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To: Dealer who wrote (43500)	10/23/2001 10:31:44 PM
From: pbull	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 65232

Couldn't agree more, Dealie. By the way, how've you been? I've been away for a while, new job, lots of new stuff to learn and people to meet. Really enjoying it, though. I haven't been able to watch the market much, so it's nice to see the usual synopsis provided so graciously by yourself. Take care. PB

To: Dealer who wrote (43500)	10/24/2001 12:37:36 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

George Gilder of Discovery Institute Tells Washington Leaders: 'Broadband Is Crucial to the Struggle Ahead' (Business Wire 10/23 13:46:22) Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2001--"A strong economy is a must if the government is to afford to wage war on terrorism, strengthen our homeland defenses and mount major public health initiatives," George Gilder told senior White House staff, Congressional leaders and journalists on Tuesday. "Broadband is crucial, short-term and long-term, to reviving this economy--and imperative if we are to finance the struggle ahead. "This economic revival will happen only if policy makers quickly end perverse applications of the law that have impeded broadband for half a decade," said the Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and chronicler of the high-tech era. "We need policies that create--not punish--investment in fiber, cable, digital subscriber line, fixed-wireless, satellite, and that build the last-mile between American households and the Internet," Gilder said. "Our overloaded communications systems on September 11th dramatized the constraints of trying to operate a knowledge-based economy on a 56k modem," he said. "Broadband--or high-speed Internet access--is the only way to bring e-commerce up to the speed of the 21st Century." However, the long-awaited broadband revolution has been "imprisoned in a lockbox" by the last eight years of FCC rulings, he said. "By forcing successful broadband companies to share their facilities with rivals at below cost, regulators have privatized the risk and socialized the rewards of broadband," Gilder said. "Advancing the peak-point of a broadband build-out by just four years would add $500 billion to the economy," he said. "Now recession is here, sales of personal computers are down by 21 percent, and a telecom implosion has wiped out $1.7 trillion in stock capitalization. We can no longer afford to allow legacy networks and ham-fisted regulation to keep this driver of growth running on idle." In a paper released today, entitled "Broadband or Bust!," Gilder and his Discovery Institute colleague and senior fellow, John Wohlstetter, spell out specific changes in law and deregulatory steps to accelerate broadband and re-ignite the high tech sector. "If potential profits for broadband investment continue to be socialized, the rollout of broadband will be slow," he said. "If Washington leaders stand by the status quo, they will soon find themselves taking credit for the recession."

To: Dealer who wrote (43500)	10/24/2001 2:20:48 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 65232

No need for sunscreen. :-o

To: Dealer who wrote (43500)	10/24/2001 2:53:34 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Opinion: It Never Rains in eBay Land By Keith Regan, www.EcommerceTimes.com Tuesday October 23 06:46 PM EDT eBay CEO Meg Whitman is smiling. And why not? The Internet powerhouse that she leads just reported strong third-quarter earnings. But something tells me that she'd be smiling even if eBay had stumbled badly. The eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY - news) franchise, it turns out, isn't based just on its community or its great tech platform or cool multicolored logo. It's optimism -- pure, sugary belief that what it's doing is worthwhile and, above all, destined for success. A one-day, six-dollar stock price drop, like the one eBay suffered the day after its earnings announcement came out, would send most companies scrambling for the umbrella. Others would build arks. At eBay, it's just a passing cloud. From the Top Much of the positive attitude comes directly from Whitman herself. On television, a few hours after her company's earning announcement, Whitman expressed confidence that eBay would attain the US$100 million in 100 days goal it had set for itself with its September 11th-inspired Auction for America. Actually, "confidence" isn't an adequate word. Whitman sounded perfectly sure of it -- as if there could be no doubt. There is doubt, of course: eBay says it has raised about $5 million to date. The auction ends, in what Whitman called a coincidence, on Christmas Day. But she was unwavering. It will happen, she said, because bigger-ticket items are coming to the auction. And it will happen because thousands of eBay members are listing low-price items, like children's drawings. Gotta Have Faith And right there, it became crystal clear that Whitman really did believe eBay will reach its goal. No one, no matter how great an actress, no matter how accomplished a liar, could fake belief in the power of the eBay community that convincingly. She believes it. That strong a faith will trickle down through an organization. When eBay's spokespersons talk about the power of community, the value of the eBay platform, you get the sense they truly believe it too. And why not? Profits continue to roll in, and eBay employees are among the few in the dot-com world who own stock options that are actually worth something. They have seen their company grow from a cute little Internet sideshow into what is arguably the premier online retail platform. Their model is being imitated left and right -- by little startups and giants like Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO - news). Economists are tripping over each other in a rush to proclaim that an economic downturn will help eBay, as people search for bargains or seek to unload the stuff they acquired on the way up. Riders on the Storm But even all that good news doesn't explain the utter lack of pessimism. The complete absence of visible doubt. Maybe there's a rule at eBay stating that all negative comments be made in the privacy of a boardroom. The public face is perfectly upbeat and perfectly unified. And it matters. It's infectious. If eBay believes strongly enough in eBay's future, those around the company will as well. Compare the eBay attitude with the qualification and equivocation that come out of other e-tailers whenever they discuss their future earnings or their profit prospects. It's no wonder that every day the gap between eBay and everybody else gets wider and wider. When Meg Whitman is done shepherding eBay toward the promised land, she should hit the lecture circuit and tell us all more about the power of positive thinking.