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To: Jurgis Bekepuris who wrote (4671)	8/21/1998 1:30:00 PM
From: Kathleen capps	Respond to of 78644

Hi Jurgis, Thanks for your ideas on FAST. I looked on the Buffett thread but wasn't able to find your messages. I agree that the growth of 30% plus will probably not continue. However, depending on the price, I think it can still be a good investment. I bought an ititial position at 38 and will buy again at below 33. Kathleen Todays news: Fastenal Shares Fall on Lower Asian Fastener Prices (Update1) (Adds analyst beginning 4th paragraph. Updates share price.) Winona, Minnesota, Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Fastenal Co. shares fell as much as 11 percent on signs the retailer of nuts, bolts and screws won't see relief anytime soon from a strong U.S. dollar that's causing the price of Asia-made fasteners to fall. Fastenal fell 3 1/8 to 34 3/4 in midafternoon trading, after hitting a 52-week low of 33 5/8 earlier. Shares have declined 39 percent since they hit 56 7/8 on May 1. Winona, Minnesota-based Fastenal last month said the price of Asia-made fasteners had fallen about 20 percent from the year- earlier period as the U.S. dollar strengthened against Asian currencies. The company had to pass on some of the lower prices for low-carbon and stainless steel fasteners to its customers. ''There's not a lot of rocket science involved that Asia will affect our economy,'' said Barbara Gordon Cohen, a Schroder & Co. analyst who downgraded Fastenal shares to ''perform in line'' from ''outperform'' today. ''This is purely a macroeconomic call and not an adverse comment on the company or its business strategy.'' Cohen pared her 1998 earnings estimate from $1.53 a diluted share to $1.49, and her 1999 estimate from $2.08 to $1.75. The company earned $40.8 million, or $1.08 a diluted share, on sales of $398 million last year. In a report today, Cohen questioned Fastenal's contention that it can raise revenues 26 percent or more, a rate it bases on its 20 percent increase during the 1991 recession. Achieving 26 percent growth would be ''a challenge'' for 1999, she said. ''In 1991, the company only needed to grow revenues $10 million to reach 20 percent revenue growth,'' Cohen wrote. ''Today, the company needs to grow $100 million to realize 20 percent revenue growth and $130 million to achieve 26 percent growth.'' Fastenal said last month that it had been hurt by lost sales related to the General Motors Corp. strikes and said that it will open only about 170 stores this year, less than the 180 it planned. Fastenal had 727 stores and satellites open at the end of the second quarter.