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Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Lawrence who wrote (13092)	2/25/1998 8:23:00 PM
From: Moonray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

No sweat. With Janice's 10,000+ postings, she never visits old friends anymore. Somehow 3COMers are just not sexy enough. My God, man! Are you trying to bring the wrath of Janice upon us? o~~~ O

To: David Lawrence who wrote (13092)	2/25/1998 8:44:00 PM
From: Moonray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

Tech firms adjust stock options USA Today - 2/25/98- Updated 09:15 AM ET PALO ALTO, Calif. - Silicon Valley high-tech firms that have suffered huge stock drops are repricing employee stock options in big numbers. If they don't, companies say, morale will tank and employees will defect in droves in one of the hottest job markets ever. Many employees get stock options when hired and often on an annual basis after that. The options are almost always granted at the market value on the date of the grant. If the company's stock tumbles below the grant price, the options become worthless until the stock exceeds the grant price or until the company reprices the option lower. Adaptec, a maker of computer components, was among the latest to reprice. It did so Jan. 30 after its stock tumbled to the $$20s from the $50 in two months. Actel, 3Com and Informix also repriced options in January for rank-and-file employees. Disk drive maker Seagate Technology repriced Feb. 13 for some engineers and midlevel managers. ''The shareholders aren't going to do too well if the best people leave,'' says Adaptec CEO Grant Saviers. Adaptec's stock dived after it missed earnings expectations for the December quarter. When networking giant 3Com repriced its employee options, 70% were underwater. ''It was critical to morale to reprice,'' says Debra Engle, senior vice president. When employees are sitting on underwater options, the lure of start-ups that haven't gone public is especially intense. Software engineer Mohan Sankaran, 32, joined Informatica, a start-up in Menlo Park last July. In doing so, he walked away from options earned during six years at software maker Sybase. Its stock had dropped from the $40s in early 1995 to about $15 when Sankaran left. Before the drop, Sankaran's options were worth $100,000. When he left, almost 85% were underwater. ''If those options had been riding high, I would have had a tough time leaving,'' he says. About 30% of Silicon Valley high-tech companies give options to all employees, not just top executives, says compensation expert Steve Patchel of consulting firm Watson Wyatt. The wealth created by stock options here has helped fuel a tremendous rise in housing prices. Last year, the median price of a home sold in Santa Clara County jumped 15% to $316,000 - almost three times the national average. ''No one can get ahead of the game on their salary,'' says John Hamm, CEO of start-up Whistle Communications. ''In expensive locales . . .stock options are the only real way to create wealth.'' o~~~ O

To: David Lawrence who wrote (13092)	2/25/1998 9:02:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

Pursuit suspect arrested in apartment United Press International - February 25, 1998 20:42 %DOMESTIC %US %PURSUIT V%UPI P%UPI LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 (UPI) - A 47-year-old man has surrendered to a police SWAT team after being chased from the scene of an alleged burglary to his Los Angeles apartment, where he held officers at bay for about two hours. The pursuit comes within two weeks of two other televised high-speed police chases - one ended in a dramatic multi-car crash, and the other involved a suspect who smashed into at least a half-dozen vehicles and carjacked a minivan after his vehicle was disabled. Authorities say Herminio Izquierdo of Los Angeles will be booked in Santa Clarita on charges of burglary, evading arrest and related charges, and held on $1 million bail. Izquierdo allegedly led officers on a high-speed pursuit down I-5 after being confronted by a security guard at the Orchard Condominiums in Santa Clarita. The suspect allegedly tried to break into a unit whose occupant was at home. Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials said Izquierdo ran to a waiting car and was spotted by a citizen, who flagged down a passing deputy. A woman later identified as Izquierdo's ex-wife was thrown from the car during the chase, and was taken into custody for questioning to determine whether she was involved in the burglaries. Authorities said Izquierdo abandoned his car and fled to the apartment he reportedly shares with a woman and two children. Hostage negotiators spoke with the barricaded suspect for about two hours before he gave himself up at 1:25 p.m. PST. Police said initial reports that Izquierda fired shots during the chase were ''unsubstantiated,'' and no firearm has been found. -- Copyright 1998 by United Press International. All rights reserved.