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Technology Stocks : QUANTUM -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dave O. who wrote (6213)	12/7/1997 2:37:00 PM
From: William T. Katz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9124

Dave, you are just plain dead wrong. Individuals do not have equal access to info, and anyone that tells you otherwise is selling something. If you call up a company, the amount of information they provide you is very uneven. Some people will be able to talk with the CFO. Others will call and get an IR person who doesn't know anything. Read some of the comments from people that said they were told the gist of press releases days before they were released. And yet this is really small stuff compared to the crap that goes on all the time. How about the big networker that gives private meetings to more select groups of analysts, giving them information that is substantially different that the info released to the general population? [This just happened] I do lots of research on my investments and I come up with my own decisions and use analyst's interpretations to supplement/confirm my decisions. Sometimes, I go counter to analyst research, e.g. with AMZN, YHOO, and some of those high flyers. When QNTM (and every other company for that matter) meets with analysts at Comdex, individuals do not have the ability to find out what was said unless they buy tickets to Las Vegas and somehow get into that meeting. I could care less about how much analysts are getting paid to provide information. Analysts don't own QNTM. WE DO. So why do analysts have the infrastructure set up so information is streamlined to them rather than us? How much does it cost QNTM to have a document which gets published on the website at the same time they meet with analysts? Then QNTM can hand-hold the analysts and explain different parts of the presentation, but the general content should be available to every shareholder. The reason for the current infrastructure seems to be this idea that the information needs to be filtered before going to the masses. This is a stupid reason. This needs to change. And I think there needs to be new legislature addressing the infrastructure, perhaps requiring free and timely posting of all public information like certain SEC documents through EDGAR. -Bill

To: Dave O. who wrote (6213)	12/7/1997 4:11:00 PM
From: Michael Burry	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9124

Re: analyst/company access <<I think individuals do have equal access to info. All one needs to do is pick up the phone and call company XYZ and pose their questions.>> This may be true of small caps, but not the widely covered firms. Theoretically, we should identify ourselves as shareholders and get a direct line to the top brass if we so request. No. I recently created a stir with some comments, and when I was called by the company, the general manager was already on the line with Robby Stephens, giving personal guidance. I get their head tech guy who doesn't really know much. Remember, the analysts command an audience because they inspire fear. Analysts? They are not paid to talk to the press or the small investor. There is always a secretary saying" I'll take the message." And then I get called back 1 in 10 times with limited info. The SEC needs to limit analyst-company contact because it is unfair, but it won't. Wall Street is founded on this contact. There is no doubt that the system is unfair. Playing in big,liquid, widely owned, widely followed companies makes the problem worse. IMO, the way to play these is to wait until the good companies fall due to short-sighted analysts and institutions. Quantum fits in here. A long-term >2-3 year time horizon lifts the small investor above the din - no one on Wall Street is really looking out there. Mike