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ZRAN. [Briefing.com] September 16, 2002 2:52:00 PM ET
Zoran (ZRAN) 11.09 -0.41: Stock dropped 13% Friday due to ESST's preannouncement on Thursday; SG Cowen defends co against sector concerns. Firm believes ZRAN is on track to meet Q3 guidance of 25%+ q/q revenue growth citing strength from Japanese DVD player OEM and its digital camera business. Cowen notes ZRAN has $7/share in cash and is already profitable ... sees upside potential if co meets Q3 guidance.
DVD chipmakers predict slowdown in sales [Taipei Times, September 14, 2002]
SAGGING DEMAND: MediaTek Inc, Ali Corp and ESS Technology Inc saw sales surge after Sept. 11, but haven't seen the usual Christmas-season upswing
BLOOMBERG
HSINCHU
The world's biggest makers of chips for DVD players, MediaTek Inc (Ápµo¬ì§Þ), Ali Corp (´´¼) and ESS Technology Inc, lowered their expectations for sales because they haven't seen the usual pickup in orders for the Christmas season.
While second-half sales usually rise from the first-half, "this year, the difference isn't going to be that much," Tsai Ming-chieh (½²©ú¤¶), chairman of MediaTek, said in an interview.
Chin Wu (§d´Ü´¼), president of rival Ali, said the sales pickup should have happened by now: "It's quite strange." "Christmas is going to be far below expectations. The spending pie has now been taken away by cars."
Samir Mehta, stock manager for Lloyd George Management
DVD player sales soared following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks after people canceled travel plans and spent more on home entertainment, analysts said. This year, consumers in the US have less disposable income after taking advantage of zero-interest loans from automakers to buy new cars, investors said.
"Christmas is going to be far below expectations," said Samir Mehta, who helps manage US$2 billion in stocks for Lloyd George Management in Hong Kong and is planning to sell his stake in MediaTek. "The spending pie has now been taken away by cars."
MediaTek and Ali, both based in Hsinchu, sell most of their chips to Sichuan Changhong Electric Co (¥/¤tªøi¹q¾¹) and other makers of DVD players in China, which analysts say have cut prices to displace Japanese rivals such as Sony Corp and take about 60 percent of the US$5 billion global market.
Those price cuts caused an explosion in DVD player sales at the end of last year, benefiting MediaTek and Ali. Shipments of DVD players this year will rise to 49 million units, or 48 percent, from 33 million sets last year, US-based market researcher iSuppli Corp said last month.
Signs indicate the surge in sales is now stalling.
Fremont, California-based ESS Technology slashed its third-quarter sales forecast yesterday to between US$60 million and US$64 million from an earlier estimate of US$86 million to US$90 million. The company also said it expects fourth-quarter sales of between US$53 million and US$57 million.
Second-half sales may decline as much as a third from the first half, ESS Technology said.
"As we go into the Christmas season, we are now finding that worldwide demand has slowed down surprisingly in the latter part of the quarter," ESS Technology President Robert Blair said in a statement. "We expect fourth-quarter prices to fall 10 percent to 15 percent from the third quarter." Some of its largest customers are based in Japan and South Korea, ESS Technology said.
"The third quarter has slowed down," said Ali's Wu. "Last year, we saw a pickup at this time. This year we haven't seen that happen."
Second-half sales, which typically account for 60 percent of full-year revenue, may be about 50 percent this year, the companies said. The slowdown indicates that consumers in the US aren't willing to spend even the US$80 to US$100 that inexpensive Chinese-made DVD players cost, investors said.
That puts pressure on the price of DVD chips. "Some prices are going lower," MediaTek's Tsai said. "Customers are still working down inventory."
A mudcat is a type of catfish capable of living in muddy waters. There is also an association with a style of blues music in the delta region (remember the musician Muddy Waters?). Just guessing that "mudcat" enjoys the blues, or is a musician. Here's a site for more info: http://www.mudcat.org/blues.cfm AK
E-archaeologists find 'first ever smiley'
Updated 14 September 2002, 11.46
Computer archaeologists at Microsoft think they have found the first ever smiley !
Press Packer talks to Microsoft boss Bill gates
The smiley dates back to a message board posting from 19 September 1982 and took six months to find.
Researcher Mike Jones searched through loads of old postings on the first ever message boards from the Carnegie Mellon University in the early 1980s.
The message he found says: "I propose the following character sequence for markers ."
Smileys are also known as "emoticons" and were thought up by computer users to show their feelings or emotions through typing.
There are thousands of variations now, which include abbreviations like LOL (laughing out loud).
People use them in e-mails, chat rooms and txt messages. There are even different kinds of emoticons for Japanese surfers.
If it is the first ever smiley, it means emoticons celebrate their 20th birthday next week!
:))
[For full text, et. al. go to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sci_tech/newsid_2257000/2257532.stm ]
ZRAN, ESST, MediaTek. IBD article.
JLSegal, you wrote Zeev, interesting article in today's (9/16/02) IBD regarding DVD chip sales regarding new competition for ZRAN and ESST. MediaTek has a product that combines processing and video on one chip (used to take 2), neither ESST or ZRAN have such a product, but are working on one. (ESST expects to offer it's single chip device, Vibratto II, by the end of the year)
Here are snippets from recent press releases from ZRAN and ESST to clarify their status on the 1-chip solution:
SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Zoran Corporation (Nasdaq: ZRAN - News) announced that its sixth generation Vaddis 6 is a complete advanced DVD system-on-a-chip (SOC) solution, which integrates the DVD front end and back end functions on a single chip. Sample quantities are now shipping to major DVD player manufacturers.
…
Vaddis 6 is designed for OEMs to easily migrate from previous Vaddis DVD solutions, allowing a quick time to market. Zoran expects that Vaddis 6-based DVD systems will begin to ship towards the end of the year.
