Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Trade/Invest with Options Jerry a Point & Figure Chartist -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jerry Olson who wrote (2328)	5/22/2001 2:59:28 PM
From: 2MAR$	Respond to of 5893

Here's the KLIC report: Kulicke & Soffa -2: Cites Excess Capacity, Lower Demand WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. (KLIC) said it sees its net sales for the third quarter ending June 30 below the $150.5 million in net sales recorded in the previous quarter, according to the company's quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, reiterating comments made last month, said in its May 15 filing that a slowing economy and worldwide decline in demand for semiconductors resulted in excess capacity and a "severe contraction in demand" for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Kulicke & Soffa claims that these factors led to lower net sales in the first and second quarters of 2001 compared with the same periods in the prior year. The company reported sales of $150.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared with sales of $222.2 million for last year's fiscal second quarter. In an April 20 press release that included the second-quarter results, CEO C. Scott Kulicke said that "our best estimate for third fiscal quarter revenue is a range of $115-$130 million." Elsewhere in the May filing, Kulicke & Soffa said it entered into a receivables securitization program in April. Under the program, all domestic accounts receivable were transferred to KSI Funding Corp., a bankruptcy remote special purpose corporation and wholly owned subsidiary, according to the quarterly report. KSI Funding can sell up to a $40 million interest in Kulicke & Soffa's domestic receivables. As of the date of the filing, KSI Funding hadn't sold any interest in Kulicke & Soffa accounts receivable. Kulicke & Soffa produces semiconductor assembly equipment for semiconductor manufacturers. -Todd Goren, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-628-9782 (END) DOW JONES NEWS 05-22-01 02:58 PM * end of story *

To: Jerry Olson who wrote (2328)	5/22/2001 3:00:31 PM
From: Frederick Langford	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5893

OJ, TPCS unlocks over 46 million shares 5/23 I found this in a news release. Triton PCS Announces Formation of Executive Diversification Programs /FROM PR NEWSWIRE NEW YORK 800-776-8090/ TO BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS: Triton PCS Announces Formation of Executive Diversification Programs BERWYN, Pa., May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Certain executives of Triton PCS Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: TPCS), today announced their intent to form a diversification program by selling a limited portion of their Triton PCS stock holdings. The program adopted under the new SEC rule 10b5-1 is designed to avoid any real or perceived conflicts of interest that might arise from their involvement with the company, while enabling executive management to diversify their respective investment portfolios. It is anticipated that the activity under the programs will involve less than 1.5% of the Triton PCS common shares outstanding. Participating company executives are Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael E. Kalogris, President and Chief Operating Officer Steven R. Skinner and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer David D. Clark. To facilitate the program, an independent third party will operate under specified guidelines to sell a portion of the executive holdings in each of the next four quarters. Provisions in the program prevent the flow of information to the independent party from the selling shareholders prior to and throughout the period of the sales. Additionally, the date of the sales will be independently determined by the third party, which will not have access to any inside information or direction from the Triton PCS executives. "These sales represent a straightforward diversification step and are anticipated to be the sole source of liquidity of executive management's current holdings in the company", said Michael Kalogris, Triton PCS's chairman and chief executive officer. "The value of our retained Triton PCS shares will continue to represent substantially all of our personal net worth, reflecting our continued confidence in the success of and prospects for our company." Triton PCS, based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, is a leading provider of digital wireless phone service in the Southeast licensed to operate in a contiguous area covering more than 13 million people in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, northern Georgia, northeastern Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky. The company markets its services under the brand SunCom, a member of the AT&T Wireless Network. For more information on Triton PCS and its products and services, visit the company's websites at: tritonpcs.com, and suncom.com. "Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this news release that may be considered forward-looking statements could be subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected. These include uncertainties in the market, competition, legal and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's SEC reports. The company assumes no obligation to update information in this release. tbutton.prnewswire.com SOURCE Triton PCS Organized selling? What will they think of next? Fred

To: Jerry Olson who wrote (2328)	5/22/2001 5:20:03 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5893

Fed to slow pace of rate cuts--Wayne Angell (bwaha) NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve, which has slashed interest rates deeply this year to stimulate U.S. economic growth and ward off a recession, will probably shift to less aggressive rate cuts in the months ahead, Bear Stearns' chief economist Wayne Angell said. ADVERTISEMENT Angell, a former Fed governor, added that should the Fed extend its aggressive rate-cutting campaign -- which has shaved 2.5 percentage points off short-term interest rates in less than five months in half-point increments -- the central bank risked stoking future inflationary pressures. ``We no longer think it appropriate that the Fed continue along the path of aggressive rate reductions,'' Angell wrote in a research note to clients released late last Friday and obtained by Reuters on Tuesday. ``If the Fed focuses on growth rather than future price stability, it would likely prove to be counterproductive for the markets because it would raise expectations of inflation,'' Angell wrote. Citing a rise in indicators the firm uses to measure monetary conditions, including core commodity prices, gold prices and the implied inflation rate from U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, Angell said that after last Tuesday's half-point rate cut, ``monetary policy might now be erring slightly on the side of ease.'' Angell drew fire from market participants and former Fed colleagues earlier this year for going on CNBC television with forecasts of a half-point rate cut between the Fed's January and March meetings that did not materialize. His comments jolted flagging stock markets, which were scrambling for positive news to grasp amid heavy selling pressure and a barrage of dismal economic reports and bleak earnings reports from U.S. companies. ``We might now be entering a phase where the Fed will move more slowly in lowering rates (and further intermeeting rate cuts appear to be out of the question) and we now look for a rate cut of only 25 basis points on June 27 and another quarter-point cut in August,'' Angell said. In a Reuters survey conducted last Tuesday, after the Fed's latest rate cut, Bear Stearns forecast a 50 basis point rate cut at the Fed's June 26-27 policy-setting meeting and another afterward, which would have brought the Fed's benchmark federal funds target interest rate to 3.0 percent by year end. The federal funds target rate is currently 4.0 percent, a seven-year low.

