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To: kech who wrote (2730)	12/31/1997 1:35:00 PM
From: Eric Christian	Respond to of 8358

Tom, couldn't some of the problems be attributed to unforeseen business mistakes? I'm not pretending to know anymore about it. But I will not automatically assume that there is something devious going on. Since I have never run a business I have no way of knowing how far in advance you can actually see problems arising. As far as I know as the end of the quarter approached it became apparent that the numbers were not coming up and a warning was issued. What exactly is a corporation's responsibility to the investor? Is a company supposed to stop news of new product availability when it looks like the sales for the current quarter are slowing? Maybe my expectations of the corporation-investor relationship are not demanding enough. There is always an element of risk when investing. People who do not understand this concept have no business handing over their hard-earned money to an investment broker. Perhaps someone with more knowledge can explain the legal responsibilities of the corporation to the private investor?

To: kech who wrote (2730)	1/2/1998 10:01:00 AM
From: Pongo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 8358

Tom- "The plot"??? Keep in mind two things. One the CNBC interview wasn't a fireside chat it was at their studios and the overwhelming interest of the interviewer was "Does it come in blue?" Secondly, this is an incredibly dynamic industry. Product life cycles are in the 12-18 month range and one had just been launched, optimisim was high. Still it is an execution issue for all the high tech companies. Either one must be a consipiracy theorist or love buying high multiples to believe that Bay(once a 52 week high of $50 and a low of $14), 3Com(high $82 low $24) Fore(high $~$40 low $10) Ascend(high $80 low $22) Intel (high $102 low $63) Xylan(once a high of $70 and a 52 week low of $12) are all in a common conspiracy to inflate stock values and then dissapoint. Or is it possible, just maybe, as Eric indicated people continued to buy and raise the stock prices on their own? Lastly, one usually looks for motive...Mr Benson hasn't sold any material amounts of his 19 million+ shares in over 3 years. Mr. Levine much to the opposite of intended opinion has been selling shares for over 2 years on a quarterly basis as a matter of personal financial planning and his intent was publicly dislcosed. What is also missed is the price garnered during the period. Let me offer th following review of factual filings, not assumptions: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ NAME DIRECT TITLE DATE SHARES SHARE TOTAL OR TRANSACTION TYPE SOLD SOLD PRICE HOLDINGS INDIRECT LEVINE S ROBERT SHAREHOLDER 10/07/97 200,000 33.42 DISPO BY OPTION EXER COM LEVINE S ROBERT SHAREHOLDER 10/06/97 500,000 32.41 -- D DISPO BY OPTION EXER COM LEVINE S ROBERT AFFILIATED PERSON 10/01/97 500,000 32.02 OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT AFFILIATED PERSON 09/30/97 500,000 34.02 OPEN MARKET SALE COM MYERON MICHAEL D DIRECTOR 09/26/97 7,000 34.00 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM MYERON MICHAEL D DIRECTOR 09/26/97 3,000 34.00 OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT AFFILIATED PERSON 09/25/97 500,000 33.62 OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT AFFILIATED PERSON 09/24/97 500,000 32.04 OPEN MARKET SALE COM MCGUINESS DONALD F DIRECTOR 07/09/97 5,000 30.44 OPEN MARKET SALE COM MYEROW MICHAEL D DIRECTOR 07/09/97 3,500 33.00 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM MYEROW MICHAEL D DIRECTOR 07/09/97 3,000 31.44 OPEN MARKET SALE COM MYEROW MICHAEL D DIRECTOR 07/08/97 2,000 31.00 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM MYEROW MICHAEL D DIRECTOR 07/07/97 1,000 31.00 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM MYEROW MICHAEL D DIRECTOR 07/03/97 5,000 30.75 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 07/01/97 432,000 28.53 OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 06/30/97 451,000 28.32 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 06/27/97 517,000 29.78 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 06/27/97 100,000 29.78 -- I OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 06/27/97 150,000 29.78 OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 05/16/97 100,000 N/A -- D DISPOSED BY GIFT COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 05/15/97 50,000 N/A -- D DISPOSED BY GIFT COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 05/14/97 50,000 N/A -- D DISPOSED BY GIFT COM DUNCAN PAUL R DIRECTOR 03/28/97 25,000 32.50 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM DUNCAN PAUL R DIRECTOR 03/28/97 25,000 31.38 OPEN MARKET SALE COM MCGUINNESS DONALD F DIRECTOR 03/28/97 2,000 33.00 OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 03/26/97 1,300,000 31.61 OPEN MARKET SALE COM MCGUINNESS DONALD F DIRECTOR 01/09/97 1,200 33.25 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM MCGUINNESS DONALD F DIRECTOR 01/09/97 800 33.50 OPEN MARKET SALE COM MYEROW MICHAEL D DIRECTOR 01/09/97 2,300 33.25 OPEN MARKET SALE COM OLIVER CHRISTOPHER J OFFICER 01/09/97 205,000 33.29 OPEN MARKET SALE COM MYEROW MICHAEL D DIRECTOR 01/08/97 1,000 34.00 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM MCGUINNESS DONALD F DIRECTOR 01/06/97 1,000 34.25 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM MCGUINNESS DONALD F DIRECTOR 01/06/97 1,000 33.50 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM MCGUINNESS DONALD F DIRECTOR 01/06/97 1,000 34.00 -- D OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 01/03/97 10,000 33.00 OPEN MARKET SALE COM KIRKPATRICK DAVID J OFFICER 01/02/97 4,000 33.50 OPEN MARKET SALE COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 12/29/96 50,000 33.50 -- I OPEN MARKET SALE COM KIRKPATRICK DAVID J OFFICER 12/26/96 292 N/A -- D DISPOSED BY GIFT COM LEVINE S ROBERT PRESIDENT 12/26/96 1,200,000 34.76 OPEN MARKET SALE COM This appears to show that one, the directors have a defined period they sell, not opportunistic. It has been one of a pattern over the years not a surprise. It has been a pattern of public record available to any investor, CNBC usually announces the latest report not the historical significance, from my vantage point. Lastly, outside of the depressed level of the stock today, obviously from the last quarters shortfall, the directors don't seem to have appeared to have been selling at the high of the purported class action periods. And knowing all this does anyone know if any of the officers had any personal expenditures they required the money for? House, boat, plane? Both Mr. Oliver and Mr. Levine are in the Forbes top 100 of wealthiest individuals. As hard as it may be to imagine one has to put the dollar levels in perspective to their needs and desires. Lastly, Mr. Levine at last report still owned over 7,000,000 shares which means he has lost over $220 million during the period and Mr. Oliver has lost over $55 million. Despite their gains, of selling near the period lows, it appears they have suffered in kind. Mr. Benson by the way has lost over $600 million, period high of $47 to yesterdays close, on his 19 million+ share holding. The story can't always be told in 3 minute segments or sound bites on TV or snippets on the internet. The entire story is there if one wants to research it. And oh by the way...ask Wall Street why they pummel stocks when the earnings are missed. Oracle missed Wall Street expectations by 6% and the stock got pummeled by over 30% and it will probably take 6 months to recover at least. That is a punishing 500% miss:valuation drop ratio. I would look more at the trading more than the company's and individual actions. I have had enough with this. How about you?