[the entire ZRAN press release is posted in #msg-496840]
FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-
…
Robert Blair, president and CEO of ESS Technology commented, "As we go into the Christmas season, we are now finding worldwide demand has slowed down surprisingly in the latter part of the quarter. We are also experiencing increased competition from suppliers who offer an integrated front-end servo and MPEG decoder solution and we are seeing a faster than expected transition to this new integrated solution. This has increased pressure on average selling prices, and we expect fourth quarter prices to fall 10% to 15% from the third quarter. We plan to ship our own integrated solution, the Vibratto II, in the fourth quarter."
Mr. Blair continued, "Although the industry is now facing an overall slowdown, ESS continues to gain design wins in Japan and Korea with our existing full-featured Vibratto family of products. We believe the introduction of our new integrated Vibratto II servo-decoder product family will enable ESS to gain market share and continue its leadership position in the digital entertainment market."
[the entire ESST press release is posted in #msg-496808]
Because I have not seen the IBD article, I hope the above snippets are helpful.
AK
p.s. MediaTek is a Taiwanese company. Here is a link to their product lines as well as other company information:
http://www.mtk.com.tw/product_lines.htm
Older than dirt:
Oldest Known Penis Is 100 Million Years Old
Fri Sep 13,11:45 AM ET
LEICESTER, England (Reuters) - Sex was first recognized in the fossil records more than 500 million years ago and the oldest known penis is about 100 million years old, a conference heard on Friday.
It belongs to an ostracod, an early crustacean related to crabs, shrimps and water fleas, and was found in a fossil sample unearthed in Brazil.
"To my knowledge it is the oldest penis. I don't know of any older," Professor David Siveter, of the University of Leicester, told the British Association science conference.
Dinosaurs were around 100 million years ago but the only known dinosaur fossils are of bones, not soft tissue.
In fact the ostracod fossil had not one penis but two.
Siveter, an expert in paleontology, believes ostracods are very sexy animals because they have the second longest sperm in the animal kingdom. A one millimeter ostracod can produce a single sperm 10 millimeters long.
"An ostracod has the longest sperm to body ratio of any animal known to man, so clearly it has to have special equipment to deal with the sperm. It doesn't have one penis, it has two. We found the two penises in a 100 million year old fossil," he said.
By studying gender and sexuality and how far it goes back in the fossil record, Siveter said scientists can learn more about how animal reproduction evolved and behavioral traits.
In a separate presentation, Professor Scott Sampson of the University of Utah Museum of Natural History in the United States said that dinosaurs probably used their enormous horns, pikes, plates and crests to attract the opposite sex, in a similar way that peacocks use their colorful array of feathers.
Some of the appendages were used as weapons but Sampson said others were simply not strong enough to be useful against an enemy and like deer or antelope they used the horns to impress potential mates.
"I think the evidence is quite strong that dinosaurs did too," he said.
Phil, I hate to pick a fight over your use of the phase "lilly livered liberal" but my gosh man, "lilly" are towns, one in Georgia and another in Pennsylvania.
You are referring to "livered liberals from lilly"?
Georgia or Pennsylvania??
C'mon, tell us how you really feel....
gee, you don't mean...
"lily-livered" do you?
AK
p.s. Other than the lovely alliteration, why do you use "lily-livered" and "liberal" together? ...Aren't there "lily-livered conservatives" too? See #msg-498323 <g>
Unfortunately, pill splitting is not patentable, so there are some difficulties capitalizing on it...
Perhaps the process of pill splitting is not patentable, but maybe the device that does it is? According to the following article, a patent for the Viagra pill-splitter has been applied for. (see bolded text below) You've got to give this guy credit for all the free publicity. Following is from BBC.
===============
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2255035.stm
Friday, 13 September, 2002, 09:09 GMT 10:09 UK
Pensioner markets device to split Viagra pill
Viagra made Pfizer $150bn last year
A thrifty pensioner has come up with a way of boosting his dollars and his sex life.
Carmen Reitano, aged 70, has invented a way to split his Viagra pills.
This saves his cash on the $10 per tablet pills as well as doubling his supply of tablets.
Mr Reitano, of Massachusetts, America, now plans to market his invention, which splits the little blue anti-impotence drug into two equal portions.
He has even set up his own website where he promised visitors that his "Revolutionary V" Viagra splitter" will cut costs by 50%.
We've gotten several hundred orders so far
Carmen Reitano
Mr Reitano said his device is "a Godsend."
He said: "Doctors are generally fully supportive of the pill splitting practice."
But he said finding out how to cut the tablets was not easy.
He said that with its odd shape of a curved top and bottom and its hard shell it had been difficult to cut with any accuracy.
And he said many had previously tried to split the pill.
"It either flies away, breaks unevenly, or it just disintegrates.
"The funniest stories are that it ricochets because you have to hit it so damn hard to cut it and then you've got to find out where it went behind the refrigerator.
"It seemed to me the only way to really develop an efficient way was to customise a device to lock in place and guillotine the pill."
Patent
He hopes to have a patent for his device within a month.
The hand held guillotine, which costs $30, comes in two sizes so it can be used for both the 100 milligramme and 50mg tablets and is on the market via the internet.
Mr Reitano said business so far had been brisk, but not overwhelming.
"I would like to say thousands but we've gotten several hundred orders so far.
"The majority of orders are from the United States, but we have gotten multiple orders from Australia, Japan and China.
"I would suspect that the economics and size of the user base makes this potentially big business."
Business
Pfizer Inc, which have marketed the drug since 1998 say they have no worries about Mr Reitano's device.
Pfizer spokesman Geoff Cook said: "I don't think it would affect the profit structure."
The drug earned Pfizer $1.5billion in sales worldwide last year. Since it was first marketed 100 million prescriptions have been written.
See #msg-497054. "I have a minor bounce back next Monday/Tuesday (9/16-17)"
ZRAN. [Briefing.com] Zoran should be bought on ESST weakness - Pac Growth (ZRAN) 13.24: -- Update -- In contrast to Thomas Weisel's downgrade (8:42), Pacific Growth believes the problems at ESST are co-specific and bear no relevance on ZRAN's ability to meet its quarterly forecast; says ZRAN was already undervalued, and any weakness attributable to the ESST miss should be aggressively bought into; reiterates Overweight rating.
