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

To: rudedog who wrote (59729)	4/23/1999 4:09:00 PM
From: Night Writer	Respond to of 97611

rudedog, You are a bottom feeder at heart. Other wise know as a value investor. NW

To: rudedog who wrote (59729)	4/23/1999 4:11:00 PM
From: Night Writer	Respond to of 97611

Investors press CEOs for results - or a quick exit By John Hanley NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - Call them America's Most Wanted. Top executives at the nation's biggest corporations who are not delivering record earnings face unprecedented pressure to improve their performance. Shareholders, especially powerful institutional investors, and boards are demanding quicker results from managers -- a situation not unlike the short tenure of coaches in professional sports, who are often fired after one poor season. Three highly-publicized boardroom shake-ups this week -- on top of the record pace of acquisitions that eliminate the need for as many executives -- prove the point. A revolution in technology and an explosion in the mutual fund industry are two reasons for the quick hook for managers. Employment industry professionals warn of the drawbacks to corporate musical chairs. "(CEOs) are changing like baseball managers," said John Challenger, head of Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a Chicago-based executive outplacement consultant firm. He has seen a 30 percent jump the last three years in the number of out-of-work executives looking for jobs. "Many boards used to be advisory, and more of them are becoming autonomous and far stronger..." he said. "There is extraordinary pressure, especially when we see in the news all these upbeat earnings." And helped by a booming stock market, the millions of Americans pouring money into mutual funds are giving those institutional investors leverage in getting accountability. "The balance of power between boards of directors and shareholders has shifted slightly in favor of shareholders...," said Sarah Teslik, executive director of the powerful Council of Institutional Investors, based in Washington. The association represents the largest pension funds in the United States, with more than $1.5 trillion in assets. "It's all demographics-driven," Teslik added. "Because the baby-boomer generation is at its peak earning years, and because they happen to be saving not so much individually as through mutual and pension funds, assets are being collectivized." Notable casualties just this week included executives at Compaq Computer Corp. <CPQ.N> and Borders Group Inc. <BGP.N>, where Philip Pfeffer resigned after just five months at the helm of the book and music retailer. At Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. <HOT.N>, President Richard Nanula quit after one year at the owner of the Sheraton and Weston hotels. As in the case of Compaq, where Chief Executive Eckhard Pfeiffer was pushed out after more than seven years at the helm of the world's top personal computer maker, executives must adapt quickly to hyper-speed shifts in the technology sector. One way for institutional investors and shareholder activists to tighten the screws on CEO's is the highly publicized campaign to publish annual "hit lists" of underperforming companies. This week, California's CalPERS, the nation's largest pension fund, managing assets totaling more than $150 billion, published its rankings of the nine biggest underperformers. Leading the list were poultry producer Tyson Foods Inc. <TSN.N> and casino operator Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. <CIR.N>. Others were Cummins Engine Co. Inc. <CUM.N>, one of the world's largest makers of diesel engines; St. Jude Medical Inc. <STJ.N>, a medical device maker; Honolulu-based financial services company Pacific Century Financial Corp. <BOH.N>; and healthcare products maker Mallinckrodt Inc. <MKG.N>. But some warn that turning over top management too quickly does not help the rest of the team. In the case of Cummins Engine, for example, another powerful shareholder group thinks management should be given more time. "This is a double-edged sword for pension capital, which tends to be more patient and thinks good management should be given the space to do the right things by the corporation in investment and research," said Bill Patterson, director of the office of investment at the AFL-CIO. The labor group works with pension funds that handle $350 billion in assets for their seven million unionized members. ((-- New York Newsroom +212 859 1713)) REUTERS