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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: robert b furman who wrote (55345)	1/30/2012 12:06:56 PM
From: willcousa	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95567

At times tech advances are compelling enough to be cost-justifiable regardless of the state of the economy. It may be that in mobile we are seeing or will soon see such a time.

To: robert b furman who wrote (55345)	1/30/2012 3:38:32 PM
From: Donald Wennerstrom	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95567

OT: Bob, I had an experience this morning that I wanted to share with you and the rest of the readers on this thread. I was running low on cash so I went to the ATM and requested some cash. Lo and behold, out comes the cash in new bills that obviously had never been touched by human hands before - all "crinkle free". As you know, if you have ever had the chance to see crinkle free cash, it is a something to cherish. At first I didn't know what to do with it, I didn't want to spoil the sight of the cash by touching it, but I finally did and now it is not crinkle free anymore, but I handled it carefully so it still looks pretty good. At first I didn't know how I came to get such "off the press" money, but then it came to me. The Fed had obviously started QE3 last week and got their presses up and running at high speed. Then they quickly got it to my bank and the bank quickly put it in the ATM over the weekend so it would be there for me to enjoy this morning - never touched by human hands. Well of course, now that the Fed went to all that trouble to print the new money, they want me to spend it! The savings rate of the general public is too high - now up around 4 percent. We can't do that, it is un-American - we must all pitch in and get this economy moving again. Giving me the new money this morning has made me all nervous. I guess like RtS, I need to go out and buy a new TV, or maybe an Ipad. I should think rather carefully on this, but the main thing is - the important thing is - I need to spend the money on something. Now that I have this new money - printed out of thin air - I got to thinking about my next door neighbor and how he could use "new money" as well. You see, I have a wonderful neighbor that has been next door in a house for about 6/7 years. He is a construction worker and now been out of work for well over 3 years. His wife is a nurse working at the local hospital. Lately they have not been able to make house payments so last week they had to move out to a much smaller apartment and their house is in foreclosure. So you might ask - what is the point? The point is, the Fed has been printing "new money" and pumping old money into Wall Street and the Banks so they can do rather well. As a result, the Stock Market has been doing rather well since the bottom in March 09. However, there is another world out there - called Main Street - that has not been doing all that well. Around where I live, there are a lot of people trying to cope with unemployment, causing foreclosures on not only houses, but businesses as well. A lot of empty store fronts. The Government unemployment rate is calculated at just over 8 percent, but its really about double that, at least out here on Main Street. Now for the for the people and businesses that are working, I go along with Gottfried's sentiment. <<I think new electronic gadgets are bought for comfort by many - regardless of the economy.>> Now to look at your question. <<1998 all over again?>> IMO, we are not even close to a 1998 scenario. The stock market and the semis have had a good run since the bottom in 08/09, but with a lot of Government help. To get back to a robust economy for Main Street is going to take many, many, years. How long is many? - I don't know, but it is certainly going to be more than 2 or 3 years. Don