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

To: Arrow Hd. who wrote (4818)	3/21/1999 3:21:00 PM
From: Jules B. Garfunkel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 8218

Arrow, I can tell you from experience on the "other side", it is a lousy feeling when you look at IBM's poor quality of earnings quarter after quarter and the stock goes up to new highs. For more than two years now IBM has been making earnings estimates by reducing their tax rate (49% in 1997 to now 29% last 4Q98), or they buy back stock (100 Million plus shares over the same period of time), while concurrently Shareholders Equity drops, and GPMs continues to go down. Quarter after quarter hardware sales erode and overall revenue growth remains an anemic 6%. But then, just as you think that Wall Street Investors will finally catch on to IBM's stock price manipulations, some analyst (usually on options expiration day), comes along and says all is well in Gerstner Land and he just loves the way "Mr. G. manages those IBM earnings". I guess it is called "Herd Mentality or maybe Blind Faith", but perhaps it has a way of evening itself out over time, afterall. Is this the time???? Jules