September 13, 2002 09:26:00 AM ET
Pornographer Private Media Offers to Buy Napster
Thu Sep 12, 7:39 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Now that Napster ( news - web sites) has been stripped of its former glory, the once-popular song-swap service may find some love in the online porn world.
On Thursday, Private Media Group Inc. , a publicly traded adult entertainment site based in Spain said it has made an offer to buy some assets of the defunct song-swapping site for stock valued at about $2.4 million.
In a statement issued from Barcelona, Private Media said that it had offered to acquire the Napster trademark and napster.com Internet address for one million shares of Private Media common stock.
Private Media shares closed down 11 cents at $2.41 on Nasdaq on Thursday.
A representative for Napster was not immediately available for comment. The service recently closed its doors and fired all but a few of its remaining staffers as it prepared to liquidate remaining assets.
The revolutionary Internet song-swap service was hailed by millions of music fans but damned by the powerful recording industry officially shut down earlier this month after a U.S. bankruptcy court blocked its final sale to German media giant Bertelsmann AG .
Private Media Chief Executive Charles Prast said in a statement that copyright infringement was a major issue in the online adult entertainment industry as well as for the mainstream music and movie industry.
"Acquiring Napster is our way of entering the peer-to-peer marketplace for adult content in a closed environment," Prast told Reuters.
Private Media said it plans to use the Napster trademark to offer millions of adults worldwide the ability to swap adult-oriented content for free and to also gain access to "top-quality" content at a reasonable price. Private Media claims to own the largest library of adult-oriented content in the world, with global copyrights to the content.
Prast said his company is not interested in the Napster technology, but was talking with several other companies to develop a peer-to-peer platform.
"Clearly, this is an initial offer, and we need to speak to our counsel as to how best to approach the bankruptcy court," Prast said.
He said that Napster's lawyers were made aware of his company's offer but that he and his company had not had any direct communication with Napster's management.
"Along with Hollywood and the recording industry, we have become increasingly concerned about the level of copyright infringement inherent in the free peer-to-peer file swapping services," Prast said.
Napster, which at the height of its popularity commanded a following of some 60 million users, fell afoul of the powerful recording industry, which targeted it as a dangerous new vehicle for copyright violation.
Experts said Kazaa and other popular peer-to-peer services, which have emerged in Napster's wake, are popular channels through which pornography is now traded without authorization.
Napster's web site went black last Tuesday, with a mournful tribute "Napster Was Here" in the wake of swift demise following a decision by a Delaware court to block Bertelsmann's $9 million offer to buy the company's assets. Record labels and songwriters opposed the deal, arguing it was not a fair price.
Faced with no financing, no revenues and no other buyers, Napster's Chief Executive Konrad Hilbers said the company would now switch reorganization efforts to a Chapter 7 liquidation.
Hilbers, and Napster's founder Shawn Fanning, were among those who lost their jobs.
Mike McGuire, analyst with GartnerG2, said the Private Media offer, if it stands, might be hard for Napster to turn down.
"If its legitimate, it's a whole lot better then what they have right now, which is a sea of red ink. I'm not sure you can argue personal pride against a bid," he said.
GNSS. [Briefing.com] Genesis Microchip: CIBC raises est after call, but remains cautious (GNSS) 8.57: CIBC World Mkts raises Q2 est to $0.05 from $0.03 after co's management increased its Q2 sales outlook last night on conference call. (Co boosted rev outlook to $45-$46 mln from $42-$43 mln). Despite the increase in FPD shipments experienced by company, CIBC remains cautious due to uncertain sell-through. Believes that excess glass inventories fueled recent controller demand, as manufacturers build FPD monitors in anticipation of holiday demand.
September 13, 2002 08:50:00 AM ET
ZRAN. [Briefing.com] 8:42AM Zoran downgraded at Thomas Weisel (ZRAN) 13.24: -- Update -- Thomas Weisel downgrades to MKT PERFORM from Attractive based on weak DVD data; cuts FY02 est to $0.54 from $0.64 and FY03 to $0.60 from $0.93.
Portable MRI info:
MagneVu http://www.magnevu.com/ for company info; photos, etc.
================
Press release (note date):
Portable MRI Debuts at UCI Medical Center
UCI Physicians are First Worldwide to
Adopt the Powerful New Tool for Diagnostic Scans
Orange, Calif., June 13, 2001 — Physicians at UC Irvine, Medical Center (UCI Medical Center) have a small but powerful new imaging tool to assist with diagnosis – a portable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device developed by MagneVu and cleared for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). UCI Medical Center physicians are the first in the nation to use the device, which experts say may vastly simplify diagnosis of a variety of injuries and medical conditions.
Unlike conventional MRI systems, which must be assembled in fixed, shielded locations, the MagneVu 1000® MRI is easily transported for point-of-care diagnostic scans, making it more patient- and doctor-friendly. It's the size of a small, portable TV, attached to a laptop computer.
"The miniaturization of MRI technology offers major benefits," says Dr. Jamshid Tehranzadeh, professor of radiology at UCI Medical Center. "Most important is that it's portable, and special shielding is not needed for the room. Therefore, it can be used in just about any doctor's office. From a radiologist's point of view, because it makes very thin images, it is useful for identifying tiny erosions in the bone and revealing marrow changes in small areas like toes and fingers." The MagneVu MRI takes about 12 minutes to scan a wrist, hand, foot or ankle and offers multiple views using 3-D computer graphics.
"Anyone who’s had an MRI knows it can be an uncomfortable, claustrophobic experience – the patient must be carefully positioned on a small bed that passes into a giant magnet," says Dr. Harry Skinner, professor and chair of the UCI department of orthopedic surgery. "With this new device, only the body part under study is scanned, greatly reducing discomfort. Moreover, immediate feedback is available to the physician and patient, often eliminating the need for separate follow-up appointments."
