To: straight life who wrote (48197 ) 10/22/2001 7:40:20 PM From: chaz Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 54805 sl--But I have let my Value Line subscription lapse. So, you're cutting corners too, huh! Well, I never bought into the VL act, so I have to look elsewhere...like all those cable channels I've got coming in and rarely watch. Actually, Bruce, Eric, Shannon, Mike, Pirah, Mosher and the rest of the pensive group are almost free...and IMO, a better source anyway. It must be clear to everyone by now that tech doesn't operate in it's own little orbit, unaffected by gravitational forces elsewhere. I never thought it did, but I also never thought it would have this much life sucked out of it either, so I sold many things much too late. That was my mistake. Earnings became a lagging indicator, quite the opposite of what we had come to believe...have always believed, actually. Top line is more meaningful today, I think, but until margins settle, even that won't mean much. Margins ought to be looked at company by company...that's what closed offices, reduced work forces, dropped product lines and so forth are all about. Leaner and meaner, combined with rising revenue (yes, there will be that kind of day), will right many ships. So I'm going to stay here, investing in tech, savoring the pain. And one day, I am going to get my chance to gloat again. Couple days ago I said there was fear the values were too high, countered with fear that we'd miss the early boosts. I've thought about my own reaction to that, and have decided that the latter fear is overblown. Problem is: I don't know when it's going to just go away. Meanwhile, I'm doing what you're doing...cutting corners. Chaz PS...if I cut enough of them, I'll wind up going in circles.