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To: puborectalis who wrote (51197)	5/2/2002 2:02:24 AM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 54805

Cisco Systems (CSCO) 13.96 -0.69: This morning CSCO announced a definitive agreements to acquire privately-held Hammerhead Networks, Inc. and Navarro Networks, Inc. Merrill Lynch thinks it is unclear whether purchases are signal that things are getting better at CSCO since deals are spin-ins based either on Cisco exercising its call or the individual companies exercising their puts. While firm believes company is doing well in this environment, it does not believe investors should use today's events as an all-clear signal, points to next wk's earnings call as better indication of trend of business. Merrill maintains intermediate-term Buy rating; thinks as long as data networking remains the foundation of enterprise IT spending, CSCO should be able to capitalize on its strong market position....Shares trading 4.7% down. Veritas Software (VRTS) 28.19 -0.15: After more than doubling its share price following post 9/11 lows of around $20, VRTS stock has stalled and dropped more than 35% on sector sell-offs, analyst downgrades, and a Q2 warning (on 4/16). Mgmt hosted an analyst meeting yesterday and shares continue to travel lower (down 3.5%) despite fairly upbeat analyst comments. Soundview writes "mgmt has never been so confident in its strategic position" and continues to believe that VRTS remains an appealing name with a $41 price target. Merrill Lynch believes the co. is on target to make their June ests and names VRTS as the best positioned co. in the storage mkt. 13:00 -- 14:00 ET (Updated throughout the hour) Human Genome (HGSI) 15.86 +0.12: HGSI provided a detailed overview of the product pipeline and clinical development strategy at its annual analyst meeting yesterday; firm maintained its goal of filing 3-4 new product INDs per year, 2 of which have already been filed in 2002 (LymphoRad & TRAIL R1 monoclonal antibody). Goldman Sachs expects a third IND for Albugranin, albumin-fusion G-CSF, to be filed in Q2/Q3 and reiterates their Mkt Outperform rating. Robertson Stephens believes the initial activity of these compounds represents just the tip of a large and valuable product pipeline and rates the shares a Strong Buy with a $50 price target. Fincl Services : Group has been under pressure for the last few weeks while investors sort out the direction of the economy; today, Merrill Lynch names stocks that they believe are well suited to some of the different economic environments that appear possible. Firm believes if the economy heats up, then AXP could do particularly well; if the economy enters another down turn, then their yield oriented and defensive names could do well such as ALD, SFI, and NLY; stresses FRE would probably work best in a poor economy, but would also do well if the economy remains sluggish. Merrill's favorite stocks continue to be COF and HI. Merrill Hardware Conf (Day 2) : CY stated bookings to date are tracking ahead of expectations with particular strength from the wireless sector (33% of Q1 revenue) and indicated pricing appears to have improved during Q2 with ASPs expected to be down only 8-10% q/q during Q2, vs. a q/q decrease of 15-17% during Q1. LSCC stated QTD bookings have been consistent with its expectations of flat q/q revenue growth for Q2 or approx $59 mln. TECD reaffirmed the co's Apr qtr revenue and earnings outlook that was first issued in mid-Feb; co is expecting revenue to come in between $3.7-3.9 bln with EPS from $0.55 to $0.60. ATML believes its Jun qtr is on track, with strong bookings from the high growth products such as wireless LANs and microcontrollers.

To: puborectalis who wrote (51197)	5/2/2002 1:06:15 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 54805

CIO Magazine Tech Poll -- 5/1/02...Investments in Hardware and Infrastructure a Good Sign... cio.com <---details cio.com =========================== >>>Posted: May 1, 2002 TECH POLL REPORT Tech Spending Dips Investments in Hardware and Infrastructure a Good Sign BY LORRAINE COSGROVE WARE CIOs' outlook on technology spending was slightly less rosy in April, according to CIO Magazine's latest Tech Poll. However, companies will resume spending again in key areas that were put on hold in 2001, signaling that restraints caused by the recession are beginning to lift. Expected budget increases in the coming 12 months dipped to 6%, down from 7.7% reported in the March Tech Poll. Additionally, the CIO Magazine Tech Future Growth Index (TFGI), which projects IT activity over the next 12 months, slipped from a six-month high of 2.8 in March to 2.4 in April. The TFGI had been as low as 1.2 in October 2001 and again in January of this year. CIOs Begin to Invest in Infrastructure Again Spending is on the rise for hardware and networking equipment, areas where CIOs looked first to reduce costs or defer expenses last year. In the April poll, 47.7% of the panelists surveyed indicated they would increase spending on computer hardware compared to March (40.2%)—a jump of 19%. Likewise, the percentage of panelists who will increase investment in data networking equipment rose 16% to 43.8% in April from 37.6% last month. Internet: Safe to Go Back in the Water Executives also expressed guarded optimism in Internet initiatives, reporting expected increases in B2B2C investment and online revenue. Panelists will spend an average of 16.3% of the IT budget on developing business over the Internet over the next 12 months compared to 14% in the previous 12 months. CIOs expect 12.4% of total company revenue to come from the Internet in the coming year on average compared to 9.7% in the past 12 months. Internet procurement is also on the rise. Panelists expect to purchase 21.5% of the company's raw materials, supplies and parts over the Internet in the coming 12 months compared to 16.7% over the last year. Each month, CIO magazine in partnership with Deutsche Banc Securities and Ed Yardeni, surveys a panel of senior executives on current and future IT spending as well as other IT issues. In January, 245 executives responded to the survey. In terms of title, 91% of panel members were CIOs and 6% were CEOs, COOs or presidents of corporations. The remaining 3% held other senior management titles. Almost all (95%) of the panel members were based in North America. Companies included in CIO's Tech Poll represented a broad range of industries, including manufacturing (15%), technology services (16%), finance (10%), health care (9%) and state or local government (7%). In terms of company size, 13% of the respondents were from companies with 5,000 or more employees. The complete April CIO Magazine Tech Poll can be found at cio.com Previous poll results can be found at cio.com . <<<