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

To: rupert1 who wrote (57874)	4/14/1999 12:47:00 PM
From: Jimbo Cobb	Respond to of 97611

CCB EXPLODING !!!!!!!! YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a long-term investment... I'm not trying to get day-traders into this one... Jimbo.

To: rupert1 who wrote (57874)	4/14/1999 12:51:00 PM
From: Jimbo Cobb	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 97611

LPGLY EXPLODING !!!!!!!!!!!! R U N yet Victor ?????????????????????? Why NOT ?????? This is a British company !!!! Internet venture-capital play !!!!!!! Book value over $20/share....still dirt cheap !!!!!!!!! YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Up BIG since my call at the House of Gain geocities.com jajajajajajajaja Jimbo.

To: rupert1 who wrote (57874)	4/14/1999 1:05:00 PM
From: csm	Respond to of 97611

Thanks Victor. I guess we'll see over time. In light of the way CPQ has been behaving I am much more inclined to buy into rudedog's scenario - that the company would be trying to hide problems this Q at the expense of the next one. Sounds like the kind of leadership we have been seeing. I'm not so sure they were tracking costs well enough to be proactive and sacrifice the Q. Sounds to me like they were tracking revenues and that's all. That's one reason I say EM should already be gone and certainly no later than next Tuesday evening. It might send a good signal to do the annual meeting without him. Stuart.

To: rupert1 who wrote (57874)	4/15/1999 2:05:00 PM
From: rudedog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Victor - She_x actually talks to senior CPQ people - most of my high-level contacts left the company years ago. So from that perspective she probably has a better pipe into the "official line". But in many ways the activities as seen from lower in the organization may be a better indicator of what is really going on than the relatively public positions of senior managers. Across the board in regard to 1Q99, I have heard of seminars cancelled, travel suspended or postponed, and capital spending put on hold. Sales people tell me that the idea that anyone deferred even a nickle of sales is pretty humorous - they were under intense pressure to close business in the quarter. Manufacturing people were working overtime to load product for shipment. None of this is consistent with the idea of deferring revenue and pulling expenses forward. Furthermore, I don't think CPQ could execute a strategy like that even if they wanted to do so. The CPQ field is moved by some pretty simple levers and any attempt to change the dynamics would be widely known throughout the organization. This kind of thing is usually accomplished by EP calling a meeting of all of the VPs and Directors where he lays out the strategy. This puts EP directly in touch with every cost center manager in the company. Last year EP held such a meeting in February. His message was blunt and to the point - "starting immediately, cut discretionary spending by 50%. This is not a goal, it is a requirement". There was such a meeting last week, but the subject was the importance of everyone in the organization understanding the importance of CPQ's position in the internet infrastructure, the new NonStop eBusiness initiative, and having a consistent message to customers during innovate. In any event this was after the end of the quarter. So although I am reluctant to contradict such a consistently solid source as She_x, in this case I think it is wishful thinking - possibly on the part of the people she was talking with.