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To: Sector Investor who wrote (34471)	2/11/1998 10:58:00 PM
From: blankmind	Respond to of 61433

'Kurlak Effect' Hurts Chip Stocks As Analyst Warns of Sector Slump By LISA BRANSTEN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE EDITION SAN FRANCISCO -- Semiconductor stocks weakened Wednesday after Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Thomas Kurlak warned that the recent rally in the sector couldn't be sustained. The Philadelphia semiconductor index slipped 1.86 to close at 305.01, underperforming the broader technology sector. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.49 to 1708.55, while Morgan Stanley's high-tech 35 index added 2.63 to 509.22. Join a discussion on technology stocks. Jump to a roundup of individual tech stocks, or see the latest activity in U.S. stocks or U.S. small stocks. Also, listed options quotations are available. Weekday Trader: Quirky Oracle's Latest Run May Stall Barron's Online Both the Nasdaq and the semiconductor index have rallied since the start of the year, recovering from a drop at the end of 1997. Late last year, as several Asian economies looked close to collapse, chip stocks were hit by fears of order slowdowns and the effect of widespread currency devaluations. Several analysts agreed with Mr. Kurlak that many stocks in the sector have gotten ahead of themselves -- without any fundamental change in the industry. To be sure, the Philadelphia index has jumped about 30% over the past month, but is still about 23% below the high it reached at the beginning of October as troubles in the Asian economies deepened. "I'm always trying to downplay the 'Kurlak effect,' but unfortunately I kind of agree with him at the moment," said Scott Randall, an analyst at SoundView Financial Group Inc. Business fundamentals for the semiconductor stocks could get worse before they get better, he said. "We haven't seen yet the full impact yet from weaker demand in Asia or the effect of more aggressively priced goods coming in from Asia." Charles Boucher, an analyst at UBS Securities, also said much of the recent rally hasn't been warranted, given industry fundamentals. He said he was especially concerned about some of the companies making memory chips, such as Micron Technology, because it remains unclear when DRAM -- or dynamic random access memory -- prices will rise from currently depressed levels. Micron added 3/8 to 37 3/8 on Wednesday, well above the 52-week low of 22 it hit in December. Micron trades on the New York Stock Exchange. For the near term, investors would do well to buy stocks based on individual fundamentals rather than on sector conditions, said James Barlage of Salomon Smith Barney. He is recommending Texas Instruments because he thinks the worst of the carnage in the DRAM sector is over and the company has a strong position in the fast-growing communications-chip sector. He also recommends Intel, because the company is entering a new product cycle that should boost revenues on higher-margin chips. Texas Instruments managed to buck the market's fall and add 5/8 to 56 3/8 in Big Board trading, while chip giant Intel shed 1 3/16 to 85 1/16 on Nasdaq. Mark Edlestone, an analyst at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, said it may be time for semiconductor stocks to "take a breather." But he added that he believes semiconductor stocks may have sold off too much at the end of last year, and said he remains optimistic about the sector over the course of the year. "Since the end of the second quarter [of last year] we saw consensus earnings estimates drop by about 15%, yet we saw the stocks down 40% between the summer and the end of last year," he said, noting that therefore "the stocks were already discounting a lot of the bad news." Earnings this year will be lower than what analysts had expected at the beginning of last year, but there should still be earnings growth in the industry, and he recommends selective buying. "The first half of 1998 is setting up to be a great long-term buying opportunity for some of the better franchises," he said. His list of recommended stocks includes Intel and two communications-chip companies, Lattice Semiconductor and Xilinx.

To: Sector Investor who wrote (34471)	2/12/1998 12:46:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 61433

