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To: Katherine Derbyshire who wrote (23625)	8/30/1998 9:34:00 PM
From: Ramsey Su	Respond to of 70976

Katherine, this is starting to be old and secondary news. Does it seem to you that there are a lot of activity on SI this evening? Strong hands or weak hands notwithstanding, are we a little nervous here? Ramsey Chip-Making Machine Firms Hit Hard By Asian Slump TOKYO(Nikkei)-Japan's manufacturers of semiconductor-making machines are seeing a rapid deterioration in earnings, as they battle against sluggish demand in Southeast Asia and chip oversupply in international markets, company officials said. Nikon Corp. (7731) estimates that it will register 5 billion yen in pretax loss for the year through March 1999, its first pretax loss in six years. The largest manufacturer of chip-making machinery known as steppers expects its sales to fall 8% from last year to 270 billion yen. Sales volume is expected to fall by 30% to less than 300 steppers this year, from 420 last fiscal year. A Nikon official attributed the decline to a series of cancellations of plans to build or expand semiconductor plants in Southeast Asia. Two other major stepper makers also expect substantial profit declines. An official at Tokyo Electron Ltd. (8035) said the company expects its pretax profit to fall 75% to 13 billion yen, on a 34% decline in sales. Tokyo Electron projects consolidated pretax loss of 6 billion yen because of sluggish business conditions at its subsidiaries. Pretax profit at Advantest Corp. (6857) is projected to decline 60% from last year to 27 billion yen, a company official said. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Sunday edition)

To: Katherine Derbyshire who wrote (23625)	8/30/1998 9:36:00 PM
From: Big Bucks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Katherine, I think the real issue controlling market momentum is institutional/fund investors, they typically have the lion share of stock ownership and are, by and large, the force that moves the markets and specific stocks. If the institutions decide to take some profits off the table then the small guy could get creamed if he continues to hold as things drop. The recovery time to again reach parity could be as short as 6 months or as long as 18 months. A long time to show red in a portfolio. Seems like it would be smarter/safer to move into "safe havens" and buy back when things have minimal downside potential relative to upside gain potential. Are long termers willing to wait it out regardless of the losses, I hope not, it could be a long wait. Remember the old addage "better safe, than sorry". Just my opinion, BB