Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Galapagos Islands -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (298)	9/12/2002 2:50:57 PM
From: Techplayer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57110

Jorj, I just picked up a new sony with a DVD RW, Pentium 4 2ghz, 80 gig hd and all of the multimedia bells and whistles (sony smartcard slot, firewire connections etc.)for 800 bucks off of UBID. the unit is new with a 1 year sony warranty. It looks like the market pace is quickening....

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (298)	9/12/2002 2:51:03 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57110

actually late october seems to be the best time to buy.... they're usually pretty desperate by then. <g> looks like foxlette showed up just in time... :) /12 11:46 Swiss Economy Grew Less Than Expected in 2nd Quarter (Update5) By Malcolm Shearmur Bern, Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The Swiss economy grew less than expected in the second quarter after the longest recession in 20 years, as a faltering global recovery led companies to scale back investments. Gross domestic product expanded 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, half the rate expected by economists. The economy had contracted four consecutive quarters for the first time since 1982, revised government figures showed. Europe's seventh-largest economy has been hurt by a slowdown in the economies of its main trading partners, the U.S. and Europe, destination for almost three-quarters of Swiss exports. Exports account for nearly half of gross domestic product. The decline in company investments accelerated, dropping 19 percent. ``The economic climate in which we operate has shown no sign of any improvement since March,'' said Johann Rupert, chief executive officer of Cie Financiere Richemont AG, the world's No. 2 luxury-goods company, at an annual shareholders meeting. Banks, which account for about 15 percent of the economy, are scaling back expansion plans as slumping stock markets shrink earnings. UBS AG, Switzerland's biggest bank, said last month that earnings in 2002 will fall for a second year. Credit Suisse Group plans to cut its dividend for the first time ever. Bonds rose after the report was released. The yield on the 10- year benchmark government bond fell 6 basis points to 2.78 percent. The yield has declined 22 basis points in the past month. One basis point is 0.01 percentage point. Europe, U.S. Slowdown The economies of the 12 European Union countries sharing the euro slowed in the second quarter. In Germany, the region's biggest economy, industrial production, factory orders and retail sales declined unexpectedly in July and unemployment rose to a three-year high in August. ``A lot of industries in Switzerland are at a pain threshold,'' said Thomas Haerter, who manages about 800 million Swiss francs ($512 million) in bonds at Bank Leu AG. ``There's a kind of investment refusal in the economy. There are cost cuts everywhere.'' Swiss Economics Minister Pascal Couchepin is releasing 350 million francs from a fund to help businesses pay for investments, said Aymo Brunetti, chief economist at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, at a briefing in Bern. The fund, which companies pay into voluntarily in years of growth, is being opened for the first time in five years, he said. Feeling the Pain Big Star Holding AG, the biggest Swiss maker of jeans, said Tuesday that first half sales fell 12 percent because of a slump in demand in Germany, which accounts for a third of its revenue. Sales at lathe-maker Tornos SA, which exports 85 percent of production, fell by more than half in the first six months. U.S. manufacturing stalled last month as orders declined for the first time in nine months and production slowed. Expansion in the world's largest economy slowed to an annual 1.1 percent pace in the second quarter, from 5 percent in the first three months. ``The Swiss economy is a bad state,'' said Janwillem Acket, chief economist at Julius Baer Holding AG. ``If consumption remains sluggish, investments don't rise and everything hinges on exports --that's the cocktail for a double-dip.'' Consumer Spending Consumers helped the economy return to growth in the second quarter after a 2.5 percent average salary increase for workers under collective contracts this year. That's more than twice the rate of inflation. Consumer spending will probably slow as the number of unemployed rises, Swiss National Bank President Jean-Pierre Roth said Tuesday. Spending won't recover until after economic growth accelerates next year, he added. Unemployment rose to 2.7 percent in August, and economists expect it will reach 3 percent this year. Zurich Financial Services AG, Switzerland's biggest insurer, is cutting 500 jobs in the country as slumping stock markets reduce the value of its investments. The benchmark Swiss Market Index declined a fifth so far this year. Ascom Holding AG is shedding another 150 jobs as Switzerland's biggest maker of phone equipment doesn't see a recovery in the second half of 2002. Slowing growth in Switzerland's main markets has been compounded by a rise in the Swiss franc, which gained 11 percent against the U.S. currency in the second quarter. It has gained 0.9 percent against the euro this year. The strong franc contributed to a 5 percent drop in revenue at Richemont in the five months through August, the maker of Cartier jewelry and Lancel bags said today. Lower Rates? The SNB last month lowered interest rates to the lowest level in more than 2 1/2 years to stem the Swiss franc's rise. It was the second reduction this year. The government last month halved its forecast for economic growth in 2002 to 0.5 percent. The lower-than-expected growth makes an interest rate cut by the SNB ``very likely,'' Julius Baer's Acket said. The government revised first-quarter figures to show a contraction of 0.2 percent instead of the previously reported 0.7 percent growth. ``It's difficult to detect any real pattern of recovery in terms of growth in sales in the current year,'' Richemont Chairman Nikolaus Senn said at the shareholders' meeting. quote.bloomberg.com