To: Jerry Olson who wrote (2328)	5/22/2001 7:35:56 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5893

SEMI Releases First Quarter Worldwide Equipment Market Figures and Revised 2001 Global Market Projections for Equipment Industry /CAUTION -- ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 12:00 p.m. EDT, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23/ /ADVANCE/ SAN JOSE, Calif., May 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), the global industry association of companies that supply manufacturing technology and materials to the world's chip makers, reported worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment shipments of US$11.2 billion in the first quarter of 2001. The figure is 10.9 percent above the same quarter a year ago and 12.7 percent below the shipment figure for the forth quarter of 2000. SEMI also reported worldwide equipment orders of US$ 6.50 billion in the first quarter of 2001. The figure is 50 percent below the same quarter a year ago and 53 percent below the orders figure for the forth quarter of 2000. "There was a rapid drop in the market for new semiconductor equipment in the first quarter as worldwide orders declined 53 percent from the fourth quarter of 2001," said Elizabeth Schumann, SEMI director of industry research and statistics. "While the rapidity of this downturn has been severe, we do expect a recovery in orders late in the second half to contribute to a more stable 2002 with flat or single digit growth across the industry." SEMI also revised its 2001 worldwide projection for the semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry, estimating a 27 percent decline in worldwide equipment shipments from $47.7 billion in 2000 to $35 billion in 2001. Three percent growth is expected for the year 2002, followed by 22 percent growth in 2003. "The growth experienced in 2000 is difficult to sustain, and in fact is not desirable over the long-term," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "Historically, the semiconductor equipment industry has grown at a compound annual rate of 17 percent. Given 87 percent growth in one year, we can expect that the next year or so will bring a realignment with historic averages while the chip industry makes adjustments to bring capacity and inventory in line with demand." SEMI's worldwide equipment sales projections for 2001 reflect adjustments to data released last December as part of SEMI's biannual Consensus Forecast for the manufacturing equipment market. Today's revised equipment sales estimate is based on an analysis of first quarter order growth as a predictor of annual sales growth. In a briefing today in Burlington, Mass., SEMI analysts pointed out that the leading market research firms also have predicated spending reductions be semiconductor makers in the double-digit range for 2001. The quarterly shipment data by region in billion of U.S. dollars; and year-over-year and month-over-month growth rates by region are as follows: Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q1 2001 Q1 2001 Q1 2001 % Growth % Growth (Y-O-Y) (M-O-M) Europe 1.39 1.87 1.58 13.6% -15.7% Japan 2.18 2.56 3.37 54.8% 31.7% North America 2.36 3.90 2.97 26.1% -23.7% Korea 0.82 0.91 1.03 25.3% 13.4% Taiwan 2.30 2.04 1.13 -50.8% -44.5% ROW 1.10 1.60 1.17 6.7% -27.1% Total 10.14 12.88 11.25 10.9% -12.7% "While annual revenues for integrated circuits (ICs) fluctuate based on average selling prices, the unit volume production has historically increased yearly," said Schumann. "1985 was the last year in which there was an annual decline in unit volume. Based on current quarterly trends, it appears that 2001 will be another negative growth year for IC units, which is contributing to the equipment market decline and will likely impact semiconductor materials market as well." SEMI is projecting that the worldwide semiconductor materials shipments, which typically track volume production, will decrease 6 percent in 2001. For information on SEMI's Industry Research and Statistics program and subscription services, call SEMI at 408-943-6973 or email mktstat@semi.org. Based in San Jose, Calif., SEMI is an international trade association serving more than 2,400 companies participating in the semiconductor and flat panel display equipment and materials markets. SEMI maintains offices in Austin, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Hsinchu, Moscow, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit SEMI on the Internet at www.semi.org. SOURCE Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International -0- 05/22/2001/1200 /CONTACT: Jonathan Davis, 408-943-6937, or jdavis@semi.org, or Michael Droeger, 408-943-6953, or mdroeger@semi.org, both of Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International/ /Web site: semi.org CO: Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International ST: California IN: CPR SU: * end of story *