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To: The Ox who wrote (27049)	8/4/1998 8:52:00 PM
From: Captain James T. Kirk	Respond to of 95453

Tuesday August 4 7:41 PM EDT U.S. disturbed but not surprised by Iraq stand-off By David Storey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said Tuesday it was disturbed but not surprised by the breakdown of talks between Iraq and the United Nations on arms inspections. A White House spokesman, P.J. Crowley, said all options, including a military one, remained "absolutely" open on dealing with Iraq but cautioned against jumping to conclusions. Officials and analysts said it was too early to say whether Baghdad was deliberately provoking a new crisis with the collapse of talks between chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler and Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz. Crowley said U.S. officials were waiting to hear a report to the U.N. Security Council by Butler on Thursday. Butler cut short his visit to Baghdad after Aziz rejected a proposal to accelerate UNSCOM (U.N. Special Commission) weapons inspections and instead demanded the files be closed. Crowley said of the decision: "It's inexplicable, it's disturbing but it's not surprising to us" and it "only puts further back the day that Iraq will get what it says it wants, which is relief from sanctions." The United Nations imposed sanctions on Iraq, including restrictions on its oil exports, following the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the Gulf War in early 1991 in which a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraqi forces out. The international community has said the sanctions will not be lifted until the U.N. teams inspecting its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs certify that they have been halted. "We've had this lack of cooperation for basically seven years. This is something we've encountered before. Let's not raise the temperature until we get a full report from chairman Butler," Crowley told reporters. State Department spokesman James Rubin also urged caution: "Saddam Hussein and his henchmen, for many, many years, have been creating artificial crises, artificial situations that then are turned off in a matter of days." He said Iraq's position was illogical. "It is inexplicable for Iraq to break off talks that were specifically designed to accelerate the lifting of sanctions." It was unclear whether the current stand-off would lead to the kind of international crisis prompted when Saddam expelled American weapons inspectors last year, leading to a big U.S. military build-up in the Gulf. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan made a dramatic last-ditch intervention in February, going to Baghdad and persuading Saddam to resume cooperation with the inspection regime, but many said it was only a matter of time before the arrangement collapsed. "It was almost inevitable. There has been a hardening of Iraq's attitude for months," said Tony Cordesman, a Middle East specialist with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Another analyst, Kenneth Pollack of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, said it was too early to assess the seriousness of the present situation. But he said: "It is clear the current state of U.S.-Iraq relations is untenable. The point is whether Saddam will try to push for a change now or wait until the fall, which many had predicted," he said. Any hopes that Baghdad may have had that it might secure relief from sanctions when UNSCOM makes its regular six-month report in October were dimmed when a Army laboratory reported in June that it had found traces of VX nerve gas in remnants of Scud warheads unearthed by a U.N. team in Iraq. Baghdad has insisted it never loaded the deadly substance into any of its munitions. This was just the latest occasion on which U.S. officials said Iraq had been caught lying over its weapons programs. Washington in May began cutting the force it had started building up last November and which at one stage included two aircraft carriers and more than 250 warplanes, among them heavy B-52 bombers and radar-avoiding stealth fighters. The U.S. force now includes the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and 10 other warships, several capable of firing long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, and about 165 warplanes aboard the Lincoln and at bases in friendly Gulf states. The U.S. military has recently increased its stockpile of accurate Tomahawks in the Gulf region despite the drawdown and has warned that it could quickly move another aircraft carrier from the Mediterranean to the Gulf if necessary.

To: The Ox who wrote (27049)	8/4/1998 9:09:00 PM
From: The Ox	Respond to of 95453

If Mr G were to lower rates that would simply strengthen the dollar which would add to the world's woes. This could possibly be the catalyst which would cause China to devalue, which is the last thing the world needs at this point. ===disregard this....it's stupid and wrong.....guess I should read what I type before posting. Sorry, Michael

To: The Ox who wrote (27049)	8/5/1998 9:46:00 AM
From: SliderOnTheBlack	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 95453

