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Technology Stocks : THREE FIVE SYSTEM (TFS) - up from here? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Doug Meetmer who wrote (2262)	8/20/1998 7:00:00 PM
From: Noblesse Oblige	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3247

Hi Doug... Though I may still be breathing next year at this time (my wife and children hope so, but I am not so sure of my clients!), the probability that I will be contributing here is quite small. Perhaps I will look in from time to time...cheering all of my former fellow-sufferers along, as I indeed wish for your success...but there is a limit to my tolerance. This management has badly hurt its shareholders twice in the last few years. I am convinced that the related behavior isn't venal, merely ignorant. (By that I mean, the company has done a very poor job attracting Wall Street interest even during the "good" times.) On the other hand, even assuming my "generous" assumption that the senior people weren't intentionally misleading on the most recent conference call, the fact that they didn't really see it coming is disappointing and an opening of an old wound. As you may recall, on the call I specifically asked management to confirm that its target revenue number was "up at least 25% year to year", and it did so. Five weeks have gone by. If there was such a substantial doubt that the numbers could be achieved, it should have been made clear during that question and answer period. That it was not is a reflection on a host of problems: communication, wishful thinking, and management skills. There are too many other companies which value their shareholder base, feeling that long-term shareholders are a benefit to the company and senior management. I don't sense that here, and as you know, I never have. Someone else should be managing the business. Of that I have no doubt. In the meantime, the underlying business has had a drastic change, and the company's profit margin maintenance is dependent on new technologies, which frankly have been very slow in development. I wish you well, for clearly you have more patience than I do. I am sure that I will have no position in this stock by the time you are planning to be discussing 1999's fourth quarter. Three years is enough, particularly when there really isn't any reservoir of good will with management to deal with the current disappointment. I leave the responsibility of keeping the "thread" informed to Mr. Raefon, who is young enough, tenacious enough, and observant enough to give you appropriate insights on underlying conditions. For myself, now past the age of 50 and desirous of spending more time in enjoyable pursuits, I have decided that TFS simply isn't worth it. For years, with only short respite, the pain has outweighed the gain. I prefer to spend the balance of my allotted days more enjoyably. What I did here was a colossal waste of time and energy. Credibility counts. TFS doesn't have any. Have a good day.