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Strategies & Market Trends : Technical analysis for shorts & longs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lachesis Atropos who wrote (39985)	7/30/2003 11:27:13 AM
From: Johnny Canuck	Respond to of 69345

08:02 ET CORV Corvis invited to participate in DoD optical testing 'bake off' (1.42) Announces that it has been invited by SAIC to participate in the testing phase, "Bake Off," for the Optical Transport System portion of the U.S. Government's Defense Information Systems Agency's (DISA) $877 mln Global Information Grid Bandwidth Expansion (GIG-BE) project. The GIG-BE project is a Department of Defense initiative, which involves the deployment of an all-optical network linking DoD sites around the world using secure and dedicated links. [Harry: Sort of anti-climatic. I would be more surprise if they did not qualify. I think they need the announcement of an actual contract to move the group. It was supposed to be September. Now it is some time in 2004.]

To: Lachesis Atropos who wrote (39985)	7/30/2003 11:31:21 AM
From: Johnny Canuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69345

RFMD up on above average volume. Not everyone is a believer as though as the grain are still single digits despite the upgrade yesterday. It is a make or break quarter from RFMD as they should start to see a ramp in demand as handset manufacturers order for Christmas sales. A lack of demand would tell a lot about what they really think about end user demand. No one wants to get stuck with excess inventory. ************************** Lehman Raises Views On Wireless Chip, Equip Sector >TXN Tuesday July 22, 10:49 am ET By Donna Fuscaldo, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Citing the beginning of a recovery in both the wireless semiconductor and chip-equipment sectors, analysts at Lehman Brothers raised their ratings on a slew of stocks Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT In a research report, analyst Daniel Niles said increasing sales and margins for wireless chip makers in the second half of the year should drive the share prices of Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN - News) , RF Micro Devices Inc. (NasdaqNM:RFMD - News) , Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NasdaqNM:SWKS - News) , Triquint Semiconductor Inc. (NasdaqNM:TQNT - News) and Anadigics Inc. (NasdaqNM:ANAD - News) higher. As a result, Niles raised his investment rating on Texas Instruments, Skyworks and RF Micro to overweight, while Anadigics and Triquint were raised to equal weight. "With SARS being contained we feel a more constructive view of the wireless IC sector is warranted," wrote Niles in a research report. Wall Street's growth expectations for the second half of the year reflect a "prevailing conservatism induced from events occurring over the recent months," he said. The wireless chip sector has indeed faced some tough times in recent months. The spread of SARS in Asia led to excess inventory, which compounded already weak demand. But recent comments out of the likes of Texas Instruments may provide optimism that the worst is behind the sector. In an earnings conference call Monday, the Dallas chip maker said that excess inventory in Asia is declining. According to Lehman's Niles the second half of the year should see an improvement in handset unit shipments, driven by new models from original equipment makers. He noted that the valuations of the wireless chip stocks have underperformed the overall market this year. "As of July 21, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was up 31% year-to-date. This compares favorably with the wireless semiconductor names...that on average are up 4%," said Niles. Shares of Texas Instruments were recently trading 7% higher at $19.14, while Skyworks was up 8.4% to $8.34, and RF Micro was trading 7.7% higher to $6.45. Meanwhile shares of Triquint were trading at $4.49, up 7%, and Anadigics was 8.7% higher to $3.61. In the case of the chip-equipment sector, Lehman analyst Edward White raised his sector view on the group to positive from neutral, citing data points that suggest the industry is gradually recovering. Furthermore, the analyst raised his view on the sector because of potential upside earnings surprises in the quarters ahead. "Most equipment companies appear to have greater upside operating earnings leverage than is generally appreciated," White wrote in a research report. The analyst raised his rating on Applied Materials Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMAT - News) , Lam Research Corp. (NasdaqNM:LRCX - News) and Novellus Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:NVLS - News) to overweight from equal weight, and initiated coverage of Form Factor Inc. at overweight. White did cut his rating on Dupont Photomasks Inc. (NasdaqNM:DPMI - News) to equal weight from overweight. Although White acknowledged that valuations for chip equipment stocks do not appear low, he said "many of the companies in the industry are fundamentally better companies and this could provide valuation support as fundamentals improve." Shares of Applied Materials were recently trading up 4%, to $18.59, while Lam Research was up 5% to $21.34, and Novellus traded 2.7% higher to $35.46. Meanwhile shares of Form Factor were down 0.6% to $17.50, and shares of Dupont Photomasks were 0.9% lower to $20.65. Niles and White do not own shares of the companies. Lehman Brothers intends to seek an investment banking relationship with the companies. -By Donna Fuscaldo, Dow Jones Newswires