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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Return to Sender who wrote (7325)	11/29/2002 9:07:40 AM
From: Return to Sender	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95501

From Briefing.com: 8:41AM S&P futures vs fair value: +2.5. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +7.5. Modest pickup in buying interest in the futures market, which is setting the stage for a modestly higher open for the stock market... Carryover interest from Wednesday's rally and an encouraging October sales report from the Semiconductor Industry Association are lending support 8:18AM SIA report: global semi sales rose 1.8% in Oct : Bloomberg reports that semi shares rose in Europe following the Semi Industry Assoc's report that showed worldwide chip sales rose 1.8% sequentially in Oct, indicating demand is recovering. 8:45AM Page One - Ahead of the Open: No earnings. No guidance announcements. No ratings changes. Any market movement today will be on sentiment. The lack of "external" factors sometimes allows for a more accurate read of underlying sentiment. Page One is not going to make such an assessment today, however. The Friday after Thanksgiving is often subject to violent swings simply because trading volume is light. In recent years, daytraders have run up retail, Internet, and other sectors, just to get a play going. Given Wednesday's big move, the market could also sell off today in light trading. Neither a big up or down move would necessarily provide any insight as to underlying sentiment. That said, Page One leans towards expecting any surprise move to be on the up side. It's just that we've seen enough such action on past Fridays-after-Thanksgiving to think it could happen again. OK, for general news we have to mention that the terrorism attacks in Kenya have the bond market up on a flight to quality. The 10-year note is +11/31 to yield 4.21%. Also, United looks like it will file for bankruptcy. Looking ahead to next week, the big news will be the employment report on Friday. The November data is expected to show a modest increase in non-farm payrolls. Economic news has been stronger of late, and the market may be geared towards interpreting the data favorably. There are very few earnings releases next week. -- Dick Green, Briefing.com finance.yahoo.com^SOXX+ALTR+AMAT+AMD+BRCM+INTC+KLAC+LLTC+LSCC+LSI+MOT+MU+MXIM+NSM+NVLS+TER+TXN+XLNX+^VIX+^VXN+^NDX+^IXIC+^SPX+SMH&d=t RtS

To: Return to Sender who wrote (7325)	11/29/2002 9:13:14 AM
From: Return to Sender	Respond to of 95501

Japan Chip Maker Shares Rebound Sharply; Bright Market Signs Friday November 29, 2:21 am ET biz.yahoo.com TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- Shares of major Japanese semiconductor makers are sharply recovering after hitting multiyear lows, as recent developments in the industry may indicate an upturn in the global chip market, traders say. Earlier this week the world's leading chip maker Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) of the U.S. confirmed a plan to raise flash memory chip prices as a result of strong demand for their use in mobile phones. Chip-production equipment maker Novellus Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:NVLS - News) , also of the U.S., Wednesday slightly lifted its outlook for its fourth-quarter bookings. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange Friday, Fujitsu Ltd. (J.FUT or 6702) ended up 4.0% at Y438 after a 9.4% gain Thursday, and NEC Corp. (NIPNY or 6701) closed up 4.8% at Y523 following a 7.1% rise Thursday. Hitachi Ltd. (HIT or 6501) added 5.3% to Y521, while Toshiba Corp. (J.TOS or 6502) climbed 1.8% to Y399, briefly topping the Y400 mark for the first time since Sept. 19. Although most gains may have been a result of short-covering after heavy selloffs, traders say they are sensing a change in investor views on the battered sector. "This doesn't seem like a technical rebound. Apparently it can be attributed to fundamental reasons," says Hiroshi Sato, general manager of the bond & equity department at Cosmo Securities. As an example, he says the market is reacting favorably to unexpectedly strong data from the mobile phone handset sector. Global handset shipments rose 7.8% in the July-September quarter from a year earlier, topping 100 million units for the first time in two years in that quarter, according to U.S. research firm Gartner Dataquest. This mainly reflects a much-awaited recovery in replacement demand in Europe for high-end models with color liquid crystal displays and digital cameras - areas where Japanese makers are most competitive. The market view that Japanese chip makers are expected to finally - though gradually - increase capital spending is also supporting sentiment, traders say. Earlier this month Toshiba said it plans to boost its large-capacity flash memory chip production at its flagship Yokkaichi memory plant in central Japan. This follows brisk demand for NAND-type flash memory chips used in camera- equipped mobile phones and digital still cameras, Toshiba said. Japan's largest chip maker will also draw up a plan by year-end to construct a new state-of-the-art 300-millimeter wafer-based semiconductor manufacturing plant. Production lines based on 300-millimeter wafers are much more efficient than the current industry-standard 200-millimeter wafer lines. Toshiba's potential investment in 300-millimeter plants is being keenly watched in the global chip industry. The company's decision on such a large- scale investment - estimated at Y100 billion to Y200 billion for one plant - would be seen as the firm's strategy to catch up in the intensifying battle in the global chip market. J.P. Morgan Securities analyst Yoshiharu Izumi says Toshiba's flash memory business is brisk, but it is unclear whether this trend will continue into the next fiscal year. Some concerns lie ahead; Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea may shift its production focus to flash memory from the less profitable dynamic random access memory chips, the analyst said. He added that shipments for digital cameras, which drive flash memory demand, may slow down next year. -By Kanji Ishibashi, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2929; kanji.ishibashi@dowjones.com