Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Cymer (CYMI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maxwell who wrote (8456)	11/6/1997 12:12:00 AM
From: Stanley L Brown	Respond to of 25960

Maxwell, Really appreciate your input. And Im biting Im biting! Happy Trading Stan

To: Maxwell who wrote (8456)	11/6/1997 12:16:00 AM
From: FilerBill	Respond to of 25960

Maxwell, you and I are pretty much on the same page on trading stocks and risks. I will probably always be a straight options player from here on. When you lose you just save up for the next big play.

To: Maxwell who wrote (8456)	11/6/1997 10:53:00 AM
From: Starlight	Respond to of 25960

Maxwell - No - I'm not biting. I used to do options, but I found that it was a losing game. You're playing "against the clock", and your timing has to be perfect, or you lose. Yes - it's best to sell options long before they reach expiration, but what if the stock doesn't go up during that time period? The whole point I'm trying to make is that you're playing against time with options. With stock, time is usually on your side. Betty

To: Maxwell who wrote (8456)	11/6/1997 9:55:00 PM
From: JRGEE	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 25960

Maxwell, I believe it was you who mention a great concern about Kamatso's lasers. Well, I have reason to believe that they are sending them to the stepper companies to test. It seems that their cost to maintain the lasers is much less than Cymer's. My question to you and the board are the following. If Kamatso's lasers are as good as Cymer's, how many can they produce next year and the following year. Best case scenerio. Will the Japanese, force Nikon and Canon to buy from a Japanese supplier or will they be able to buy Cymer. Katmatso being better capitalized and diversified sale the lasers at a loss inorder to capture market shares from Cymer? What is the cost of a Kamatso laser? I am concern about how this can impact Cymer. I know what management has said but I do not trust the Japanese. PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY, Ray PS Nothing will matter if Cymer does not watch out for the competition. The A-Team has not taking them seriously in public and I do not like this.

To: Maxwell who wrote (8456)	11/10/1997 3:17:00 AM
From: Jess Beltz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25960

Maxwell, I do not usually venture into the technical aspects of this company, since there I'm in WAY over my head, but I do have a question, the answer to which may well impact the ultimate financials of the company. I would also appreciate any input from the other technical experts on the thread, specifically Mr. Bagwell, Mr. Lamar, Mr. DeSousa and TheSpecialist (and any others I might have inadvertantly left out.) You may have answered this question in the past, and if so, please forgive me and briefly summarize the previous response. Specifically, A friend and I were talking about Cymer, and he expressed that he was concerned that the company's profits were directly tied to the ability of the stepper-scanner companies (the big 4) to get NEW steppers out the door, and he was greatly concerned about their ability to do so. Therein lies the question. Is Cymer's profitability so tied? That is, does the ramp-up to .25 micron and under wafers rely on all new stepper-scanners? Is it a straightforward and uncomplicated process to change the light source of EXISTING in-production steppers from their existing light source (say UV I-Line) to DUV eximer lasers? Do the new-generation chips have other features about them (size and layer dimensions, etc.) that require an all new stepper, or can economical modifications be made to exisiting production lines that will allow a quick transition to .25 microns via a DUV process? It seems that if the latter, and conditional on the stepper manufacturers ability to conduct the retooling (I assume that all of Cymer's sales would still be made through the stepper manufacturers, since logically they would be the ones to retool the steppers if that were feasible) then Cymer's potential sales of lasers could be much larger than the sales of new steppers. Is this a possibility? It seems either way that the stepper manufacturers are the bottleneck to the ramp up, not Cymer. I'm sure my post has errors that betray my technical ignorance. It seems however that this is an issue of fundamental importance to the success of the firm. If you reply, please remember to keep it simple. Thanks in advance. jess.