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Politics : High Tolerance Plasticity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BigBull who wrote (2197)	3/22/2001 10:52:21 AM
From: Razorbak	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 23153

Shorting Biotechs: Cephalon, Inc. (CEPH) Bullsky: I shorted CEPH this morning, and I'm already up 5%. Check out these fundamentals... Closing Price: $41.38 Estimated P/E: 151.34 Estimated P/CF: 673.86 Estimated P/S: 13.28 Estimated P/BV: 10.47 Market Cap: $1,713.21 MM Razor

To: BigBull who wrote (2197)	3/23/2001 9:03:11 PM
From: Razorbak	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23153

Insider Buying at Halliburton Bullsky: Should I be reading anything into this, or is it just bidness as usual? Looks like about $6MM worth... Razor biz.yahoo.com Insider & Restricted Shareholder Transactions Reported Over the Last Year: Date, Who, Shares, Stock, Transaction 28-Feb-01; CARRIERE, MARGARET E. - Vice President, Human Resources; 6,370; HAL; Acquired 28-Feb-01; HUFFMAN, ARTHUR D. - Vice President, Chief Information Officer; 3,476; HAL; Acquired 28-Feb-01; HEINEMANN, ROBERT F. - Vice President, Chief Technology Officer; 6,705; HAL; Acquired 28-Feb-01; REAMER, DAVID A. - Senior Vice President; 10,139; HAL; Acquired 28-Feb-01; MORRIS, GARY V. - Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President; 13,760; HAL; Acquired 28-Feb-01; BLURTON, JERRY HALBERT - Vice President, Officer and Treasurer; 7,242; HAL; Acquired 28-Feb-01; VAUGHN, DONALD C. - Director, Vice Chairman; 32,198;HAL; Acquired 28-Feb-01; LESAR, DAVID J. - Chairman of the Board, President, Director, Chief Executive Officer; 55,523; HAL; Acquired 28-Feb-01; COLEMAN, LESTER L. - Executive Vice President, General Counsel; 13,760; HAL; Acquired 28-Feb-01; MUCHMORE, ROBERT CHARLES - Vice President, Controller; 5,504; HAL; Acquired

To: BigBull who wrote (2197)	3/26/2001 9:55:03 PM
From: Razorbak	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23153

"U.S. Economy: February Home Sales Stay Close to Record Pace" 03/26 13:01 By Siobhan Hughes and Carlos Torres Washington, March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Americans bought homes during the first two months of the year at a faster pace than in all of last year, suggesting the housing industry may keep the economy from slipping into recession, two reports showed today. Previously owned homes sold in February at an annual rate of 5.18 million after a 5.2 million pace in January, according to statistics released by the National Association of Realtors. Together, sales for the two months averaged 5.2 million units, more than the 5.1 million sold last year and the same as the record annual total for 1999. New homes sold last month at a 911,000-unit annual pace after a rate of 933,000 rate in the previous month, according to the Commerce Department. The sales rate for January and February averaged 922,000 homes, higher than the 903,000 sold last year. ``Sales at these strong levels simply aren't consistent with the economy being in a recession,'' said Kenneth Mayland, president of Clear View Economics LLC in Pepper Pike, Ohio. ``Because of all the consumer purchases that accompany a new residence, the strength of home sales today creates a concrete floor for consumer durable goods purchases in the spring and early summer.'' Cooling Economy The economy cooled in the final three months of last year to a 1.1 percent annual rate, after expanding at an average 6.1 percent pace in the 12 months from July 1999 through June 2000. The abruptness of the slowdown is why Federal Reserve policy makers lowered their benchmark interest rate three times since Jan. 3 to 5 percent from 6.5 percent. Consumer confidence in the U.S. economy -- as measured by the Conference Board -- fell in February to the lowest level in more than 4 1/2 years. Still, the strength in housing suggests consumers are more optimistic than other statistics indicate. ``Which is the better measure of the current consumer psyche?'' Mayland asked. ``Given the huge financial commitment implied by a home purchase, my money is on the home sales figures.'' The minutes of the Fed's January 30-31 meeting showed policy makers expect housing demand to stay strong in the months ahead. ``Contrary to the experience in earlier periods of softening economic activity, the stabilization of housing activity at a pace near its current fairly high level was seen as a reasonable expectation,'' the minutes said. Mortgage Rates Home sales are considered an important gauge of consumer demand because they lead to spending on furniture, appliances and decorations. One reason for continued strength in housing has been falling mortgage rates. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage fell to 6.89 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac, the No. 2 buyer of U.S. mortgages. The last time it was lower was in April 1999, when it was 6.88 percent. So far this year, an index measuring applications for mortgages to buy homes is averaging higher than it was in 1999. The increase in mortgage lending prompted Bank of America Corp. to add workers to its real estate business at the same time it reduces staff elsewhere. Bank of America plans to add 200 employees to mortgage servicing centers in Louisville, Kentucky, and Buffalo, New York. By region, home resales rose 3 percent in the West and 2 percent in the Midwest. They fell 3 percent each in the Northeast and the South. The supply of previously owned homes available for sale, a gauge of housing demand, fell to 3.6 months' worth in February from 3.7 months' worth. That helped push up the median price of a home 1.2 percent to $138,800 last month. New Home Sales The inventory of new homes for sale was unchanged at a 4.1- month supply in February and the number of homes for sale was little changed at 311,000. The median price of $167,000 also held close to January's level. New home sales rose 20 percent in the Northeast at 0.5 percent in the South. They fell 19 percent in the Midwest and 1.5 percent in the West. U.S. builders are becoming more optimistic. The National Association of Home Builders' housing market index increased to 59 this month from 57 in February. A reading higher than 50 signals that a majority of builders are positive about market conditions. The Bloomberg index of U.S. homebuilders, a gauge of shares of 29 home construction companies, has risen 5.3 percent this year and is up almost 60 percent in the past year. That compares with a 10 percent drop for the Dow Jones Industrial Average this year, and a 21 percent decline for the Nasdaq Composite Index. ``The national housing market has remained strong, even though the economy has slowed,'' said Stuart Miller, president and chief executive officer of Lennar Corp., the largest U.S. homebuilder, in a statement announcing the company's first-quarter results last week. ``Traffic has been strong and customers continue to purchase homes.'' M/I Schottenstein Homes Inc., a Columbus, Ohio, builder of single-family homes, announced earlier this month that new contracts for February totaled 456 homes, a monthly record and 23 percent higher than the same month last year. quote.bloomberg.com