Physicians are finding the device useful in a variety of applications, including orthopedic medicine, vascular surgery, diabetic wound care and burn treatment, as well as evaluating patients with rheumatoid arthritis for early erosions.
Rheumatologists say they’ve been able to almost instantly diagnose arthritic patients in a single office visit. "I use it primarily for the hands to help determine the extent of rheumatoid arthritis. It also helps me to see if the disease has progressed or worsened, so that I can modify treatment plans," says Dr. Carolyn Dennehey, an assistant clinical professor and rheumatologist at UCI Medical Center.
Because of its focused field of view, the MagneVu 1000 MRI is currently used for the hand, foot, wrist and ankle. Skinner comments that "as the field of view increases with this technology, we believe we will be able to provide images of knees, shoulders, hips, lumbar spines and necks."
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MAGNEVU® 1000 PORTABLE MRI SCANNER
Received FDA clearance in August 1998.
UC Irvine Medical Center first hospital in worldwide to use the device.
Developed by MagneVu, a research and development company based in Carlsbad, Calif.
Currently used for the hand, foot, wrist and ankle. Useful for orthopedic medicine, vascular surgery, diabetic wound care, rheumatology and burn treatment.
MagneVu 1000® MRI weighs about 100 pounds and is easily transported for point-of-care diagnostic scans, making it more patient-friendly. A typical MRI weighs at least 10 times that weight.
Only the body part under study is scanned, greatly reducing discomfort and eliminating claustrophobia.
It's portable, and special shielding is not needed for the room. Can be used in just about any doctor's office.
MRI scan can be completed during same-day office visit. No need for separate appointment.
"We are also experiencing increased competition from suppliers who offer an integrated front-end servo and MPEG decoder solution and we are seeing a faster than expected transition to this new integrated solution."
Anybody know who the supplier is they are referring to?
qwave, I don't know the answer to your question, but this press release from ZRAN would appear to meet the above description:
SOURCE: Zoran Corporation
Zoran Announces World's Most Integrated DVD System-On-A-Chip Solution
Sixth Generation Vaddis Integrates DVD Player Front End With Back End Functions On A Single IC
SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Zoran Corporation (Nasdaq: ZRAN - News) announced that its sixth generation Vaddis 6 is a complete advanced DVD system-on-a-chip (SOC) solution, which integrates the DVD front end and back end functions on a single chip. Sample quantities are now shipping to major DVD player manufacturers.
Vaddis 6, the newest member of the Vaddis product line of advanced DVD multimedia solutions, delivers break through technology in a unified shared memory architecture controlled by a single internal CPU. Zoran has delivered the DVD front end (read channel, servo, data processor, CPU) and back end functions (MPEG decode, CPU, video encoder, and progressive scan output) on a single IC. Integrating both the DVD player front-end servo system with the back-end MPEG decoding system delivers higher quality performance for consumers and increased profitability for DVD player manufacturers.
By reducing both the DVD player system chip count and the system cost, Zoran has effectively delivered cost savings for manufacturers and high quality progressive scan output for entry and midrange markets. Consumers will soon be able to purchase popular brand Vaddis-based DVD players with progressive scan output at very attractive prices.
On the front end, Vaddis 6 integrates a versatile, fully programmable digital servo processor. Zoran has implemented proprietary advanced data recovery methods and error handling for improved readability of various types of disks. Zoran also offers DVD manufacturers a tuned reference design with leading OPU (optical pick-up unit) for optimized system performance using the Vaddis 6. The servo tracks and acquires the data signal by controlling the OPU and drive motor, then passes the signal to the data processor for data extraction and error correction. The MPEG decoder then decodes the audio/video data onto the television and the speakers.
On the back end MPEG decoding, Vaddis 6 inherits the traditional high quality performance of the Vaddis product line providing superior image quality and leading-edge audio video features that include progressive scan output, DVD-Audio, Dolby ProLogic, professional Karaoke and other high-level features that contribute to giving consumers high quality, seamless viewing and listening experiences.
"Zoran's innovation has produced an industry-leading, highly integrated DVD system-on-a-chip. This advanced DVD SOC increases the overall DVD system reliability and quality, decreases the system power consumption, and most importantly, reduces the DVD system level cost structure," said Camillo Martino, executive vice president and chief operations officer at Zoran. "In addition, consumers gain some exceptional features such as progressive scan video in DVD players that are likely to be priced under $100."
Vaddis 6 is designed for OEMs to easily migrate from previous Vaddis DVD solutions, allowing a quick time to market. Zoran expects that Vaddis 6-based DVD systems will begin to ship towards the end of the year.
Vaddis-based DVD players are compatible with popular media such as CD-ROM, CD-R/-RW, and DVD-R/-RW/+R/+RW, as well as formats such as DVD-Video and DVD-Video Recording.
Photo available.
About Zoran Corporation
Zoran Corporation, based in Santa Clara, California, is a leading provider of digital solutions-on-a-chip for applications in the growing consumer electronics markets. With almost two decades of expertise developing and delivering digital compression technologies, Zoran has pioneered high- performance processing into various audio, video, and imaging technologies. Zoran's proficiency in integration delivers major benefits for OEM customers, including greater capabilities within each product generation, reduced system costs, and shorter time to market. Zoran is a leading supplier in the rapidly expanding DVD and digital camera markets and in related digital audio and video applications. With headquarters in the U.S. and operations in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, Zoran may be contacted on the World Wide Web at www.zoran.com or at 408-919-4111.
Zoran and Vaddis are registered trademarks of Zoran Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Zoran Corporation
ESST press release: ESS Technology Revises Revenue and Earnings Guidance for Third Quarter 2002
Thursday September 12, 5:31 pm ET
FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ESS Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESST - News), today announced that third quarter revenue and earnings are anticipated to be below the company's previous expectations. The company now expects revenue for the third quarter to be between $60 million and $64 million, down from its earlier estimate of $86 to $90 million. Gross margins are expected to be between 36% and 38% and earnings per diluted share will range between $0.13 and $0.21, down from its previous expectation of $0.35 to $0.38. The company is also revising its guidance for the seasonally slower fourth quarter; it now expects revenue to be between $53 and $57 million with gross margins of 32% to 35%, which results in earnings per diluted share of $0.05 to $0.10.
