Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Market Gems:Stocks w/Strong Earnings and High Tech. Rank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lee kramer who wrote (40347)	5/16/1999 2:34:00 PM
From: Susan G	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 120523

To add to the mix of opinions - Abby Joseph Cohen's Inflation Views from today's New York Times Just remember guys, the Fed has to indicate a BIAS towards raising rates BEFORE they actually raise them. May 16, 1999 INVESTING DIARY The Queen of the Bulls Still Stays the Course For followers of Abby Joseph Cohen, investment strategist at Goldman, Sachs, it probably seems like a reflex reaction. Bad news prompts a market selloff. Ms. Cohen, a perennial bull, tells investors not to fret. It happened again on Friday as the Dow Jones industrial average lost 193.87 points on the news that the Consumer Price Index rose an unexpectedly sharp 0.7 percent last month, fueling inflation fears. Speaking at a Goldman, Sachs conference, Ms. Cohen said the concerns were overdone. "We don't believe we are on the cusp of an increase in inflation," she said, adding that excess capacity in many industries and stable commodity prices will temper price increases. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is in a trading range of 1,300 to 1,350, and it may get a boost as companies report second-quarter profits, Ms. Cohen said. "The direction of the S&P will be higher," she said. Ms. Cohen added that she didn't expect a "significant spike" in interest rates. For the year, she said, inflation will be 1.5 percent to 2 percent. (Bloomberg News)

To: lee kramer who wrote (40347)	5/16/1999 5:33:00 PM
From: debra vogt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 120523

From TheStreet.com- something to read on Sunday afternoon (just in case you get tired of Business Week:) Wall Street Is Whispering on Gossip Street, USA By Eric Moskowitz Senior Writer 5/16/99 12:15 PM ET Who would have expected Wall Streeters to stoop so low? Investment pros have always been gossip hounds. But lately they have been rummaging the online chat boards for corporate morsels -- and spreading them around. Essentially, some of the high-paid gurus who castigate individuals for lazily trafficking chat boards are doing no better. Last month, for example, as Network Solutions' (NSOL:Nasdaq) stock was going through the roof, one worried money manager says he called an analyst to discover what was happening. "I don't know what's going on," the analyst said. "I've read the chat boards and I didn't see anything." The response "sent me tumbling off my chair," the manager says. See a screen shot Then take the Lycos (LCOS:Nasdaq) deal with USA Networks (USAI:Nasdaq). As it was fizzling out Tuesday, a money manager called TheStreet.com contending that Lycos would soon be on the block again. The suitors? "I'm thinking CMGI or a traditional media company," replied the manager, who was long Lycos. How does he know? "Well," the manager admitted, "the online guy seemed to get a rumor right last time -- so I'm trading on it." Or take Friday, May 7. Wall Street was buzzing with rumors about Compaq (CPQ:NYSE), which traded heavily all day. "I'm hearing that the Dell (DELL:Nasdaq) CFO is going to Compaq," said one Wall Street money manager who requested anonymity. Strange. That same rumor appeared on the Silicon Investor chat boards a day earlier. That ilk of a Compaq rumor made it all the way to the options pit, as word circulated that a Dell COO might be heading over to Compaq; Dell declined comment. Another Wall Street analyst, coy on naming names, said he had it on good authority that IBM (IBM:NYSE) was getting serious about buying Dell. But StockRumors.com, a pay-to-gossip chat site, had this nugget of information two days earlier: There is "a vague rumor out that IBM [will] acquire Dell very soon." StockRumors.com's claim to fame? "106 Rumors Reported in 1998 Became Reality." The theory, it seems, is to get so many rumors in print that a few are bound to become true. How did Dell feel about this rumor? "Again, we can't comment on rumors or speculation," said an exasperated spokesman. Of course, Wall Street analysts have been known to spread a rumor or two without the aid of the online community. But use of chat boards as a research tool -- a seemingly growing trend -- raises real questions about the credibility of the Street. "Why are money managers listening to that trash?" a West Coast analyst asks. Perhaps it's the view that there's actually more legitimate stuff on the boards these days. "Lately there has been a lot more leakage from company people onto the boards," says Randy Befumo, an analyst at the money management firm Legg Mason Fund Adviser and a former writer for The Motley Fool who says he's not a chat-room hound himself. "Companies are having a lot of trouble keeping them off chat boards and disclosing information." After all the speculation late last week about Compaq, the company did make an announcement Monday about plans to simplify its distribution model. Company officials, however, weren't exactly primed to announce anything much more substantial than that. When confronted with the deluge of rumors last Friday about impending executive arrivals, Compaq's communications director, Alan Hodel, said: "I don't know about you, but I'm going fishing this weekend." Too bad Streeters are spending more of their time fishing for rumors. Wall Street's squatting on this part of Main Street doesn't bode well for anyone.