Hi Royco, long time no speak. About Kurlak, yes, it is about time he got some criticism. From last week, over on the Intel thread, Kurlak half way down:
To: Jules B. Garfunkel (67036
)
From: Tony Viola
Wednesday, Oct 21 1998 6:19PM
ET
Reply # of 67616
Jules and all other Kurlak observers, maybe the tide is beginning
to turn. Check out this article, which also has an opinion on some
others, which is the guy's job, I guess:
fabmktbabe.com
The Fabulous Market Babe
Street Slam
10/19/98
And the Award Goes To...
No doubt about it.
Over the last week we have witnessed a LARGE number of
instances and events that, quite frankly,
do not place corporate America and the Street in the most
favorable light.
Which is why I have decided to issue a number of awards to these
dubious events and individuals
that, given the resulting actions, deserve to be highlighted and
remembered, as opposed to
performing an automatic memory dump with the new week.
So here we go...
(Is that a drum roll I hear in the background, courtesy of one of my
fabulous readers?)
I thought so.
The Fabulous Market Babe's Awards of the Week
Award #1 -- The "Where Is the SEC On This One??!!"Award
And recipient of this award could only be...
The management of BankAmerica/NationsBank!!
As a quick recap, you might remember that early last week during
the course of its earnings report,
management "disclosed" that it was reporting a $372 mm write-off
due to its joint venture with the
D.E. Shaw hedge fund.
Of course, a small "problem" was revealed, given management
was forced to admit that it had
been aware of its total exposure of over $1 billion back in
AUGUST and the subsequent losses, yet
didn't bother reporting this minor issue to its shareholders that
were in the process of approving a
MERGER with NationsBank.
Solution: Whether or not you are involved in the stock, make the
SEC aware of your opinions. They,
like any other government agency, tend to sit up and actually act
when the public reveals how
hacked it is to crap like this.
Award #2 -- The "I'm a Biased and Jaded (Unmentionable Word)
Who Doesn't Give a Crap
About the Investors I (Laughingly) Serve" Award
And the award goes to...
Tom Kurlak of Merrill Lynch!!
(Hmm...something tells me he won't be receiving this one in
person).
And the attention to Tom this time would be due to...
None other than Tom's amazing silence in light of INTC's earnings
report, which, you might
remember, stunned the Street with the magnitude of its upside
surprise, not to mention the
company's healthy guidance going forward.
Translation: The function of an analyst is to pick those stocks that
are deemed to have the best
growth prospects within the group that the analyst follows.
And, applying this to Tom's case, even if Tom does favor more
special situation type names within
the group, one can only wonder why Tom continues to fail at
admitting that the more promising
cyclical companies within this very group, and its leader
(otherwise known as INTC) are coming
back from the dead.
In a big way.
Solution: Tune Tommy out.
Award #3 -- The "I Represent A Firm That Is Too Arrogant, Too
Used To Having A
Stronghold On the Industry; To Recognize the Validity Of A
Permanent Trend" Award
And the award goes to...
John Steffens, Vice-Chairman of Merrill Lynch.
You might remember that Merrill, under the direction of John
Steffens, has heralded itself as the
"sane" option in the world of investing, by allowing its clients to
pay $200 per trade on decisions
that these very clients could easily make themselves.
Not to mention that competitors, as exemplified by E*Trade among
others, allow for Merrill's clients
to have a proliferation of information at their fingertips. Something
that these same individuals, after
familiarizing themselves with this information and corresponding
products/services, will find meets
or even exceeds what Merrill has to offer.
At a significantly cheaper price.
Solution: Hey John, get on the E*Trade site (that is, once someone
from the technology
department not only demonstrates to you how to get on the Internet,
but how to also use that
eyesore of a plastic box on your desk) and compare the services of
what you have to offer to those
of E*Trade.
Now repeat the following after me: Merrill is lacking = demise of
your business.
Award #4 -- The "Where Does the Flash of Brilliance Come From
?"Award
And the award goes to...
Byron Wien of Morgan Stanley, given his "reversal" the morning
after the Fed decision from a
negative stance on the market to a "positive" one.
Enough said.
(Oh and by the way Byron, if you happen to be reading this, do us
all a favor and take $20 out of
that eight figure salary of yours and clear up that horrifying skin
problem.)
I don't know what kind of coverage the "Babe" gets. Babe is a woman, BTW. I wasn't sure, but Jules verified that to me via email. Similarities with your investing: riding high waves with AMAT in a short termer, and doing "good to excellent" in several different Intel positions. No Dell here, either. Sonki hit me so hard with her baseball bat about it that I was out cold until it was way back up. Some Forrester report came out saying great PC biz next year due to Y2K, etc., but a desert after that. I believe the first part but not the second. I have finally become a Sun believer (worshipper?) but too late for now. I'll watch Sonki's recommendation for when to get in after a pullback. Back to AMAT, I've heard all kinds of horror stories about their business and engineering practices (they're right down the street from here). But, BIG BUT, they are a major market favorite, and everyone wants in whenever there's any chance of a move. No sell plan yet here.
How's your son? CEO yet?
Tony
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