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Technology Stocks : HWP -- Hewlett Packard -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nealm who wrote (2186)	5/14/1998 1:23:00 PM
From: cirrus	Respond to of 4722

Unfortunately, given the facts as we know them, HWP had little choice but to announce early. Had they known the numbers were far less than what was being anticipated, and then sat on the data until Monday while the stock continued to rise, THAT would have been a definite legal problem. However, I find it hard to believe HWP had no idea of the extent of the PC pricing problem and its effect upon earnings until yesterday. If, indeed, it was unknown until yesterday, the CFO is guilty of either gross incompetence or something worse. In either case, his ass should be held to the fire. Normally, I hedge just before an earnings release in order to protect against just this type of disaster. By pre-announcing two full days early, HWP cost me thousands. To say I am pissed is an understatement.

To: nealm who wrote (2186)	5/14/1998 4:12:00 PM
From: BelowTheCrowd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4722

Nope, More likely, accounting started working on the consolidated financials last week, after the end of the quarter. By the middle of this week, the picture had emerged. In light of the extraordinary and unjustified market action, mangement pulled in the announcement and put the early word out. For the record, HP has been warning about PC prices and Asian effects for several months. The fact that people chose to disregard those warnings is not HP management's fault. mg