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

To: Gottfried who wrote (41291)	1/4/2001 3:31:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Up 10 one day, down 6 the next....gotta love AMAT. Subject 50522

To: Gottfried who wrote (41291)	1/4/2001 6:20:39 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 70976

SEMI remains optimistic about sector's stock prices in 2001 Semiconductor Business News (01/04/01 17:14 p.m. EST) SAN JOSE -- First the bad news for stockholders of semiconductor equipment and materials companies. The value of those stocks dropped 23.35% in 2000, based on a global index maintained by the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) trade group. But the good news for those shareholders is that the SEMIndex of 68 manufacturers was up 117% between the end of 2000 and the start of the index on Jan. 4, 1999. During a difficult year for Wall Street, the SEMIndex stocks also did not fall as much as the tech-driven Nasdaq Composite index, which dropped more than 37% in the last year. And, the SEMI trade group believes there is hope for a rebound in its stock index. "2000 was a record-breaking growth year for sales of semiconductor equipment and materials as fabs around the world added new technology and manufacturing capacity," noted Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI in San Jose. "The market for new equipment expanded approximately 85% last year. In our cyclical growth industry, we often see a pause as the chip manufacturing industry absorbs large capacity additions.... Over the long term, investors continue to recognize the fundamental value of our industry and see the potential for sector growth." SEMI also cited the outlook of John Pitzer, senior vice president and capital equipment analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston. "Following an initial boost caused by reaction to the just-announced Fed interest rate cut, the SEMIndex may have a slow start in 2001," Pitzer said. "I suspect that the SEMIndex will see a recovery in the second half of the year as the industry works off oversupply and deals with end-market demand. Clearly, the sector represented by the SEMIndex is a long-term dynamic investment growth vehicle." Ironically, 2000 was one of the best years ever for suppliers of chip production equipment and materials, but concerns about a slowdown in chip sales and the potential for too much capacity sent the SEMIndex into a five-month nose dive, starting last August. The SEMIndex dropped from a reading of around 375 in early August to 225.45 on Dec. 29. The two-year-old index hit its peak at the start of February 2000 at just under 400 before seesawing and then dropping sharply in the last five months of 2000. The SEMIndex is comprised of three regional sub-indices. The U.S. SEMIndex, made up of 50 companies, declined 32.84% in 2000 and closed the year at 150.36 vs. 23.88 in 1999. The Japan SEMIndex of eight publicly-traded companies plunged 60.75% in 2000, closing at 166.17 on at the end of 2000 compared to 423.32 a year earlier. The Europe SEMIndex of 10 companies was down by just 5.75% to 304.18 in 2000, according to SEMI. "The capital equipment sector did not decline as significantly as the broader technology market and the Nasdaq last year, in part because it has been historically valued on a more rational multiple-of-earnings basis as opposed to other technology sectors where values have been based on revenue," Pitzer said. In the first several days of 2001, the SEMIndex was up 5.3% to 237.36 at the close of trading today compared to 225.45 on Dec. 29, 2000. Subject 50522

To: Gottfried who wrote (41291)	1/4/2001 8:41:36 PM
From: 16yearcycle	Respond to of 70976

G, AMAT continues to behave about as it should. If the past is a guide we should have lots of false starts the next 3 months, but finally move up, and by spring/early summer break through the 30 week, where we can issue a SCREAMING BUY on the thread. I officially announce an "accumulate leaps" rating between 30 and 42.

To: Gottfried who wrote (41291)	1/5/2001 12:01:27 PM
From: John Trader	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Gottfried, Thanks for the link. Regarding MLP, here is one article that puts a positive spin on it. I did a search to find it. Researchers are suggesting that a "double-gate transistor" might allow Moore's law to continue to 2025. The article does not do a good job of explaining this new transistor, but at the very least it supports the argument that innovation will delay MLP beyond 2006 or so (date suggested by that Red Herring article). "Coming technological crunch in semiconductors may be more distant than thought": semiconductoronline.com{803D2393-D271-11D4-8C8C-009027DE0829} John