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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (60881)	2/22/2002 1:14:34 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Are Investors Too Worried About Cable? February 22, 2002 nytimes.com There are times when investors grow so worried about what might go wrong that they overestimate the chance that disaster will happen. Eleven years ago, during the last recession, investor fears crystalized around banks. After a wave of bank failures, it was clear that many banks had abused accounting rules to make themselves look healthier than they were. Many banks traded as if failure was a real possibility. Some did fail, but most did not. It was a great time to buy a portfolio of bank stocks. Now the fears seem to be biggest around the broad area of communications, both telephone and cable television. As with the banks, there are good reasons to be fearful. Before the bubble burst, these industries wasted billions of dollars. Huge quantities of fiber optic cable, far beyond what was needed, were produced and installed. Companies were started by promoters who became rich from selling stock long before the companies foundered. Some companies are now bankrupt, and more will be. Shareholders of some companies will be wiped out.