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To: Voltaire who wrote (55480)	10/11/2002 7:10:32 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Ex-U.S. President Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize Fri Oct 11, 5:18 AM ET OSLO (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for working for peace and human rights around the world. Carter won from a record field of 156 candidates vying for the prize named after Alfred Nobel, a Swedish philanthropist and inventor of dynamite. Carter, a Democrat, was president from 1977 to 1981. He has won praise for tireless work as an ex-president in trying to bring peace to everywhere from Haiti to North Korea (news - web sites). He has been repeatedly nominated for the prize, worth $1.0 million. He came close to winning in 1978 when Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat shared the Nobel Peace award for a peace deal brokered by Carter.

To: Voltaire who wrote (55480)	10/15/2002 2:55:09 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Cisco defies Wall Street's revenue fears By Scott Morrison in San Francisco FT.com Tuesday October 15, 1:40 pm ET Cisco Systems looks set to stick by its first-quarter revenue forecast despite concerns by a group of prominent industry analysts that the networking equipment maker cannot meet its sales target. "They are not going to hit their guidance. The question is how much they will miss it by," said Nikos Theodosopoulos, an analyst at UBS Warburg. However, sources familiar with the company said that with two weeks until the end of the first quarter, Cisco would by now have a fairly good idea as to whether or not it was on track to meet its revenue targets. The fact that Cisco has not lowered its forecast by now suggested the company was comfortable with its outlook, the sources said. Cisco, the largest maker of equipment that carries data traffic across the internet and corporate networks, said it would not comment on speculation about first-quarter revenue. The technology bellwether's share price has been extremely volatile in the past few weeks amid growing concern that the deteriorating macroeconomic environment would impact on Cisco's sales in the current and upcoming quarters. Several analysts have noted that channel checks indicated there had been a slowdown in business starting mid-September. John Chambers, Cisco's chief executive, has sounded a very conservative note in recent appearances, repeatedly noting that sales visibility has become extremely "tight" this quarter. The group's official forecast calls for first-quarter revenues to be flat to slightly higher than the $4.83bn achieved in the fourth quarter. The current consensus among Wall Street analysts is that Cisco will report revenues of about $4.87bn, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. But a group of prominent analysts, such as Samuel Wilson at Merrill Lynch, have recently lowered their first-quarter estimates for Cisco. Mr Wilson last week revised his revenue forecast from a 2 per cent increase to a 1 per cent drop at $4.78bn. Goldman Sachs changed its sales estimate from flat to a drop of 3 per cent. Lehman Brothers was much more pessimistic, predicting Cisco's first-quarter revenues might fall more than 5 per cent to $4.56bn. The estimate for Cisco's first-quarter earnings has been tweaked down to 13 cents per share from 14 cents, with analysts noting the company has a strong ability to control costs. The timing of the September slowdown was far from ideal for Cisco, which typically sees first-quarter sales start slowing in August, build throughout September and grow stronger by the end of October. Cisco's focus on the corporate networking market has enabled the group to withstand the information technology spending slump much better than rivals Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks. Those companies are highly dependent on large telecoms carriers, which have sharply curtailed capital expenditures following the boom years of the late 1990s. Shares in Cisco, which last week plunged to levels not seen in almost five years, were trading up 71 cents at $10.70 in Tuesday midday trading in New York.

To: Voltaire who wrote (55480)	10/16/2002 1:02:26 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

