Conference 7.286::digital

    I would guess that the stock is climbing because folks look at the most
    recent Q1 and Q2, draw a line, read the good press about Q2 and think
    Q3 is going to turn an even bigger profit.  Perhaps they are looking at
    the overall market and are purchasing based on scant info.  Then there 
    are the announcements.  (I wonder if when layoffs are announced folks
    just assume it's because we figured how to do more with less.)  Couple 
    this with speculators that perceive momentum in the stock and plan to 
    sell just before the Q3 announcement.  Put it all together and you might 
    have a ride with more air time than anything at Canobie Lake ...  Just
    an uniformed, ignorant opinion.
    
    Steve 

    There is (always) a good string going about the stock price in
    NYOSS!::DIGITAL_INVESTING 10.*
    
    Dan

    Oops.  NYOSS1::DIGITAL_INVESTING
    
    The shift key sticks.  To try and get it fixed would send the
    stock price plumetting.

    
    
      I suppose you could receive numerous opinions/answers to this
    question. My personal believe is that analysts have us as a buy on
    the Market for one. In contrast to this is the recognized Products 
    we have out there(Large volume purchases from Apple and other Co.'s
    of Digital Semiconductor's PCI chip for one) the notebook(although we 
    can't keep up with the volume of ordered sales) Networking recognition
    (on and on). Maybe I'm too optimistic. Our Marketing crew is also
    making big strides. More layoffs(I hear up to 20K by end of FY95).
    Let's not forget the great pubilcity by the Boston Globe and others.
    All in all, in the direction were headed, why wonder. Enjoy the ride if
    you own Stock.
    
     -Al

   Chances are that this is nothing but a short lived phenomena. Digital
   stock has been around 33 (on the average) at least since mid to late
   November. We've had a few spikes (ESSP and two around Q2 announcement).

   Don't forget that DOW is breaking new ground. I wouldn't read anything
   into this unless is persists at least two weeks after our Q3 results.
   Hold out until end of April before you count your chickens...

   >Per

    	Put a sell order in yesterday (which means it sold sometime this
    morning) for 100 shares. Guess we'll see what happens, but it seems to
    be down a bit even as I write this.
    
    	The stock did just about the same thing at the end of last quarter
    I believe, and at this point, 40 seems to be the magic number for a lot
    of people.
    
    	Ray

    HP, a 29 billion dollar company, sees Digital as relatively cheap now.
    Digital's major problems are behind it and its VAX install base is the
    envy of HP. What a way to dramatically increase market share and get the 
    64 bit technology you need.   

> Digital's ... VAX install base is the envy of HP. 

In what respects?

- jeff_curious

    Yes sure the stock has gone up in the relatively recent past to similar
    levels. BUT -- not in so short a space of time,, not at this stage of
    the quarter,, not without some accompanying information on Livewire
    saying that such-and-such analyst has changed the recommendation to
    BUY.
    
    Look at the share transaction rate. The level of trading in our shares
    has gone up dramatically as of last Friday. The next couple of days
    will be interesting if that level of trading carries on. I'd be really
    interested in an explanation. Either lots of people are buying a few
    shares (relatively) and that doesn't make sense, or a few people (maybe
    one company) is buying a lot. 
    
    And yes HP does look at our VAX base with envy. (As does any major
    vendor). Isn't that why they bought Apollo a few years back -- for the
    opportunity?

    RE: .9
    
    Maybe I'm missing something, but can you explain your logic to me
    about HP buying Apollo because they were envious of Digital's VAX
    installed base?
    
    				-John

    Actually, HP bought Apollo in order to consume Apollo's market
    share as well as Apollo's high end workstation business.
    
    Mark (former Apollo employee).

    and IBM made a deal with Wang to get their customers.

    Header should be changed to "DEC at 36 5/8 and falling"...

I once worked for a software house that was purchased by its main competitor,
not because they wanted our superior product, they wanted our customers.

Bob

    My comment is that people are covering their short positions in 
    the market. They were forced into buying now to cover their shorts.
    

>>They were forced into buying now to cover their shorts.
    
	why don't they just put some pants on?

	;-)

	_kelley (must be Friday)

    It's the end of a quarter. Institutional investors want to show they
    are holding "winning stocks" in their quarterly reports, a tradition
    known as "window dressing".
    
    So, look for DEC to sell off next week as the redecorators show up.
    
