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

To: jim kelley who wrote (44870)	1/24/1999 2:43:00 PM
From: robbie	Respond to of 97611

Moron? It's been explained to you over and over. See ya Wednesday, ol' pair o' dimes.

To: jim kelley who wrote (44870)	1/24/1999 8:59:00 PM
From: rudedog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Jim - In your role as apologist for CPQ you have gone way overboard Thanks for setting the tone for a thoughtful, facts-based discussion. Do I also qualify as an apologist for MSFT, DELL or any of the other stocks I post about? Their profit margin was 1.8% in Q3. It takes a mighty effort to get that to a normal profit margin. I fail to see why the combination of 2 companies, both showing after-tax earnings in excess of 7%, would result in a company which had worse earnings than that, even if nothing was done to improve costs. 3Q98 was an obvious anomaly, as much of the workforce and executive talent was in the process of reorganizing. I ask again, what changed in the cost structure which would alter the profitability the companies had before the merger? How do you know this information? What is the source of it? Press releases posted here and on the DELL thread. There were 2000 reduced from CPQ classic and 5000 from digital in 3Q, and another 2000 predicted for 4Q 'by attrition'. Also 1Q99 and 2Q99 European headcount reductions, which had been held up due to EC labor rules, were approved last month, and should further reduce costs in 1H99. I don't remember what the numbers and schedule for those reductions amounted to. You have admitted that CPQ's financial statements are opaque. I agree. That's why I fall back on a 'macro analysis' of financial performance. This kind of general rule of thumb has served me well over many years in determining what the range of possibilities are for high tech companies. It's hardly perfect, but for me it is at least as good as what I have seen from professional analysts.