The Houses are corrupt and here's some more evidence... Goldman Wanted Grubman - Knew he ignored Chinese Walls / NY Post DOUBLE-TALK HANK By JESSICA SOMMAR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HANK PAULSON - Bloomberg News October 16, 2002 -- Goldman Sachs once offered a lot of money to hire now-disgraced telecom star analyst Jack Grubman - despite evidence discovered by Goldman that Grubman's integrity was questionable, The Post has learned. A draft memo by lawmakers investigating Goldman's possible conflicts of interest appears to show that when Goldman was courting Grubman - who worked at Citigroup's rival Salomon Smith Barney investment bank - the hiring committee found two potential concerns: that Grubman "is not a research analyst but an investment banker" and that he "constantly will ignore the Chinese Wall." The draft memo was by House Financial Services Committee chairman Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.). Despite that knowledge, the memo says, internal documents dubbed Project JBG, for Jack Benjamin Grubman, show Goldman pressed ahead with recruiting the then-shining star of telecom research analysts in 1998 - and made Grubman an offer. Goldman made the offer because, the internal documents say, Grubman could bring an additional "$100-$150 million in investment banking fees annually," according to the memo. The content of the House draft memo, obtained by The Post, was confirmed by Baker's staff. The final version - with the above statements omitted - was released Oct. 10 to the press. "This evidence provides a window into the mindset of Goldman," said Christopher Bebel, former consultant to the Justice Department and securities partner at Shepherd Smith & Bebel. "The fact that Goldman would continue to pursue Grubman even though it was aware that he constantly co-mingled investment banking and research functions tends to shows that Goldman trusted Grubman would mesh well with its own culture." But Goldman had been spouting shock and dismay at even being including in the multiple probes of Wall Street's brightest firms. Meanwhile, Goldman Chairman Henry Paulson has been talking publicly about how Wall Street can restore investor confidence. It seems that Goldman only escaped the troubles Grubman brought on the nation's biggest bank - Citigroup - because it was outbid, not because of its ethics, a source close to the probes sniffed. Goldman offered Grubman $8 million his first year, plus $29 million in stock after Goldman's initial public offering, the memo said internal documents showed. Salomon countered with a $15 million "retention bonus," and Grubman stayed. "Not only did Goldman want to hire him, but that was the operating procedure at Goldman," a source close to the probe added. "Can't we reasonably expect that that was what they demanded of their analysts already at the firm?" During the time of the Grubman courtship, Jon Corzine, now a U.S. senator (D-N.J.), and Paulson were co-chairman of the firm. "I think it's clear that at the end of the day, Goldman Sachs did not hire Jack Grubman, and that's a decision that should speak for itself," said Goldman spokeswoman Kathleen Baum in defense. Goldman's findings in 1998 mirror charges recently leveled against Grubman and his assistant, Christine Gochuico, by the National Association of Securities Dealers. In a suit filed this month, the NASD claimed Grubman touted Winstar Communications with Salomon's highest rating to insure Salomon would earn high fees from the now-bankrupt telecom. Grubman and his assistant have denied the charges. nypost.com

To: Voltaire who wrote (55480)	10/18/2002 12:22:34 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Can Kevin Rollins Find the Soul of Dell? fastcompany.com

To: Voltaire who wrote (55480)	10/24/2002 3:37:25 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Merrill on Tech Spending... Merrill Survey Suggests Tech Spending Boost In Mid-2003 By Peter Loftus, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Thursday October 24, 12:03 pm ET NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Corporate spending on technology should accelerate beginning in mid-2003, if a survey of chief information officers by Merrill Lynch & Co. is any indication. In the Merrill survey of 75 U.S. CIOs and 25 of their European counterparts, some 31% of respondents - the biggest group - said demand for technology would increase in the second quarter of 2003. About 18% pegged the first quarter for a pickup, while 20% forecast the third quarter. Steven Milunovich, the Merrill tech strategist who conducts the periodic survey, wrote that the weighted average of these responses "suggests a pickup beginning around mid-2003." The technology sector has been battered in the last two years because the weakened economy has forced companies to reduce spending on computers and networks. The steep drop in tech stocks has been the driving force behind the 70% decline in the Nasdaq Composite Index since its record high in March 2000. But Milunovich acknowledged the difficulty of predicting a turnaround in tech spending, saying it hinged on certain factors. One of these is corporate profits, which Milunovich said must increase before companies will boost tech spending. "Given our more cautious view, we doubt a meaningful recovery will occur until 2004," he wrote. Whenever a rebound materializes, it might not lift all boats, the survey suggested. Another part of the survey had mixed news for the prospects of leading tech firms. Merrill asked CIOs if various tech vendors were becoming "more or less important to you." For each of the following firms, more respondents said the companies were becoming "more important" to them than respondents who said they were becoming " less important": Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - News) , the software market leader; Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:CSCO - News) , the data network equipment leader; Oracle Corp. , which makes business software; computer-maker Dell Computer Corp. (NasdaqNM:DELL - News) ; and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - News) , the hardware and services giant. The responses didn't bode well for others. More respondents said the following vendors were becoming less important to them than those who said they were becoming more important: Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ - News) , a computer and printer maker; Sun Microsystems Inc. (NasdaqNM:SUNW - News) , which makes computer servers; Electronic Data Systems Inc. , a technology outsourcing firm; storage provider EMC Corp. (NYSE:EMC - News) ; and SAP AG , a German business software maker. Merrill disclosed that one or more of its analysts responsible for covering stocks mentioned in the survey own shares in Microsoft and Oracle. Also, Merrill has conducted investment-banking business for IBM, EDS and Cisco within the last three years. Merrill said it intends to seek banking business with all 10 companies mentioned above in the next three months. -By Peter Loftus, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5267; peter.loftus@dowjones.com biz.yahoo.com