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

To: etchmeister who wrote (17247)	1/18/2006 12:20:23 AM
From: Cary Salsberg	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25522

Hill said 2006 is the year of PVD and 2007 of CMP. Production PVD orders are the key this year. Hill says PVD is a $1B market. NVLS said they had 18 customers a quarter or 2 ago, up from nothing very recently. If these customers order production volumes of PVD, NVLS will outperform the industry.

To: etchmeister who wrote (17247)	1/18/2006 2:46:30 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Economic Activity Continues to Expand Wednesday January 18, 2:08 pm ET By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer Economic Activity Continues to Expand; Housing Market Shows Signs of Cooling WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy chugged ahead as the new year opened with manufacturing picking up, employment improving and retail sales rising, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. The housing market, however, showed fresh signs of cooling but still was in good shape, the Fed said in its latest snapshot of business activity nationwide. The survey, based on information collected before Jan. 9 and supplied by the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks, will figure into discussions at Fed policymakers' next meeting Jan. 31. Economists expect the Fed will bump up rates by another quarter point in its continuing efforts to keep the economy and inflation on an even keel. It will be the last meeting for Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who will retire that day after 18-plus years running the central bank. Some businesses continued to struggle with high costs for raw materials -- especially construction materials. Some producers attempted to pass along some of their increased costs to customers, while competitive factors helped to restrain such behavior, the report suggested. Retail prices were mostly stable, the Fed survey said. On the factory front, "increases in manufacturing activity were widely reported across the country," the report said. Only the St. Louis Fed region characterized industrial activity as mixed. Turning to labor market conditions nationwide, most Fed regions reported signs of "continued, if generally moderate, increases in employment." The Fed districts of New York, Atlanta, Kansas City and Dallas reported evidence of stronger employment growth. In terms of retailing, all the Fed regions -- except for Cleveland -- reported that their merchants saw sales rise during the holiday season. In Cleveland, however, sales were generally flat or less than at the same time a year ago. Automobile sales, meanwhile, were "generally somewhat sluggish across the nation," the report said. Travel and tourism remained robust across most of the country. But the high-flying housing market showed new signs of losing altitude. "Many districts reported moderation in residential real-estate activity, although from a high level," the report said. Boston, New York, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago and Minneapolis reported some cooling in real-estate markets. "While some of the hottest markets in the San Francisco district have cooled, for example, Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area -- other areas, such as Oregon and especially Hawaii, have reportedly heated up further," the report said. The Fed regions of Kansas City and Dallas, meanwhile, continued to see strong housing activity. Construction and repail work remained brisk in Louisana and Mississippi, the report said.