2/11/98 Bus. Wire 18:42:00 Business Wire Copyright (c) 1998, Business Wire Wednesday, February 11, 1998 Vendors' ISDN Association Corrects and Replaces Previous Product Announcement Business Editors and Computer Writers NOTE: The following news release replaces and corrects the previous Vendors' ISDN Association news release which ran Monday on Business Wire, BW0226 (VENDORS-ISDN-ASSN). SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 1998-- Always On/Dynamic ISDN -- AO/DI -- Networking Application Ready for Marketplace; Members of Vendors' ISDN Association (VIA) Plan Release of AO/DI Products; Bell Companies Prepare to Support AO/DI The Vendors' ISDN Association, Inc. (VIA), a non-profit consortium focused on ISDN, today announced that fifteen of its members will release Always On/Dynamic ISDN (AO/DI) networking products in 1998. Telecommunications companies Bell Atlantic (including NYNEX), BellSouth, and SBC Communications (which is the parent company of Southwestern Bell and Pacific Bell) have also announced plans to support the AO/DI application in their respective regions in early 1998. The widespread availability of AO/DI in 1998 will provide many benefits to consumers, business users, and industry players. "VIA members are excited and pleased to see the progression of AO/DI from a VIA initiative proposed in late 1996 to the product and application availability now," said Walt Mansell, VIA President. "Simultaneous release of AO/DI products and seamless support by carriers helps to ensure that the application works transparently. It also demonstrates the level of coordination attained between VIA and the National ISDN Council (NIC) to achieve AO/DI implementation." "AO/DI is perfect for telecommuters and home-based workers because the application simulates an 'in the office' environment. We are pleased to see the strong interest and support of AO/DI shown by ISDN vendors and service providers, and we applaud the availability of AO/DI for end-users," noted Garrett Jenkins, NIC Chair. The following VIA members announced they will release AO/DI products in the first quarter of 1998: Cisco Systems, ECI Telecom, Eicon Technology, ITK Telecommunications, Jetstream Communications, Telenetworks, Turnkey Solutions, and Virtual Access. In the second quarter of 1998, AO/DI products will be released by VIA members ADTRAN, Arescom, Ascend Communications, and Shiva. Finally, VIA members 3Com, Bay Networks, BinTec Communications, and Digi International confirmed plans to offer AO/DI products later in the year or in early 1999. The National ISDN Council (NIC) members Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth and SBC Communications confirmed that each will support the AO/DI application in their respective territories beginning in the first quarter of 1998. In addition, other NIC members, including Lucent Technologies and Nortel, have been very active in the AO/DI initiatives. ISDN tariffs will accommodate AO/DI under existing structures. (Bell Atlantic will be evaluating certain residential tariff implications later this year.) Please see the tables at the end of this announcement for more detail on AO/DI vendor product information and telecommunications service provider plans for AO/DI. Why AO/DI? AO/DI is an ISDN networking application that provides an enhanced service at a low cost to both ISDN end-users and information service providers. AO/DI uses the bi-directional D (signaling and packet) channel within an ISDN line to connect to the Internet, corporate network, or other information services provider. This 'Always On' real-time connection enables end-users to easily and almost immediately receive 'push' information such as e-mail, news feeds, credit card verification, automated data collection, and other types of data without having to dial up to the remote network each time information is desired. Since AO/DI eliminates the need for long-duration dial up connections, users do not incur expensive per-minute or other usage-based fees. Also, because ISDN Bearer (B) channels are invoked only when they are needed to boost data throughput, such as downloading a graphics-intensive Internet file, connection costs for the user are significantly reduced while high-speed performance is maintained. Several NIC members plan to support the AO/DI application with flat rate pricing for the packet component of residential ISDN service, making AO/DI very economical. Who Benefits From AO/DI? AO/DI is ideally suited for telecommuters and home-based workers or for anyone who uses electronic mail for personal or business communication. AO/DI ensures that information is immediately delivered to the desktop in a method transparent to the consumer. AO/DI is also a practical solution for in-office users, because considerable cost savings may be achieved by companies using AO/DI instead of having employees maintain dial up connections to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) over extended periods. Also, AO/DI helps telecommunications service providers ease network congestion by using packet switching rather than the circuit-switched Public Service Telephone Network (PSTN) to initiate information delivery. ISPs benefit from AO/DI by achieving greater port efficiencies. About VIA and the NIC The Vendors' ISDN Association (http://www.via-isdn.org) is a non-profit organization promoting the ongoing simplification, automation, and broad deployment of ISDN. The San Ramon, Calif.-based consortium includes 27 members from four countries. Membership is open to any interested party. Additional information about VIA members and activities, including AO/DI, can be found at via-isdn.org. The National ISDN Council (NIC) is comprised of companies funding the Bellcore ISDN work program to evolve National ISDN features and capabilities in the network, as well as to simplify National ISDN. Garrett Jenkins, BellSouth, is the NIC Chair. 1998 members of NIC include Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, Cincinnati Bell Telephone, Lucent Technologies, Nortel, and SBC Communications. Additional information on NIC activities and members can be found at http:// www.bellcore.com/nic. Vendors' ISDN Association Member AO/DI Product Release Schedule February 1998 --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- VIA Member Product(s) Supporting AO/DI Release Date --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- 3Com Client Q298 --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- ADTRAN Client mid-1998 --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Arescom Client; Server/Router mid-1998 --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Ascend Communications Server/Router Q198 --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- BinTec Communications Client; Server/Router Q398 --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Cisco Systems Server/Router Q198 --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Digi International Server/Router Q398 --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- ECI Telecom ISDN Extender available now --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Eicon Technology Client; Server/Router; available now PCMCIA card --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- ITK Client; PCMCIA card Q198 Telecommunications --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Jetstream Client Q198 Communications --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Shiva Router Q298 --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Telenetworks OEM Software available now --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Turnkey Solutions OEM Software available now --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- Virtual Access Client; Router Q198 --------------------------------------------------- ----------------- National ISDN Council Member AO/DI Schedule February 1998 --------------------- ---------------------------- NIC Member Schedule for AO/DI Support --------------------- ---------------------------- Ameritech To Be Determined --------------------- ---------------------------- Bell Atlantic Q198 --------------------- ---------------------------- BellSouth Q198 --------------------- ---------------------------- SBC Communications Q198 --------------------- ---------------------------- CONTACT: VIA, Inc. Deepak Kamlani, 510/277- 8110 dkamlani@inventures.com http:// www.via-isdn.org 18:29 EST FEBRUARY 11, 1998 ---- INDEX REFERENCES ---- COMPANY (TICKER): Bell Atlantic Corp.; Bellsouth Corp. (BEL BLS) NEWS SUBJECT: New Products & Services; World Equity Index (PDT WEI) MARKET SECTOR: Utilities (UTI) INDUSTRY: Regional Telephone Systems; Telephone Systems; Telecommunications, All (RTL TLS TEL) PRODUCT: Telecommunications (DTE) REGION: North America; Pennsylvania; United States; Eastern U.S.; Georgia; Southern U.S. (NME PA US USE GA USS) Word Count: 1042 2/11/98 BWIRE 18:42:00 END OF DOCUMENT