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Technology Stocks : Network Appliance -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Uncle Frank who wrote (6019)	1/31/2001 12:15:56 PM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10934

depends on the reason....but a full double in the shorts in a month worried me a bit... i could not figure out why either. i always pay very close attention to the ceo statements...sure gotta like what the man here has to say.

To: Uncle Frank who wrote (6019)	2/1/2001 11:39:17 AM
From: Dr. Id	Respond to of 10934

February 1, 2001 10:59am Network Appliance falls as analysts bicker By Tiffany Kary ZDII Network Appliance (Nasdaq: NTAP) tumbled 13 percent Thursday after it was downgraded to "hold" by Credit Suisse First Boston. Merrill Lynch said the company was still a "buy" and challenged the "negative comments made by a competitor firm." Shares were off $6.81 to $46.81 Thursday, well below their 52-week high of $152.75. Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Amit Chopra downgraded Network Appliance to "hold" from "buy" Thursday, on concerns that EMC (NYSE: EMC) -- traditionally a specialist in storage area networks -- is gaining ground in the market for network attached storage. "Our industry checks indicate that EMC's recent push into the NAS (Network Attached Storage) market with a unique architectural approach and aggressive pricing could hamper NTAP's ability to sustain top-line growth," Chopra wrote in a research note. Though Network Appliances had an early lead in the NAS market with a 50 percent market share, EMC wants take control of the NAS market by the end of 2001. Chopra added that in the near term, the slowdown in IT spending by dot-coms may limit Network Appliance's ability to beat quarterly results or justify its rich valuation. Concerns about the soft environment for IT spending caused the stock to be downgraded earlier this month by Goldman Sachs. A brief research note from Merrill Lynch Thursday questioned the reason for CFSB's downgrade. "We believe that the competitor's downgrade may have more to do with concern about the dot-com market," wrote Merrill analyst Tom Kramer, who reiterated a "buy" rating on Network Appliance. Prices and demand appear solid for Network Appliance, Kraemer said.

To: Uncle Frank who wrote (6019)	2/1/2001 12:00:43 PM
From: Conan	Respond to of 10934

Obviously the short interest presaged the latest announcements from ANALysts. NTAP has obviously come up in the center of EMC's targeting radar. They have worked very hard with the recent product announcements to rattle their sabre and influence the analysts. Now the NTAP downgrades have begun and we are well into a classic technology FUD offensive. I have watched these unfold over the past four years and the trends are interesting. FUD works in the short term and harms the target's stock price. But in the long run launching a FUD campaign is a sign of fear. Failed FUD campaigns include MSFT's NT-will-crush-SUN offensive, Cisco's we will crush Checkpoint announcements of 1997, and Network Associate's various FUD attacks against other security companies. I believe in storage and own EMC and NTAP. But if the FUD campaign pushes down NTAP stock prices I will re-balance my portfolio by buying more NTAP at lower prices. Conan