To: Gottfried who wrote (8644 ) 2/18/2003 7:42:42 PM From: Return to Sender Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 95738 North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts January 2003 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.92semi.org !OpenDocument SAN JOSE, Calif., February 18, 2003 -- The North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $742 million in orders in January 2003 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.92, according to the January 2003 Express Report published today by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI). A book-to-bill of 0.92 means that $92 worth of new orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month. The three-month average of worldwide bookings in January 2003 was $742 million. The bookings figure is ten percent below the revised December 2002 level of $827 million and 15 percent above the $645 million in orders posted in January 2002. The three-month average of worldwide billings in January 2003 was $806 million. The billings figure is eight percent below the revised December 2002 level of $878 million and one percent above the January 2002 billings level of $800 million. "North American suppliers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment continue to see a weak industry environment," said Dan Tracy, Ph.D., director of Industry Research and Statistics at SEMI. "The current outlook remains uncertain with few indications of a strong rebound in the immediate future. However, we expect capital expenditures to increase later this year as the industry is slated to bring on about 15 new fabs capable of sub 0.2 micron technology in 2003 and 2004." The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average billings for the North American semiconductor equipment industry. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.G, thanks for updating your chart: home.attbi.com On BPNDX I have it up one today to 33. It never actually rose when MSFT split. That was an error last week.stockcharts.com [h,a]dallyyay[de][pi!a20!a75!c20!f][vc60][iLg]&pref=G Thanks again, RtS