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

To: Gottfried who wrote (19260)	6/6/2006 8:21:15 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

SMIC gets aids to construct 8-inch fab in Chengdu Claire Song and Esther Lam, DigiTimes.com [Monday 5 June 2006] In addition to recently securing financing to expand its 8-inch wafer fabrication capacity in Tianjin, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is aggressively expanding its capacity by partnering with regional governments in Chengdu and Wuhan, according to industry sources. The China-based foundry landed investment aid from the Wuhan government on a 12-inch fab construction, according to a May Bloomberg report. The regional government will invest up to US$3 billion in project, while SMIC said it would not have to put up any money. According to sources, SMIC will have a similar partnership with the local government for a new fab in Chengdu. SMIC will likely build an 8-inch wafer fab with volume production to start in the second quarter of 2007. Monthly capacity is initially set at 20,000 wafers and should have house a maximum of 55,000 wafers, the sources noted. SMIC already houses a chip testing and assembling plant, dubbed AT2, at Chengdu. The plant started operation in mid March. AT2 was established as a joint-venture with Singapore-based United Test & Assembly Center (UTAC). By working with regional governments, SMIC will free itself from the burden of a large investment, as costs regarding land, construction and equipment purchases will all be handled by the regional government. SMIC will only be responsible for wafer fabrication and paying salaries to the staff. The foundry also retains the right to acquire the fab completely after three years into the operation. In related news, SMIC's Shanghai fabs are now running at full capacity on escalating demand, with sources saying the company is canceling its discounts offered on mature process production (0.15-micron and above). SMIC production bases overview Location Wafer size Mainstream production node(s) Remarks Fab 1, 2 Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park 8-inch 90nm to 0.35-micron - Fab 3B Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park - - Back-end fab that attached to Fab 1 and 2 to prevent metal contamination to the front-end processes. Fab 4, 5 Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area 12-inch - - Fab 6C Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area - - Back-end fab Fab 7 Tianjin's Xiqing Economic Development Area 8-inch 0.15- to 0.35-micron Acquires US$300 million 5-year loan facility on expansion AT2 Chengdu Special Export Manufacturing Zone - - Back-end fab with UTAC

To: Gottfried who wrote (19260)	6/6/2006 4:11:51 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

FWIW: Survey: Wealthy Americans Keen on Market Tuesday June 6, 1:39 pm ET By Eileen Alt Powell, AP Business Writer Survey: Wealthy Americans Are More Optimistic About the Market Than Before NEW YORK (AP) -- Wealthy Americans are more optimistic about the stock market now than they were last year, but they also believe gains will be more muted in the future, according to a survey released Tuesday. The 2006 U.S. Trust survey of affluent Americans, the 25th in a series begun by the New York-based wealth management company in 1993, measures the confidence of a sample of the top 1 percent wealthiest Americans -- those with an adjusted gross income of more than $300,000 or a net worth greater than $5.9 million. The study found that 63 percent of respondents were optimistic about their U.S. stock market investments, up from 48 percent in 2005 but still below the 2004 high of 66 percent. Still, the wealthy are concerned about future returns, the study found. Asked to identify their top financial worries, the respondents expressed concern that stock market gains will be lower in the future. They also worried that their children will have a tougher time financially, terrorism could hurt the economy and inflation could eat away at investments. "After a brief period of uncharacteristic pessimism, affluent investors have returned to their traditional belief in a strong U.S. economy and a healthy U.S. stock market," Paul K. Napoli, U.S. Trust vice chairman, said in a statement accompanying the report. "At the same time, the affluent seem to realize that stock market gains are unlikely to replicate the inflated levels of the bull market at the end of the last decade," he said. Napoli said he expected stock market gains "will be reasonable, but not sensational" in coming years. The study also found that the wealthy have shifted their portfolio holdings slightly from a year ago. In 2006, the wealthy had 21 percent of their investments in domestic blue chip stocks, down from 24 percent in 2005, and had 15 percent in cash equivalents, down from 17 percent a year earlier. But they increased their holdings of international stocks to 7 percent from 5 percent and their investments in corporate bonds to 6 percent from 5 percent. Other holdings included small-cap stocks, municipal bonds, U.S. government securities, real estate, venture capital and hedge funds. Although the wealthy continued to hold an average of 15 percent of their portfolios in real estate, they are not as optimistic about future gains in this category than in the past. Some 48 percent of the 2006 respondents think real estate values will increase over the next year, down from 72 percent who felt this way in 2005, the study found. The study involved in-depth telephone interviews with 150 randomly selected wealthy Americans, with results accurate to plus or minus 7 percent. U.S. Trust is a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corp., which is based in San Francisco.