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

To: robbie who wrote (44812)	1/23/1999 2:17:00 PM
From: Night Writer	Respond to of 97611

Greenspan fizzles rally Stocks climbed higher while Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan uttered his all-too-familiar words of caution before Congress. Investors digested the news and by the end of trading, stocks pulled back sharply. Some high-flying Internet stocks like Amazon.com were among the big losers. Is this the start of a trend? By Bethany McLean moneydaily.com SOCIAL INSECURITY. So Clinton's plan to save Social Security by investing budget surpluses in the stock market got a thumbs down from Greenspan, who said it would "interfere with the efficient allocation of resources in the economy." As reader Dennis Liu asks, "...essentially, the federal government will end up owning shares of private companies. Isn't that socialism?" A poll by mutual fund company MFS says that Americans are split: Most want more control over their contributions (that would be nice), and support the idea of putting funds in the market. But we want individual control, not government control (nearly half are negative on the idea of having the goverment invest the money). Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just wait until the first person loses their retirement money by gambling on some crazy stock, and sues the government for letting them play, pleading ignorance about the stock market. Who do you think will win? 'NET NEWS. Is Amazon.com mania coming to an end? Since hitting a high of almost $200, the stock has slid - dare we say crashed? - to a close of $113. In fact, AMZN lost almost 20% today alone. Blodget (he's the analyst with the $133 price target) didn't help any by saying that he wasn't comfortable raising his target. I admit it - I've always been skeptical. The big buzz phrase this summer was "Amazon.com will be the Wal-Mart of the Internet." So why isn't Wal-Mart going to be the Wal-Mart of the Internet? Have you ever known, even heard a rumor, of Wal-Mart generously ceding market share anywhere, anytime? NO! And if e- commerce becomes a game where price is all that matters, as OnSale's move to sell at cost would imply, won't distribution - how cheaply you can get it to the person who wants it - become the distinguishing factor? He who has the best distribution wins! Wal-Mart! Speaking of OnSale, NB Montgomery downgraded it from "buy" to "hold," and the stock fell 8.2%. Nor were Onsale and Amazon alone: 'Net bellwether Yahoo also fell sharply (down $36), and Friedman Billings downgraded CD sellers Cdnow and N2K to "long term buy," which doesn't mean anything nice. Is this the beginning of a new trend? SAMPLES. Fidelity abandons Big MO! Philip Morris fell almost 5% on the news that it's no longer included in Magellan's top ten. Rejection is painful. But that's not all: Add a new ciggy tax proposal and Clinton's comments about a Justice Department lawsuit...ouch, ouch, ouch. Microsoft soared 4.5% after last night's earnings blowout. Both DLJ and Salomon Smith Barney raised their price targets to $200, double where MSFT was in October. AMR (American's parent) misssed earnings, as did US Air, but America West flew right over expectations. AMR fell almost $5, and U fell over $6, but AWA gained $1 3/8 or almost 8%. In case you still don't believe me about "outperform": Morgan Stanley cut Compuware from "strong buy" to the O-word, and despite the fact that CPWR beat estimates by 4 cents, the stock plunged 13.4%. It's just not a nice word. In the latest round of securities industry musical chairs, JP Morgan announced a reshuffle at the top of its risk management arm. Risk management? What's that? More Greenspan-speak about Clinton's vote-getting Social Security plan: "If we have to get rid of the surpluses, I would far prefer reducing taxes than spending it. Indeed, I don't think it's a close call." Now there's an idea.

To: robbie who wrote (44812)	1/23/1999 7:52:00 PM
From: rudedog	Respond to of 97611

Get ready for jim to start claiming that CPQ cooked the books after they beat estimates. They Barbecue down heah in Texas.... I am surprised that jim can even talk about rational fact based analysis - he is a voice in the wilderness and has done an analysis that none of my accounting buddies can even understand let alone agree with. Despite the fact that CPQ finished 3Q with $4.4B in cash and virtually no debt, jim claims they are running out of money. Hunh??? And so on... I doubt that any future facts will sway jim's opinion, facts in the past have not done so.