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To: David B. Higgs who wrote (2777)	7/1/1998 9:50:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11568

WorldCom Among Lehman's Annual '10 Uncommon Values' (Update1) Bloomberg News July 1, 1998, 2:25 p.m. PT WorldCom Among Lehman's Annual '10 Uncommon Values' (Update1) (Adds comment from Lehman's Jeff Applegate in 4th paragraph; adds background on previous members of list in 8th and 9th paragraphs.) New York, July 1 (Bloomberg) -- WorldCom Inc. and Office Depot Inc. are among the 10 U.S. stocks that Lehman Brothers Inc. is betting on to outperform the U.S. stock market in the next year. The nation's fourth-biggest securities company today published its latest rendition of ''Ten Uncommon Values,'' an annually revised portfolio of stocks that includes the most attractive companies in Lehman's research universe. In the first full 48 years since its inception, the list returned an average of 16 percent annually, Lehman said -- topping the Standard & Poor's 500 Index's 9 percent return. Also making the list in this go-around were Danaher Corp., Comverse Technology Inc., Applied Materials Inc., Clear Channel Communications Inc., Illinova Corp., Progressive Corp., Star Banc Corp. and Tyco International Ltd. ''Worldcom's combination with MCI should give them a global leadership position in long distance and Internet businesses which are growing pretty rapidly,'' said Jeffrey Applegate, chief investment strategist at Lehman. ''We think (WorldCom) ought to be one of the surviving and very profitable global players.'' Jackson, Mississippi-based WorldCom's stock is up 64 percent this year and now carries a price-to-earnings ratio of 56; that is, its stock at today's close of 49 3/4 trades for 56 times the 88 cents a share in earnings analysts expect WorldCom to report for 1998. The average P/E for companies in the S&P 500 is about 24. ''Valuation is the name of the game in the eyes of the beholder,'' Applegate said. ''As long as they continue to grow earnings, we think it will stay at a very rich valuation.'' This year's list of ''Ten Uncommon Values'' represents the 50th installment. In conjunction with the anniversary, Lehman will introduce a unit investment trust that enables individuals to invest in the portfolio. Not on this year's list, after making two straight appearances, are America Online Inc. and Boeing Co. America Online, the largest consumer online services company, saw its stock almost quadruple in the last year. Boeing, meanwhile, dropped 12 percent. --Hal Paul in the New York newsroom (212) 318-2301.ltk/wm

To: David B. Higgs who wrote (2777)	7/2/1998 9:49:00 AM
From: Mazman	Respond to of 11568

David, Thanks for the details. I especially like the following comments .. "..We believe that the combined company will deliver far and away the fastest top line growth among its major large-cap peers ... we believe that WorldCom will grow revenues about 50% annually over the next five years ..." Regards, mazman