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

To: Ian@SI who wrote (37726)	10/3/2000 1:48:22 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Am I reading this right, Soundview downgrades because of investor consternation and worries? Because people poo poo the stocks, I shouldn't be in them? Isn't this the exact definition of herd mentality? Incredible! And I thought Jonathon Joseph won the Jackass-of-the-Year award hands down. Seems as though someone is trying to steal his title. ******************************* RESEARCH ALERT-Chip equipment makers ratings cut NEW YORK, Oct 3 (Reuters) - WIT SoundView said on Tuesday it cut ratings on semiconductor equipment makers Applied Materials Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMAT - news), Brooks Automation Inc. (NasdaqNM:BRKS - news), Semitool Inc. (NasdaqNM:SMTL - news) and Nanometrics Inc. (NasdaqNM:NANO - news). -- said in a report the downgrades were ``based on consternation likely to continue in the near term.'' -- `` ... We believe that the near term could be fraught with worries on the semiconductor cycle.'' -- cut Applied Materials to buy from strong buy, and reduced the price target to $70 from $113. -- ``We believe that the October and January quarters are both likely to meet or beat (Wall) Street expectations, but we are struggling with order growth as the balance of fiscal 2001 progresses.'' -- Applied Materials shares were off $4-6/16 at $52-5/16. -- cut Brooks Automation to buy from strong buy, and lowered the price target to $50 from $90. -- ``We continue to believe in the business model that Brooks has set forth and believe our model is likely to play out. However, as a key supplier to the equipment companies, we believe that the stock may have a difficult time outperforming ... '' -- Brooks shares were off $4-1/8 at $25-3/4. -- cut Nanometrics Inc. (NasdaqNM:NANO - news) to hold from buy, and kept the $55 price target. -- ``While Nanometrics has moved to the forefront of integrated metrology and this segment of the equipment industry is in its infancy, we feel that this stock has held up better than most in our group.'' -- Nanometrics shares were off $5-1/8 at $44-7/8. -- cut Semitool Inc. (NasdaqNM:SMTL - news) to hold from buy, and trimmed the price target to $18 from $25. -- ``Semitool has impressively improved its product offerings in both wet cleaning and electroplating in the past year. However, given that the company could potentially see a decline in orders in the quarter, we are reducing our rating ... '' -- Semitool shares were off $3/4 at $12-9/16. -- cut price target on KLA-Tencor Corp. (NasdaqNM:KLAC - news) to $75 from $100. -- ``While KLA has an enviable backlog position, we believe that investors may not look to rally the stock in the immediate future.'' -- KLA shares added 7/16 at $37-7/16. -- Wit SoundView said it continued to look favourably on Novellus Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:NVLS - news), Lam Research Corp. (NasdaqNM:LRCX - news) and Teradyne Inc. (NYSE:TER - news)