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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stock bull who wrote (96379)	2/9/1999 1:32:00 PM
From: Grant	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

(REUTERS) CORRECTED - U.S. OPTIONS/Dell vols rise ahead of earnings CORRECTED - U.S. OPTIONS/Dell vols rise ahead of earnings In CHICAGO item headlined "U.S. OPTIONS/Dell vols rise ahead of earnings" please read in seventh paragraph ... On the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, where Dell options are exclusively listed ... instead of ... On the American Stock Exchange, where Dell options are exclusively listed ... (corrects exchange). A corrected version follows. CHICAGO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Implied volatility on Dell Computer Corp. <DELL.O> options edged higher in active trading on Tuesday as traders looked ahead to the group's fourth quarter results, due on February 16. Implied volatility, a key factor in determining options prices, jumped to around 94 percent for the February at-the-money contract from about 80 percent on Monday and from an average of around 63 percent during the past month. "Earnings aren't out until next week. This spike (in volatility) is sooner and greater than you'd expect. Maybe the Street is looking for a disappointment in growth or something," said Paul Foster, investment strategist and editor of 1010WallStreet.com. According to a First Call survey of 31 brokers, the mean estimate was for a per share profit of $0.31. Estimates ranged from $0.28 to $0.33 per share. The stock was down 4-3/16 to 99-7/8 at 1041 CST/1641 GMT on volume of 12.6 million shares, making it the most actively traded stock on the Nasdaq. Larry McMillan, president of options advisory group McMillan Analysis, noted that there was some speculation of a stock split, which also could have contributed to the rise in options volatility. On the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, where Dell options are exclusively listed, the February 110 and 105 calls were the most actively traded, with combined volume of almost 6,700 contracts. The February 100 and 85 puts also drew strong interest, registering trading volume of more than 4,300 contracts. Elsewhere, implied volatility on Bankers Trust <BT.N> options rose only slightly with the stock down 2-3/16 to 85-1/2. The stock fell under pressure following reports quoting Deutsche Bank AG <DBKG.F> chief executive Rolf Breuer as warning in a German television interview that its takeover of BT would not make economic sense if it was delayed too long. "Arbs own the (BT) stock and they can't sell it $2 in the hole without more concrete information," Foster said. "You'd think they might buy puts to protect themselves.... The market must be optimistic that the deal will go through," he added. ((Debra Sherman, Chicago Derivatives Desk 312-408-8750, chicago.derivatives.newsroom@reuters.com)) REUTERS * end of story *

To: stock bull who wrote (96379)	2/9/1999 1:58:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 176387

<--U.S.Economy> What inflation? What interest rate hike? Must read. stock bull: Don't anyone believe those fear mongering pundits (who is trying to spook the little guys so they can pick them goods stock on the cheap),there is no evidence of either happening any time soon, given below are couple of good reasons why this is so. ================================ Top Financial News Tue, 09 Feb 1999, 1:43pm EST U.S. Non-Farm Productivity Accelerated in 4th Qtr at Fastest Pace in 3 Yrs ) (Adds analyst's quote in paragraph 2, data on 1998 productivity in paragraph 4 and markets in paragraph 6.) Washington, Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. worker productivity accelerated at the fastest pace in almost three years in the fourth quarter as the economy expanded at a rapid pace and inflation barely budged, government figures showed. ''The capital spending boom of the 1990s is at last having a big payoff,'' said Kenneth Mayland, chief economist at KeyCorp in Cleveland, Ohio. Increased productivity is ''our answer to cheap labor costs abroad. This will keep us in the game.'' Non-farm productivity -- calculated as an index of worker output per hour -- rose at a 3.7 percent annual rate after rising at a revised 2.5 percent rate in the third quarter, the Labor Department said. For all of last year, productivity increased 2.2 percent, faster than the 1.2 percent gain in 1997 and double the 1.1 percent yearly average for the first seven years of this decade, according to Bloomberg analytics. Productivity advances suggest ''the economy can grow faster with less inflation,'' allowing companies such as AT&T Corp. and Ford Motor Co. to build sales and bolster profits even as prices fall, said Robert Dederick, an economic consultant at the Northern Trust Co. in Chicago. The U.S. Treasury's benchmark 30-year bond held earlier gains after the report, with its yield up almost 4 basis points to 5.31 percent. Booming Economy The fourth-quarter rise in productivity wasn't entirely a surprise, given the pace at which the economy grew. U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 5.6 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of last year, driven by consumer spending and a strong labor market. Inflation, meantime, was tame. The current economic expansion in December became the longest in U.S. peacetime, passing the 92-month Reagan-era boom, even as other nations' economies faltered. That helps explain why the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee kept the overnight bank lending rate at 4.75 percent, where it's been since November -- after a series of three cuts aimed at stabilizing financial markets. Gains in productivity are crucial to businesses if they want to absorb rising labor costs and hold down the prices they charge to stay competitive. In recent testimony to Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said: ''Improved productivity probably explains why the American economy has done so well.'' Businesses ''use both domestic saving and imported financial capital in a highly efficient manner, apparently more efficiently than many, if not most, other major industrial countries,'' Greenspan said. Labor Costs Fourth quarter productivity was the highest since a 4.2 percent increase in the first quarter 1996. Analysts expected a 4.1 percent increase in the fourth quarter. Unit labor costs -- a separate index measuring changes in worker compensation and productivity -- fell at a 0.2 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter after increasing at a revised 1.4 percent rate in the third quarter. That was the first decline since a 1.5 percent decline in the first quarter of 1996. Hourly wages adjusted for inflation, meanwhile, rose at a 1.5 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter after increasing in the third quarter at a 2.1 percent rate. The implicit price deflator -- a measure of inflation tied to the productivity report -- rose at a 0.3 percent rate in the fourth quarter after increasing at a 0.7 percent rate during the third quarter. Total worker output rose at a 6.8 percent rate in the fourth quarter after increasing at a revised 4.0 percent rate in the third quarter. The number of hours worked rose at a 3.0 percent rate after increasing at a revised 1.4 percent rate. Additionally, unit non-labor payments, which include such items as taxes and rental payments, rose at a 1.1 percent rate in the fourth quarter after decreasing at a 0.5 percent rate in during the third quarter. The third quarter was initially reported as a 3.0 percent gain.