1)  As Dick Smith showed you with the plots,  I'd rather
       have held COMS than CSCO for last 5 years.  

   2)  Tech stocks are notoriously cyclical.  Product
       transitions are one of the hardest things for tech
       companies to deal with.   Plus look at the semiconductor's
       for real volatility.  You can still make mucho money
       with the semi's.  

   3)  Larger mergers are hard for any company, techs or
       non-techs.  Maybe, one day CSCO will have to merge
       with Lucent.  I'd love to see how smooth that would
       go.
   
   4)  The value of a stock is based on its future earnings
       potential, not its past.  If it's learning from it's
       unfortunate experiences in the past, this will be
       represented in the future potential of company.  For
       that matter, anything about a companies past that is
       relevant to it's future will be represented in the
       price.  Therefore, I've learned to spend most of
       my time looking ahead.

Joe