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To: 16yearcycle who wrote (117106)	2/7/2001 2:09:21 PM
From: Robert Rose	Respond to of 164687

I guess it is ok to just accept the fact that we are on different wavelengths. I don't like mudslinging (no matter how entertaining ;)), so I will let us remain friends. Regards, Rob

To: 16yearcycle who wrote (117106)	2/7/2001 2:10:01 PM
From: H James Morris	Respond to of 164687

Gene, so what does this tell you? >LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Europe's bourses dropped to four-week lows on Wednesday after France Telecom slashed the price range for its mobile phone unit Orange's initial public offering and triggered a sector-wide rush for the exit. Shockwaves spread too from another jolt to the beleagured tech sector, as grim earnings news from bellwether Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) hit Nasdaq and weighed on blue-chip European tech peers such as Alcatel (CGEP) and Marconi (MONI) as well. At 1635 GMT the pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300 was off 1.08 percent, at its lowest point since January 17, while the blue-chip DJ Euro Stoxx 50 sank 1.4 percent to its weakest point since January 11. Top billing on the losers' board was reserved for France Telecom (FTE) and British Telecom (BT), off 6.7 and 5.8 percent after the former cut as much as 10 billion euros off the expected issue price for Orange, which floats next Tuesday. The move bodes ill for other sector players including BT, Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn) and KPN (KPN) hoping to float their mobile units this year to pare piles of debt they incurred to secure and build new-generation mobile phone networks. BT has been under pressure to update the market on its restructuring effort and plans for spin-offs or floats of some divisions. The firm releases third quarter figures on Thursday. Meanwhile Deutsche Telekom shares lost 3.08 percent while KPN shed 5.45 percent. The telecoms index overall shed 3.3 percent. "Ultimately, the problem was they really couldn't justify the valuation," said Jeff Currington, head of European equities at Morley Fund Management. "We sat down (on Tuesday) and decided we weren't going to go for Orange because it wasn't cheap enough compared to Vodafone (VOD)." Currington said he has not decided yet whether the new price range is low enough to change his mind about investing in Orange, but added: "There is clearly now a reasonable chance that we would participate to some extent in the IPO." CISCO HITS TECHS Technology stocks dipped perilously close to recent 13-month lows as telecom equipment makers Alcatel (CGEP), Nokia (NOK1V), Marconi (MONI) and Ericsson (LMEb) all slid after Cisco missed forecasts and issued a grim outlook. "This is the first time Cisco has had a profit warning for three years and failed to deliver its reduced targets. What we are seeing is a knee-jerk reaction through European tech," said Hitesh Thakrar, head of European technology research at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. "However, we think that this should not affect selected Euro tech stocks -- Cisco warned that some of its customers could not pay because they were new operators, while the likes of Alcatel and Marconi have established customers who can pay," he added. "We've seen Cisco go from a seven percent loss to a two percent loss in after-hours trade, and my bet is that you might just see some buyers later on. There are people waiting on the sidelines, tech stocks have not gone down as far as we thought they might do, and we're getting the feeling that people are beginning to take these things more in their stride." Cisco shares dropped 12 percent, shunting the European tech sector 4.2 percent into the red. Separately, Britain's Autonomy (AUTN) fell 10 percent amid speculation -- denied by the company -- that a major shareholder was on the point of selling a chunk of its stake and that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had lured away senior Autonomy staff. DEFENSIVE MEASURES As techs, telecoms and media shares fell, investors put some money to work in food and beverage, and auto stocks. DaimlerChrysler (DCXGn) was among the few of Europe's top blue chips to gain. The carmaker's shares rose 0.8 percent after it unexpectedly reported year results on Wednesday, posting a 49 percent fall in to 5.2 billion euros ($4.85 billion) after a sharp - and well flagged - downturn at its Chrysler unit. Defensive foods were lifted by modest gains in Nestle (NESZn) and Diageo (DGE). In that sector, Anglo-Dutch company, Unilever Plc/NV (ULVR) (UNc) reports on Thursday and is forecast to show a 12 percent increase in annual profits, helped by a pickup in the final quarter after its Bestfoods buy. Other firms reporting on Thursday include AstraZeneca (AZN) and oil major Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD)(SHEL). Also that day, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will announce its decision on interest rates, with markets expecting rates to fall by a quarter percent after softer industrial output and house price inflation figures.