Weekly Wrap

It's another busy week in my Chicky life. I flew down to Minnesota for the Presidents' Day Holiday Weekend and I am going to check out hotels for our Chick Fest '01!! Yes, it's true, the weekend of July 20 - 22, Chicks from around the world (ahem, think big) are going to gather in Minnesota for a Chick Fest!! I do hope you can come! We will flapping our wings throughout the Twin Cities, doing a little golfing, a little shopping, a little eating, a little boating, and leaving just enough time to fit in our Chicks Investment Philosophy. (Don't worry, we do have time set aside for Chick Chat and Club Discussions.) Please mark the dates on your calendar and book your flight today. Look for further information on the front page next week! (Like cost and exact schedules.)

Our regularly scheduled big man at the Federal Reserve spoke on Tuesday. Board Chairman Alan Greenspan addressed lawmakers on Capitol Hill (doesn't saying that remind you of School House Rocks?), giving his semiannual report on monetary policy. I think everyone was waiting for him to hint that he was going to lower interest rates one more time (since he's already done it twice this past month)... but the Greenster wasn't budging. He reiterated that he thinks the economy is only in a temporary recession and that companies are just doing a little rebalancing. Investors weren't keen. But, if you think about it, did we really expect companies to continue to grow at that record setting pace? Of course they kept their projections up to that speed, but even a teen in puberty has to stop growing at some time. So, I'm with Al on this one, they are rebalancing, there is no recession, and it's going to turn around shortly. I mean, if everyone and their sister is adjusting their projections, next quarter has to be better.

Speaking of quarters, a couple of notable companies reported their quarterly earnings this past week.

Hewlett-Packard  (HP) met the Street's expectations on Thursday, but this was after their estimates were already lowered last month on an earnings warning. So in essence, they didn't meet the original estimates, but met the lowered ones. CEO Chick Carly Fiorina stated that her company had just been through a tough quarter due to the economic slowdown. I'm sure she's readjusting her pantyhose at this moment.

Dell (DELL) computer missed their fourth quarter earnings by a penny... but these were also their lowered adjusted earnings. A month ago Dell warned that they weren't going to meet their projections so analysts lowered their estimates from 25 cents per share to 19 cents per share....they missed that by a Dell. I can just see CEO Michael Dell and his staff sitting around a table adjusting their belts. They must have pulled them pretty tight as they also laid off 1700 employees due to slower computer sales. It's their first layoff in their sixteen year history.

Also this past week JDS Uniphase (JDSU), the world's largest supplier of fiber-optic components lowered their earnings estimates by a few cents. One of their largest customers, Nortel (NT), had earlier announced a huge slowdown in spending. Nortel makes up 10% of JDS's revenues. (Again, I'm sure as soon as they all adjust their phone lines, things will become much clearer.)

Excite@Home (ATHM) climbed 17% on Thursday on news that it and AT&T (T) would join forces to market high-speed broadband Internet services. I'm telling you, I have @Home broadband (super fast Internet connection) at home in Calgary, and I'm writing this market wrap from a regular phone line connection in Minnesota. I sure miss being @Home. 

Chick Cheryl reported on our Chick owned Yahoo this past week after their stock rose 10%. An Internet analyst stated that the "ad revenue problem" has stabilized, and that ad revenues have even risen since January. The original "problem" that brought Yahoo down was that companies weren't paying as much as before for advertising on a web site.

Some news to sneeze at came on Friday when Schering-Plough Corp (SGP), makers of allergy drug Claritin announced production troubles that could cut earnings. They forecast that for the next two years, earnings are going to suffer as the Food and Drug Administration found that they failed to meet "Good Manufacturing Processes, primarily relating to production processes, controls and procedures." Uh-oh. This affects the plants in Union, N.J.; Kenilworth, N.J.; Manati, Puerto Rico; and Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. This may also delay their approval of Clarinex, the drug that was to replace Claritin as soon as its patent expires in December of 2002. Achooooooooooo!

Don't forget that this Sunday night at 9 PM EST we are holding our first ever Chick Chat online in our Chat Room. Join a couple the other Chicks and me for a fun filled night of typing. Don't forget to bring your beverage to the desk.

Off to look at some hotels for July! I can hardly wait!!

Karin

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