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To: OLDTRADER who wrote (170563)	8/7/2002 2:11:02 PM
From: Tom G	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176388

Federated's Kohler keeps thinking big Kohler likes United Technologies, Dell, Boston-Scientific By Jon Friedman, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 12:08 AM ET Aug. 7, 2002 PITTSBURGH (CBS.MW) - Angela Kohler, the manager of the Pittsburgh-based Federated Large Cap Growth Fund, continues to think big as she looks for bargains among blue-chip stocks. The Federated fund focuses on the large-cap stock sector, which has been getting hammered in the wake of economic woes and accounting scandals. As of Monday, the $342 million fund (FLGAX: news, chart, profile) lost 34 percent of its value in the past 12 months, according to Lipper. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($SPX: news, chart, profile), fell 31 percent over the same period. Over the three year period, Federated Large Cap Growth lost 18 percent annually, vs. a 13 percent decline by the S&P over the same period. Kohler believes that big stocks have the financial wherewithal to weather corporate controversies and market slumps. By contrast, smaller companies have fewer resources and, therefore, are more vulnerable to volatility. "We're sticking to our guns in the fund," Kohler said. "Lately, headline events have been overshadowing the value that these stocks present. The recent events have driven down stock prices and should give the fund opportunities to buy large companies' shares at reasonable prices." Kohler favors United Technologies (UTX: news, chart, profile), a defense-technology play whose products include Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems and Sikorsky helicopters "With a long-term increase planned for defense spending, this stock is well placed amid the so-called `new Cold War,' " Kohler said. The shares climbed $2.10, or 3 percent, to $65.20 on Tuesday. In addition, Kohler also likes Dell Computer (DELL: news, chart, profile), the huge personal-computer company. "As a market leader, Dell can take advantage of ways that technology is changing and increase its market share with retail customers," Kohler said. The stock closed up $1.21, or 5.2 percent, to $24.32 on Tuesday. Another of the stocks at the top of her list is Boston-Scientific (BSX: news, chart, profile), which develops and markets medical devices. "This industry has great demographics, which positions the stock for growth," Kohler said. Boston-Scientific rose 6 cents, 0.2 percent, to $27.06 on Tuesday. Jon Friedman is media editor for CBS.MarketWatch.com in New York.

To: OLDTRADER who wrote (170563)	8/12/2002 9:24:54 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 176388

Buffett on the lookout for bargain acquisitions in $20 billion spree By DAN LONKEVICH BLOOMBERG NEWS Saturday, August 10, 2002 OMAHA, Neb. -- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is on a $20 billion buying spree that some investors say has only just begun. So far this year, Buffett has joined with Lehman Brothers Holdings to provide $2 billion in financing to energy concern Williams Cos., invested $100 million in telecommunications specialist Level 3 Communications Inc., and bought two gas pipelines -- one from Williams for $450 million and one from Dynegy Inc. for $1.88 billion in cash and debt. After spending $4.24 billion this year and more than $15.4 billion over the past two years, Buffett still has as much as $40 billion in cash and short-term investments available for acquisitions. He said in his annual letter to shareholders in March that he wants to make acquisitions in the $5 billion to $20 billion range. "Absent a major catastrophe, this should be Berkshire's best year ever," said Keith Trauner, an analyst at Fairholme Capital Management, which manages $33 million and owns Berkshire shares. The stock market rout has created investment opportunities for Berkshire and also is helping the company's insurance businesses maintain price increases instituted since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which cost Berkshire $2.28 billion and the insurance industry about $58 billion. Berkshire's second-quarter profit rose 35 percent as its insurance unit raised prices and had fewer claims. Net income rose to $1.05 billion, or $681 a share, from $773 million, or $506, a year ago. Earnings per share excluding gains from sales of securities were $673, compared with the $550 average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. "He's buying great assets from companies whose holding companies are in distress," said Fairholme's Trauner. Kern River, the pipeline Buffett's MidAmerican Energy unit bought from Williams, "is a great asset," Trauner said, considering how much it would cost in time and money to lay a new pipeline. Buffett in his letter to investors decried what he said was a lack of investment opportunities, saying Berkshire's size as well as market conditions such as outsized valuations make it impossible to replicate the company's past successes. "Two conditions at Berkshire are far different from what they once were: Then we could often buy businesses and securities at much lower valuations than now prevail; and more important, we were working with far less money than we now have," he said. He also said he needed to find "elephants," or large undervalued companies, to make significant gains. Buffett, who turns 72 this month, declined a request for an interview on possible acquisition targets. At his company's 2001 annual meeting, he said Berkshire may buy companies forced into bankruptcy.