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

To: Crossy who wrote (2187)	3/4/2002 4:48:19 PM
From: JSLyons	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95936

Hello Crossy, Just FYI -- GGNS looks pretty exciting these days, with their push into ALD. The CC was upbeat and it appears they are well-positioned. Now, if they execute and the upturn actually materializes, I believe they have a good future. Also like TRKN, which recently upgraded by someone or other. Just my 2 cents. Rgds, Jonathan

To: Crossy who wrote (2187)	3/4/2002 5:11:49 PM
From: Return to Sender	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95936

Crossy, King of the International Semiconductor Scene! Anyone think this rally is for real? Are you kidding me AMAT back above 50! The SOX closed above 600! Lots of short covering today... I still think it's too much to expect this will hold beyond the next few days. On buy and hold... Oh I am still holding CREE and TQNT because I refuse to take a loss when I believe ultimately they too will trade much higher. More from Briefing.com Close Dow +217.96 at 10586.82, S&P +22.06 at 1153.84, Nasdaq +56.58 at 1859.32: Solid follow through rally develops as the market averages were able to build on the bullish momentum generated at the end of last week. Making the strong gains even more impressive is the fact that there were numerous negative developments noted before the open. Goldman Sachs put out cautious comments on the wireless sector along with tech spending, cut estimates on EMC (+5.5%) and downgraded AT&T Wireless AWE (-3.3%). Software was also a focus for the bears in the wake of the Oracle (ORCL -14%) warning after the close Friday; BEA Systems (BEAS +1.2%) downgraded by CE Unterberg; Computer Assoc. (CA +0.3%) recent debt downgrade; and the carryover impact on the rest of the sector. Lehman also suggested that Intel (INTC +2.8%) will tighten its rev range with a bigger issue the backlog cancellations in Q2. The bearish news wasn't limited to tech as UBS Warburg downgraded Home Depot (HD -0.8%) and Lowes (LOW -1.5%) while Lehman cut estimates on 3M (MMM +2.2%). Fortunately, all of these developments proved to be relatively minor and temporary factors with the averages pushing steadily higher throughout the day. Although short covering and money managers fear of missing out of the latest push higher has likely played a role in the advance, the broad based nature of the move and the fact that cyclicals (and today financials) have continued to play an important leadership role reflects a stronger belief in the sustainable economic recovery scenario. The Nasdaq easily topped the Dow on a percentage basis today but the blue chip index pushed to its highest level since early August while the tech dominated Nasdaq is still shy of taking out the highs from the middle of last month. Individual names of interest on the upside included: EBAY (+8.3%), YHOO (+7.2%), GM (+6.7%)-- upgrades; MANU (+20.7%) raised guidance; TOL (+2.3%) and DHI (+2.9%) announced stock splits. Volume was strong with market internals firmly bullish.DOT +9.5%, Nasdaq 100 +4.1%, Russell 2000 +2%, SOX +5.9%, XOI +1.1%, NYSE Adv/Dec 2247/927, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 2324/1273 3:41PM Amkor Tech (AMKR) 18.75 +2.10: -- Before Open -- AMKR hosted a well-received analyst meeting last Friday; co. indicated Q2 revenues could improve by double-digit rates over Q1. CSFB believes that upside potential over next 6 months is mid-high 20's; firm would rather play units than capacity, and with pricing and balance sheet issues becoming more benign, AMKR's current price provides an attractive entry. Soundview continues to believe that customer orders have continued to exceed forecasts and maintains their Strong Buy rating. SG Cowen believes that AMKR will gain a disproportionate amount of mkt share vs. competition (while SAT mkt grows in line w/semi industry) and maintains their Buy rating. 1:59PM Oracle Corp upgraded by CSFB (ORCL) 13.51 -2.48: -- Update -- Hearing from trading floor sources that CSFB has upgraded ORCL to BUY from Hold. 12:24AM KLA-Tencor Intraday (KLAC) 66.80 +2.58: -- Update -- -- Technical -- Stock has broken to a new 52-week high on strong relative volume. On an intraday basis, it appears to be back on the upswing after consolidating under 67.00. Look for initial resistance at 67.00 followed by subsequent overhead at 67.25 which marks its intraday and 52-week high. We would become cautious on an intraday basis if the shares were to break below intraday support at 66.35. 12:28PM Amkor Tech (AMKR) 18.46 +1.81: -- Before Open -- SoundView Technology reiterates Strong Buy rating and price target of $30 as Friday's Analyst Day revealed Q2 revenues could improve by double-digit rates over Q1. Firm is encouraged by improving fundamentals and the company becoming more clear about its strategy. Firm believes that customer orders have continued to exceed forecasts, suggesting greater confidence in rolling six-month forecasts. 11:50AM Jabil Circuit (JBL) 21.41 +1.97: -- Before Open -- Thomas Weisel reiterates Strong Buy as firm expects in-line Feb quarter, new wins, share gains, normalizing inventory. Firm believes there is increasing evidence of a likely broad-based cyclical upturn in production driven by reduced finished goods inventory levels at OEMs and in distribution channels. Firm thinks this week's release of PCB book-to-bill indicates that, despite continuing extreme telecom weakness, and a general softness in other sectors, production levels are likely to increase for high technology products. finance.yahoo.com Don and Crossy thanks for the kind words regarding my profits. My personal hope is that we see a little profit taking by next week so I can buy back into some quality long-term positions like Kirk's favorite A and Scott favorite KLIC. Of course AMAT and IDTI have been awful good to me this year. Time will tell! RtS

