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

To: Steve Rolfe who wrote (27272)	12/9/1997 6:41:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

Don't you think its possible that the powers that be at Ascend or Lucent may have given CNBC a call and said "Look this information is not public information and you and your source may be in violation of something or another if you continue to leak this... etc." Steve, I definitely think this is possible. Gary Korn

To: Steve Rolfe who wrote (27272)	12/9/1997 6:43:00 PM
From: Duke	Respond to of 61433

Steve, may I chip in some of my thoughts about ASND silence in rumor buyout? Every thing unclearly being seen is always attracts curious, that is one of the way makes ASND look more attractive; secondly who knows? may be this is real so silence is the best choice to prevent in lawsuits or difficulties may arise in the future against what they said now. If you don't have a Mercesdes but someone pass a rumor around that you're royalty and drive a fancy car, what would you do? :-) Just my thoughts Duke

To: Steve Rolfe who wrote (27272)	12/9/1997 7:28:00 PM
From: sepku	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 61433

>>>Why do you suppose Lucent and Ascend have not come out and stated that they are not talking<<< The reason is simple: if ASND or LU were to not follow a strict "no comment" policy regarding rumors and speculation, then they would be adversely affected in the future. For example...if one of the companies were rumored to be in talks to aquire another, and they denied the rumor, then they would be expected to do so for every other rumor that emerged in the future. Someday they might truly be in talks with another company and due to certain sensitivities they wish it to be kept under wraps (otherwise it would be public info), but if a rumor was flying and they said "no comment", people would assume that means "yes" since otherwise they would have denied it like last time. Then rival companies could act on this knowledge. Or what if the aquiree's stock shoots up in expectation of a buyout? More costly for the aquirer. What if the talks then break off? Aquiree's stock crashes. Therefore the best policy is to not comment on rumors and/or speculation. This protects the companies' best interests. Style Pts.

To: Steve Rolfe who wrote (27272)	12/9/1997 7:39:00 PM
From: Big Dog	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 61433

Assuming the buyout rumor is true, I surmise that the companies, along with their respective armies of attorneys, investment bankers and accountants, are putting the deal in final form. For example, price, structure, tax consequences, respective roles of managements, buy-outs, sales of unwanted sections of ASND, head-count, public relations, checking with existing client base, etc. This takes at least, a few days. I do believe that either LU or ASND did complain to CNBC about how "factual" the Maria B. report was. CNBC brass has probably informed the CNBC crew to tone down the story. Maria B. definitely didn't get in trouble for the story, since she was selected to introduce Mr. Robert Wright of GE (CNBC's parent), in connection with today's press conference announcing the partnership with Dow Jones.

To: Steve Rolfe who wrote (27272)	12/9/1997 8:18:00 PM
From: Dakota Sullivan	Respond to of 61433

"Don't you think its possible that the powers that be at Ascend or Lucent may have given CNBC a call and said "Look this information is not public..." nope. they're a news source. it's their job to report credible rumors. most reliable sources are in violation of something or other-specifically, confidentiality agreements they sign when they join the company. CNBC has speculated very aggessively on Hilton, certain bank deals. personally, I believe no news is no news.