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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications-News Only!!! (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: blankmind who wrote (386)	10/22/1997 8:59:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 1629

(COMTEX) BellSouth and Ascend to Co-Market Remote Access Solutions; C BellSouth and Ascend to Co-Market Remote Access Solutions; Companies Team Up Provide End-to-End Frame Relay and ATM Solutions to Corporate Customers ATLANTA (Oct. 22) BUSINESS WIRE -Oct. 22, 1997--BellSouth and Ascend Communications, Inc.(NASDAQ:ASND) today announced that the two companies have entered into a co-marketing agreement to provide remote access and WAN switching solutions to corporate and ISP customers. The agreement covers all of Ascend's products, in particular the company's Frame Relay, ISDN and ATM offerings. BellSouth's Network Complementary Applications Program (NCAP) is a co-marketing initiative that provides end-to-end communication solutions for large customers through alliances with specialized integrators. Under the NCAP agreement with Ascend, BellSouth account teams will identify customers who can benefit from the business solutions, equipment and professional services offered by Ascend and the network services of BellSouth. Ascend sales and engineering will team with BellSouth to develop a comprehensive communications solution for the customer. ============================================================================= "We have been using Ascend equipment in the core of our network for some time," said John Thacker, director of Indirect Distribution for BellSouth. "This agreement will enable us to look at the total remote networking picture, from the routers and remote concentrators at the customer site to the switches in our central office. Our customers are deploying Frame Relay and ATM services, and we want to be in a position to offer them a complete solution, not just a piece of the puzzle." "BellSouth was one of our earliest and is one of our best customers," said Sam Mathan, vice president, carrier marketing and sales for Ascend, "and we are pleased to have the opportunity to work with them in a more strategic role, planning and deploying end-to-end remote access solutions for their customers." Ascend Communications, Inc. develops, manufactures and sells wide area networking solutions for telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers and corporate customers worldwide. For more information about Ascend and its products, please visit the Ascend web site at www.ascend.com or e-mail info@ascend.com .

To: blankmind who wrote (386)	10/22/1997 9:06:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1629

Note the bolded paragraph below, in which Mr. Murphy says that he doubts a Lucent/ASND merger will happen because, among other things, ASND will be trading 50% higher in 6 months: (COMTEX) Strong PC Outlook over 4-5 Quarters Should Buoy Technology S Strong PC Outlook over 4-5 Quarters Should Buoy Technology Stocks, Industry Guru Murphy Predicts SAN DIEGO (Oct. 21) BUSINESS WIRE -Oct. 21, 1997--Worldwide strength in the personal computer sales and affiliated supplier businesses bode well for technology stocks over the next 4-5 quarters, a leading industry guru said today. Michael Murphy, editor of the California Technology Stock Letter, said that despite Intel Corp's (NASDAQ:INTC) recent cautionary pronouncements about revenue growth, "Everywhere else we check we're finding the PC business is very strong and should remain strong for the next four quarters as worldwide the conversion to Windows 95 and Windows NT continues." Murphy, author of the soon-to-be-released book, "Every Investor's Guide to High Tech and Mutual Funds," is the keynote speaker at the 1997 Informed Investors Electronics & Technology Forum Sunday morning Nov. 2 in San Diego. Companies scheduled to give analyst-style presentations to individual investors include Credence Systems (NASDAQ:CMOS), In Focus Systems (NASDAQ:INFS), Trimble Navigation (NASDAQ:TRMB), Learnout & Hauspie (NASDAQ:LHSPF) and Watkins-Johnson (NYSE:WJ). Notice of participation is pending from several other companies. Up to eight companies may present. The Forum runs from 8 a.m. to noon at the Mission Valley DoubleTree Hotel. The cost is $15 pre-paid, $20 at the door which includes a continental breakfast served at 7:30. Investors unable to attend may order tapes of the Forum for $25 for four company presentations and Murphy's commentary. To register or order tapes, call Informed Investors Forum at 800/992-4683. "Intel is very careful and always tells analysts what its customers are telling them," Murphy said. "But what needs to be known is that Intel's customers are changing the model they use in ordering. Many more are following Dell Computer (NASDAQ:DELL) and Compaq's (NYSE:CPQ) lead and following a build-to-suit strategy." Further, according to Murphy, many PC retailers are adopting a "just in time" distribution model to tighten the retail channel such that retailers will re-order PCs as they are sold off the shelves. This reduces the level of inventory exposure. "Also, it gives the PC maker the opportunity to order the specific chips the retail customers want," Murphy said. "If Pentium II machines are popular, they'll order Pentium II chips, etc." Murphy predicts Intel will announce "sometime in November" that its revenue projections will be better than earlier thought. By then, he said, the inventory adjustments will have been absorbed and the underlying strength of the overall PC market will prevail. Murphy believes other chip makers, including Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) and Cyrix (NASDAQ:CYRX), "will ship all they can produce because PC makers want alternatives to Intel chips." But production problems remain a hazard for the second-tier chipmakers, he cautioned. Strong quarterly earnings reports from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) came as no surprise to Murphy. "While the summer quarter always has cross currents and is the weakest quarter of the year for techs, it's not surprising that Microsoft and IBM had good earnings. And the fourth quarter will shape up to be strong." Even companies that reported weaker-than-expected earnings, such as LSI Logic (NYSE:LSI), should rebound in the fourth quarter, Murphy said. Murphy doesn't believe the rumored Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) acquisition of Ascend Communications (NASDAQ:ASND) will materialize. "Lucent can get most of what it wants by partnering with Ascend," he said. "Also, why would Ascend want to sell out at this price when in six months, with it getting its acquisition of Cascade under its belt and improving business, its stock could be worth 50 percent more?" Overall, Murphy said the strong PC market will lift related industries and suppliers including disk drive makers, semiconductor manufacturers and semiconductor equipment manufacturers "from Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) on down." Among the companies Murphy anticipates will benefit from a strong PC climate are Seagate (NYSE:SEG), Western Digital (NYSE:WDC), Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ:CRUS), IDT (NASDAQ:IDTC), and Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE:CY). "Mattson Technologies (NASDAQ:MTSN) is our favorite among he semi equipment makers," Murphy added. Forum organizer Informed Investors of Sacramento has been providing investment education to individual investors since 1993. For more information, call 800/992-4683. -0- nc/sf* dc/sf CONTACT: Informed Investors Inc. Bob Taylor/Tim Quast/Steve Chanecka, 916/448-8222 or 800/992-4683