To: Crossy who wrote (2187)	3/4/2002 5:12:27 PM
From: Return to Sender	Respond to of 95936

Techs soar on economic rebound view By Deborah Adamson, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 4:54 PM ET March 4, 2002 marketwatch.com NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Technology stocks jumped Monday in sizzling back-to-back gains that propelled the Nasdaq up by more than 3 percent, as hopes that an economic rebound will spur profits offset a slump in shares of Oracle. The Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPQ: news, chart, profile) was up by 56.58 to end the session at 1,859.32, the second trading day of robust gains. On Friday, the tech-heavy index flew up by 4.1 percent. Nasdaq reflected a bullish run in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which landed at 10,586.82 on Monday, up 218 points or more than 2 percent. The blue chip index soared past 10,500 for the first time since August. See Market Snapshot. The Composite's 100 largest member companies, as reflected by the Nasdaq 100 (NDX: news, chart, profile), rose by 4.1 percent. Exchange-traded QQQ (QQQ: news, chart, profile) added $1.41 to $37.15. Investors gave short shrift to downbeat news from Oracle (ORCL: news, chart, profile). Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy" and On Friday, Oracle disclosed that it expects to miss analysts' earnings estimate, citing a downturn in Asia region sales. The lower-than-expected projected earnings surprised Wall Street because "the bar was so low," according to UBS Warburg. See full story. Shares were down by more than 14 percent to $13.67. But the tumble didn't affect rival software issues. BEA Systems (BEAS: news, chart, profile) was up 18 cents to $14.19. PeopleSoft (PSFT: news, chart, profile) rose by $1.78 to $34.38. Siebel Systems (SEBL: news, chart, profile) added $2.10 to $32.53 and SAP (SAP: news, chart, profile) was up by 74 cents to $36.06. Computer Associates (CA: news, chart, profile) added 5 cents to $16.95. Moody's cut its long-term debt rating on the company and changed its outlook to negative, citing concerns about cash flow, refinancing ability and questions surrounding the investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Story. Manugistics (MANU: news, chart, profile) soared by 21 percent to $17.66. The software firm said fourth-quarter results should exceed both the company's previous outlook and Wall Street's consensus views. Manugistics also will end its unpaid leave program for U.S.-based workers on March 17, as scheduled. Software stocks as a whole were up 3.5 percent, as reflected by the Goldman Sachs Software Index (GSO: news, chart, profile). Elsewhere in tech: The Amex Networking Index (NWX: news, chart, profile) rose by 7.2 percent and the Goldman Sachs Hardware Index (GHA: news, chart, profile) tacked on 4.3 percent. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX: news, chart, profile) added 6 percent and the Goldman Sachs Internet Index (GIN: news, chart, profile) gained 7 percent. Yahoo (YHOO: news, chart, profile) rose by 7 percent to $17.81 after CIBC World Markets upgraded the stock to "buy" from "hold." The broker also set a 12-month price target of $21 and bumped up its 2002 forecasts for revenue, including the HotJobs acquisition, to $911.7 million from $777.6 million and for pro forma earnings to 13 cents a share from 9 cents a share. EBay (EBAY: news, chart, profile) rose by 8 percent to $59.46 after Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown upgraded the stock to "strong buy" from "buy." RealNetworks (RNWK: news, chart, profile) also enjoyed a boost, jumping by 23 percent to $6.89 after the Internet media delivery technology firm and Intel (INTC: news, chart, profile) struck a deal to distribute its RealOne player on the latest versions of Intel's PC desktop boards. Financial terms weren't disclosed. TheStreet.com (TSCM: news, chart, profile) was left out of the bull's party. Shares slid by 5 percent to $1.91. A story by Forbes said an upcoming book by a former employee accuses company founder Jim Cramer of manipulating CNBC news anchors and used personal TV appearances to make quick profits in stock trades. See story. In a statement, CNBC said Cramer, one of its commentators, told the cable network that the charges were "completely unfounded" and came from a disgruntled former worker fired for poor performance. In networking, bellwether stock Cisco (CSCO: news, chart, profile) was up 10 percent to $16.48 and Juniper Networks (JNPR: news, chart, profile) rose by 19 percent to $11.73. Nortel (NT: news, chart, profile) added 7.5 percent to $5.59. In hardware, IBM (IBM: news, chart, profile) and Xilinx (XLNX: news, chart, profile) entered into a two-year, $100 million deal where Big Blue would manufacture the latter's Virtex-II Pro chips. The hybrid chips would have an embedded PowerPC. Shares of IBM were higher by $2.88 or 3 percent to $105.90. Xilinx shares rose by 6.5 percent to $42.18. Hewlett-Packard (HWP: news, chart, profile) shares were up by 42 cents to $20.55. On Monday, a Los Angeles law firm sued to block the vote on a merger with Compaq (CPQ: news, chart, profile), claiming incomplete information in the proxy materials. See story. On Saturday, major shareholder Walter Hewlett reportedly approached former H-P CEO Lew Platt to take over temporarily after shareholders vote down the merger. In a statement, H-P expressed outrage at the plan to replace its current CEO, Carly Fiorina. See story. Shares of Compaq were up 24 cents to $10.65. Meanwhile, Dell (DELL: news, chart, profile) was up 5 percent to $27.68. Gateway (GTW: news, chart, profile) rose by 4 percent to $4.92 and Apple (AAPL: news, chart, profile) added 3.6 percent to $24.50. However, Sun Microsystems (SUNW: news, chart, profile) slid 3 percent to $8.67. In chips, Intel (INTC: news, chart, profile) added 87 cents to $31.85. Banc of America Securities said Intel's first quarter was tracking according to plan and its revenue decline should come in at the lower end of expectations. However, Lehman Bros. reduced its 2002 and 2003 earnings outlook for Intel. The chipmaker will provide a mid-quarter update on Thursday. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: news, chart, profile) rose by 9 cents to $15.24. Applied Materials (AMAT: news, chart, profile) was up by $2.08 to $50.06. Novellus (NVLS: news, chart, profile) tacked on $2.45 to $51.01.

