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Technology Stocks : 3Com Corporation (COMS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Andrew who wrote (15132)	4/3/1998 10:35:00 PM
From: DMaA	Respond to of 45548

Don't look back. Ignore your loss. If you have a stock which you think will do better than COMS in the next 12 months, sell COMS and buy it. If not, hold on. Sounds like you thought hard and used good judgment before buying. They all don't work out. Not your fault, just the nature of the game. 80% of the professionals don't do so hot either and it's the only thing they have to do all day. Hope that helps.

To: Andrew who wrote (15132)	4/3/1998 10:37:00 PM
From: Bill Coenen	Respond to of 45548

Andrew, Like you, after many years of investing the hardest thing for me still to do is nothing ... particularly when the COMS down side risk from here is minimal and long term picture is quite healthy. Repeat after me, How did Buffet get so rich? How did Buffet .... LOL, Bill

To: Andrew who wrote (15132)	4/4/1998 12:28:00 AM
From: joe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 45548

Andrew, Why not give your analysis a few different view points? 1) I think evaluating tech stocks totally on an accounting/Buffet way is extremely wrong. Buffet likes to pick stocks that have been working well (almost machine-like) for the last 20 years - so future predictability is easier. I think with COMS, you have to believe in the network/internet sector as part of the next major revolutionary trend of this century, and of the 21st century. If you don't believe this, then I don't think you should be in techs long term - you won't have the conviction that you'll need for the long term. Buffet style strategy is harder to apply to tech stocks. 2) I'm not so sure about that low profit-margin argument of yours. Look at the box-makers like DELL and CPQ (until it had a blow-up). Successful low margin companies. 3) COMS is not just a low-margin company. Next month they'll be coming out with their gigabit switch router. It will be interesting to see how the market sees this product. Plus, COMS has other higher end products that they are consistently coming out with. 4) A lot of the problems with COMS are not COMS specific. They are a function of the network slowdown, which in my opinion is temporary. If you think the network sector is doomed permanently, then sell. 5) COMS is at a bottom, so downside is not as risky. I've owned MSFT, DELL, and CSCO, over the last year. If these stocks go down, they've got a long ways to go. I own these stocks on shorter terms in the last 2-3 months. I find it hard to justify holding them long term, even though they're the cream of the crop. Hope that helps, Joe

To: Andrew who wrote (15132)	4/4/1998 7:12:00 AM
From: Michael Ohlendorf	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 45548

My advice is sell it now and buy a software company. While hardware prices are continuing to slide also due to overproduction in Asia software remains expensive. Did the price of MS Office Professional come down significantly in the last years ? No ! If the market does not correct MSFT for example will continue to go up even if it is very highly valuated already. Windows 98 will be released in the coming two months. ORCL is also looking good. COMS is a hang in and shiver game for at least another year. I am definitely not willing to do that !