      John

    In today's Wall Street Journal, in an article on rising profits within
    the computer industry, an analyst predicted that Digital would earn
    $0.25 per share this quarter on a 6% revenue increase.   
    
    In a separate article, Digital announced their newest workstation,
    quoted users and analyst about how fast and cheap it was, and quoted
    Digital's new workstations' systems VP (recently came over from HP),
    who said that Digital will be able to grow its workstation business by
    a factor of 2% (percentage of market) a year for the next several
    years.
    
    The two articles combined had lots of really nice things to say about
    Digital.
    
    I think that Digital's stock is rising because of market valuation
    considerations, not quarterly window dressing.
    
    
    
    

  When I picked up my copy of the Journal at the front desk this morning, I was
missing the B & C sections, and I'm betting the articles described in .-1 are in
those sections.

						Trace

I read the headline on this note, and I thought they were talking about
the AGE of the company!

--RS

    If one takes the number of negative comments about the state of the 
    company and the price of it's stock as a contrarian indicator, then 
    I'd say that there is more upward potential in this rallye.
    
    Klaus

    They were...somebody misconstrued it and thought they were talking
    about the stock, started buying and the rest is history...

    39 1/4, up 1/2 at 10:05.
    
    This is a 52 week high.
    
    What happened to all the negative people.  Seems as if they disappeared a
    few notes back.  Could be they have mud on their face.
    
    

    A minor nit: the 52 week high is 39.375 (but it was hit today;
    currently [10:18] it's 38.875).

    
    	Mud is not a problem as long as it's convertible to cash. My case
    of the sooner, the better still applies.
    
    	As my Daddy has often said, "No one ever went broke making a
    profit". :-)
    
    		the Greyhawk

re: What happened to all the negative people ..

Wondering why Digital hasn't hit an all time high when DOW just did.

>Per

    re: .27
    
    > Wondering why Digital hasn't hit an all time high when DOW just did.
    
    You mean DEC has to hit 200 before you'll stop being negative?  :-)
    
    	Steve

    I love watching theese numbers climb! What's the buy price for this
    period? If I knew that, I could even calculate how much I love it.

    
    The December 1 1994, FMV was $32.38 (85% = $27.52). Let's hope it stays
    where it is , or goes higher *after* Q3 numbers are announced!!!
    
    
    /Charlie
    

    Buy price is rounded up to the next higher 1/4 so it's actually $27.75
    
    

re:28

I think the ESOP purchase price for June will be $27.75 if my rounding to
nearest 1/4 of $ or is it 1/8 of $

Re: 200.

No, it does not have to hit 200. I'd be happy if it can just hit our
stock price of two years ago ($45) and show that it can stay there.

Right now the DEC stock is very volatile. All it takes is a sneeze on
the trading floor and many will rush to dump. The best would be slow and
steady growth to $45. That would indicate that investors have confidence
in the stock. Random 15% spikes in stock price sounds like the result of
guess-work and gambling to me. And we do not have the last spikes very
far behind us. It is anyone's guess if the current price isn't just
the first half of yet another spike ... 

As I said before, if the price holds two weeks after Q3 results are out,
there is hope. BTW, I do own DEC stock (at a profit) and I intend to grow
that profit even more.

>Per

Re: .26    
    	
    	> As my Daddy has often said, "No one ever went broke making a
    > profit". :-)
    
	My Dad would say "Don't sell the steak; sell the sizzle." :^)
    
    db    

>                      <<< Note 3773.32 by FREMP::ACQUAH >>>
>                          -< DEC at 38 and climbing >-
>re:28
>
>I think the ESOP purchase price for June will be $27.75 if my rounding to

It's not ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), 
it's ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Plan).

Two different programs, always confused with one another in these discussions.

- tom]

    Friday's close $40.75, up 1 7/8.

    
    Digital closes Wall St. with another 52-week high!
    
Symbol        : DEC          Exchange    : New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Description   : DIGITAL EQUIP CORP                           
Last Traded at: 45.1250      Date/Time   : Apr 13  4:03:21
$ Change      : 2.3750       % Change    : 5.56    

Volume        : 2402900      # of Trades : 547      
Day Low       : 42.6250      Day High    : 45.1250  
52 Week Low   : 18.2500      52 Week High: 45.1250  

    
    
    	According to Charles Schwab, the stock is at 46, up 7/8.  Since its
    	after the market closed, I'd assume that it closed at 46.  Diane

>I'd assume that it closed at 46.

