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

To: PCSS who wrote (60909)	5/9/1999 10:53:00 AM
From: Elwood P. Dowd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Michael... Racso may be referring to the same article that was posted here before. Someone here mentioned the other day that the Compaq Classic Golf Tournament is sometimes used as an opportunity for an announcement. Is it possible we could see a new CPQ officer at the trophy/$$$ presentation this evening at the conclusion of the event??? El

To: PCSS who wrote (60909)	5/9/1999 11:10:00 AM
From: rupert1	Respond to of 97611

Michael: It is rarely worth trolling back to look at The Street.com articles which are usually stale gossip. The one you mentioned was gossip to the effect that some option traders attributed the rise in call buying to a rumour that the COO of DELL was moving over to CPQ. The report went on to acknowledge that it was probably only gossip caused by the theory among bored traders that CPQ needed a new CEO. The last thing COMPAQ should do is reinforce the misleading impression that it is trying to be another DELL. If it were to bring someone in from DELL it should be only as an operations man of the relatively minor direct channel activities, not of the whole company.

To: PCSS who wrote (60909)	5/9/1999 1:40:00 PM
From: Racso	Respond to of 97611

Compaq Rumors Juice Traffic in Calls By Erin Arvedlund Staff Reporter 5/7/99 2:19 PM ET Options floors typically buzz with Friday rumors, but today's chitchat surrounding Compaq (CPQ:NYSE) sounded a serious note, particularly the talk that a Dell (DELL:Nasdaq) corporate officer might jump over to fill the empty CEO hot seat at the headless box maker. The Goldman Sachs options desk was apparently a large customer in June call options of Compaq on both Thursday and Friday, according to specialists and traders. Buying in the options has been brisk, they said. "Is it out of boredom that the market's created this rumor about Compaq? Maybe, but there have been some giant options trades, to the tune of about 14,000 contracts," said one floor broker. Compaq Chairman Benjamin Rosen has won repeated praise from shareholders for engineering the ouster of Compaq Chief Executive Eckhard Pfeiffer last month. However, "the crux of the rumor probably is that the Street is growing impatient with Compaq, the company needs a CEO and the speculation is that one of Dell's COO's in charge of online corporate sales would go to Compaq," said the trader. "It would make sense. Compaq needs guidance in the online area." Premium on Compaq's May 25 calls, however, was down 3/16 ($18.75) to 15/16 ($93.75) on volume of 4,700 contracts, compared with open interest of 32,000. The June 25 calls slipped 1/16 ($6.25) to 1 15/16 ($193.75) on volume of 2,856, compared with open interest of 26,728 contracts. "There has been an increase in order flow the past two days, and orders focused in on June 25 calls," said a Compaq specialist with one of the major exchanges. He also pointed out that the volatility in those calls spiked to around 60 on Friday, compared with roughly 50 earlier in the week. (Volatility very often rises in anticipation of news regarding the stock or the company.) Calls to Compaq and Dell officials for comment weren't immediately returned.