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Technology Stocks : America On-Line (AOL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steeny who wrote (14254)	5/1/1999 5:57:00 PM
From: sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 41369

I'm not so sure I agree with you. First, I'm not so sure that AOL will be "buying" Media One. I'd venture to guess that a deal like the one AOL worked out with Sun for Netscape is in the works. In other words, AOL will help "finance" Comcast's acquisition with Comcast receiving future lucrative "contracts," that in turn guarantee AOL access to Comcast's growing cable universe. AOL feels it is necessary to get access to cable. But I'm not so sure they want to "buy in." Indeed, they have been seeking government help in assuring open access to cable, and their outright purchase of a cable system would surely raise a few eyebrows. That said, such a deal would IMO be a win/win situation for Comcast and AOL. But that doesn't mean Telephone's part cash offer will not be tough to beat. I assume that's where MSFT and/or Paul Allen come in.

To: Steeny who wrote (14254)	5/1/1999 7:40:00 PM
From: robert duke	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 41369

MAn I can smell a monopoly for T. But AOL will win for sure. Maybe I should buy some media one stock?

To: Steeny who wrote (14254)	5/2/1999 10:07:00 AM
From: RocketMan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 41369

Steeny, I think you are right in your assessment of the situation. AOL has to make an entry into the cable market, and the MSFT liasion to help Comcast in their competition with T is a key early battle in what will be a long war. As to what you should do near term with your AOL stock is something I would not even attempt to say. However, even if there was some near term downside due to investor nervousness, if AOL takes a stake in Comcast this would be a major long-term positive. And I am not convinced that they would take enough of a stake to cause major dips in the stock price, in comparison with the volatility we have seen anyway which had absolutely no root in AOL's fundamentals. For comparison, look at how AOL had a stake in Excite, which they sold a few months ago. That had but minor impacts on either Excite or AOL. If AOL were entering a bidding war, then I would have to re-examine the implications, but from what reports I have seen it is more of a cooperation among companies that don't like each other but are teaming up against a bigger foe. JMHO