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Technology Stocks : YURI ( YURI SYSTEM ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SteveG who wrote (781)	3/10/1998 2:38:00 AM
From: SteveG	Respond to of 1181

Interesting (parallel?) mechanics -like waiting for Christmas <A> SCM Micro Shares Up 20% On German Demand, US Short Squeeze By Anthony Palazzo BUENA PARK, Calif. (Dow Jones)--Shares of SCM Microsystems Inc. (SCMM) were on a rocket Monday, fueled by German investor demand and a short squeeze here in the U.S. Demand is far outstripping supply in the relatively thinly traded issue, market players said, because German investors can't get enough of the Los Gatos, Calif., maker of smart-card hardware and software. SCM was recently listed on the Neuer Markt in Germany, and is one of only two companies with simultaneous listings on the Nasdaq and the Neuer Markt in Germany. Additional upward pressure on the stock was placed by a big fund, according to traders at another investment house. Rumor has it the fund called in a large number of shares it had loaned to short-sellers, forcing those speculators to buy replacement shares at unfavorable prices. Buzz about a possible relationship with Intel Corp. (INTC) was also said to be a factor in SCM's catapult to Monday's close of 86, up 14 1/16, or 19.5%, on top of Friday's rise of 6 5/16. Volume was heavy at 433,000 shares. Average daily volume is 75,600. Earlier, the shares reached 86 1/2, a new 52-week high, breaking the record of 73 set Friday. Chief Financial Officer John Niedermayer said he didn't know why the stock rose. [Duh?! Time for a new CFO?...] SCM Micro Stk -2: Co. Has Been A High-Flier Since Oct. IPO SCM Microsystems has been a high-flier since its initial public offering of 3.4 million shares on Oct. 7. The shares were priced at $13 each, but opened at 20. Two days later, SCM made its debut on the Neuer Markt, a high-growth exchange for issues too small to be traded on the traditional Frankfurt exchange. German investors have proven eager to lap up shares on the Neuer Markt, which is part of a network of European small-cap markets that eventually will be linked. At 86, SCM now has a market capitalization of $327 million, or a towering 11 times trailing 12-month revenues. The other Nasdaq stock listed on the Neuer, LHS Group Inc. (LHSG) of Atlanta, closed Monday at 82 7/16. It now trades at a price/earnings ratio of 172, based on 1997 earnings of 48 cents a basic share. These lofty valuations make short sellers pant. In the month ended Feb. 13 - when SCM was still at 41 3/4 - short interest rose 691.6% on Nasdaq to 138,933 shares. But it hasn't been easy to cash in. With SCM's shares soaring, short-sellers were faced with margin calls in recent days, market sources said, after the large shareholding fund called in its shares on loan. Sources said the fund was acting to protect the share price after SCM announced on Feb. 24 it planned a 3 million share follow-on offering. Rob Stone, an analyst for Cowen & Co., which lead-managed the October SCM offering, declined to comment on SCM's stock price. Cowen, also a co-manager of LHS's initial offering last May, recently opened an office in Munich as part of a European push. Market players said Cowen hasn't been talking up the SCM's stock. Joseph Arsenio, who follows SCM for Hambrecht & Quist, declined to comment because of the pending offering. He did not say whether Hambrecht & Quist will participate.