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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter J Hudson who wrote (29488)	5/8/1999 12:40:00 PM
From: marginmike	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

I respectfully disagree about the millitary being a drain on future growth. In collage back in the 80's it was the conventional wisdom that creating something that doesnt produce anything else would be a negative on future GDP growth. IE A tank that is built doesnt create any new product or increase productivity. This unlike a wood beam that builds a house, which then must be furnished, and maintained. Which is insured and then sold. However I would argue that the MICPLX in the 80's created many of our high tech industries. The obsene amount of Government spending went into researching new weapon technologies. In actuality this money was seed money to train and develop engineers and new technologies. The computer industry was developed out of a need to build supercomputers to track missiles and manage huge Millitary resources. Missile technology along with defence satalites were the breading ground of our satilite industries. The internet was created to connect University researchers involved in military and health related areas, to better work together. CDMA technology was created as one mode of secure comunication. Global positioning, and terraine maping were created to make missiles(cruise)misiles more acurate. Heck it was the huge US buildup in the early 80's that created most of the areas of growth we have today. Its pretty ironic actually. Isreal is another good example where millitary spending translated in to high tech industry.JMHO

To: Peter J Hudson who wrote (29488)	5/8/1999 6:23:00 PM
From: JMD	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Peter, re: ". I think that one of the major drivers of the healthy economy that the US has recently been blessed is the "peace dividend". The military industrial complex is ultimately a drag on the economy." This has always been a hot topic in the Economics Departments scattered throughout Academia, with the usual cast of characters lining up to support their favorite political prejudice. Thus, the "hawks" are always running amok with the beneficial pump priming effect to the economy when the printing presses get stuck in the "on" position as aircraft carriers, stealth bombers, and whatnot start spitting out the other end. Meanwhile, the "doves" find themselves uncharacteristically ranting about the dire effects of Big Government as the flood of newly minted greenbacks starts to rev up the inflation engine. [the worst part of this, as any red-blooded investor knows, is that the "I" word gives Alan G. a huge case of the heebie-jeebies which is invariably good for a quick 500 point hit on the DJ] Although facts are incredibly dangerous grenades to toss into a full fledged political p*ssing contest, we find ourselves in a position to test the "Defense Spending--Heaven or Hell?" thesis as a result of all the military base closures spread across the amber waves of American grain over the past few years. Be damned if the "peace dividend" kids didn't wind up with the last laugh. Despite dire predictions of economic Armageddon as the biggest payroll in town after town took a powder, a funny thing happened on the way to Depression. Those nutty entrepreneurial guys and gals, who spend money as if its theirs, stepped up to the plate and started hitting it out of the park, or the base, as the case may be. With very few exceptions (and admittedly after a painful year or two adjustment period), the 'new' private economies had MORE than replaced prior employment levels, with growth rates on the down right robust side. In Northern California, the small/medium town of Alameda was all but written off when the Navy packed their duffel bags. Kinda tough to find something to do with all those airplane hangars and nuclear ship repair yards. Well, Hollywood came to the rescue as they decided that those hangars made for ideal sound/movie stages, and now the joint is swarming with electronic artisans instead of swabbies. Private yacht harbors have turned a lustful eye on the marina, and, well you get the drift. [I am a little honked off that my proposal for a new state of the art surfboard manufacturing facility was given short shrift, but 'none is so blind as he who . . ."] All of this is to say that if the SS Qualcomm is looking for a parking space, Alameda's got it covered. The little real estate outfit I hang out with actually looks for investments in little bergs that have been whupped with the DoD ugly stick: we ain't been wrong yet (with apologies for mixing reality and theory). Best, SM