Robert Blair, president and CEO of ESS Technology commented, "As we go into the Christmas season, we are now finding worldwide demand has slowed down surprisingly in the latter part of the quarter. We are also experiencing increased competition from suppliers who offer an integrated front-end servo and MPEG decoder solution and we are seeing a faster than expected transition to this new integrated solution. This has increased pressure on average selling prices, and we expect fourth quarter prices to fall 10% to 15% from the third quarter. We plan to ship our own integrated solution, the Vibratto II, in the fourth quarter."
Mr. Blair continued, "Although the industry is now facing an overall slowdown, ESS continues to gain design wins in Japan and Korea with our existing full-featured Vibratto family of products. We believe the introduction of our new integrated Vibratto II servo-decoder product family will enable ESS to gain market share and continue its leadership position in the digital entertainment market."
About ESS Technology
ESS Technology, Inc., is a leading supplier of high-performance feature- rich products for the rapidly growing DVD and digital entertainment markets. The company is also a leading provider of products that enable the emergence of digital home systems delivering and managing entertainment and information in the home.
ESS, headquartered in Fremont, California, has R&D, sales, and technical support offices worldwide. ESS Technology's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol ESST. ESS Technology's web site address is: http://www.esstech.com .
The matters discussed in this news release include certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely availability and acceptance of the Company's new products, the dependence on continued growth in demand for consumer multimedia products, and the other risks detailed from time to time in the SEC reports of ESS, including the reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.
Source: ESS Technology, Inc.
ESST. [Briefing.com] 5:39PM ESS Tech guides lower (ESST) 11.23 -1.08: Company sees Q3 earnings in the range of $0.13-$0.21 vs Multex consensus of $0.37 and revs of $60-64 mln vs. Multex consensus $89 mln; Q4 earnings in range of $0.05-0.10 vs Multex consensus $0.34 and revs of $53-57 mln vs. Multex consensus $89 mln.
OT Extelcom, this is the secret. #msg-427943 AK
OT Could this be why? <g> #msg-453829
Just guessing, but given the construction of the Viagra pill, it would seem it will take a long time before pill-splitting becomes widespread enough to affect their profits. I'm sure they would be doing just fine at $5/pill, given that $5 pills will be used, one would think, more often than $10 pills. <g> AK
p.s. You don't "do" pill splitters? <vbg>
OT Actually I was thinking of Zeev's comment -- give him a "problem" and he'll find the solution. <g> But this could, in reality, affect sales(?) AK
Pfizer, inventor, Viagra -- Reuters news:
Inventor halves Viagra costs, doubles pleasure
1:05pm ET (Reuters)
By Bill Berkrot
NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Reuters) - A thrifty 70-year-old Viagra user has found that frugality can be the mother of invention.
Armed with personal knowledge that sexual prowess in pill form can be costly, inventor Carmen Reitano has come up with an efficient way to stretch Viagra dollars.
Giving new meaning to the phrase "double your pleasure," Reitano is selling a device he designed specifically to break the famous blue anti-impotence pill into two equal doses.
A visitor to the Web site (http://www.v2pillsplitter.com) is greeted by the scrolling message: The Revolutionary V2 Viagra pill splitter instantly lowers your costs 50 percent.
Since Pfizer Inc charges about $10 per tablet for all dosages, there is incentive to seek a higher dosage from physicians and try to split the drug that longtime user Reitano calls "a Godsend."
Reitano says it has been his experience that "doctors and HMOs are generally fully supportive of the pill splitting."
While the practice could cut into profits should it become widespread, Pfizer, which earned $1.5 billion in worldwide Viagra sales last year, was not exactly quaking over the entrepreneurial attempt to exploit the one-price-fits-all system.
"I don't think it would affect the profit structure," Pfizer spokesman Geoff Cook said of Reitano's invention.
Still, a Viagra user who splits a four-pill monthly prescription would double his supply and save $240 a year. A more frequent user would save a significant amount of money for someone on a fixed income or tight budget.
NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT
Reitano found he was not alone in trying to stretch the four pills a month allowed by his insurance company.
The idea for a Viagra-specific pill splitter was sparked by chatter among guys in the locker room of Reitano's gym in Newburyport, Massachusetts, about the cost of the erectile dysfunction treatment and how tough it was to divide the pill using conventional, or even fairly inventive means.
Because of its odd shape -- with a curved top and bottom -- extremely hard outer coating and unbound interior, Viagra pills are notoriously difficult to cut with any accuracy.
"It either flies away, breaks unevenly, or it just disintegrates," Reitano said.
Acquaintances and customers have shared personal Viagra-cutting horror stories with the inventor who expects a U.S. patent for his device "possibly within a month."
"The funniest stories are that it ricochets because you have to hit it so damn hard to cut it and then you've got to find out where it went behind the refrigerator," Reitano said.
He heard from one enterprising fellow who dissolved his Viagra pills in water and tried to divide them by freezing the water into ice cubes for later use.
"It seemed to me the only way to really develop an efficient way to cut it was to customize a device to lock in place and guillotine the pill," explained Reitano.
His little hand held guillotine comes in two sizes -- one for 100 milligram Viagra and one for the 50 mg pills.
The Viagra splitter has been on the market via the Internet for about two months, but was officially announced through press release only early this month. So far, demand for the device, which sells for about $30, has been brisk, if not overwhelming.
"I would like to say thousands but we've gotten several hundred orders so far," Reitano said. "The majority of orders are from the United States, but we have gotten multiple orders from Australia, Japan, China."
That level of interest without major advertising, "tells me there's a pent up demand out there," Reitano said.
Since Viagra hit the market in April of 1998, 100 million prescriptions for the drug have been written, Pfizer said.
Due to the sensitive nature of the disorder, doctors say more than 80 percent of an estimated 40 million men who suffer some degree of erectile dysfunction have yet to seek treatment. That makes for an enormous untapped market.
