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To: drew_m who wrote (89734)	12/10/2000 11:54:45 AM
From: Jon Koplik	Respond to of 152472

Spout, spout ! (I did not read anything yet ...) Jon. eom.

To: drew_m who wrote (89734)	12/10/2000 12:04:04 PM
From: Peter J Hudson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

Drew. Why do you refer to Art's post as spouting off? The reason for the emergency stay was exactly what Art posted. The court ruled that there was reason to believe that the plaintiff would be successful, so the count was halted until arguments could be heard. Scalia did site a lack of standards as the reason that the Bush team may prevail. If you reread Art's post, you will see that it isn't inaccurate. Your "wake up an get informed " comment would be comical if it weren't SO rude. I have received information from Art for many years. I don't always agree with his views, but I can assure you he is well informed. This OT political stuff is fun for weekend diversion, but please refrain from personal attacks. Pete

To: drew_m who wrote (89734)	12/10/2000 12:09:09 PM
From: brian h	Respond to of 152472

AT&T Finds Investments Worse Than Its Own Beleaguered Shares By Dana Cimilluca New York, Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- There are worse investments than AT&T Corp., the biggest loser in the Dow Jones Industrial Average this year. Just ask AT&T. The largest U.S. cable-television and long-distance phone company in the past year agreed to take stakes in Net2Phone Inc., IDT Corp. and Internet Capital Group Inc., and the value of the investments plunged 82 percent to $255 million from $1.54 billion. AT&T shares have fallen 61 percent, on track for their worst decline in at least 20 years. ``They tend to take huge amounts of money and throw them at what have to be viewed as speculative ventures,'' said Brian Bruce, a money manager at Panagora Asset Management. ``It seems like desperation.'' Panagora owned 1.5 million AT&T shares in September, according to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The investment declines come as AT&T Chief Executive C. Michael Armstrong battles lower consumer long-distance prices and unprecedented competition from startups and other carriers such as Verizon Communications. New York-based AT&T said in October that fourth-quarter profit and 2001 sales will fall short of forecasts. Armstrong has spent more than $100 billion acquiring cable-TV companies to offer services including local-phone, Internet and video under one roof. The strategy was repudiated when AT&T said Oct. 25 it will split into three companies and create a tracking stock for the consumer phone business to boost the stock price. AT&T shares rose 38 cents to $20.06 on Friday. Spokesman David Caouette said he ``couldn't speculate on (the) possibility'' of taking a charge for the decline in some AT&T investments. He wouldn't say when the shares last had a 61 percent annual decline. The closest they've come in the last 20 years was a 34 percent drop in 1990. Investments AT&T invested $1.42 billion for a 32 percent stake in Net2Phone Inc., a provider of phone calls over the Internet, whose market value Friday was $649 million. The $75-a-share purchase, announced in March, was completed in August. Net2Phone shares closed Friday at $10.69, having touched a record low of $10 the previous day. That's 87 percent less than what AT&T paid. Also in August, AT&T agreed to buy 5 percent of former Net2Phone parent IDT Corp., a long-distance telephone and Internet access provider, for $75 million. IDT said it would exercise an option to sell AT&T shares at $36.75 each. IDT shares now are at $24.25, 34 percent below that price. AT&T hasn't turned over the money to IDT yet, said IDT spokeswoman Mary Jennings. She declined to say when that will happen. Last December, AT&T said it invested $50 million in Internet Capital Group Inc., which buys stakes in Web companies. AT&T paid $82 a share. Since then, Internet Capital stock has dropped 93 percent to $6.06. S&P Index Sinks AT&T and the stocks it bought are not alone in their shrinking value. The Standard & Poor's Telecommunications Index of long-distance phone companies is down by two-thirds this year, and the Bloomberg U.S. Internet Index is down 55 percent. On Sept. 11, No. 2 U.S. local-phone company SBC Communications Inc. agreed to invest $150 million in Covad Communications Group Inc., which sells fast Internet service over copper phone lines. Covad shares closed at $20.38 that day. They have since fallen 92 percent to $1.59. Covad restated third-quarter results Nov. 14 to report 16 percent less revenue because Internet service provider customers were late paying their bills. AT&T is getting plenty of cash to invest. Flush In April, the company sold shares in its wireless unit in a $10.6 billion initial public offering, the biggest ever in the U.S. AT&T will also get $3.6 billion in January from the sale of a 16 percent stake in AT&T Wireless Group to NTT DoCoMo Inc. of Japan. Meanwhile, AT&T's debt increased to $62 billion in September from $36 billion at the end of last year. On Tuesday, AT&T said it will invest $6.2 million for a 25 percent stake in an Internet venture in China. The venture, Shanghai Symphony Telecommunications Co., is set to start offering service in the middle of next year. The investment makes AT&T the first foreigner to pair with a local company in Asia's No. 1 phone market, which is expected to surpass the U.S. as the world's biggest by 2008.