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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RR who wrote (38597)	7/5/2001 4:20:16 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 65232

Optibase Ltd. (OBAS) 5.52 -0.01: Company warns for Q2; sees loss of $0.20-0.25 vs. current consensus EPS estimate of ($0.17); cites continued broad weakness in the technology markets. Argonaut (AGNT) 5.83 +0.13: Company warns for Q2; sees revs of $3-3.2 mln vs. consensus est of $5 mln; cites a challenging business environment characterized by delayed or postponed purchasing decisions and reduced capital expenditure budgets as a result of uncertain economic conditions. Advanced Micro (AMD) 28.64 -1.12: Trading halted; news pending. TEKELEC (TKLC) 25.45 -0.81: Company warns for Q2; sees earnings of $0.02-0.03 vs. current EPS estimate of $0.17; "Near the quarter's end, we witnessed an abrupt belt tightening by customers, resulting in an unanticipated reduction in order activity from our customer base -- both carriers and equipment manufacturers -- that we had been able to largely avoid until now." . Starbucks (SBUX) 21.92 -0.07: Reports a 3% increase in June same-store sales; total revenues for the period increased 19% to $259 mln. BMC Software (BMC) 22.78 -0.83: Company warns for Q1, sees revs in the range of $338-$345 mln vs. consensus ests of $361 mln; diluted earnings per share are preliminarily estimated to be in the range of $.06-$.08 vs. consensus ests for $0.13 EPS; says the current economic environment is challenging and as a result its closure rates at the end of the quarter were lower than we expected. Ö¿Ö

To: RR who wrote (38597)	7/5/2001 4:28:12 PM
From: Dealer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 65232

Hi RR! Here is another they can scratch their heads over. :-(. Birth of new daily down channel geocities.com Yes cash feels reeeeeeeal good right now. Have a reeeeeeeeal good one, me friend. dealie

To: RR who wrote (38597)	7/5/2001 4:41:06 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

S&P Warns of Bleak Outlook for Retailers By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - The slowing U.S. economy and weakened consumer confidence is battering U.S. retailers, which faces a ''bleak'' second half this year, a leading credit rating agency said on Thursday. Standard & Poor's said there was a good chance many retailer credit ratings will decline, despite reports last week from the Conference Board (news - web sites) and the University of Michigan showing two straight months of rising U.S. consumer sentiment. Falling ratings would make it costlier for some retailers to raise cash and more difficult for others to stay afloat. ``Some of these companies have little financial flexibility, and the debt markets are expected to remain timid in the face of the uncertain U.S. economy,'' Gerald Hirschberg, an S&P director in corporate ratings, said in a new report. ``Moreover,'' he added, ``companies have been adjusting their earnings guidance (downward) for the year. If consumer confidence continues to wane and the economy continues to slow, more companies may be affected.'' Many already have been. S&P said it downgraded 25 U.S. retailers in the first half of the year, and downgraded eight companies more than once. Nine slid to ``D,'' or default, because they missed interest payments or sought bankruptcy protection, S&P said. ``The economy is believed to be the number-one culprit ... but the loss of consumer wealth due to declines in the stock market and fashion problems were important contributing factors,'' said Hirschberg. Among those suffering downgrades were discount retailer Ames Department Stores Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMES - news), dot-com retailer eToys Inc. (ETYSQ.PK), restaurant chain Friendly Ice Cream Corp. (AMEX:FRN - news), upscale department store chain Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN - news) and pet retailer PetsMart Inc. (NasdaqNM:PETM - news). On Thursday, Federated Department Stores Inc. (NYSE:FD - news), parent of the Macy's and Bloomingdale's chains, became the latest to cut its profit forecast, though S&P said its ratings won't change as a result. Investors, though, feared more widespread weakness. Hirschberg said many downgrades resulted from overoptimism among companies and bond investors. Too many companies missed their performance projections, and then found capital markets seizing up when it came time to refinance debt, he said. Restaurant chains are the worst off, contributing eight of the 25 downgrades, including four to ``D.'' Meanwhile, discounters such as Ames and Shopko Stores Inc. (NYSE:SKO - news) had trouble competing with big rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT - news), Hirschberg said. S&P said 35 percent of retailers have ``negative'' outlooks, meaning current conditions make future downgrades possible. There are signs that conditions could improve. The Conference Board said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 117.9 in June from a revised 116.1 in May, while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment rose to 92.6 in June from 92.0 in May and a nearly five-year low of 90.6 in February. S&P said more is needed for retail. ``We have had some recent positive news, but we need sustained improvement,'' said Diane Vazza, S&P's head of global fixed-income research. ``Restaurants in particular will likely remain under the most pressure for the longest period.'' dailynews.yahoo.com Ö¿Ö

To: RR who wrote (38597)	7/5/2001 8:57:40 PM
From: RR	Respond to of 65232

Hello Troops! Just walked in the door. Headed for hammock time. Going to ponder some thoughts..... 1.) AMD warning.... so what's new? Remember, nobody should be surprised by warnings given what we all know. Granted the severity of the warning is something to raise an eyebrow about. Ah, naw, seen this before in years past.... INTC is just whipping their butt. Keep it in perspective. 2.) Summer is here.... bad time ya know. Don't expect much. 3.) Naz technicals point lower. No surprise. 4.) I still think the ole Naz has shown some resilience in recent weeks, but, what will prop it up now? Nasty warnings around the corner. Get out the crying towel. All these companies will be spilling their guts with bad news. Remember the Asian flu got blamed for anything companies wanted to get out of their closets. 5.) Now is a good time to have your plan and stick with it. Discipline. Stay cool. Patience. 6.) Reality check. Don't expect too much every week. Ya don't have to be in the market every day. I'm late for hammock time! Got to run. Going to ponder some more asset reallocation issues and further adjustments to my life plan. By the way, when you hear of "asset reallocation," or some similar phrase, have ya ever considered your brain as such an asset and what you have it focus on as being part of that definition? Interesting concept, the notion that asset allocation, usually used in financial terms, can be used otherwise towards your "plan." Later... RR