To: Crossy who wrote (2187)	3/4/2002 5:13:47 PM
From: Return to Sender	Respond to of 95936

Contract Manufacturers Up on Optimism Mon Mar 4, 4:41 PM ET By Ben Berkowitz story.news.yahoo.com LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The shares of top-tier contract manufacturing companies, battered recently by a slump in telecommunications spending, were up sharply on Monday, as new data released on Friday showed an expansion in overall manufacturing for the first time in 18 months. Shares in Flextronics International Ltd. closed up 14 percent at $17.20 on Nasdaq. Solectron Corp. shares closed up 11.6 percent at $9.25 on the New York Stock Exchange. Sanmina-SCI Corp. shares closed up 23 percent at $12.69 on Nasdaq. Shares in Celestica Inc. closed up 14.8 percent at $37.33 on the NYSE. Jabil Circuit Inc. shares closed up 17.1 percent at $22.77 on the NYSE. Flextronics and Sanmina-SCI shares were both in the 25 most-actives on the Nasdaq, and Sanmina-SCI was among the percentage gain leaders. Solectron was on the NYSE most-actives list, and it was also among the NYSE top percentage gainers, along with Jabil Circuit and Celestica. The Institute for Supply Management on Friday released its monthly Purchasing Managers Index, with a level of 54.7, far ahead of Wall Street's expectation of 50.9. A level above 50 indicates growth in the manufacturing sector, which makes up about one-sixth of U.S. economic activity. Friday's level was the first time the index passed 50 since July 2000. The ISM's New Order Index also rose, reaching 62.8 in February from 55.3 in January, putting it at its highest levels since 1994. Bear Stearns analyst Thomas Hopkins, who follows the contract manufacturing sector, said the ISM data takes far more into account than just contract electronics manufacturers, but he said the sentiment of the data was still a good sign. "To the degree that it is indicating an economic bottom, it transfers, sure," he said. "People are more optimistic in general about the economic recession and bottoming." Hopkins also said the data on orders was a good sign because contract manufacturers have been hard at work reducing inventories, meaning more new production when the sector's recovery kicks in. BOOK-TO-BILL ALSO UP The ISM news came days after printed circuit industry trade group IPC released the printed circuit board book-to-bill for January, showing a level of 1.01, the index's first time over 1.00 since December 2000. Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Jim Savage, in a note to clients on Monday, said the new index figure indicated production was likely to increase for high-technology products. Savage's comments came as part of a note reiterating his "strong buy" rating on Jabil Circuit and saying he expects the company to meet estimates for the current quarter. The electronics manufacturing services sector derives most of its $100 billion-a-year business from high-volume, low-margin production of products like cell phones, data and networking products. The printed circuit business was worth $42.7 billion globally in 2000, with Japan and the U.S. the largest markets. The rebound comes after three separate brokerages cut calendar or fiscal 2002 estimates for the entire sector within the space of about two weeks. Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown and ABN Amro all cut estimates for the sector, based on what they saw as continued weakness in the long-slumping telecom sector and evidence that any recovery for EMS companies in general will take longer than had been expected. Those downgrades have driven both Solectron and Sanmina-SCI to multiyear lows. Solectron at one point on Thursday traded at levels unseen since May 1997. After falling sharply in 2001, the sector has been battered again in early 2002. For the year, Sanmina shares are down 36 percent, Flextronics shares are down 28 percent, Solectron shares are down 18 percent, Celestica shares are down 8 percent and Jabil shares are even. Part of Monday's bounce came because the sector was oversold and EMS stocks tend to be volatile in whichever direction the broader markets are moving, Hopkins said. "The Nasdaq's rallying, right?" he said. "That's just the nature of how they trade, unfortunately." (With additional reporting by Daniel Sternoff in New York)