SELL - DUMP- CAPITULATE- PUKE -RUN - go to Bear Cave / Bomb Shelters immediately ! ...buy gold, build a bombshelter, hoard cigarettes, toilet paper & soap ! THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END ! ......................not. ... but, please keep believing it is; and saying it is; and selling your stocks; so I can keep buying them cheap. Anyone else realize that the brokerage houses make record revenues off this type of buying & selling - then re-entering market madness ? Did Acampora's call which led to near historic trading volume make some extra cash for the houses in trading commissions ? Talk about ''churning'' at its best ! To the Michael Happel's of the world - please keep bailing out here; yeah, sell into a historic bottom and then buy (but not on a head fake rally!) on ''THE'' rally ( but which one will be THE real one?). BDI - a wrong call ? DRQ or RDC a wrong call ? I said to ''BEGIN'' buying selectively here, with initial positions in these stocks with 40-60% of the funds committed to individual stocks now, at these levels and saving the remaining 40-60% for 2 more forrays into additional dips if we would see them ; or average down on these additional; dips ''from here'' if you still hold these stocks. Is BDI going to be a winner or loser ? - time will tell. In 18-24 months; I strongly feel it will be one of the % return leaders in the entire sector. Is it a good investment - there comes a time to trust the numbers and fundamentals in the face of the markets & individual emotionality and over-reaction. I'll be buying here, now. You keep crying that ''the sky is falling'' ... Live & let live... I did sell major portions of my oils stocks a few weeks ago avoiding substantial additional losses, but also condensed my portfolio to just a few core holdings on which I will continue buying ''selected, individual'' stocks on dips that are ''over-reactions'' such as DRQ's recent 15% one day sell off or BDI's 40% in a week sell off; NOT accross the board buying - yet. Simple differences in philosophy. We are at decimated levels here; for long term value oriented investors - where would you want to be buying ? Personally; I could give a ''Rats Ass'' what you or anyone else does; but when you ''blink'' or ''freeze'' and do nothing; while these stocks ''dare'' someone to buy - I will act and I will buy selectively; slowly building a long term value oriented portfolio filled with great companies purchased at lows in a market capitulation - Thanks, I appreciate the opportunity. 10 years from now; I will be smiling... So much about nothing. The market is still up 10% for the year; or 17% on an annual basis and the World is coming to an end ! - ? Interest rates are low, inflation is non-existant, America is leading the world... Are we in a correction? - sure; was it due? - sure it was. Is it time time to dump stocks ? - NO. There are sectors which are immune to Asian flu etc. simply rotate into sectors that are undervalued or not exposed to Asian volatility. Metz's article was excellent. Oils will see a rotation soon, very soon. These are the times when fortunes are made - some see opportunity; some see nothing but fear... For me; I'm accumulating a very substantial number of shares in companies like RIG, EVI, FGII, RDC, some smaller caps that have done well in the face of the sell off like OMNI & HLX; and now am buying individual stocks that sell off on excessive 1 day dips like BDI and DRQ recently; in addition to some small-mid cap E&P stocks. I think I'll do all right... In 3-5 years, we'll see how I did compared to the overall market. PS; keep crying, sniveling, whinning and selling !

To: The Ox who wrote (27049)	8/5/1998 10:14:00 AM
From: SliderOnTheBlack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Michael Happ-less; BDI ......... Does this sound like a company who deserved to be sold off 40% in a week ? I am loading the truck - I rest my case: ...PS - hopefully you and a few of the pea-brains here know what EBIDITA is... growing the business and buying assets when they are cheap ! - Wow; what a concept - buy low & sell high... quite frankly; this is the type of company I want to be invested in. Someone who is taking advantage of historic lows; someone who is making it happen versus sitting and watching it happen... OKLAHOMA CITY, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayard Drilling Technologies, Inc. (Amex: BDI - news) reported today income (before an extraordinary loss) for the three months ended June 30, 1998 of $739,000 or $.04 per share (diluted) on revenues of $20,215,000, compared with income of $64,000 or $.01 per share (diluted) on revenues of $10,996,000 for the three months ended June 30, 1997. Earnings before interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 65% to $4.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 1998 from $2.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 1997. These increases are due to the growth attained by the Company during 1997 and the first half of 1998, growing from 34 marketed rigs at June 30 1997 to 73 marketed rigs at June 30, 1998. For the six months ended June 30, 1998 Bayard reported income (before the extraordinary loss) of $2,496,000 or $.14 per share (diluted) on revenues of $44,177,000, compared with a net loss of $20,000 or $.00 per share (diluted) on revenues of $15,107,000 for the six months ended June 30, 1997. EBITDA increased 191% to $10.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 1998 from $3.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 1997. The Company recorded an extraordinary loss of $338,000 in the second quarter of 1998 relating to the early extinguishment of debt. After reflecting the extraordinary loss, Bayard's net income was $401,000 or $.02 per share (diluted) for the three months ended June 30, 1998. Jim Brown, President and Chairman of the Board, commented that ''Bayard experienced a decline in utilization rates during the second quarter, due primarily to the declining price of oil and the effect that has had on our customers' oil and gas drilling programs. Although Bayard has been adversely affected by recent market conditions, we have been able to capitalize on an opportunity during this period to make an acquisition which will prove to be instrumental to our overall business strategy. On June 26, Bayard completed the purchase of the contract drilling assets of TransTexas Gas Corporation [NYSE:TTG - news] for $75 million, establishing Bayard in the South Texas market. Bayard and TransTexas also entered into a 30-month drilling alliance agreement under which TransTexas will utilize up to 15 Bayard rigs to meet its land drilling needs in the South Texas and Gulf Coast regions. This acquisition, coupled with Bayard's strong balance sheet, provides the tools needed to aggressively create business opportunities during the remainder of 1998.''