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Technology Stocks : Creative Labs (CREAF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DRRISK who wrote (9440)	2/7/1998 8:35:00 PM
From: Terry Jackson	Respond to of 13925

As Economy Cranks Out Jobs, Asia Saves The Day. Economics a la Cramer: fnews.yahoo.com

To: DRRISK who wrote (9440)	2/8/1998 11:17:00 AM
From: Savoirman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13925

Hi gang, see asia1.com.sg for some perspective on the financial reforms in Singapore. It profiles one of Singapore's top bankers. Note the passage: Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew had noted that Singapore seemed to lack the "buzz" and "electric" that marked Hongkong's bustling financial service industry. Then, in a landmark speech at Sesdaq's 10th anniversary last November, Deputy Prime Minister BG (NS) Lee Hsien Loong had thrown Mr Seah's committee the longest rope he could have wished for. Said BG Lee: "I have encouraged them to not confine themselves to incremental improvements, but to make bold proposals where justified. I have told them that if all their proposals are accepted, it probably means that they have not been radical enough." Savoirman says: In my opinion, share buybacks is the least contentious of the 55 proposals put before the government. Practically a shoo-in. It's just one of those things that Singapore has been slow at implementing, and this island is anxious not to let simple improvements slip away. Buybacks are even more relevant these days when companies are often helpless seeing their stock bashed down to ridiculous levels. Hongkong stocks have held up better because of buybacks, and I am certain Singapore is going to follow suit. Malaysia (often a competitor) has allowed buybacks in a limited way but there the poor protection of minority shareholders has put a cloud over what was essentially a good move. Singapore is by common consensus miles ahead in policing the market, and thus buybacks will be a big positive to investors. And among companies here, Creaf is the one with the best disclosure. It reports earnings quarterly (99% of companies here report half-yearly) and reports it 3-4 weeks after the end of the period (most companies here take 2-3 months) and gives balance sheet figures every quarter (most companies here give only Profit and Loss at half-time). In short you get tons more information from Creaf than your regular Singapore company. Plus, it gives gross profit figures (all companies here have a big void between turnover and operating profit - you have to fill in the blanks). Lately Creaf has instituted a worldwide teleconference every quarter (don't even dream about this one - the only one so far is Singapore Telecom, the biggest company in Singapore with the telecom monopoly had one and was thoroughly embarrased by the technical problems during the conference). In short, Creaf is one super company, relative to its Singapore counterparts. Most companies here can't even hold a candle to its market share, technology, management, disclosure, earnings and financial strength. And why does it trade at 8x, when share buybacks are imminent? That is the 64K question.

To: DRRISK who wrote (9440)	2/8/1998 3:59:00 PM
From: LR	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13925

I too am underwater, treading fast, particularly with the recent lack of volatility. Just as an example, look at Friday's trading range. The machines are searching up and down. My orders on the edges of these limits have not gone thru for several days. Have recently bought a new computer(PII). Trying to support Creaf as much as I can. Bought AWE value(waiting for new version= this quarter?) and Modem Blaster. Unfortunately ISP's are upgrading to X2's. Choosing ATI All In Wonder Pro video card vs. Graphics Blaster(if Creaf were really serious about video they would already have had an AGP version of this card). Think they're playing catch-up. I too have appreciated Savoir's input. Hope he stays with us. It's good to have local/Singapore perspective. LR

To: DRRISK who wrote (9440)	2/9/1998 12:25:00 AM
From: Fred Mah	Respond to of 13925

"The Graphics Blaster Exxtreem is dog pooh" Well, I haven't used one so I don't know, but it is the lowest priced retail Permedia2 card I've seen. However, I'm only interested in the 3dfx retail card, which is a growing market on the retail side. For all their other cards they've gone the low price route, indicating that they are interested in boosting market share in the graphics field. Of course the chipsets they've chosen are pretty much average to subpar (Cirrus Logic stuff).