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Technology Stocks : Newbridge Networks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas Scharf who wrote (8042)	11/28/1998 12:23:00 PM
From: Chris Stovin	Respond to of 18016

This WILL help the cause...a follow up to Ian S's recent posts... Tuesday evening, and then Wednesday morning will be just a couple of exciting key events this week. Gotta Love it! November 28, 1998 NEW INDEX MAY BUOY LOCAL STOCKS By KEVIN BELL -- Ottawa Sun Investors' calculated guesses over the makeup of a new Toronto stock index could put some pep into a handful of local companies' share prices. The names of four local technology stocks are being bandied about as possible candidates for the new S&P/TSE 60 index. The 60 Canadian companies that will make up the index will be unveiled by the Toronto Stock Exchange and Standard & Poor's after trading halts Tuesday. But because there's prestige -- and possibly money to be made -- from being named to the new index, speculators are already trying to figure out which companies will be included. Among local companies, Nortel Networks, Newbridge Networks Corp., Mitel Corp. and Cognos Inc. are considered candidates for the new index by Montreal brokerage Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion Inc. Analysts say share prices for companies named to closely watched indexes often jump up as passive investors pour money into the company in an effort to match the index's performance. Many investment dealers also sell mutual funds that try to mirror index performances, meaning they'll have to start buying companies that comprise the index if they want to start a S&P/TSE 60 index fund. The new S&P/TSE 60 index is expected to be a benchmark for the Toronto stock exchange since it is intended to eventually replace the TSE 200, 100 and 35 indexes. Levesque analyst Martin Roberge said Nortel is a shoo-in for the new index since it is already included in the TSE 35. It is ranked No. 2 in the brokerage's list of candidates. Newbridge comes in at number 27. "It definitely should be there," Roberge said. Mitel comes in at number 65 and is "on the bubble," stocks that may or may not make it. Roberge said Mitel is still a strong candidate for the list because the selection committee may opt for a stronger weighting in technology stocks to counteract the TSE 300's heavy emphasis on natural resource companies. At number 80, Cognos appears to be out of the running, but Roberge said its status as a tech stock may push it into the list of the favoured 60. Newbridge, Mitel and Cognos are currently included in the TSE 100, but none are in the TSE 35. Key criteria for the new index are company size, number of outstanding shares, liquidity, the firms' financial health and industry sector.