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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wildstar who wrote (25802)	10/28/1998 11:01:00 AM
From: Jeffrey D	Respond to of 70976

Below are excerpts of two recent articles on HELX. AMAT is HELX's largest customer, providing over 1/3 of HELX sales. CFO believes sector recovery will begin within 6 to 12 months. Hmmm, I'm long on both companies. Guess that doesn't show good portfolio diversity. Guess I should buy some INTC to make the circle complete. Jeff <<Helix Rises on Optimism About Chip-Making Equipment Sales Mansfield, Massachusetts, Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Helix Technology Corp., which makes vacuums used in semiconductor manufacturing, rose as much as 16 percent on optimism that chip- making companies will increase equipment purchases. Chip-making equipment companies have been battered because of lagging demand amid world economic turmoil for electronics and computers that contain chips. Helix shares had fallen 66 percent to 9 1/16 at yesterday's close from a 52-week high of 26 7/8 on Oct. 23, 1997. Now Helix and other equipment companies are benefiting from optimism that chipmaking companies, such as No. 1 Intel Corp., will spend more money on equipment after stronger-than-expected earnings. More than one-third of Helix's sales are to Applied Materials Inc., the No. 1 maker of semiconductor equipment, analysts said. ''The more tools that Applied Materials sells, the more potential business that brings to Helix,'' said Steve Jaworski, an analyst with Bluestone Capital Partners, who has a ''hold'' rating on the company. Analysts said that investors are hoping that the chip- equipment sector will begin to rebound after reaching a low point. ''It could be incrementally good news from here on,'' said Theodore O'Neill of Needham & Co.>> And..... <<INTERVIEW-Helix <HELX.O> CFO sees branching out By Nicole Volpe NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Semiconductor equipment maker Helix Technology said Friday that its restructuring is complete and meeting the company's expectations for savings required to make its way through the current industry downturn. "Right now we are looking at probably six to 12 months" before a recovery in the semiconductor industry, told Reuters. "Though things could change by that time. It is difficult to say as there is such limited visibility right now." El-Hillow agreed that an end to the semiconductor crisis is in sight: "Supply and demand have to come into confluence eventually," he said, repeating the mantra of the semiconductor equipment supply, an industry long known for its boom and bust cycles. >>

To: Wildstar who wrote (25802)	10/28/1998 11:56:00 AM
From: Robert O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Good points. I guess the notion is that size matters. In other words different people will interpret the same information differently, but the more sophisticated investors (therefore more dollars behind them?) will have more "votes" driving the price to its most "accurate" level since they have interpreted the information best or at least most rationally. This dance continues as "smart" money exhausts itself and little players drive price in an irrational direction given all known info. until smart money cannot resist temptation to reassert its dominance. Of course sufficient liquidity is required to keep the game afloat. After all it's just a voting machine right? If TA could accurately predict these cycles, viz. if the cycles are predictable, there might be gold up in them thar hills (and valleys). If inside info. is surreptitiously leaked to those in power--and money = power-- that may only lend credence to this scenario replaying itself out again and again. RO