Says the optimistic septuagenarian inventor: "I would suspect that the economics and the size of the user base makes this potentially big business."
Text of Greenspan's Speech:
Testimony of Chairman Alan Greenspan
Current fiscal issues
Before the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives
September 12, 2002
I am pleased to appear here today to discuss some of the important issues related to the outlook for the economy and the attendant implications for the formulation of fiscal policy. The views I will be expressing are my own and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Board.
The U.S. economy has confronted very significant challenges over the past year--major declines in equity markets, a sharp retrenchment in investment spending, and the tragic terrorist attacks of last September. To date, the economy appears to have withstood this set of blows well, although the depressing effects still linger and continue to influence, in particular, the federal budget outlook. A year ago, the Congressional Budget Office expected the unified budget to post large and mounting surpluses over the coming decade. As you know, CBO is currently forecasting that, if today's policies remain in place, the unified budget will post deficits through fiscal year 2005. For the fiscal year just ending, CBO now projects a budget balance that is more than $300 billion below the level it had projected a year ago.
To a degree, the return to budget deficits resulted from temporary factors, especially the falloff in revenues and the increase in outlays associated with the economic downturn. But some of the factors accounting for the weaker budget outlook will have longer-lasting effects. A large portion of this year's decline in individual income tax revenues is clearly related to the retrenchment in equity markets. The sharp decline in stock prices appears to have markedly reduced final settlements for the 2001 tax year, as well as receipts on 2002 income. This effect works directly through less tax revenue from capital gains realizations, and indirectly through less revenue collected from the exercise of stock options, from stock-price-related bonuses, and from withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k) plans that have been augmented by capital gains.
Although official projections had been based on the assumption that tax collections related to the stock market would eventually decline from the elevated levels of the late 1990s, the sharp drop in equity markets was not expected, and the fallout from it will likely damp tax revenues relative to earlier expectations for some time. Furthermore, the precipitous fall in tax receipts may have resulted from other factors as well--for example, a shift in the distribution of income from higher to lower tax brackets and a change in the timing of tax collections. The recent surge in discretionary spending, necessitated only in part by the war on terrorism and the need for enhanced homeland security, has also made the budget picture less sanguine.
Nonetheless, despite the budget erosion over the past year, our underlying fiscal situation today remains significantly stronger than that of a decade ago, when policymakers were struggling to rein in chronic large deficits and the ratio of federal debt to gross domestic product was approaching 50 percent and climbing. This turnaround was the result of several factors. To an extent, the fiscal improvement can be traced to the emergence of forces largely external to the fiscal process. The end of the Cold War yielded a substantial peace dividend, and the pickup in productivity growth and surging stock market substantially boosted tax collections.
But such forces alone cannot wholly account for the improvement in the fiscal situation. Prudent policy also played an important role. After years of budgetary profligacy, a political consensus to move toward a balanced budget slowly emerged. Beginning in the late 1980s, impressive progress was made in restraining federal expenditures and restoring a better balance between spending and revenues.
Even with a consensus to balance the budget, such progress might have been elusive were it not for the procedural mechanisms that were developed to enforce that political consensus. The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, building on earlier initiatives, provided such mechanisms. The statutory limits on discretionary spending and the so-called PAYGO rules requiring changes in mandatory spending and revenue policies to be budget-neutral, backed by a 60-vote point of order in the Senate, served as useful tools to control deficits. In essence, the rules provided a means for advancing the broader good of sound fiscal policy over narrower interests.
The budget rules worked far better than many skeptics, myself included, had expected. Between 1990 and 1998, discretionary spending fell from more than 10 percent of GDP to less than 6 ½ percent. The end of the Cold War was clearly a critical factor behind this decline, but the statutory caps helped to hold nondefense discretionary expenditures in check, and allowed the benefits of the decline in defense needs to go toward reducing deficits rather than toward facilitating increases in other spending. The PAYGO rules changed the way policymakers analyzed fiscal policy proposals: Rather than focusing solely on the benefits of a proposal, policymakers were required to recognize the costs as well.
The Budget Enforcement Act was intended to address the problem of huge deficits. In 1990, the possibility that surpluses might emerge within the decade seemed remote indeed. When they unexpectedly arrived, the budget control measures appeared to be addressing a problem that had been solved. Fiscal discipline seemed a less pressing priority and was increasingly abandoned. Though the 1990 act was not amended, policymakers found ways to circumvent the discretionary caps and the PAYGO rules. They did not anticipate--and, indeed, there were few indications--that deficits were about to reemerge. Given the recent change in budget outlook, the commitment to fiscal responsibility that served us so well must now be reestablished.
The budget enforcement rules are set to expire on September 30. Failing to preserve them would be a grave mistake. For without clear direction and constructive goals, the inbuilt political bias in favor of budget deficits likely will again become entrenched. We are all too aware that government spending programs and special tax benefits can be easy to initiate or expand but extraordinarily difficult to trim or shut down once constituencies develop that have a stake in maintaining the status quo. However, spending and tax-cutting restraint are not symmetrical. While there is no upside limit to spending, taxes cannot go below zero. In any case, the bottom line is that if we do not preserve the budget rules and reaffirm our commitment to fiscal responsibility, years of hard effort could be squandered.
In considering the extension of the Budget Enforcement Act, some have suggested amending the budget rules to limit the scope for circumventing the spending caps through the use of an "emergency" spending designation. Others have suggested rules that would be more flexible in the event of budget surpluses. These are thoughtful initiatives, but they are secondary to ensuring that the basic framework not be abandoned. Restoring fiscal discipline must be a high priority.
Besides the near-term budgetary shortfalls that we currently face, the aging of the population presents a daunting long-term fiscal challenge. Indeed, the extent of that challenge is not adequately reflected in conventional measures of the federal budget.
