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

To: Lee who wrote (82125)	11/24/1998 12:13:00 PM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Lee......(nice name) RE;"I'm afraid that people think of Dell as a PC company and not the net pioneer that they really are! <vbg> And making money to boot! What a windfall, an internet stock with a sparkling balance sheet. "......As time passes......DELL is delivering nearly $450,000/hour and growing......somehow.....Im smiling.........Tim

To: Lee who wrote (82125)	11/24/1998 5:14:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Respond to of 176387

<Economy>U.S. consumer confidence snapped back in November Lee: I am sure you saw this already but not bad eh? Looks pretty good for Q4 overall wouldn't you say? ================================================================= 3.53 p.m. ET (2053 GMT) November 24, 1998 NEW YORK — U.S. consumer confidence snapped back in November, reversing a four-month decline, promising robust Christmas sales, and heralding another year of economic growth, the Conference Board said Tuesday. Economists said the stock market recovery from its summer woes and Federal Reserve interest rate cuts that helped restore investors' confidence also buoyed consumers' mood. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The consumer confidence was one of a clutch of recent economic data showing that the economy remains healthy. However, most economists expect growth to slow in 1999 and the Conference Board, in forecasting another year of economic expansion, did not dissent from that view. "The latest survey findings signal a blockbuster holiday season for most retailers and another year of moderate economic expansion,'' said Lynn Franco, associate director of the Consumer Research Center at the Conference Board, a not-for-profit business research organization. Franco said the confidence declines of the previous four months had been driven by global financial shocks. "Consumers have weathered that storm and we're back on track,'' she said. After four straight monthly drops, in which it lost nearly 20 points, the widely-followed Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose 6.7 points in November to 126. Especially significant was November's nearly 11-point jump to 99.5 in the Conference Board's Expectations Index which measures consumers' outlook for the next six months. The index gauging consumers' assessment of present economic conditions, which had only slipped slightly in the last four months, inched up to 165.7 in November from 165.2 in October. Economists said the stock market's rise, and the interest rate cuts that prompted the rally, nourished consumer confidence. As of its record high close on Nov. 23, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen nearly 2000 points from its nadir close of 7539 reached on Aug. 31. "The stock market has recovered so it was likely you'd get an improvement in confidence right along with that,'' said William Dudley, managing director and head of economic research at Goldman Sachs & Co. The November rebound in confidence was concentrated in consumers' assessment of the future, sentiment that is very closely tied to the stock market, said Dudley. Behind the stock market's rally was the Federal Reserve's rate cut on Oct. 15, Dudley said. That Fed action, the second of three rate cuts the Fed has put in place over the last two months, ignited a market rally that has sent major stock indices to record levels. "The Oct. 15 cut really made people much less nervous about the future because it meant the Fed was saying it would do whatever it took to prevent a recession,'' Dudley said. Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Senior Economist Marilyn Schaja also pointed to the stock market as a catalyst for November's consumer confidence rebound. "The rate cuts helped also,'' she added. "It all goes together.'' Dudley noted that the consumer confidence gain occurred without the help of any improved sentiment about labor market conditions. "The gap between the number of people describing jobs as being hard to get and those suggesting that jobs are easy to get continued to narrow in November, suggesting that the labor market is not as buoyant as it was a few months ago,'' he said. The Conference Board's data on consumers' assessments of the labor market suggests that the turmoil overseas has caused some slowdown in job formation, Dudley said. The U.S. Labor Department will report its November employment data on Friday, Dec. 4. Meanwhile, the stock market's record-breaking performance in late November is likely to cause a further advance in consumer confidence in December, Dudley said. "People will probably feel the future is less risky so the expectations component will continue to improve,'' he said. The Conference Board's Franco said confidence about the health of the economy over the next six months has increased consumers' willingness to spend. The Conference Board's annual holiday spending survey, released last week, projected American families will spend a record level of nearly $500 each, on average, on holiday gifts this year, up from $465 last year. Retail sales are expected to climb six to seven percent this holiday season from a year ago, moving into the $50 billion range. In the Conference Board's most recent Consumer Confidence Survey, more Americans said they would buy a home or a major appliance in the next six months and more consumers expected business conditions to improve. The Consumer Confidence Index, started in 1967, is compiled from responses to questions sent to 5,000 households nationwide. (source:fox)