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To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (50426)	4/23/2002 7:04:00 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Amazon beats Street, raises the bar money.cnn.com

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (50426)	4/24/2002 12:19:21 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Issue Date: Apr 23 2001 Legg Mason Value, one of the best-run mutuals, is known for its winning bets on past tech 'losers' like AOL and Dell. Now the fund is putting its faith in Amazon. Does Lisa Rapuano know something about Amazon.com that the rest of us don't? Rapuano is the research director for Baltimore-based Legg Mason Funds, which manages about $23 billion in assets. About $12 billion of that is held by Legg Mason Value, which just might be the best-run mutual fund around: Year after year for the past decade, it has produced a higher return than the S&P 500 stock index - a feat no other fund can claim. Legg Mason Value made its mark by placing huge, contrarian and winning bets on tech stocks such as America Online, Dell Computer and Gateway. Now Legg Mason is the second-largest investor in Amazon.com; its 14.7 percent stake is exceeded only by the slice owned by founder Jeff Bezos. For good measure, Legg Mason also owns a quarter of Amazon's convertible bonds. What makes the stake so intriguing is the stunning success of Legg Mason's previous wagers on fallen tech stocks. In 1997, for instance, it gambled big on AOL when Wall Street was repelled by the stock. At the time, AOL was under siege on several fronts: It faced network glitches, an SEC probe into its accounting practices and potential competition from Microsoft. But Rapuano saw a business that continued to attract loyal customers. Ultimately, her firm made hundreds of millions of dollars on the stock. This time, Legg Mason is betting on Amazon. The firm began building a significant stake in 1999, when the stock was around $50. The lower it went, the more Rapuano bought. "When the stock fell into the 30s, I started to believe it was getting a little bit ridiculous," she says, and she's kept buying as the stock has slipped further. Why so bullish? "Amazon is one of the few with a potentially gigantic market, a global natural monopoly with a potentially extraordinary economic model," she says. "It doesn't require lots of capital." It's a lot like AOL, she adds. "The customers love it; the customers aren't leaving." Rapuano concedes that things haven't unfolded as Amazon had planned. "But if e-commerce is a business, then Amazon has a gigantic lead on everyone else," she says. But can Amazon make money? "I believe it can, absolutely," Rapuano says. Amazon had 8 percent operating margins in U.S. books, music and videos in the latest quarter, and Rapuano believes that Amazon can reach 10 percent margins overall. So what's the stock worth? At 10 percent operating margins and a 20 percent growth rate, Rapuano sees Amazon.com worth at least $30 a share. If she's right, her bet will go a long way toward extending Legg Mason Value's winning streak.

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (50426)	4/24/2002 10:55:49 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 65232

Reuters Securities NY gold pops higher after econ data, buyers in wings NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - COMEX gold stretched its gains early Wednesday, with an extra pop in prices after weaker-than-expected U.S. durable goods numbers, while floor buzzed about buy orders building up near the recent high. The Commerce Department said durable goods orders fell 0.6 percent in March but were revised up to a 2.7 percent rise in February from a previously report 1.8 percent increase. ``As soon as the number came out we had buying in the gold market,'' said one floor broker. ``We had selling in the copper market and buying in the gold market for who knows what reason. I think it had more to do with the revision of last month.'' Active June gold (0#GC:) topped at $306 an ounce after the report, its highest in six days. At 0943 EDT it was up 40 cents at $305. The morning low was $304.30. Dealers said gold appeared to be base building, with key support in the $300 to $298 area as Middle East tensions continued to fire the appetite of speculators. The floor was talking about new buy orders accumulating near where the resistance line drawn from the Feb 8 high of $309.30 and the April 3 high of $308 crossed the contract's upward path on Wednesday. ``There are huge buys stops building up above $307/307.50 which would represent a break out from our last 30-40 day consolidation area,'' said a desk broker. But sources said they did not know who was left to keep buying, with funds long 32,000 contracts last week and believed to have gotten even more overbought in recent days. ``I'm also hearing there are big sellers waiting for it. All the dealers are sellers up there,'' the floor broker said. ``I'm hearing big buys stops, but I haven't seen a buy stop in two weeks.'' Spot gold (XAU=) was quoted at $304.10/60, up from the close at $303.60/4.10 but off London's morning fix at $304.50. Dealers shrugged at a forecast by metals consultant Gold Field Minerals Services (GFMS) that the world gold price would range between $285.00 and $315.00 through the rest of 2002. In its Gold Survey 2002 released Wednesday, GFMS also said gold miners are expected to reduce their hedge books in the coming months, offering a potential support to world gold prices. Prices first cracked the important $300 level in February, reaching a two-year high helped by major gold producers such as AngloGold aggressively unwinding their hedge books. GFMS estimated that hedging fell for a second consecutive year in 2001, generating a significant 147 tonnes of physical demand, with the fall mainly in the fourth quarter of last year. May silver (0#SI:) was flat at $4.57 an ounce, trading $4.56 to $4.605. The focus was on May-July switches before first notice day on Tuesday. Spot silver (XAG=) was unchanged at $4.57/59. It fixed at $4.5825. NYMEX July platinum (0#PL:) was up $5.70 at $550.50 an ounce in quiet trade. Spot platinum (XPT=) was last at $553.50/560.50. The market continues to draw support from fears of another strike at Anglo American Platinum's huge Rustenburg precious metals refinery in South African, and from booming automobile demand for the metal, used in catalytic converters. But upside moves were hampered by concern that Russia, the No. 2 producer after South Africa, may be about to resume spot sales. June palladium (0#PA:) was off $1 at $370 an ounce. Spot palladium (XPD=) was quoted $365/375. biz.yahoo.com