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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Les H who wrote (47891)	12/14/2000 7:40:24 PM
From: AllansAlias	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

The warnings come as it has emerged that the eight million US customers of broker Charles Schwab are believed to have lost more than £118bn between them in the last three months. This works out at almost £15,000 a head. That's a lot of clown-sterling. Nice find. It would be most interesting to find out when they issued their last similar warning?

To: Les H who wrote (47891)	12/14/2000 8:00:45 PM
From: UnBelievable	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

I Guess They Didn't Hear About The Rally From Abby Today Abby Spots a Rally - Again { Editorial Comment: Ms. Cohen's arguments for a rally, as described by the writer of this article, are factually incorrect, not based upon any recognized economic principles, and in no way establish a case for an impending rally. From my perspective there are two possible explanations for Goldman Sachs and Ms. Cohens release of this material. They are either ignorant beyond belief or they are criminals and frauds.} By Stacey L. Bradford NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Sooner or later she's gotta be right - right? Once again, Goldman Sachs's Abby Joseph Cohen is predicting a rally. On Thursday, in the midst of yet another yucky day for the markets, Wall Street's best-known and arguably most respected guru said all the pieces are finally in place for that long-overdue bounce. Sound familiar? Not only did Cohen predict a post-Thanksgiving rally back in September, but most of Wall Street's other pundits have been anticipating a turnaround, too. Prudential Securities' Ralph Acampora, for example, spotted a postelection "honeymoon" for stocks. And even the eternally bearish Barton Biggs of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter flip-flopped earlier this week and declared the Nasdaq grossly undervalued. For Abby, the coming rally won't be about the election finally coming to a close, or even simply a reaction to the steep fall in technology stocks. It will reflect what Cohen calls "better balance." Ever since last March, three imbalances impeded stock-price performance, she explains. And now that the situation is largely corrected, next year should prove a more favorable market environment. Here's what changed. First, economic growth has slowed to a more sustainable rate. That's good news for the markets, says Cohen, since it eases pressure on prices and interest rates. Rather than continue to grow at last year's fourth-quarter growth rate of 8.3%, she believes the economy has returned to a more sustainable growth rate of 3%. Another big change: Equity valuations are now much more sane than they were last winter. According to Cohen's models, stocks are now roughly 15% undervalued. In contrast, equity prices were already dangerously near her year-end targets as early as last March. "Simply stated, we thought that the S&P 500 was about nine months ahead of itself, but we expected the fundamentals to ultimately catch up with share prices," Cohen says. Instead, of course, share prices soon fell back to better reflect fundamentals. The third imbalance, Cohen says, was the wide disparity in valuations of different groups of stocks. "While some securities were trading at high P/E ratios, others were being largely ignored and were priced cheaply relative to the fundamentals of the underlying companies," Cohen says - and that meant capital was being allocated inefficiently. For example, she points out that small-cap and midcap stocks, along with real estate, were largely ignored. Meanwhile some earnings-free young companies were trading at inflated multiples of revenue. Such wild disparities have now narrowed dramatically, she writes. With these three problems now largely corrected, Cohen expects 2001 to be a far friendlier environment for investors - especially those who take a back-to-basics approach that focuses on the fundamentals. "Quantitative work shows that share price momentum was the single most important factor driving future price action during much of 1999 and early 2000," she says. Since April, it's been all about earnings. Two preconditions for a rally are now in place, she figures: attractive valuations and ample liquidity. Over the next 12 months she pegs fair value for the S&P 500 at 1650. And she believes there is plenty of cash on the sidelines ready to be reinvested into the market. SmartMoney.com's No. 1-ranked pundit says there are three key areas to keep an eye on in the next few months. First, she expects energy prices to move lower by the summer, which would depress energy-sector earnings but benefit most other industries. Second, she says the global economy will continue to grow despite the slowing in the U.S. Last will be the economic initiatives of President Bush, which may not be clear until next spring or summer. But according to Cohen, smart and selective investors will soon start to reap rewards. "Careful security selection...will be the key to strong relative and absolute portfolio performance," she says. And where should selective investors be looking? Cohen has recently been talking up small-cap to midcap stocks again. For more information and analysis of companies and mutual funds, visit SmartMoney.com at smartmoney.com 12/14/2000 Dow Jones News Services (Copyright © 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

To: Les H who wrote (47891)	12/14/2000 9:26:35 PM
From: Don Lloyd	Respond to of 436258

Les - ...The warnings come as it has emerged that the eight million US customers of broker Charles Schwab are believed to have lost more than £118bn between them in the last three months. This works out at almost £15,000 a head. ... This had me worried for a minute. But I checked my Schwab account balances and found that there were no (pounds) at all. None even on my keyboard. -g- Regards, Don