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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (14870)	5/10/2005 8:15:35 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Europe's $86 billion research program to create 925,000 jobs, says report Peter Clarke EE Times (05/10/2005 7:22 AM EDT) LONDON — The Seventh Framework Program (FP7), the next collaborative research plan for the European Union that is due to run from 2007 to 2013, is expected cost about $86 billion and create nearly million jobs in Europe, according to an impact assessment carried out by the European Commission. The report attempts to compare the impact of the proposed plan for FP7 over the next 25 years, with a baseline of moderate growth in European Union research funding and with a "do-nothing" approach. One key part of FP7 is the European Commission's proposal to double the level of spending, compared to previous plans, to an average of 9.6 billion euro (about $12.3 billion) per year or 67 billion euro (about $86 billion) over the duration of the program. The doubling is cited as necessary to help the European Union fulfill its re-launched strategy "to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world", the so-called Lisbon strategy. The European Union's framework programs, are broad programs covering everything from life sciences and materials through to software and societal aspects of technology adoption but have always included information technology and electronics as major elements. FP7 is expected to include nano-materials and nano-production technologies as one of the major themes, in addition to an enlarged "information society" theme. The report's argument that nearly one million jobs would be created by 2030 is based on the estimates of the effects of the research and the results of the research on the continent's gross domestic product, the European Commission said. The proposed doubling will create 925,000 extra jobs for European citizens by the year 2030, of which up to 215,000 jobs will be in research, the report said. Depending on the level of framework program funding after FP7, the impact assessment also claims that doubling the EU research budget at this stage could increase Europe's GDP by up to 1 percent over the same period. The impact assessment looked at three policy options in particular — the 'do-nothing' scenario of ending European Union support for R&D, the 'business-as-usual' approach of continuing FP6 in its current form, and the proposed FP7 option. The relative merits of each option were analyzed in the context of globalization, the need for increased growth, competitiveness and jobs, environmental and social concerns, and weaknesses in the European research system. The report suggests that a "do-nothing" approach would produce a fall in GDP of 0.84 percent and destroy about 800,000 jobs with 87,000 of them research-related compared with the "business-as-usual" approach. That "business-as-usual" approach — continuing research funding as it currently stands under FP6, with no change in the budget, structure of thematic content, would not represent an adequate response to the new challenges facing Europe or the renewed emphasis placed on the Lisbon agenda, the report said. Furthermore, as the European Union now has 25 member states, and maintaining the same budget as for FP6 would result in a fragmentation of the research effort. A summary of the report: "Impact assessment and ex ante evaluation" could be found here when this story was first posted.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (14870)	5/10/2005 8:50:54 AM
From: Big Bucks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Brian....then why does AMAT feel that it is necessary to spend part of their cash reserves to buy back outstanding shares? Insufficient demand for available shares means TOO MANY SHARES AVAILABLE that cannot be digested/ absorbed by the market. What do you think would be the effect on stock price if investors couldn't get enough shares?..There would be a bidding frenzy which would drive up stock price. It is a supply and demand issue. BB

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (14870)	5/10/2005 9:51:59 AM
From: Paul V.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Big Bucks, Did't you advance the same arguement a few years ago. It appears that AMAT follows Gottfried's bookings, billing and BTB data and charts rather than even earnings. When earnings are high the price gets lower because the anticipation of lower earnings and the reverse. It appears that this stock is an anomaly to the rest of other stocks. The PE skyrockets when the BTB normally is at its low in anticipation of the stock going to new highs. Am I right in this perception. Just my opinions.