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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Carragher who wrote (62039)	8/7/1998 1:04:00 PM
From: Joey Smith	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

ALL: From CBS Marketwatch. Positive comments about semis: cbs.marketwatch.com NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Technology stocks soared Friday morning, boosted by indications that the semiconductor industry may be getting out of a sales rut. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index continued to raise the bar with a gain of 4.5 percent. Blue-chip technology stocks also rose, as the Morgan Stanley Technology Index rose 1.8 percent and the Pacific Stock Exchange Technology Index gained 1.9 percent. Elsewhere, the Amex Networking Index added 2 percent, the Amex Internet Index 1.7 percent, the Goldman Sachs Computer Hardware Index 1.6 percent, and the CBOE Software Index 0.5 percent. "Technology is the first place investors go when they like the market," said Roy Blumberg, chief market strategist at Josephthal Lyon & Ross. "Tech is the first to go down and the first to come back up." More broadly, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 20 points to 1850 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 51 to 8628. See Market Snapshot. Chips surge on good news Chip stocks gained ground on a flurry of good news. Lehman Brothers analyst Michael Gumport turned more positive on chip companies, upgraded Intel and Advanced Micro Devices to "outperform" from "neutral," and raised C-Cube and Alliance Semiconductor to "buy" from "outperform." ABN Amro also made positive comments on Intel, adding that it expects an upside surprise in the second half of 1998. Also boosting the group, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported that semiconductor sales didn't drop as sharply in June as in previous months, and several developments indicated firming industry conditions in Asia. See related story. Intel (INTC) rose1 5/8 to 88 5/8, AMD (AMD) added 1 3/8 to 18 1/8, Alliance Semiconductor (ALSC) rose 3/4 to 3 7/16 and C-Cube (CUBE) rose 1 9/16 to 18 3/8. Elsewhere, Texas Instruments (TXN) gained 1 1/2 to 62 7/8, Micron (MU) rose 3/4 to 35 3/4, Applied Materials (AMAT) rose 2 to 37 1/8 and Novellus (NVLS) rose 3 to 43 3/4. See Tech Report. Chares Pradilla, portfolio strategist for Cowen & Co., attributed the strength in technology stocks to signs that business pressures on the group are easing. "Beginning with Intel, we've had indications that some of the pricing and inventory pressures technology stocks were under have started to clear up and they had been hit pretty hard earlier," Pradilla said. "People are looking for areas that have already been hit pretty hard, and the fundamental background is improving some." Pradilla noted that recently-improved outlooks for bellwether issues in the sector, such as Intel and IBM, coupled with strong earnings from Cisco, have generated more positive sentiment in the sector. Goldman bullish on Compaq Bullish comments from Goldman Sachs pushed Compaq to the head of the line. The stock selection committee added the company, which was already on its Recommended List to its Priority List, saying, "It appears that the bad news is behind us and we forecast sequential improvement in the second half. We believe that any execution improvement should boost investor confidence and provide strong downside support and significant upside potential over the next twelve months." Goldman believes Compaq's shares are attractively valued compared to large-cap technology issues, and the stock is well-positioned to appreciate amid improving industry conditions. IBM (IBM) was the group's biggest winner, however, up 1 3/4 at 131 1/2. Compaq (CPQ) edged up 1/4 to 108 1/8, Dell (DELL) rose 1/4 to 108 1/8 and Hewlett-Packard (HWP) rose 1/2 to 53. Internets soar Internet shares picked up speed as America Online (AOL) ended its slump with a gained of 2 5/8 to 108. Amazon.com (AMZN) bounced 5 1/4 to 114 3/4, CMG Information Systems (CMGI) rose 6 1/4 to 85 7/8, Inktomi (INKT) rose 6 3/4 to 54 1/2 and Yahoo! (YHOO) added 2 7/8 to 90 1/4. In software, Microsoft (MSFT) shed 1 5/8 to 105 1/4 after a federal judge ordered the company to make executives and software codes available to the Justice Department for its antitrust lawsuit. However, the broader group extended its recent gains. Network Associates (NETA) gained 1 7/8 to 45 3/4, Intuit (INTU) rose 1 to 49 5/8 and Compuware (CPWR) added 2 1/4 to 53 7/8. See Software Report Network and telecommunications equipment makers were mostly higher, including 3Com (COMS), up 1 7/16 to 27 1/4, Lucent (LU), up 1 7/8 at 94, Tellabs (TLAB), up 7/8 at 74 1/2 and Ascend (ASND), up 7/8 at 48 5/8. Cisco Systems (CSCO) edged lower, down 3/4 at 98 5/8. Binti Harvey is a reporter for CBS MarketWatch.