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

To: Gary Ku who wrote (607)	12/14/1997 12:49:00 PM
From: Jumpin Joe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1853

Gary, Where did you find your numbers on cash reserves? As of their Oct. 28, 1997 press release, Tower had $90,965,000 in cash/interest bearing deposits/securities, less $13,235,000 for the most recent dividend. This leaves them $77,730,000 with 13,980,000 shares outstanding for a total of $5.56/sh in cash. This is very close to the number listed in the Yahoo business profile ($5.46/sh). With TSEMF's prior history of trading below cash value, $8 3/4 may not be the bottom yet. The problems in Asia will not go away overnight, even with an IMF bailout of Korea (They spent billions and took years to reach the point of economic collapse and it will take billions and considerable time to fix things - IMO). Also, the entire semiconductor/equipment manufacturer sector has completely broken down from a technical standpoint. It will take some time for the big money to flow back here (IMHO). Combine that with TSEMF's statement warning of some tough quarters ahead and this stock will likely be stagnant for a while (I could see them dropping another $1 to $3/sh over the next 3-6 months simply due to weakness in this sector). I don't know exactly where bottom will be, however, "diving head first" into semiconductor stocks at this time (including TSEMF) still carries considerable risk. From the posts I've read here, only "Slob" has been addressing the risk side of the equation. He has taken a little flack for that. However, in evaluating stocks, one of Warren Buffets primary concerns is minimizing the risk to capital (He not only expects a high rate of return from the business, but also demands very minimal risk to his initial capital investment). Just some "food for thought". JJ