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

To: yard_man who wrote (45145)	1/31/1999 3:52:00 PM
From: Lucretius	Respond to of 132070

expect ALOT more of this in the future (did I mention that I am bringing my law degree out of retirement (G)) INVESTORS SEEK RETURN OF LOSSES ANNOUNCES THE LAW OFFICE OF LEO Business Wire Jan 31 1999 11:19AM ET W. Desmond Business Editors WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 1999--The Law Office of Leo W. Desmond today announced that securities actions requesting class action certification have been initiated in various courts alleging violations of federal and/or state securities laws on behalf of purchasers of the following securities for the following class periods: -0- T ADAC Laboratories (Nasdaq:ADACE) 01/10/96 to 12/28/98 World Access, Inc. (Nasdaq:WAXS) 10/07/98 to 01/05/99 Splash Technology Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:SPLH) 01/07/97 to 10/13/98 JDA Software Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:JDAS) 01/29/98 to 01/05/99 Theragenics Corp. (NYSE:TGX) 01/29/98 to 01/11/99 American Bank Note Holographics, Inc. (NYSE:ABH) 07/14/98 to 01/18/99 Wabash National Corporation (NYSE:WNC) 04/20/98 to 01/15/99 Turbodyne Technologies (Nasdaq:TRBD) 03/01/97 to 01/22/99 T No class has yet been certified in the above actions. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. If you purchased stock during the class period, you have a right to become involved in an action as a plaintiff. If you were a purchaser of the common stock or call options of any company listed above during the class period and want to discuss your legal rights, you may call The Law Office of Leo W. Desmond who will, without obligation or cost to you, attempt to answer your questions and concerns. You may contact The Law Office of Leo W. Desmond at 2161 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., Suite 204, West Palm Beach, Florida 33409, by calling toll free at 888/337-6663 or by visiting its website at securitiesattorney.com. Additionally, The Law Office of Leo W. Desmond is available to answer questions relating to any other securities-related matter involving investor losses. The above mentioned firm may or may not be already involved in the specific matters listed above. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision. Before you decide, ask us to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience.

To: yard_man who wrote (45145)	1/31/1999 4:44:00 PM
From: Mama Bear	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Did you see that last sentence in the article about him staying put with his S&P 500 fund until 2525?" Zager & Evans would be proud. Barb

To: yard_man who wrote (45145)	1/31/1999 10:18:00 PM
From: Lucretius	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

yea, I did. here's another keeper. Note the author. this should scare the crap out of the bond and stock bulls. I think the Japanese may have something to say about our debt going to 4%, ho ho ho The U.S. economy chugs along Bond yields should sink to 4.0 percent By Elaine Garzarelli, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 5:40 PM ET Jan 30, 1999 Also: columns & opinion NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- The real U.S. gross domestic product for the fourth quarter of 1998 came in at a 5.6 percent annual rate -- the highest in 2½ years -- while inflation hit a 40-year low. A big portion of this advance was due to the strong spending on cars and sport utilities. Without this, real GDP would have increased at a 3.5% rate. This outstanding strength was surprising to economists since expectations were for the international crisis to adversely affect growth in the U.S. economy. The numbers today showing the strength in the economy fueled the stock market as investors believed the strong growth will help company profits. Brazil has been discounted already as a major threat to the U.S. economy. The market now is focusing on a possible devaluation in China (we do not believe it will cause a large economic impact here), the new quarter's earnings reports, and next week's comments by Greenspan at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting (Tuesday and Wednesday). Interest rate, bond market analysis The smaller-than-expected increase in the employment cost index caused yields on Treasuries to end the week a bit lower. We believe the Fed is happy with the current state of the economy in the U.S. and will not likely act to change rates in the short run. We believe, however that the low inflationary environment gives the Fed room to ease in case the problems in Latin America cause significant problems here. As we mentioned before, we believe bond yields will decline due to low inflation and the budget surplus. We continue to look for the 10-year bond to decline to 4.0 percent.

