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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Return to Sender who wrote (1799)	1/29/2002 11:19:45 PM
From: Donald Wennerstrom	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95617

The following is a news brief that includes AMAT. It is listed below for reference. CHICAGO, Jan 29, 2002 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Zacks.com just re-launched their popular model stock portfolio, the Brokerage Firm Buy List. This portfolio includes just those stocks that currently appear on the core recommended lists of at least three of the top 15 brokerage firms. These stocks are considered the best large cap stocks to own for the long term according the Wall Streets top players. Today we release 4 more stocks on this coveted list: American International Group (NYSE: AIG), Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT), Federal National Mortgage Association "Fannie Mae" (NYSE: FNM), and Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW). (Photo: newscom.com ) View the entire list of stocks on the Brokerage Firm Buy List at buylist1.zacks.com Here is a synopsis of why these stocks are on the Brokerage Firm Buy List: American International Group (NYSE: AIG): This large insurance concern finds itself on the recommended list of 5 top brokerage firms. Goldman Sachs is the most recent to join the crowd in its admiration of AIG's steady earnings and is obviously looking forward to more gains in the years ahead. Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT): This is one of the bell weather names in the semiconductor field. Stock bounced nicely from September lows and firms like Morgan Stanley are expecting more as technology spending rebounds in 2002 and 2003. Federal National Mortgage Association "Fannie Mae" (NYSE: FNM): Low mortgage rates = High profits. And Fannie Mae has shared the wealth with shareholders. Raymond James is one of four firms who think this positive trend will continue and thus still pound the table about these shares. Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW): Many people have shied away from the Sun story as the tech bubble burst. Yet there are still a number of experts who feel that their core products will enjoy success in the next wave of IT spending growth. So even as recently as this September, Edward Jones added Sun to their list of core recommendations. Following is another reference article that talks about AMAT. New York City, New York, Jan 29, 2002 (The Wall Street Transcript via COMTEX) -- Five money managers examine portfolio management strategies in the latest issue of The Wall Street Transcript, available at (212/952-7433) or twst.com TWST: What is your approach with regard to the technology sector at this time and the outlook for technology stocks going forward? Mr. Williams: The outlook for technology and the outlook for technology stocks can be two different things, which is a lesson we've learned painfully over the last year. We continue to believe that our economy will be fueled by technological innovation, and we see demand building for the latest technological improvements, which are not yet in the hands of the public. At the same time, we're very mindful of the fact that the large companies that have served us so well - the Microsofts and the Intels of the world - are facing an equally challenging phenomenon, and that is the law of large numbers. It's going to be very difficult for those companies to continue to exhibit earnings growth in the high teens to 20% range. Therefore, it's increasingly difficult to justify the kind of multiples the market has afforded the technology stocks. So there is some risk that these stocks are fully priced. TWST: What are some of the segments within that sector that are exhibiting growth opportunity at this time? Mr. Williams: We start at the bottom and try to capture as much of the sector dynamics as we can by owning the basic players. A good example would be the chip manufacturing equipment manufacturers, which includes a company such as Applied Materials (Nasdaq:AMAT). Acknowledging the fact that the stock is still trading at a very lofty multiple, we see the improvements in technology driven by Intel that are starting a cycle where most of the chip manufacturers are going to have to retool and buy a whole new generation of Applied Materials equipment.We have observed three basic forces that are driving the semiconductor industry at this time. We think that the width of chips continues to be one of the leading focuses of the industry. Chip width has narrowed from an industry standard of one micron 10 years ago to 0.18 microns in width today. Now Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) is developing the technology to manufacture 0.13 micron chips, which will be about 500 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair. Besides width, the size of the wafers, upon which the chips are stamped, is expanding. The 300 millimeter platter is becoming state of the art. Another innovative force that we have observed is the use of familiar materials such as copper and tungsten in new applications, and chip designs to improve efficiency, reduce heat and increase speed.As these forces move forward, new machines are needed to manufacture the chips, and Applied Materials stands to benefit. Just half a level up from Applied Materials in the manufacturing chain is Intel, which is actually designing and making the chips. Even though we're not sure what form the ultimate consumer product will take - whether it will be a personal computer or a phone that has computer processing capabilities or features in it - we're fairly confident that there will be an advanced Intel chip in that device, whatever it is.