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Technology Stocks : Ultratech Stepper -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ian@SI who wrote (2821)	10/29/1998 1:52:00 AM
From: Tom Murphy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3696

Ian, here is some real information, but you might not like it. Semiconductor Equipment/Electronics September - Worst Book-to-Bill on Record The SEMI book-to-bill ratio for the 3 months ending September for all equipment in total was 0.57, representing the worst ratio since SEMI began Publishing data in 1991. Total orders were down 16.1% from August levels. - Bookings have now declined 71% from peak levels in November 1997. - Front end orders for September were down 23.6% sequentially, after a decline of 24.2% in August. - On an absolute basis, September order levels of $476.4 million are the lowest since March 1993. - The front end ratio was 0.55 in September. This represents the worst ratio since SEMI began publishing data in 1991, and the twelfth sequential reporting period during which growth in orders has been less than growth in shipments.

To: Ian@SI who wrote (2821)	10/29/1998 6:39:00 AM
From: Justa Werkenstiff	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3696

Ian: I love all these johnny-come-lately shorts. But the ones who have recently arrived are not the only ones on SI that think they have brilliant idea in shorting UTEK. For fun, do an SI search with the "utek short" and see all the discussions of those thinking of or actually shorting UTEK without knowing squat about the company. Too bad these folks don't seem to realize that the professional shorts have been here for a long time and have not fared too well since UTEK reached the $18 - 22 range. Watch them all hang around and look for a huge breakdown in price. But given the sharehoder base and the constant flow of impatient shorts covering, they will be very lucky to get a fade to $14 by the end of the year. Wow, now there is a huge return. Short at $18 and cover at $14. And to think they run the risk being one good press release or industry turn away from a run to the 20s. Oh, and don't forget Greenspan. Next meeting November 17th. Not a good risk/reward scenario to me. Truth be told, shorts have been playing with dead money for months just like the longs. And for longs, this company has held up extremely well in the industry down-cycle when compared to its capitalization peers.