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Technology Stocks : CATP-The stock is taking off -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: still learning who wrote (632)	4/15/1999 12:22:00 PM
From: Rick	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 782

<< Cambridge Technology Partners (Massachusetts) Inc. said Thursday it would take a second-quarter charge of between $7 million and $9 million for retraining and repositioning its employees. >> I think we all know what the repositioning entails. I think the retraining program goes something like this: Step 1 - Sims: OK employees, please assume the position! Step 2 - I think we all know what comes next. Hell, this repositioning is nothing new, Sims routinely repositions his shareholders and employees. I don't understand how this can be considered a unusual charge when history has demonstrated that Sims and his cronies routinely reposition employees and shareholders for a good screwing. Looks like biz as usual to me. Seriously, though, this is another example of accounting trickery and paying for the bogus accounting of the past, and here's why: 1) Consulting firms routinely recruit, train, deploy consultants accross service lines. This is ordinary business, and to suggest otherwise is absurd. I suppose that everytime a consultant changes projects from an ERP installation to an e-commerce product installation, we should charge off the downtime, travel, training to an unusual quarterly charge - BULLSHIT ! 2) Sims and cronies set this company up for disaster by setting dishonest expectations and cooking the books. Now under the rubrick of an ERP slowdown, every missed projection is due to something out of their control. Now they are even using it to create fictional extraordinary charges - HILARIOUS ! POOF ! There go next quarters earnings.....7 - 9 million bucks. It's the jokers running this shop that really need retraining and repositioning. I wonder if we'll ever get a good understanding of the turnover situation at CATP. I can already see this "retraining" bullshit used to cover up the turnover. The fact is that the turnover is due to mismanagement and a falling stock price, but I am sure we will hear about how it is caused by the shift from ERP to e-commerce, and the transition that the company is going through to acheive it's next level of growth. If I see one more press release with the terms "next level of growth" from the CATP boiler room, I think I might break down in hysterical laughter. If anyone reading this ever sees Sims or his accounting cronies, tell him that the next level of growth is already clear in the declining and disappearing earnings. We have been seeing this term for about a year and a half, and it may be time to call BULLSHIT on the guy - well, actually I have been calling BULLSHIT on him for a year, so never mind. cheers. jbd. P.S. Lucent idea makes little sense. Product company. No good examples of product companies acquiring and successfully managing/growing high profile services companies. Sure, they've got the money and the share price to do it, but execution would be a nightmare. Not to mention the fact that CATP is basically in a state of disarray right now - it just doesn't make sense. If a takeover happens it will be a services firm with strong management that can replace the clowns that are currently running the show. Hope nobody takes offense to my disrespect for CATP management. I have been observing closely for over a year, and they deserve every bit and more. In fact, a little jail time wouldn't be too extreme a remedy based on the dishonesty and insider trading. My latest take is that it is only a takeover play. I would not place a bet on current management executing a turnaround. Sure, it's possible, but the continued need for accounting trickery suggests to me that things might even be worse than they appear on the surface. My biggest concern would be impact of turnover. Even if they turn it around, they will never acheive the margins and returns suggested by the cooked books of the past. Ergo, much better returns out there elsewhere.