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To: unclewest who wrote (17357)	3/14/1999 1:53:00 PM
From: REH	Respond to of 93625

don't think this was posted: Non-PC chip stocks ripe to buy -- J.P. Morgan NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - Chip stocks, particularly those not hard-wired to the PC sector, are ripe for buying thanks to a recovery in the semiconductor sector and recent price declines, according to J.P. Morgan U.S. Equity strategist Douglas Cliggott. ''We view the pullback in the semiconductor group in February as a buying opportunity,'' Cliggott said in a brief, citing strong orders for electronic components and expected earnings growth as prime reasons to increase chip holdings. ''The semiconductor business has gone through two or three years of cyclical misery, but now we are at the beginning of an upturn, probably two to three years worth of good times for chips,'' Terry Ragsdale, J.P. Morgan chip analyst, told Reuters. Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE:ADI - news), STMicroelectronic (NYSE:STM - news), and Altera Corp. (Nasdaq:ALTR - news) are the most attractive, in part because they are not linked closely to the troubled personal computer sector, where fears of slowing growth sparked recent selling. ''I don't see any kind of meltdown in the PC space, but if I were an investor making incremental investments in (chips), I would be looking at less PC-centric names,'' he said." ''Analog Devices and (STMicroelectronic) are operating at profit margins that are around half of what their peak levels were, and we think over the next four to six quarters, they will go back to the peaks,'' Ragsdale said. Analog Devices is a leader in the production of digital signal processors -- chips that convert electric signals like sounds, images and radio transmissions into a digital form. STMicroelectronics makes chips that are used in industrial, telecommunications, and other systems. Ragsdale rates the three stocks, as well as small-cap chip maker International Rectifier Corp. (NYSE:IRF - news), at buy. On Monday, shares of Analog Devices rose to 27-1/4, up one, while American Depositary Receipts of STMicroelectronics climbed 2-9/16 to 92-1/8. Altera shares climbed 1-1/13 to 59-3/8. Shares of International Rectifier slipped 1/16 to 6-11/16. Invenstors on Monday warmed to stocks of other companies related the chip sector, including Xilinx Inc. (Nasdaq:XLNX - news), up 3-3/16 to 80, Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN - news), up 2-1/16 to 102-13/16, and Rambus Inc.(Nasdaq:RMBS - news), up 2-5/16 to 76-5/16. Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news), the world's biggest chip maker, rose 4-1/2 to 119-1/8.

To: unclewest who wrote (17357)	3/14/1999 2:18:00 PM
From: Allen champ	Respond to of 93625

Wall St. Bulls Thrive on Adversity NEW YORK (AP) -- As the great bull market on Wall Street has made its run toward Dow 10,000, it has impressed many analysts with its staying power in the face of a rise in interest rates. Long-term rates in the bond market recently jumped to their highest levels since last summer, dealing prices of U.S. Treasury bonds one of the sharpest one-month setbacks they have suffered in the 1990s. Yields on 30-year Treasuries jumped half a percentage point in four weeks to about 5.7 percent, a full point above where they stood in the fall. Many analysts speculated that a strong U.S. economy, and budding recoveries in many parts of Asia from the recent debt and currency woes there, might start to put sustained upward pressure on inflation and interest rates around the world. That, it's said, could force the Federal Reserve to lean toward a tighter credit policy, and perhaps encourage some of the international investors huddled together for safety in U.S. investments to begin taking their money elsewhere in search of bolder opportunities. But after pausing for a few weeks to consider such possibilities, stock-market investors have recently gone back to buying, pushing the 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average to new highs. ''I think the stock market by and large has done extremely well dealing with the roadblocks in its way this year,'' says Greg Smith, investment strategist at Prudential Securities Inc. ''That stocks haven't reacted more negatively to the rise in bond yields is somewhat surprising,'' observes Wright Investors' Service of Bridgeport, Conn., in its latest bulletin to clients. The so-called Asian contagion has hit hard at some areas of the U.S. economy, such as agriculture and other commodity-producing businesses. At the same time, however, consumers and many producers of finished goods and services appear to have benefited from the situation. Whatever fears persisted of an economy-wide slump in this country seem to have been dispelled this winter. Talk has lately shifted to the problems that might arise as worldwide demand and economic activity strengthens. ''The probabilities have shifted,'' says Byron Wien, portfolio strategist at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. ''If the pace of the economy stays strong, it is possible, even likely, that the Federal Reserve will tighten later this year.'' Yet stock prices have lately forged ahead with renewed power. The way some optimists see it, the much-ballyhooed ''Goldilocks'' economy seems to have succeeded once again in maintaining the not-too-hot, not-too-cold pace that has kept the bull market all through the 1990s. ''We did not believe the depression and deflation case six months ago,'' observes Thomas Galvin, U.S. strategist at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., ''and we do not subscribe to a global synchronized recovery and reflation case today. ''In our opinion, reality is somewhere in between these emotional extremes, and better profits with continued low inflation are what valuations need more than anything else.'' Recent upward pressure on bond rates should ease, Galvin argues, and economic growth throttle down to a more sustainable pace. ''Inflation palpitations should moderate,'' he adds. Meanwhile, says Stephen Quickel, editor of the newsletter U.S. Investment Report, ''U.S. stocks remain in a bull phase that is nowhere close to ending. The economy is strong and soundly managed. American companies are leaner and more competitive than ever before. And technology marches on, providing continuing economy-wide productivity gains.'' From Sunday NY Times