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Non-Tech : Philip Morris - A Stock For Wealth Or Poverty (MO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TechMkt who wrote (3582)	4/6/1999 10:25:00 PM
From: Merlo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6439

Does anyone know if lawyers fees and damage awards are tax deductible?

To: TechMkt who wrote (3582)	4/6/1999 10:31:00 PM
From: Demetre Deliyanakis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6439

The news on Sf is a short term negative. However,if MO wins a few of the upcoming cases the stock will rebound. Long term holders of MO have been through these cases before. In the long run, I think MO will reach a settlement with the government,which will result in a limit on individual suits in exchange for a payment to medicare to help fund th e cost of caring for those with lung cancer etc. Mo will probably raise the price of cigaretes to pay for this. The fact is that over the next 25 years the state governments will become increasingly addicted to the payments from the tobacco industry. It is a hidden tax for them. They will be reluctant to allow the tobacco companies to be sued into bankruptcy.Thus they will enact laws preventing or severely limiting the amount that individual smokers can sue for.It is in their best interests. I also think that as time goes on it will be difficult for people who started smoking after the 60s when the warning labels were introduced to sue the to bacco companies on the basis that they were unaware of the damages of cigarettes to their health. One of the key issues for the future is to see how the recent cigarette price increases have affected consumption. Teenagers are more affected by price increases, so it will be important to see if their rate of smoking has declined.