percent (in order of occurrence). Silicon Storage appeared in a search that looks for mid-cap companies that offer substantial upside potential, entitled Mid-Cap Magic.

A Leader in an Explosive Industry
It would be difficult to find a technology in a better space than that currently occupied by flash memory. Flash memory can benefit from not only the dynamic growth of data storage, but also from the continued explosion of wireless devices. The rapidly burgeoning and proliferating devices such as digital cameras, MP3 players, notebook computers, PDAs, and Internet-enabled phones require flash memory cards to store data. These wireless devices use these cards because flash memory cards are small, removable, can hold many more times the data than a floppy disk can hold, and are able to retain data after the device is turned off. According to semiconductor market research firm IC Insight, flash memory will be an $18.3 billion industry by 2003 after seeing a global demand of $4.6 billion last year.

Silicon Storage stands out from other flash memory makers because of one very important characteristic: speed. Silicon Storage claims that its flash memory card is able to sustain a write speed (the speed of inputting data to the card) of 1.4 megabytes per second. SSTI's card is so fast largely because of its dual-port SRAM (static random-access memory) buffer. This buffer allows a user to write to the buffer while the buffer writes to the flash memory simultaneously. In addition to the dual-port buffer, Silicon Storage's card augments its market-leading speed by employing a direct channel from the buffer to the flash memory - thereby eliminating steps and enhancing performance. Flash memory speed is most crucial to digital cameras because flash memory determines the rate at which a digital camera can take consecutive shots.

Surprising Valuation
Normally, a leading company in a rapidly growing industry that posts the kind of growth numbers that Silicon Storage has been registering commands a rich premium for its stock price. However, that is not the case with Silicon Storage. As Silicon Storage's Financial Overview demonstrates, SSTI sports a PE ratio of only 48.46. While SSTI's PE is above the market's (S&P 500's) PE ratio of 33.54, its PE is still substantially lower than other rapidly growing storage companies such as Brocade {BRCD}, Network Appliance {NTAP}, Emulex {EMLX} and JNI {JNIC}. For example, analysts expect JNI and Silicon Storage will each grow their earnings at rates of 37.5 percent per year over the next five years, but JNI is valued considerably higher with an astronomical PE ratio of over 300. Furthermore, SSTI has a price-to-sales ratio of 7.1, while the S&P has a higher price-to-sales ratio of 8.68. It is not every day that a leader in a hot industry is priced below the market, based on sales.

Looking Forward
In the future, Silicon Storage has a largely-untapped opportunity in providing flash memory to the cell phone market. Despite working relationships with Qualcomm {QCOM} and Samsung, Silicon Storage derives only about 2 percent of its sales from the cell phone market. (Most of Silicon Storage's sales were derived from products such as digital cameras, MP3s, network routers, set-top boxes, computer peripherals, and pagers.) The mobile phone figure should increase significantly because the company recently introduced its new ComboMemory products that are specifically targeted at the cell phone market. These ComboMemory products combine SSTI's SuperFlash technology with SRAM to provide customers with smaller, less expensive, and less power-intensive flash memory solutions than those they would have to use were they to buy the flash memory and SRAM components separately. The main thing to remember about Silicon Storage's SuperFlash technology is that it is a very simple, but efficient memory solution because it eliminates several manufacturing steps to improve cost and reliability. The big question going forward is whether Silicon Storage can use its speed advantage and manufacturing know-how (the company does not manufacture its own products, but it holds the rights to its manufacturing processes) to compete successfully against much bigger flash memory makers like Intel {INTC}, Advanced Micro Devices {AMD}, Atmel {ATML}, and Sandisk {SNDK}. If Silicon Storage can beat these giant companies head-to-head, or at least hold its own, the company's stock will require a higher valuation because flash memory will likely be a focal point of wireless devices for years to come. Silicon Storage has the best chance to win if its simpler products can continue to outperform the more complex ones proffered by its competitors.



To: Dealer who wrote (29634)8/19/2000 1:19:30 PM
From: dustcatcher  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 35685
 
Dealer:

All of us on the porch have a great deal to thank you for and this is a small portion of my contribution to the "thank yous."

Your collection of messages dealing (not a pun I hope) with cc writing is very helpful to me--so much so I printed it and will save and maybe frame it.

Your link to IntelligentSpeculator would be helpful to all of us with the possible exception of V who goes his own way and ignores rationallity--with great success I might add.

Again, Dealie, many many thanks.

---Jack---



To: Dealer who wrote (29634)8/19/2000 1:36:09 PM
From: sq39  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 35685
 
HI DEALIE,

i'm back, the lurking square/squire. i have finally caught up on posts,(have been gallivanting).
some posts were exceptional, the garden photos and the NDE links were my favorites, (was
delighted to read that we carry our sense of humor with us into the next phase!!!)
as to the recent covered call stuff,interesting butyour money is tied up in a covered call for a month
at least, because of your underlying vehicle. i opt for just buying calls because you are free to come
and go as you see fit.
herewith an example. a friend gave me 10,000 june 13th
to make her a little money this is what i did with it.
bought---sold---what--- # -- received-----paid ---- net
6/13--6/19--TQKHR ----1---- 3470.88----1991.80----1479.38
(TLGD/AUG/90)
6/13--7/06--AEXHR ----1---- 3308.38----1854.------1458.38
(AMCC/AUG/90)
6/13--7/17--TLGD-----50---- 7243.00----4875.------2368.
6/19--7/20--TQKKB---- 1---- 5020.83----3192.------1828.83
(TLGD/NOV/110)
7/17--7/28--UCQLT---- 1---- 3320.88----2904.-------416.88
(JDSU/DEC/100)
8/11--8/11--NEWP----- 50----5966.80----5418.75-----548.05
TOTAL NET PROFIT ON 10,000 = 8,099.52
THAT'S 80% IN TWO MONTHS, WOULD HAVE DONE BETTER IF I DID NOT GET
WARY OF WHERE THE MARKET WAS GOING AND SELL LAST TWO OPTIONS
PREMATURELY....NOT THAT IT MATTERS...
i hope this helps some of you see the potential out
there, like taking candy from a baby.......it could
have been 100,000 that became 180,000 in two months
just as easily....