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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SargeK who wrote (37238)	2/10/1999 3:26:00 PM
From: Jon Cave	Respond to of 95453

You read my mind. I saw some pretty good size trades that occurred in FGI on the way up to 11 7/8. Picked up 2k of GIFI at 7 1/2. Would buy more but afraid it might drift back down to 7. Thanks

To: SargeK who wrote (37238)	2/10/1999 4:39:00 PM
From: SargeK	Respond to of 95453

FGI .51 investor.msn.com

To: SargeK who wrote (37238)	2/10/1999 4:50:00 PM
From: SargeK	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

FGIs SURPRISES EARNINGS UP ($.10 surprise) and MORE IMPORTANTLY - BACKLOG is SKYROCKETING!!!!!!!! J.L. Holloway, chairman and CEO of FGI, said, "We are extremely proud to announce record revenue and earnings for the fourth quarter. This success was due in part to the smooth execution of operations by each subsidiary and by the efforts of our Friede Goldman Offshore employees who achieved a high level of performance during the holiday season. We were able to secure and complete additional, short-term projects within the quarter without significant interruptions to our previous schedules." At the same time, the Company reported a backlog of $364.7 million at December 31, 1998. This compares to a backlog of $321 million at December 31, 1997. The backlog does not include the recently announced $143.2 million contract with a Brazilian company for the construction of a Friede Goldman-designed Millennium SA semisubmersible drilling rig. K

To: SargeK who wrote (37238)	2/11/1999 1:23:00 PM
From: SargeK	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95453

Friede Goldman - FGI - Conference Call...... Holloway/CEO deftly fielded all the questions posed by optimists and the skeptics. When asked about profit margins going forward, Holloway indicated they were turning down less profitable business and staying with their game plan on the high end (18 - 22% profit margins) business, including the recently announced $143m Brazilian contract. He also indicated they had also picked up a couple of smaller contracts last week. He stated he expected business to remain solid with good earnings even "with Soft commodity prices". The company had approximately $43m in cash 12/31 and expect to cut Capital expenditures in 1999 by 85% to conserve cash. He said the company is on the look out for more acquisitions especially in the equipment companies with good technologies. While authority still exists for additional STOCK buy back (They repurchased over 1m shares of their own stock in 1998), at the present time they are holding the CASH to possibly put it to better use in acquisitions. He also indicated they would not be buying any more shipyards. The company is presently hiring (having recently added several hundred). Their employee count is now approx. 4200. He expects future business in Brazil which he indicated was one of the more stable markets in the world. Friede Goldman is the World Leader in its niche and sees itself growing for years to come. I was tempted to take profits today, but decided to hang onto my shares for the long hall. I don't want to try to catch it when (not if) FGI takes off. If this company could get a divorce from the OSX it would be a $40 to $50 stock based on fundamentals, high margin back-logs, outstanding management, and overall potential. As the market recognizes the changes in supply/demand trends in crude, FGI will be a leader out of the starting gate with GIFI close behind. K