FOOL PLATE SPECIAL

Despite the fact that analysts were told by central processing unit manufacturer INTEL CORP. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: INTC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: INTC)") end if %> that it would have flat second quarter earnings, they walked away from their pow-wow with the company today humming "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades". Tom Kurlak of Merrill Lynch, who rated the stock "intermediate-term neutral" in the mid-$50s, decided this morning at $71 1/2 that the stock was really a "intermediate-term buy".

Of course, Kurlak had his bases covered as he also had a "long-term buy" on the stock, basically meaning that it could have gone up or down and he would have happily been able to say he was correct. Kurlak has a 12-month price target of $90 to $100. With $4.75 EPS estimates for this year and $5.00 EPS for fiscal 1997, Kurlak still sits at pretty much the low end of the range, which goes as high as $6.25 EPS for next year. Kurlak is basically looking for the stock to trade at 18 to 20 times earnings over the next few months, or is purposely setting his targets low to be conservative about what might happen next year. Market rumors suggested Goldman Sachs will make a similar move this morning.

In what I am sure is another shocker for readers, Intel Corp. happens to be bullish on the future of the computer industry. Intel's net income for the second quarter will be flat because it has cut prices on the Pentium and Pentium Pro -- a move it believes will ignite demand long term and ensure that the so-called "network terminal" never receives much mass appeal. Although network terminals do have interesting possibilities for applications like hotel rooms and Intranet viewing stations in corporations, the continued slide in the price of PCs potentially ensures that consumers will never migrate to the product. Intel was up $2 15/16 to $74 7/16.

UPS

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Web browser and server company SPYGLASS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SPYG)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SPYG)") end if %> is up $1 5/8 to $26 5/8 following Smith Barney adding it to its "special situation" portfolio, on price weakness. Its rating remains at "neutral", though.

ULTRAK <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ULTK)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ULTK)") end if %> moved up $1 11/16 to $18 5/16 after JC Bradford started covering the closed-circuit television product maker with a "strong buy" rating.

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BBY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BBY)") end if %> rose $1 to $22 1/2 after it got the nod from Goldman Sachs today, which upgraded the company from "market perform" to "trading buy".

Rolled steel-manufacturer OLYMPIC STEEL <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ZEUS)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ZEUS)") end if %> became one of Prudential's "single best ideas" today, rising $1 3/8 to $18 for its troubles.

ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: EFII)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: EFII)") end if %> rose $3 to $77 3/4 after announcing a purchase agreement from IBM yesterday. The company makes software for digital color copiers and printers.

Educational publisher STECK-VAUGHN <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: STEK)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: STEK)") end if %> popped up $1 3/8 to $12 1/2 after a mention in the "New America" page of Investor's Business Daily. Not surprising that the stock is up simply on this mention, as it is so thinly traded that it did not even trade yesterday.

Wayne Huizenga proxies REPUBLIC INDUSTRIES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: RWIN)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: RWIN)") end if %> and REPUBLIC ENVIRONMENTAL <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: RESI)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: RESI)") end if %> were up $ to $ and $ to $ respectively after Republic Industries announced it would purchase landfill operator ADDINGTON RESOURCES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ADDR)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ADDR)") end if %> for 0.45 shares of Republic Industries, boosting Addington $3 7/16 to $20 7/16.

Oppenheimer & Co. and Hambrecht & Quist both started SAWTEK <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SAWS)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SAWS)") end if %> as a buy today, bumping the shares up $1 to $27 1/2 -- the only problem is that they both helped to underwrite the darn thing a month ago.

VARITY CORP. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: VAT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: VAT)") end if %> rose $3 1/4 to $49 1/4 after the company became the subject of a buy-out by British-based Lucas Industries. The combined company is expected to generate significant cost savings and much better cash-flow due to this combination.

Aye, carumba. All sorts of people are saying an "influential" market newsletter has recommended CHECKPOINT SYSTEMS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CKP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CKP)") end if %>, AMERICA ONLINE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: AMER)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: AMER)") end if %> as well as the above-mentioned REPUBLIC INDUSTRIES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: RWIN)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: RWIN)") end if %> today -- but no one has said which darn newsletter it was. Checkpoint surged $3 to $37 on the recommendation, making us believe it could possibly be the Cabot Market Newsletter.

DOWNS

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ITRON <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ITRI)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ITRI)") end if %> got eviscerated, falling $14 3/4 to $35 1/2 after the company predicted flat earnings for the next two quarters running yesterday. The company, which supplies wireless data products for meter reading, was cut by Hambrecht & Quist and Jensen Securities.

LYONDELL PETROLEUM <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: LYO)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: LYO)") end if %>, a petrochemical and petroleum products producer with a whopping 22 days of short interest, dropped $1 1/4 to $25 7/8 today on no news.

A Dow Jones Wire story pointed out yesterday that MINIMED <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MNMD)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MNMD)") end if %> was up 50% in the past three weeks. Ironically, the medical device manufacturer sold off $3 5/8 to $25 after this fact was reported.

NETSTAR <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: NTSR)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: NTSR)") end if %> is down $2 to $23 1/4 in what is being described as a "take-under". ASCEND COMMUNICATIONS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ASND)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ASND)") end if %> will buy the manufacturer of the gigarouter for 0.35 shares a pop, a value below the opening price this morning.

GADZOOKS! <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: GADZ)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: GADZ)") end if %> Insiders at this specialty retailer are out of the "lock-up" phase and are now free to sell their shares -- the current explanation for the drop of $3 1/8 to $31 1/4 .

Randy Befumo (MF Templar), a Fool
Selena Maranjian (MF Selena), another Fool