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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cary Salsberg who wrote (8426)	1/8/2004 1:59:35 PM
From: Dale Knipschield	Respond to of 25522

OT (Kind of) Could this be a catalyst for improved near-term market performance? > Reuters Judge Approves Lea Fastow Enron Plea Thursday January 8, 1:26 pm ET HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday approved a plea agreement for former Enron assistant treasurer Lea Fastow, paving the way for federal prosecutors to reach a pact with her husband, former Enron financial mastermind Andrew Fastow. The Fastows are considered key players in the two-year-old government probe of the bankrupt energy trading company because of their familiarity with the complex financial transactions that ultimately led to the company's downfall. The proposed deal would send Lea Fastow to prison for five months. "The defendant can plead as early as this afternoon," said U.S. District Court Judge David Hittner, who added he reserved the right to alter the proposed prison term.<

To: Cary Salsberg who wrote (8426)	1/8/2004 7:29:16 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Foundry market to grow 43% in '04, says IC Insights By Mark LaPedus Silicon Strategies 01/08/2004, 5:37 PM ET SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--Citing a resurgence in communications, the pure-play foundry business is expected to jump 43 percent in 2004 over 2003--a rate that exceeds the forecasted IC industry growth of 27 percent for this year, according to a report from IC Insights Inc. Overall, pure-play foundry IC sales are expected to display a 23 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2003 through 2008--or 10 points higher than the total IC industry CAGR during the same timeframe, according to IC Insights of Scottsdale. In 2003, the pure-play foundry IC market increased 31 percent, almost twice the total IC market growth of 16 percent. Of that, foundry sales to the communications market represented 38 percent of the total pure-play foundry IC market in 2003. In fact, communications has become a major driver in the market. In 2000, the shares of the pure-play foundries' IC sales that went to computer and communications systems were equal at 39 percent. "However, the pure-play foundry market was hard hit by the steep decline in communications equipment sales in 2001. In 2002, the foundries registered significant increases in sales to wireless communications customers. In 2002, the communications segment of the pure-play foundry business surged 30 percent primarily as a result of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.'s communications business jumping 58 percent," according to the report. In total, the pure-play foundry communications IC market exhibited 58 percent growth in 2003. This was more than double the size of the 2001 pure-play foundry communications IC market, according to the report. In fact, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte. Ltd.'s communications IC sales doubled in 2003 while TSMC's and United Microelectronics Corp.'s 2003 communications IC sales increased 61 and 42 percent, respectively. In comparison, the pure-play foundry computer and consumer IC segments grew only 18 and 17 percent, respectively, in 2003.