According to a usually reliable source, it closed at 46 1/8.

Symbol        : DEC          Exchange    : New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Description   : DIGITAL EQUIP CORP                           
Last Traded at: 46.1250      Date/Time   : Apr 17  4:01:24
$ Change      : 1.0000       % Change    : 2.22    

Volume        : 2967800      # of Trades : 611      
Day Low       : 45.1250      Day High    : 46.6250  
52 Week Low   : 18.2500      52 Week High: 45.1250  

/john

Note that Microsoft went up 4 7/8's today to close at around 77. Don't
want to spoil the fun, but it looks like all computer companies are on
the uprise in the past month or so. Nice to see Digital following, though.

>Per

    
    ...what's happened to HP stock ? VTX shows it at $63, it was $122 last
    week !
    
    Graham

    I believe HP had a 2 for 1 stock split.
    

    No it was not a split, swomeone was playing with their quote program.

>    <<< Note 3773.43 by OTOOA::MOWBRAY "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then" >>>>
>
>    No it was not a split, swomeone was playing with their quote program.


Yes it did split.  Closed yesterday at 63.  Why would you say it didn't?

-Bruce
    

    Since the end of last fall I've been watching Microsoft go from 75 to
    105, then slip 2 for one and go back up to 77.  	I suggest that
    Microsoft stock has a track that is somewhat unrelated to our own.
                    

>><<< Note 3773.43 by OTOOA::MOWBRAY "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then" >>>
>>
>>    No it was not a split, swomeone was playing with their quote program.

Well, I laughed !

bjm

RE:.46

It was a joke, son. Joke, that is.

We received our H/P stock certificates from the split yesterday.  Nice 
surprise since we were not aware of it having split.  Letter included
with stock confirmed the 2 to 1 split.

>  Letter included with stock confirmed the 2 to 1 split.
    
    And a smiley face in .43 would have confirmed the humor.  :-)
    
    -Mark

> >  Letter included with stock confirmed the 2 to 1 split.
>  
>     And a smiley face in .43 would have confirmed the humor.  :-)
>  
>     -Mark

Well, I certainly wouldn't take issue with the notion that humor doesn't exist 
until explicitly pointed out, but this *is* the '90's. With the proliferation of 
multimedia-capable systems, nothing less than canned laughter is acceptable these 
days. Better yet would be a pan shot of an audience laughing, chuckling, smirking, 
etc. as appropriate to the current witticism. You folks who keep harping on the 
omission of smiley faces are holding things up for the rest of us: if developers 
think we're all happy with smiley faces, that's all they'll give us.

While I'm here, anyone know how to get a CD-ROM out of that black-surrounded 
opening below the floppy drive on my new office DECstation 333C? The internal 
CD-ROM drive seems to have been DOA.

> Well, I certainly wouldn't take issue with the notion that humor doesn't exist 
> until explicitly pointed out,

No, you have that backwards.  Humour ceases to exist
when explicitly pointed out.

(ha, ha, I'm only kidding)

    
    	Wow, that's deep!!
    
    	You could drown trying to figure that one out!!
    

    OK, here's the smiley face for .43    :-)
    
    I stand humbly apologetic for ignoring that and for the spelling
    mistake on the word "someone".
    
    I will try to remember to put smiley faces with my humourous asides in
    the future, although I cannot guarantee it.
    
    

>    I will try to remember to put smiley faces with my humourous asides in
>    the future, although I cannot guarantee it.
    
    And chalk up another victory for the Orwellian Thought Police.
    
      John

 >     I will try to remember to put smiley faces with my humourous asides in
 >     the future, although I cannot guarantee it.
    
    Don't fall into the trap. I consider the failure of the humor-impaired
    to recognize humor to be their problem (assuming there really is humor
    present and not something else in disguise). 
    
    I'd much rather see real humor without a roadmap than a nasty note
    artifically tagged with an icon that purports to say "but I'm only
    kidding, see?".

Well, down to 44.5

/john

    Dave Barry wrote an article on being humor-impaired.  He cited Richard
    Nixon as the poster child for this affliction and discussed the ways
    the staff helped him overcome his handicap.
    
    One of these ways was by attaching remote-operated electrodes they
    could trigger, letting him know it was "time to smile" or "time to
    laugh heartily", etc.  Unfortunately, sweating would cause these to
    trigger spontaneously at times, making him look like a fast-forwarded
    clip of a Saturday Night Live watcher.
    
