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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: WebDrone who wrote (17166)	8/23/1998 11:53:00 PM
From: Sam Scrutchins	Respond to of 213172

Web and all, (Web, caught your last paragraph; thinking about how to respond to it. Remember, its an art, not a science. Get back later) I don't think anyone has picked up on this story yet. I think it may be a fairly significant statement. Comments? Aug. 21, 1998 (Computer Retail Week - CMP via COMTEX) -- Special From Computer Reseller News The new Apple, the one that has turned a profit three quarters in a row, claims that its historically contentious relationship with the channel is a thing of the past. Apple Computer officials attribute the company's improved relationship with resellers to a cohesive and comprehensive new distribution strategy that's based on giving a piece of Apple's pie to all segments of the distribution channel-including retailers. "We now have a good relationship with all areas of our distribution channel. We are allocating product evenly, not favoring one channel [over an]other," said Mitch Mandich, executive vice president of worldwide sales. Retailers said that Apple, which has a history of fulfillment problems, provided a sufficient supply of iMacs for the product's Aug. 15 launch. Paul Ramirez, vice president of marketing for ComputerWare, Sunnyvale, Calif., said "Apple has been very sympathetic toward us and [is being] responsible in it's allocation of iMacs to small retailers." According to Mandich, the channel is vitally important to Apple. "They stuck with us in tough times, and we are working and talking to them as a community. They are Apple's extended family, and it's a shared success," he said. To back up his claims, Mandich pointed to the aggressive steps the company has taken during the past nine months. In November, Apple launched its online store, which enables users to order custom configurations of particular desktop and PowerBook models. The second step in Apple's shifting distribution strategy was inking store-within-a-store deals with computer retailers, such as Fry's Electronics and CompUSA. Apple followed this with a build-to-order rollout in the education channel. This month, Apple extended the BTO program to resellers. Under the BTO plan, resellers can order custom-configured G3 desktop models. Other Apple products, including 3 PowerBooks, will be available to resellers via BTO later this quarter, Mandich said. Overall, the changes in distribution have led to record low inventory levels, according to Mandich. For its third quarter ended June 30, Apple's inventory was less than $150 million, compared with about $2 billion three years ago, Mandich said. Mandich credits that reduction to "a simplified product line that is highly configurable through BTO, and working hard with supply-chain management from procurement to manufacturing." Mandich said that Apple's new distribution plan will position the company ahead of rival PC makers. "We are doing the best job in all of our distribution channels of all of the PC manufacturers in the world," Mandich said. (emphasis added) He said that Apple's competitors seemed to have concentrated on a specific area of distribution, ignoring the overall mix. "Dell's direct. Gateway's direct. Others like Compaq are dabbling online. Still others are struggling to do build-to-order. We have truck a nice balance," he said. Lisa Picarille is managing editor of Computer Reseller News Online, a sister publication of CRW. CRW senior editor Doug Olenick contributed to the story. By: Lisa Picarille Copyright 1998 CMP Media Inc.

To: WebDrone who wrote (17166)	8/24/1998 12:26:00 AM
From: Zen Dollar Round	Respond to of 213172

How do you option people calculate the expected price of options vs. share price and time? I use a wing and a prayer, and I'm looking over the Black-Scholes formulas, maybe to put in a Clarisworks spreadsheet. Then I started thinking, this information has just got to be easier to come up with than rolling your own. Any recommendations? My online broker, ETrade, has the Black-Scholes analysis model available for option trading. Simply type in the stock symbol and all the figures pop onto the screen, showing the relative premium or discount per option. They also offer price-leverage analysis on options too. I don't know much about Black-Scholes, but the ETrade analysis isn't configurable for the parameters, if that's what you need. The assumptions their formulas use are static. My guess is there are places on the web that offer this for free, perhaps with more configuration options, but I don't know where they are. Hope this helps...