Scoring the budget on an accrual basis--the private sector norm and, I believe, a sensible direction for federal budget accounting--would better underscore the tradeoffs we face. Under accrual accounting, benefits would be counted as they are earned by workers rather than when they are paid out by the government. This method allows us to keep better track of the future obligations that the government has incurred. Under full accrual accounting, the social security program would have shown a substantial deficit last year, rather than the surplus measured under our current cash-accounting regimen.
Such accruals take account of still-growing contingent liabilities, which currently, under most reasonable sets of actuarial assumptions, amount to many trillions of dollars for social security benefits alone. The contingent liabilities implicit in the Medicare program are much more difficult to calculate--but they are also likely in the trillions of dollars. These liabilities are fast approaching their due date. With the baby boom generation beginning to retire in just six short years, cash benefits will soon begin to rise rapidly, exerting pressure on the unified budget.
Given the imminence of these demographic pressures, we need to begin deciding exactly how to reform our retirement programs to close the gap between unified budget outlays and revenues. In essence, we will have to decide how to allocate available resources. All possible policy solutions should be on the table. Recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics introduced a new index that could provide a more accurate measure of the cost of living for the indexation of both retirement benefits and tax brackets.1
More fundamentally, the way to prepare for the challenges ahead is to increase the real resources that will be available to meet those looming needs. The greater the resources available --that is, the greater the output of goods and services produced by our economy--the easier it will be to provide real benefits to retirees without unduly restraining the consumption of workers and without imposing large tax increases that would damp incentives and reduce economic growth.
Although other elements are involved in long-run productivity growth, clearly, the more capital that is available per worker, the greater productivity will be, all other things being equal. The level of national savings, the primary source of capital investment financing, is significantly affected by the level of government saving (surpluses) or dissaving (deficits). Between 1992 and 2001, decreasing federal budget deficits followed by surpluses were important to maintaining national saving in the face of declining private saving, a factor likely contributing to the marked step-up in productivity growth.
Returning to a fiscal climate of continuous large deficits would risk returning to an era of high interest rates, low levels of investment, and slower growth of productivity. To be sure, at the moment, Treasury rates are at the lowest level in more than forty years, and I can scarcely argue that deficits are pressuring interest rates. And, indeed, our current fiscal situation remains more favorable than it has over much of the past few decades. But history suggests that an abandonment of fiscal discipline will eventually push up interest rates, crowd out capital spending, lower productivity growth, and force harder choices upon us in the future.
To summarize, now is not the time to abandon the discipline and structure that worked so well for so long. The framework enacted in the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, and extended several times, must be preserved. Current budget projections remain relatively favorable, but those projections will be realized only under a disciplined approach to fiscal policy. Though undeniably difficult, following such a strategy will best prepare us for the fiscal pressures that will almost surely arise as the baby boom generation begins to retire.
SKX. [Briefing.Com] Market Report -- Story Stocks (SKX, FINL, FTS, SCVL)
September 10, 2002 2:35:00 PM ET
Skechers (SKX) 10.36 -1.82: Several weeks ago, Briefing.com came to the defense of Skechers noting that the decision by Foot Locker to start carrying more moderately priced merchandise should be seen as a positive for SKX, rather than a negative for the entire group... We also cited the stock's relative valuations, impressive growth rates and upward guidance. However, in the weeks since that report several major footwear resellers -- Finish Line (FINL), Footstar (FTS) and Shoe Carnival (SCVL) -- were forced to guide estimates lower due to weak summer/back-to-school sales trends... These warnings were a sign that the weakness in the shoe market was widespread and not just restricted to the higher-priced brands, as earlier speculated. Unfortunately, Briefing.com didn't heed this warning quickly enough as Skechers issued its own warning this morning... Company slashed its Q3 earnings forecast to a range of $0.30-$0.35 v. consensus estimate of $0.41... Revenue estimates were also cut substantially, from a consensus of $295 mln to $245-$255 mln, or 11%-15% below year-ago levels... Management attributed the bearish revision to "a generally weak domestic retail sales environment within the apparel and footwear sectors." Estimates for Q4 were also brought down substantially ($0.10 to $0.14 from consensus of $0.26), as company sees little relief in the retail environment through the key holiday season. This is a big miss for a company that had for many quarters running reported sizable year/year jumps in sales and earnings... The magnitude of the warning, combined with the quick 40% drop in the stock price, will make growth investors think twice before coming back to the stock. However, before you write this stock off completely, Briefing.com notes that there is a positive to this story and that is that the miss is less about execution failure, than it is about deteriorating macro-conditions within the industry/sector... In other words, as consumer spending in the footwear industry regains momentum SKX will be in well positioned to benefit... Company quickly created a well-recognized and well-liked brand in the moderately priced segment of the market... Even using reduced estimates, revenues for the current fiscal year will approach the $1bln mark. Though it's probably wise to assume slower growth going forward, as SKX moves from a early-growth to maturity stage, the drop in market-cap resulting from today's loss leaves the stock selling at about 0.42x projected FY02 sales - well below the industry/market rates... SKX's forward p/e of 7.1x, again using today's reduced estimates, also suggests that the bad news is more than priced in. While investors may want to wait for the dust to settle in the days and weeks to come before (re)considering the long-side of the stock, SKX's valuations and market position make it a compelling "bargain hunting" opportunity for next year. -- Robert Walberg, Briefing.com
SKX. [Reuters] Update 1-Skechers sees 2nd-half earns below Wall St views
September 10, 2002 12:32:00 PM ET
(Adds background, analyst comment, byline; updates market activity; changes dateline from MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.)
By Michael Erman
NEW YORK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Trendy shoemaker Skechers USA Inc. (SKX) on Tuesday warned that earnings will miss Wall Street estimates for the second half of the year due to soft back-to-school sales and expectations of a weak holiday season.
At midday, Skechers' stock was down nearly 16 percent, the worst percentage loser on the New York Stock Exchange.
Analysts said they were surprised by the extent of the warning, especially considering Skechers' strong performance in recent quarters.
"Business was going pretty well through the second quarter and even into July," said Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Mitch Kummetz. "It seems like things really turned sour in August."