    This technological tragedy may have been responsible for the Cambodia
    bombings.  Historians are not sure.  In any event, they agree you
    should never trust a president who doesn't think "booger jokes" are
    funny and who looks like a weasel.
    
    								Tex
    
    (Um, so how's that stock?"

43 7/8 (down 5/8) at 9:47.

The run-up before the quarterly results are announced and a drop when they
are announced is typical.

				Steve

    Besides all of us reading notes?  :-)
    
    Ups and downs are not uncommon after quarterly annoucements for
    profit taking and the like...  Also the markets tend to react
    negatively to bad news like terrorist bombings of federal buildings...
    
    				-John

>    Ups and downs are not uncommon after quarterly annoucements for
>    profit taking and the like...

Correct.

>                                   Also the markets tend to react
>    negatively to bad news like terrorist bombings of federal buildings...

The Dow is up.

    re: last few
    
    The Dow is up, but the big computer stocks are all down, such as Intel,
    Microsoft, Sun, HP, IBM, Oracle, etc.
    
    	Steve

    My Prudential broker sent the 4/19 flash, giving DEC a "BUY"
    recommendation by their firm....noting upward trends in almost all
    the business segments (PC's are believed to be running at a rate
    similar to HP's.) They also noted the decline in SG&A expenses, beating
    their estimates of $60M decline (it was down by $100M).  They guess
    we'll be profitable again in Q4...always our strongest, anyway.
    Could be a "50's" June???? 

    re .64
    
    But the stock is trading at 41 3/8.. Profit taking I suppose !!!
    
    Jay
    

��                     <<< Note 3773.64 by NCMAIL::RPOWELL >>>
��                      -< Don't Hold Your Breath, But... >-

��    My Prudential broker sent the 4/19 flash, giving DEC a "BUY"
��    recommendation by their firm....noting upward trends in almost all

    Gee, the stock went from 18.25 - 46.75 over the past nine
    months, and now they recommend it as a buy!  What's next
    they predict Clinton beats Bush in the presidential race?

    Re: .last
    
    I'm glad someone else brought this out.  There's an analyst for
    Warburg, I think his name is David Wu.  EVERY QUARTER this guy nay-says
    anything possibly good about DEC.  I'm not a stock watcher or
    particularly up on the market, but this is a great example of how WRONG
    some of these prognosticators can be.  He still has DEC stock on "hold"
    even when its gone from <$20 to >$40!!!!
    
    What a chump!

    I am trying to decide whether I should buy and sell on June 1st or hang
    on to my stock.  Anyone want to give me some advice??
    
    Melody 
    

    45.250 as of 11AM 5/11/95

    
    	I'd hold.
    
    	If earnings for Calendar Year 1995 are anywhere near current
    projections of $3.00 to $3.50 a share, the stock should hit $55 to
    $60 a share in December given a "normal" Price/Earnings ratio of
    18 (which is the *new* norm these days).
    
    	If we go to hell in a handbasket, the downside is about $32 to
    $36 a share based on technical strengths and the 270 day moving
    average for DEC.
    
    	Since the upside is a marginal risk (given everything that has
    happened to us, ie. margins holding, sales growth, etc.), I would
    recommend a strong hold, and maybe a little buying on dips this summer
    at the $40 range.
    
    	One thing is for sure, we are going to make money this time... :*)
    
    
    		the Greyhawk

    Good God, Corson!  You related to Dorfman?

    Short term: The stock has had a 150% run-up in less than a year.
    There's likely a bunch of speculators out there willing to take
    profits, once the stock shows some weakness. 
    
    Long term: With a competitive level of profitability, say 5% return 
    on revenue, digital would earn about $5 to $7 a share. This gives the 
    stock an upward potential over the next years in the $80 to $100 range.
    
    So I think DEC stock looks promising long-term, but there's a fair 
    chance to buy it cheaper than $45 over the next months.
    
    Klaus
    
    Klaus

 re. .73   Yeah, but she'll be buying it at $ 27.75 on May 30 and has the
    opportunity to make a nice profit on June 1 with NO risk.

    
    47.250 @ 1:50 May 16 1995
    
    52 week high today, as well as yesterday.
    
    Gullik
    

    
    48.375 @ 12:10 May 17 1995 ( The National day of Norway )
    
    52 week high today also @ 48.50
    
    Gullik
    

    Actually a two year high!
    
    -Paul