To: yard_man who wrote (45145)	1/31/1999 10:28:00 PM
From: Lucretius	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

listen to these clowns having a lovefest for the dollar.... a contrarian's dream. Remember... the Japanese year end is in March. they will begin accelerating the selling of our bonds. if China devalues, they will dump bonds. Dollar bulls can come out Robust growth and Fed on hold to help buck By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 6:24 PM ET Jan 29, 1999 Columns & Opinion NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- It's bulls galore in the dollar's corner of the world, though players acknowledge the currency's upward path will surely be dotted with ups and downs. Evidence that the U.S. economy is thriving despite the malaise in Asia and Latin America was indisputable Friday: gross domestic product ballooned 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter, the best showing since the second quarter of 1996. See full story. That's bound to stoke the dollar's fire. "The two stories here are the strength in the U.S. economy and a Fed on hold," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. "Clearly the trend is up," echoed Robert Lynch, currency strategist at Paribas Corp. "The dollar's getting a boost across the board from upwardly revised expectations of growth for 1999." The economic slowdown that most are predicting, in fact, is being pushed farther and farther into the year to the point that some think it may never materialize. Watch out yen and euro, as players say the soundness of a robust greenback shouldn't even be an issue when making comparisons with Japan's lifeless economy and Europe's flaccid one. At this point, in fact, a Fed tightening is more likely than a Fed ease while central banks in Japan and Europe may need to lower rates to jump start their economies. Still, not all are banking on the Fed to stand pat for the remainder of 1999, with so many global routs likely to be in the cards. "I'm not yet prepared to say the Fed is done for the rest of the year," Lynch said. In fact, he believes there's still sufficient risk for the U.S. economy to slow due to the problems in Brazil and Latin America. However, the market currently trades in a way that assigns a very low probability to the U.S. catching the Brazilian flu, Lynch said. "The market wants to see the ramifications," he added. If there are any, however, they won't be felt for a while. Even poison needs time before taking effect. Dollar/yen surged about two yen from last Friday's levels, reaching 116.28, while euro dollar fell to its lowest level since it began trading on Jan.4, sagging to 1.1345. See latest currency rates. Yen blues The yen's performance these days has been a perfect reflection of the country's negative fundamentals. Barring short-term swings, a crippled economy can only expect its currency to sag. "Dollar/yen has a fair amount of momentum," said Lynch. "There's still the potential for it to reach 117.50." John Blough, senior fixed-income and currency strategist at Fahnestock & Co., believes market players will see dollar/yen carrying 120-handles in the next four to eight weeks. But the way up won't come in a straight line for the greenback. Let's look at some probable short-term effects that may cause the yen to detach itself from underlying fundamentals. Traders believe the typical repatriation of Japanese funds ahead of fiscal year end on March 31 -- a move on corporations' part to embellish their balance sheets -- will put some pressure on the buck in the near-term. And offers from Japanese exporters loom at every dollar move to the upside since these big market players want to sell their greenbacks at the highest level possible to maximize profits. Players said there's still some unloading of dollars that exporters need to execute for year-end purposes. However, importers and speculators (many hedge funds involved here) are looking to buy the buck on dips, which may counter the year-end effect. This could make for some very choppy trading in the interim. One foreign exchange trader at a large Japanese bank said the willingness of exporters to sell into dollar rallies is temporarily capping a move to 117. He sees 118 as an important resistance level and pegs support at 114.50 to 115. Not considering the strong fundamentals that support the U.S. economy, Shephersdon sees another reason for the dollar to forge ahead. "Japan needs to engineer a weaker yen before fiscal-year end," he said. Otherwise, when firms mark-to-market their U.S. assets, they will show losses if the yen weakens. "Japan has about $20 billion hinging on every yen the dollar falls short of 130 when the fiscal year ends. This $300 billion exposure -- what Japan would have to write off if the fiscal year ends at a valuation of 115 instead of 130 -- overshadows the potential loan write-offs of Brazil, China and Russia combined," High Frequency Economics' chief economist Carl Weinberg wrote in his Daily Notes on the Global Economy. Europe: Where's the growth? The euro has fallen into the biggest slump of its short life this week as it has become evident to all that the European economy is slowing more than had been predicted. "There are signs that the enthusiastic growth prospect that accompanied the launch of the euro earlier in the month is cracking," the aforementioned trader remarked. Though European growth is clearly slowing down, Shepherdson said he doesn't think the European Central Bank will lower rates for a good while. Still, the perception remains that they will, and that will keep the euro under the gun. Lynch believes the euro can go down towards the 1.1250 level and believes the dollar could gain ground against the fledgling currency going into the ECB meeting on Thursday. While the ECB has come under increased pressure to slash rates and stimulate growth, Lynch argues that European real interest rates aren't restrictive with inflation at such puny levels. On Thursday, the ECB unleashed that consumer prices in the Euro Zone were up a mere 0.8 percent from last year's levels, the lowest increase registered in the 2-year old index. Despite a contained inflationary outlook, ECB officials have been sanguine in their remarks that rates would not be sliced. High Frequency Economics sees the odds of a rate cut at Thursday's meeting as "negligible."