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Technology Stocks : Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tim Luke who wrote (20135)	12/27/1998 12:41:00 AM
From: jach	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 77400

Near term it can go to 100+ if the mkt also co-operates. cbs.marketwatch.com Seems like coming soon.

To: Tim Luke who wrote (20135)	12/27/1998 12:46:00 AM
From: jach	Respond to of 77400

Dow 36,000! It may come faster than you think By Jeff Clabaugh Last Update: 3:22 PM ET Dec 26, 1998 Now that's a forecast! Granted, the mind making the forecast gives the Dow industrials 16 years to get there, but doesn't think Dow 18,000 in the next decade is out of the question. That mind is conservative investor Francis X Curzio and he is featured in Investools.com's Daily Advisory. Curzio says the Dow will get there because money will keep flowing like water into the markets and he says taxes are driving the flood of money there. Curzio says with two income households and rising tax bills, it is easy to see why 401(k) pre-tax investments are so attractive. The security markets then stand to be the big benefactor. Curzio says to capitalize, investors should take a look at his picks. On the conservative income table he puts Dreyfus Strategic Government Income (DSI), Fort Dearborn Income Securities (FTD), and Putnam Dividend Income (PDI). Curzio growth and income picks include Sbarro (SBA) and Skyline Corp. (SKY). And his aggressive small cap choices include Churchill Downs (CHDN) and Canada Southern Petroleum (CSPLF). See full story. Putting contrarian theory to the test What exactly is a contrarian investor? Morningstar's Kevin McDevitt delves into the subject at Morningstar.net's Stock Analyst Journal and he's not so sure most investors would have the stomach for the pure contrarian approach. McDevitt is using the principles of contrarian fund manger David Dreman of the Kemper-Dreman High Return Equity Fund (KDHAX) to put the theory to the test. He says Dreman's method is based on simplicity. He buys the cheapest blue chip stocks without worrying too much about forecasting earnings. In fact, McDevitt says Dreman thinks more information can sometimes lead to worse decisions. McDevitt put together a list of candidates based on price/earnings multiples. The names that came up look scary. Farm equipment manufacturer Case (CSE) has lost 67 percent this year. Oil services firm Tidewater (TDW) has dropped 60 percent. Liz Claiborne (LIZ) is closing stores in the wake of poor sales and falling overseas demand. But McDevitt says buying companies like these is the very spirit of contrarian investing. Will they beat the S&P 500 next year? McDevitt plans to follow the portfolio for a year, but points out Dreman himself has topped the S&P benchmark by an annualized one percentage point over the past 10 years. See full story. High tech turmoil If you're investing in high tech stocks, the advice posted on the MarketMavensReport is "be patient." That doesn't much sound like advice you need right now, given the incredible run-up by many of the hot high techs this year. But next year might be different. In MarketMaven's weekly Industry Outlook, writer Andrew Leckey says high tech is the wave of the future, but the problem is a transition to the future is rarely seamless and comes in a combination of fits, starts and wrong turns. Some of those fits and starts might be coming from government battles like the ones facing Microsoft (MSFT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO). He quotes Michael Murphy, editor of the California Technology Stock Letter, as saying Microsoft will someday be broken up into two companies. But Murphy added, "If I wound up owning two Microsofts instead of one, I could live with that." Leckey also thinks antitrust investigations will be a constant in the technology business because as these businesses mature, inevitably a few large companies are all that remain standing. What are the good tech buys for the patient investor? Michael Tucker, tech analyst at Federated Investors, tells Leckey he likes companies like America Online (AOL), Yahoo (YHOO) and DoubleClick (DCLK), but because of this period of market uncertainty and their high multiples, he thinks this is a poor investment time for those stocks. Among the big name stocks analysts tell Leckey are worth holding for the patient investor; Cisco, Intel (INTC), Compaq (CPQ) and Lucent Technologies (LU). But Murphy adds one caveat -- dollar cost averaging. Famous name stocks must be bought when they're knocked down because their prices get overblown when all is going well. Bumpy road for Delphi's spinoff? Delphi Automotive Systems could get a lot of attention when it hits the IPO market. But does the company have what it takes to strike out on its own? Hoover's Online writer Lisa Glass Mueller takes a look at the Delphi spinoff in Hoover's Company Of The Day column, and she writes Delphi does have some headaches ahead. As the auto parts unit of General Motors (GM), Delphi hopes its IPO will give it more freedom to pursue business with other automakers. The offering could raise up to $2 billion. GM will keep 82 percent of the company initially, but sell its stake completely before the end of next year. And while Delphi will be bigger than its competitors like TRW (TRW) and Dana (DCN), it still faces the risk of union disputes, high labor costs and competition for GM's business without the advantage of being a GM division. Mueller writes that Delphi will have to go into negotiations with the UAW within months of being on its own. And the union itself is opposed to the spinoff. See full story. Safe seats on a rough flight It hasn't been a great year for the airline industry, and unless the Asian economy turns around, it may not be a great year ahead. Briefing.com's Sector Ranking takes a look at the beleaguered airline industry and finds trouble ... and some safe bets. The report confirms economic difficulties in Asia, Latin America and the threat of a worldwide economic slowdown in general have grounded the group the last couple of months. It also says labor unrest is adversely impacting the industry. Bad timing. Labor costs are on the rise just as demand is declining. Briefing.com says the market has overreacted to the negatives, but it will be tough for the industry to sustain much of a comeback given the tough earnings comparisons that lie ahead. Briefing maintains a near-to-intermediate-term "market perform" rating. But Briefing says fundamentals remain solid and it is optimistic the group will regain its winning form in the long-term. Briefing likes changes in the wind like the growing use of Internet bookings that are helping to reduce costs and oil prices that continue to decline. And its writers expect more consolidation in the airline industry. Best long-term value plays on Briefing's list are United parent UAL (UAL) and American Airlines' AMR (AMR). And it gives domestic and regional carriers Alaska Air (ALK) and Southwest Airlines (LUV) a nod, saying they're better positioned over the near-term. See full story.