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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Rolfe who wrote (17828)	3/18/1998 9:34:00 AM
From: Larry Ames	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Quote.com shows premarket trades at 33 3/4 & 33 7/8. Did CNBC expand on BTB & AMAT news? Thanks, Larry

To: Steve Rolfe who wrote (17828)	3/18/1998 9:35:00 AM
From: Andrew Brockway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

To All: ( BW)(SEMI) North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts February 1998 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.92 ÿÿÿÿBusiness Editors & High Tech Writers ÿÿÿÿMOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 1998--The North American semiconductor equipment industry posted a book-to-bill ratio of 0.92 for February 1998, it was reported by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI). A book-to-bill of 0.92 means $92 in orders were received for each $100 worth of products shipped. ÿÿÿÿThree-month average shipments decreased in February 1998 to $1.4 billion. The figure is four percent below the January 1998 level, yet it is 38 percent above the February 1997 level. Three-month average bookings also decreased in February 1998 to $1.3 billion. The bookings figure is five percent below the January 1998 level, yet is 17 percent above the February 1997 level. ÿÿÿÿ"The Asia-Pacific region accounts for 31 percent of the global market for equipment and consequently it's no surprise that events in the Asian financial markets may be impacting the equipment industry," said Dick Greene, principal analyst with SEMI. "Of course suppliers are closely monitoring economic developments in that region and looking for the situation to stabilize." The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average shipments. Shipments and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars. Month Shipments Bookings Book-to-Bill September 97 1,458.2 1,538.4 1.05 October 97 1,549.8 1,583.7 1.02 November 97 1,634.1 1,633.1 1.00 December 97 (final) 1,559.3 1,550.3 0.99 January 98 (revised) 1,429.5 1,328.7 0.93 February 98 (prelim.) 1,373.3 1,256.6 0.92 ÿÿÿÿThe data contained in this release was compiled by the independent public accounting firm of Arthur Andersen LLP, without audit, from data submitted directly by the participants. Arthur Andersen LLP can assume no responsibility for the accuracy of the underlying data. ÿÿÿÿThe data are contained in a monthly Express Report published by SEMI that tracks shipments and orders for equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, not shipments and orders of the chips themselves. ÿÿÿÿBased in Mountain View, Calif., SEMI is an international trade association serving more than 2,100 companies participating in the $65 billion semiconductor and flat panel display equipment and materials markets. SEMI maintains offices in Austin, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Hsinchu, Moscow, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. Visit SEMI OnLine at www.semi.org.