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To: JR who wrote (5882)7/29/1998 12:24:00 PM
From: Greg S.  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 16960
 
Anybody have Kurlak's address? I'd like to pay him a visit and personally throttle him. :)

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Wednesday July 29, 11:16 am Eastern Time

Merrill's Kurlak see no imminent
pick-up for chips

NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - Thomas Kurlak, a
widely respected semiconductor analyst at Merrill Lynch,
said Wednesday he sees does not expect a recovery soon
in the computer chip industry, especially with a price war
brewing.

The comments cast a slight pall over chip stocks, with the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange chip index (^SOXX - news)
down 0.66 points or 0.26 percent to 253.41 in early
trading.

In a brief research note, Kurlak said risks of earnings
disappointments in the third quarter are on the rise. He
said the recent rally in the chip sector has been narrow,
focused only in a few selected shares, and is not
sustainable.

Intel Corp. (INTC - news), one of the world's top
chipmakers, has seen its shares rally nearly 30 percent
since June, from 66 to today's price of 85. In the same
time period, the broader chip index (^SOXX - news)
meanwhile rallied only about 8 percent.

The June/July rally come after a nearly year-long slump
for the chip sector from its August 1997 highs. Since then
the market has been mostly moving lower, with the
exception of a brief rally in the first quarter of 1998 that
later unraveled.

Kurlak said that investors should guard against chasing
this recent rally because of a lack of fundamental
support. He said there is still a glut of chips on the market
and demand has not yet shown a strong enough gain.

''Fundamental upturn not imminent -- too much supply,
final demand not good,'' he said.

Leading technology companies that buy computer chips
showed weakness in their second-quarter results, he said,
a sign that demand is not likely to roar higher soon.

Chip stocks, which had been trading higher near the
opening, turned fractionally lower in late morning trading
with the broader market. Intel shares lost 1/16 to 85-9/16.
Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN - news) slipped 2/16 to
58-15/16, Micron Technology Inc (MU - news) lost 1/16
to 29-7/8 and National Semiconductor Corp. (NSM -
news) was down 3/16 to 12-3/4.

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