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To: Jill who wrote (38047)	6/21/2001 6:04:29 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

B2B @ .46 North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts May 2001 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.46 SAN JOSE, Calif., June 21, 2001 -- The North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $704 million in orders in May 2001 and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.46, according to the May 2001 Express Report published today by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI). A book-to-bill of 0.46 means that $46 worth of new orders were received for every $100 of product shipped for the month. The three-month average of worldwide bookings in May 2001 was $704 million. The bookings figure is three percent below the revised April 2001 level of $723 million and 75 percent below the $2.78 billion in orders posted in May 2000. The three-month average of worldwide shipments in May 2001 was $1.52 billion. The shipments figure is nine percent below the revised April 2001 level of $1.66 billion and is 30 percent below the May 2000 shipments level of $2.16 billion. "While the book-to-bill ratio is slightly elevated from the prior month, both shipments and orders continued to decline," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "It is likely that the prospects for sustained year-over-year improvements in monthly shipments are three to four quarters away. On a worldwide basis, we currently anticipate a 30 to 32 percent annual decline in the semiconductor equipment market in 2001. While this severe drop presents a painful environment for SEMI member companies, this would still result in the second best revenue year in the history of our industry." The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average shipments for the North American semiconductor equipment industry. Shipments and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars. semi.org. Ö¿Ö

To: Jill who wrote (38047)	6/21/2001 11:12:09 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

The Houses continue to experience pain... ________________________________________________________ Morgan Stanley Earnings Fall 36 Percent Thursday June 21 5:11 PM ET By Brian Kelleher NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MWD - news), a top U.S. investment bank, on Thursday said its second-quarter earnings dropped 36 percent as a weak stock market hurt stock trading revenues, brokerage commissions and fees from companies selling stock. The company said it did not see improvement until the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley, the No. 2 U.S. full-service brokerage and owner of Discover credit card, posted its third straight quarterly earnings decline after rivals Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS - news) and Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. (NYSE:BSC - news) also reported lower operating results this week, while Lehman Bros Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LEH - news) posted improved profits. Weak stock markets hit Morgan Stanley's results on three fronts -- trading revenues fell, its brokerage customers traded less. and fewer companies chose to sell shares, an activity that carries fat banking fees. Morgan Stanley reported net income of $930 million, or 82 cents a share, for the three months ended May 31. That compared with a profit of $1.46 billion, or $1.26 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenues fell 15 percent to $6 billion. The results were at the high end of lowered Wall Street estimates and Morgan Stanley's shares closed up $5.60 to $64.95 on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites). Analysts had expected the company to earn between 61 cents and 89 cents a share, with a mean of 79 cents a share, according to market research firm Thomson Financial/First Call. ``Results (were) fine given an awful backdrop, with fixed income providing nice offset to lower equity and'' mergers and acquisitions revenues, analyst Guy Moszkowski said in a research note. But the third-quarter consensus earnings estimate of 94 cents a share is too high, he said. Morgan Stanley executives acknowledged the difficult stock market conditions and forecast improved results, but not until the fourth quarter. ``The third quarter is going to be weaker, the fourth quarter is going to be stronger,'' Chief Financial Officer Steve Crawford said in a conference call, noting the third quarter straddles Wall Street's slow summer months. INVESTMENT BANKING TAKES A HIT The value of initial public offerings dropped 59 percent to $12 billion in the period, according to Thomson Financial Securities Data. The total value of mergers and acquisitions declined 40 percent to $274.6 billion. Like its peers, Morgan Stanley saw marked declines in investment banking. Revenue from helping companies sell stocks and bonds fell 29 percent to $495 million, and revenue from advising on mergers and acquisitions fell 55 percent to $291 million. ``The first half (of the year) should be a good proxy for the second half'' when considering how equity underwritings will fare in the last two quarters, Crawford said on an investor conference call in the late morning. Trading revenues were also down, as the Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC - news) fell nearly 2 percent in the quarter and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI - news) eked out a 5-percent gain. Institutional sales and trading net revenues fell 9 percent to $2.5 billion, despite record fixed-income results. Fixed income operations at all four Wall Street firms helped to limit the damage from weak investment banking and stock trading results. The Federal Reserve (news - web sites) cut interest rates three times in the quarter to jump-start the sluggish U.S. economy. Companies took advantage of lower rates to take out cheaper loans and investors flocked to bonds as a safe haven from plummeting share prices. ``While we expect fixed income to remain active given the interest rate environment, the outlook for M&A and equity underwriting remains very uncertain,'' Eberling said. Morgan Stanley's investments lost $107 million, compared with a loss of $242 million in last year's second quarter. The loss mostly reflects a decline in the portfolio's value and is not realized until the company sells the holdings. Net revenues from its brokerage unit fell 24 percent to $1.1 billion as customers traded less and borrowed less money amid the sluggish conditions. Commission revenues dropped 14 percent to $828 million. Net income from the Discover credit card unit fell 19 percent to $171 million because of more bad-loan write-offs, reflecting a weaker U.S. economy. LAYOFFS NOT LOOMING Morgan Stanley, which employs over 62,500 people, earlier this year said it would shed 1,500 jobs in April, mostly from its U.S. investment management and securities units. The company said it will manage staff numbers by attrition and performance reviews. ``Based on the outlook we have right now, we do not have plans to do anything else outside of those normal tools we have for managing headcount,'' Crawford said. Morgan Stanley has increased its broker count to 14,256, an increase of 148 for the quarter. ``My guess is by year-end we're in the same general area (of broker numbers) that we are today,'' Crawford said. ``That really reflects the fact that there are, unfortunately, a number of brokers who just can't make the economics work and are opting out of the business.'' Morgan Stanley's shares are down 24 percent since the beginning of the year, underperforming the Amex Broker-Dealer Index (^XBD - news), which is down 13 percent this year. Morgan Stanley's shares have underperformed those of Goldman, Lehman, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MER - news)

To: Jill who wrote (38047)	6/21/2001 11:34:31 PM
From: Ponderosa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Thanks Jill... yes it seems that both parties are politically expedient animals on this one... they purport to be serious about global warming but nothing much seems to be happening... except that lots of hot air gets generated... By the way... I recall that 20 years ago everyone was convinced that we had global cooling going on... now everyone is convinced that we're going to cook. Personally, I don't buy the global warming thing... the planet has been warming up, all by itself, (with no help from us all), since the ice age... I do think that trying to mitigate atmospheric pollution is doing the right thing but, "global warming" is the wrong reason IMHO... Cheers...