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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gus who wrote (41184)	12/28/1998 6:06:00 PM
From: Knighty Tin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 132070

Gus, Williams Bros is a good co. and I like the co. The stock, along with Burlington, has a bit of a good reputation and has not fallen as much as I would prefer to make it a "down so far, I gotta buy" situation. But these guys know their gas business and know how and when to hedge. I would look for cos. that are not as good but are better bargains, ala Snyder. But Willams is one you can ride the river with. A terrific co. MB

To: Gus who wrote (41184)	12/29/1998 1:53:00 AM
From: August	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Williams is run by people who understand gas pipeline business, but no vision otherwise. Sold the vast majority of the fiber capacity of its Witel unit to Worldcom about 4 years ago. That purchase allowed Worldcom to grow like gangbuster. Market cap for Worldcom was about $2 Billion back then. Meanwhile, Williams make only a pittance after paying hefty income tax. (ok Williams made several hundred mil, a pittance compared what could have been). Only in the past year, did Williams wake up and try to rebuild its fiber capacity along its pipelines; long after Qwest prove it to be a good formula to use right of way. Williams had a easier job of laying new fiber then Qwest, just send it thru the gas pipelines. Another golden opportunity lost. Williams could have build massive fiber capacity for free (by paying for it with upfront sell of a portion of the capacity to other carriers).