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Technology Stocks : Brocade Communications Systems,Inc. (Nasdaq-BRCD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Allen Furlan who wrote (922)	7/8/2001 3:42:01 PM
From: gingersreisse	Respond to of 1583

Sorry to delay in responding, things have been very hectic. I think two separate trends hit BRCD, EMC, NTAP, etc. The first is a slowdown in firms buying data storage devices and the second is a "wait and see" attitude as some buyers await interoperability standards, which would increase choices in a limited choice marketplace. Although some firms can delay storage purchases by purging, or buying offsite storage from Exodus, etc, purchases will resume some day, and each of these companies will benefit. The first outcome of interoperability will be "guarantees" by EMC, NTAP, SUNW, etc that storage and storage management software offered by other parties will run and interact as desired on their systems. The second outcome is some price competition, as the incentive to use "only" EMC supplied hardware and software is reduced. My sense is the standards discussions will drag on much longer than anybody expects, so the status quo will survive much longer. That status quo has allowed EMC, and NTAP to a lesser extent, to lock up customers. Storage purchases can be delayed, and are being delayed. Margins are exposed, and nearly new, but used, gear is on the market. For investors with a 2 year horizon, storage is a good place to be. I've been a writer of covered calls against stock owned, and I'm long BRCD, NTAP, SUNW, and EMC shares. I may close BRCD calls written a few weeks ago and apply the gains to NTAP 20 leaps as a substitute for owning NTAP. Right now the storage mood is pretty bleak, a sharp contrast to a few months ago. That's often good news to an investor. GSR