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

To: Return to Sender who wrote (18974)	5/17/2006 5:47:59 PM
From: BWAC	Respond to of 25522

AMAT's Calls. I think IF I were going to do something with the AMAT June 18's, strictly speaking from a Mr. Algo perspective, I would buy about 10 thousand or so of the contracts at 25 cents. And then "bank" them as insurance in my handy dandy computerized trading extreme dualed out hemi machine. Meanwhile for the next 30 trading days or so I would go all Algorithmic and short sell/cover/short sell/cover, etc. AMAT about 100,000 shares at a time and price level(into any rise). Increasing the number by 20k blocks as the price rose each 10 cent level above the initial position price (Say 100k at $17 to start, then add 20k at 17.10, 20k at 17.20), eventually evening things out at being short 500,000 shares or so as the price approaches $18. With a pre-programmed mid option term target of balancing out 500k shares short @ a $17.50ish average, with Auto-flip pofits banked on the equivalent of around 25 cents per option. Then I'd call around to my Algorithmic friends to see what they might want the price to do over the next 2 weeks. And then after peering deep into my crystal cesspool for a magic profit sign, I would use my remaining "insurance" to create a spike move in whichever way I wanted to be able to fade. ---------------------------------------------- Or in other words: This sucks, bigtime, for the small investor or trader.

To: Return to Sender who wrote (18974)	5/17/2006 8:18:09 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

I don't get this. On one end they say: *Percent of analysts tracked by Zacks who rate the stock with a "hold" or worse: 54%* which is not too bullish, and then they say: There are 11 "strong buy" ratings listed on Zack's, and that seems to be too optimistic. If the brokerages are yelling "buy" and the stock is still declining, how much money can be waiting on the sidelines? You can't have it both ways. 54% rating the stock as a hold or worse is not "too optimistic." Sometimes I wonder if these people even read what they write. Brian

To: Return to Sender who wrote (18974)	5/17/2006 8:25:57 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

From Standard & Poor's Equity Research Applied Materials (AMAT) : Ups to 5 STARS (strong buy) from 4 STARS (buy) Analyst: Michael Kaplan April quarter EPS of 26 cents vs. 18 cents beats our 22 cents estimate. Revenue rose 21% from both a year ago and the January quarter, and gross margin rose 140 basis points from the January quarter to 46.5%. Orders rose 22% from the January quarter and we think strength was broadly based. Applied Materials plans continued share buybacks in the July quarter. We see quarter-to-quarter revenue up 10% for the July quarter, at the top of guidance. We agree with Applied Materials's view that recent industrywide strength is driven by rational investment, and is sustainable. We are upping our fiscal year 2006 EPS (Oct.) estimate by 4 cents to 94 cents, and look for fiscal year 2007 at $1.28. Our 12-month target price remains $26.

To: Return to Sender who wrote (18974)	5/18/2006 8:11:27 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

IC-equipment bookings, billings up in Q1 Mark LaPedus EE Times (05/17/2006 6:13 PM EDT) SAN JOSE, Calif. — Worldwide semiconductor equipment billings reached $9.58 billion in the first quarter of 2006, up 20 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005 and about 3 percent above the same quarter a year ago, according to the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) trade group, based here. SEMI also reported worldwide semiconductor equipment bookings of $9.94 billion in the first quarter of 2006. The figure is 36 percent above the same quarter a year ago, and 18 percent above the bookings figure for the fourth quarter of 2005. “Bookings and billings for the first quarter of 2006 posted strong gains over the fourth quarter of 2005, with North America and Korea showing particularly robust growth,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI, in a statement. “Year-over-year sales in most regions saw double-digit growth, with the exception of Europe, and Korea, which saw capacity purchased in 2004 coming online,” he said. SEMI’s data was gathered in cooperation with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) from more than 150 global equipment companies that provide data on a monthly basis.

To: Return to Sender who wrote (18974)	5/18/2006 9:34:57 AM
From: etchmeister	Respond to of 25522

Oh my goodness - even Sammy is turning positive and it seems to mirror to certain extend AMAT's outlook. RE analyst sentiment: it beneficial to once in a while to listen to the real world to get a feeling for their sentiment rather relying on a data graveyard. Samsung Elec expects strong memory chip demand Wednesday May 17, 6:55 am ET By Judy Hua HONG KONG (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (KSE:005930.KS - News), the world's top maker of memory chips, expects stronger demand for computer memory chips in the second half of this year and sees NAND flash chip prices strengthening. ADVERTISEMENT click here Samsung, the number-two maker of large liquid crystal display (LCD) panels worldwide, also expects increased demand and better pricing for LCD panels for notebooks and personal computers in the second half, Chu Woosik, Samsung's senior vice president for investor relations, told Reuters on Wednesday. Chu, who was in Hong Kong to attend an investor conference, attributed the expected improved demand for DRAM memory chips to a quicker transition to DDR2, which is a newer, faster chip, and stronger seasonal sales. Samsung raised prices of NAND-type flash memory chips, used in digital cameras and music players, by a "mid-single-digit" percent earlier this month. Chu declined to predict the next NAND price move but said he expected NAND flash prices to strengthen. "Lately, we are seeing better demand mostly coming from the NAND flash card area," he said. "On top of that, many consumer digital device makers are waiting for new products to be introduced in time for the summer. Going forward, we expect the (NAND) market to strengthen, including the pricing environment." Some analysts agreed that prices could rise, due in part to less output by companies such as Samsung and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (KSE:000660.KS - News). "NAND prices will likely remain stable or rise slightly until the third quarter," said Lee Min-hee, analyst at CJ Investment & Securities. "The sharp price fall in the first quarter is boosting demand, while Samsung and Hynix have been slow in increasing NAND output since March. New consumer gadgets coming later in the year, such as portable multimedia players, will also help." Chu said he was confident that Samsung, the world's third-biggest mobile phone maker after Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and Motorola (NYSE:MOT - News), would beat its 2006 handset sales target of 115 million units. He said the company did not have a new target for handset sales, but he expected sales to be "a lot stronger" in the second half due to seasonal factors and the launch of new products. Samsung's shares closed up 1.87 percent at 653,000 won on Wednesday, outperforming a 1.4 percent gain in the benchmark index (KSE:^KS11 - News). The stock has fallen 0.9 percent so far this year, lagging a 1.6 percent gain in the benchmark index. LCD RECOVERY Samsung currently sells slightly less than 10 million handsets a month, he said, adding that the company would launch 30 new handset models in the second quarter of this year. LCD panels for the TV market would remain strong, while Chu expected prices for LCD panels for notebooks and PCs to recover as early as the end of the second quarter. "As of lately, we have seen inventory adjustments in the IT area, so perhaps by the end of the quarter we could expect some improvement in the IT panel prices," he said. "But again the full impact of this development will be really seen in the third quarter and beyond." LCD margins, which fell to 4 percent for the first quarter from 13 percent in the fourth quarter, would also improve with the launch of a new production line, he said, echoing some analyst's views. "Demand for IT panels will improve in the second half on seasonality but their prices are likely to fall further," CJ Investment & Securities's Lee said. Demand for 40-inch-and-over-sized TV panels would be stronger as their prices could fall to an attractive range, Chu said. Samsung last month posted a bigger-than-expected 25 percent fall in first-quarter operating profit, hit by sliding margins in mobile phones and memory chips. (Additional reporting by Rhee So-eui in Seoul)