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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: GVTucker who wrote (161752)10/5/2000 1:54:43 PM
From: kaka  Respond to of 176387
 
GV,

You're famous........

Michael Dell's turbulent cyber-persona
Investors no longer blindly trumpet the CEO's merits

By Shawn Langlois, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:52 PM ET Oct 5, 2000

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Dell Computer hasn't exactly set cyberspace on fire with its lackluster performance this year, but, until this past week, the Austin power had, at the very least, avoided major catastrophe.

Well, Dell longs, welcome to the catastrophe zone with the rest of the fallen blue chip dominoes.

Already stinging from a slowly disintegrating stock price, the irreverent clan of Dell bulls suffered a severe blow when the PC titan added fuel to the selling flame by issuing a revenue warning. And, as you may know, warnings haven't been flying too well on Wall Street lately. Just ask Intel (INTC: news, chart) and Apple (AAPL: news, chart). See full story.



With their pet stock free falling toward levels not seen in nearly two years, the peanut gallery flocked to the boards to vent over what it considered to be shifty treatment from Dell's head honcho -- of course, in Michael Dell's defense, when times get tough, the lurkers generally tend to seek out a scapegoat.

On Raging Bull, the PC giant's CEO, usually glorified as a hero of the great bull market long past, was vilified by the likes of AceMech: "Gotta say that Mr. Dell is definitely no longer to be trusted. Do you guys actually think he will meet est. for 4th Q? Even if he said yes do you believe him? I, for one, do not. I cannot help but feel that I have been lied to and suckered into thinking Dell was not affected by the slowdown in Europe, and he was going to meet expectations."

Among the decidedly vitriolic posts, DanoBull tried to remain calm in his leaning-bearish outlook: "I hate to finally give in to the skeptics, but grabbing a larger market share of a diminishing PC market does not do a whole lot for me. Mike Dell needs to finally be honest with the people who finance his little game, and come clean with numbers that he can actually attain. He is still hung up on those huge 'ego boosting' growth numbers that Dell (DELL: news, chart) had during the mid-nineties and there is no way that this 30 billion dollar company can get there until the company has 75 percent of its revenues 'beyond the box.'"

It's more of a big picture issue, as far as TigerPaw was concerned: "I'm not saying that the PC era is over, but some of the excitement of the era is over. I think this was reflected in Andy Grove of Intel retiring and Bill Gates of Microsoft (MSFT: news, chart) distancing himself from the business, and even Tom Waites of Gateway (GTW: news, chart) decided to go sailing. They were always pushing Dell to come up with better, faster platforms, and now I think that pressure, and excitement has eased. I think this reduces the stimulus needed to keep Michael focused."

Over on Silicon Investor, GVTucker proposed what would have been considered sheer blasphemy a year ago: "I'm not suggesting that Michael Dell step aside. I am suggesting that if Dell wants to do what is good for the company, he'll stop appearing in the spotlight at every opportunity and leave that responsibility for people who can handle expectations management a lot better. Note, for example, that Bill Gates has not appeared on MSFT conference calls for a very long time. Dell needs to let the numbers people take care of the numbers and stick to the vision thing. We'll see if his ego permits that."

It's amazing to see how quickly the public manages to turn when the going gets rocky. Back in the good ol' days, Michael Dell was perhaps the most beloved figure in cyberspace. Sure, there are still plenty of Dell faithful hanging by a thread, but the precocious CEO's virtual persona has taken a huge hit.

Nevertheless, as is typically the case across the message boards - nothing a good day in the market won't heal ... a good day in the market? Oxymoron?

Stop by and lend your thoughts on Michael Dell and his one-time high-flying company.



To: GVTucker who wrote (161752)10/5/2000 2:29:43 PM
From: JRI  Respond to of 176387
 
*OT* Looks like the Naz needs a bit of good news this afternoon, a la Oracle yesterday, to get it positive....anything you can do?.......a positive follow-thru (even small) from yesterday would be a nice step in repairing this market..

Re: CBS Marketwatch....congrats, although I was quoted LAST YEAR! <G> I believe it was for predicting a Naz meltdown...starting 3rd week in March this year...



To: GVTucker who wrote (161752)10/5/2000 2:52:35 PM
From: JRI  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 176387
 
*OT* GV- I read yesterday, (I believe in CnnFn), an article quoting a Gateway spokesman as saying that he couldn't make a specific comment concerning Gateway's earnings this quarter because of the "SEC-mandated quiet period"..

I thought (and I believe you also stated) that the "earnings quiet period" is primarily an arbitrary mechanism (my idea: perhaps used by companies who get sick of answering one-sies/two-sies questions about earnings-to-come, etc.)

What's the real answer?



To: GVTucker who wrote (161752)10/6/2000 10:56:43 PM
From: Sr K  Respond to of 176387
 
I wish DELL hadn't changed the way they reported net income now.

Dell doesn't want to show the fluctuations quarterly in their VC plays.

Ex.: WEBM down 240 points from its peak, and LNTE down 95%.

And they'd rather raise less attention to (and competition for) these positions, whether they are adding or cutting.