Investing For Growth
Investing For Growth
by Robert Sheard (MF DowMan) LEXINGTON, Ky. (Apr. 24): Another strong technology day helped the Investing For Growth model portfolio, with an especially sweet gain for Tellabs <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ:TLAB)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ:TLAB)") end if %>.
Medtronic <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:MDT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:MDT)") end if %>, however, felt the ax from PaineWebber today. The brokerage downgraded a number of medical device makers on the belief that the period of sustained relative out-performance has ended. That, of course, tells us nothing. "I think the run is over." Anyway ... Medtronic's rating was cut from Buy to Attractive (which means its pretty to look at in the window, but not pretty enough to take home?)
Other stocks in the group downgrade were Boston Scientific <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:BSX)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:BSX)") end if %>, Johnson & Johnson <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:JNJ)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:JNJ)") end if %>, St. Jude Medical <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ:STJM)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ:STJM)") end if %>, Abbot Labs <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:ABT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:ABT)") end if %>, and Guidant <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:GDT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:GDT)") end if %>.
It's Oracle's weekly flood-the-press-releases day. And as usual, I don't understand a word of their press releases about their new products and services, so I'll simply excerpt from the release and let those of you who really know the difference between a client and a server decide whether this is news:
"Oracle today joined MDL Information Systems in the official launch of the company's new pharmaceutical and biotechnology application written in Power Objects, Oracle's object-oriented visual development tool for cross platform client/server development. The application, MDL SCREEN, is a new High Throughput Screening (HTS) system designed to manage and track large volumes of chemical and biological screening information used for the discovery of new medications and treatments within the pharmaceutical industry."
Also, Oracle announced that "Discoverer/2000, its end-user tool for viewing information stored in relational OLTP systems and data warehouses, will provide enhanced analysis of data generated and stored in Oracle Applications. Oracle will work with Noetix Corp., a provider of business views for Oracle Applications, who will develop a new product which will automatically populate Discoverer/2000's End User Layer to enable non-technical end-users to easily view critical application data."
In new client news for Oracle, "Nelco International Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Park Electrochemical Corp., has selected Oracle Applications to support the company's above-market growth. Nelco, a leading designer and producer of advanced electronic materials used to fabricate multi-layer printed circuit boards and interconnect systems, will replace its overtaxed, custom applications with Oracle Applications' financial, manufacturing and distribution modules."
There ... feel better? I know my "non-technical end-user" does, split infinitive and all. (Sorry ... needed to throw a bone to the liberal arts types who cringe when faced with techno-jargon.)
In more technology news, Digital Equipment <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:DEC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:DEC)") end if %> and Computer Associates <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:CA)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:CA)") end if %> followed up on yesterday's announced deal with a few details today. The companies entered a wide-ranging alliance which DEC's CEO, Robert Palmer, believes will add hundreds of millions of dollars to DEC's future revenues.
The deal includes CA buying some of DEC's Polycenter systems management software, which helps make DEC's product platforms more attractive to the market.
Government approval of the deal has to be forthcoming, of course, but CA chairman Charles Wang expects the process to be handled in less than 30 days. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
For CA, the services pact should result in substantial improvement in speeding up the adoption and installation of CA's Unicenter systems management software and in repeat customer sales. Sales of Unicenter accounted for about $550 million in revenues out of the $3.5 billion total revenues CA expects to report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1996, or a little over 15 percent of the total revenues. The services pact with Digital will resolve a key limitation which has constrained sales of Unicenter in recent years by providing a vastly expanded services and support organization. Computer Associates focuses mainly on product sales and has only several hundred service employees.
Transmitted: 4/24/96 | ||||||||
INVESTING FOR GROWTH (4/24/96) | ||||||||
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