Skechers, which sells fashionable casual and athletic shoes at lower prices than most major brands, estimated third-quarter earnings at 30 cents to 35 cents a share. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 41 cents, compared with 30 cents a year earlier, according to Thomson First Call.
Skechers said it expects to post revenue of $245 million to $255 million for the quarter, down from $287.9 million a year earlier.
The company, whose shoes have been endorsed by singer Britney Spears, actor Robert Downey Jr. and NBA player Rick Fox, attributed its third-quarter performance to a generally weak retail environment in footwear and apparel.
Skechers forecast fourth-quarter earnings of 10 cents to 14 cents per share. The First Call consensus estimate is 26 cents per share, up from 5 cents a year earlier.
Skechers said it expects sales to be roughly the same as the $214.1 million of fourth quarter 2001.
Shares of Skechers, which had beaten the second-quarter First Call estimate by 11 cents a share, were down $1.93 at $10.25, about one-fourth of their all-time high of $40.30 set in May 2001.
The stock has lost about one-third of its value since Thursday, the day before a downgrade by a Wachovia Securities analyst who expressed doubts about the company's ability to maintain rapid growth in the current challenging market.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Kummetz, who is maintaining his "buy" rating on the stock, said he believes investors are overreacting to the news.
"As the market turns around and new trends emerge," he said, "(Skechers will) be on top of that." REUTERS
Off 0.2 percent is a dive? (9,284 as I write)
da Cheif's disappearance here was rather abrupt, considering how prolific his posting was and how he solicited "honest" opinions about his writing style. Maybe he just didn't like the feedback he got? Since you're one of his subscribers, perhaps you could find out what happened?
SKX. If an explanation for SKX being down is required, here is one:
Skechers falls for second straight day on downgrade
September 09, 2002 11:19:00 AM ET
NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Shares of trendy shoe maker Skechers U.S.A. Inc. (SKX) fell sharply for the second day in a row on Monday due to lingering concerns raised by a Wachovia Securities downgrade last week.
On Friday, Wachovia analyst Joseph Teklits downgraded Skechers to "hold" from "buy," saying the company's growth appears to be slowing. He also said that the footwear market continues to be challenging, and he does not believe that Manhattan Beach, California-based Skechers will buck the trend.
Shares of Skechers were down 84 cents, or 6.2 percent, at $12.63 in late morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange Monday, reaching their lowest levels since November. The stock lost more than 10 percent of its value on Friday.
Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Mitch Kummetz said the stock's fall was primarily related to the Wachovia downgrade, but also related to some of the issues that were pointed out in the research note.
"Footwear retailing seems to be pretty lousy right now," said Kummetz. "I think when the environment improves, (Skechers') performance will improve."
Perhaps they are merely using the dollars budgeted for pork to buy now while it is cheap and putting it into storage for use later in the school year? Can't ignore the politics of the farm vote (sigh). AK
The U.S. government will buy $30 million worth of pork for use in the federal school lunch program in hopes of boosting beleaguered hog markets...
mlsoft, you are knocking a bureaucrat for being honest? He could have said "We are taking advantage of unusually low pork prices to supplement the nutrition provided by the school lunch program." <g> AK
SFD related news. US govt to buy $30 mln of pork to boost markets
September 09, 2002 10:30:00 AM ET
WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. government will buy $30 million worth of pork for use in the federal school lunch program in hopes of boosting beleaguered hog markets, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said on Monday.
The purchase was far larger than usual, U.S. Agriculture Department aides said. Veneman did not rule out additional purchases.
"Pork producers have been suffering from lower prices," Veneman told reporters after addressing members of the National Farmers Union. "I can't say we are counting in or out additional purchases."
The purchase would equal roughly 30-40 million pounds of pork. Pork production in the third quarter of this year was forecast for 4.8 billion pounds.
News of the USDA purchase was expected to raise hog prices when markets opened on Monday, Chicago livestock analysts said. Hog futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange last week dropped to the lowest level in three and one-half years.
A prolonged drought in the U.S. Plains states has parched crops and forced many cattle ranchers to take their livestock to slaughter earlier than planned. The interruption of American poultry exports to Russia has also contributed to growing supplies of beef, pork and chicken.
The USDA recently forecast hog prices paid to farmers in the fourth quarter of this year would average in the high $20s per pound.
USDA Chief Economist Keith Collins told reporters the government's $30 million purchase of pork would have a "positive but moderate" impact on the U.S. hog market.
"We are doing our best to help a market that is fundamentally a market-oriented market," Collins said. "We can influence it on the margins, at best."
Collins said he expected a downturn in U.S. cattle production in the fourth quarter of 2002. The number of cattle being placed on feed was down, he said, reflecting a depleted cattle inventory and producers' desire to hold out for higher prices.
In July, Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD), the nation's biggest hog producers, reported a nearly 80 percent drop in quarterly profits due to low hog prices.
If you can remember the name Alzheimer's, you don't have it <g>. AK
RDRT has been moving up the past few days. Maybe this is why:
Teravicta Technologies and Read-Rite Announce Alliance for Volume Manufacture of Teravicta's RF MEMS Switches
September 09, 2002 09:02:00 AM ET
Alliance Set to Accelerate Commercialization of RF MEMS Switches for High Volume Applications
FREMONT, Calif. and AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Teravicta Technologies, Inc. and Read-Rite Corporation RDRT today announced an agreement to utilize Read-Rite's manufacturing capabilities for the high volume production of Teravicta's line of low-loss, high linearity RF MEMS switches.
Teravicta currently produces its RF MEMS switches on its own low volume pilot production line. The alliance with Read-Rite will transition Teravicta's RF MEMS technology to high volume production at Read-Rite.
"We are very excited to be working with Read-Rite, one of the leading suppliers of magnetic recording heads. Magnetic recording heads currently represent the largest segment in the MEMS marketplace today with over 1.1 billion units produced annually. The low cost, high quality manufacturing capabilities of Read-Rite provide an excellent synergy with the manufacturing requirements of RF MEMS switches," said Robert Miracky, Teravicta's President.
"Teravicta's RF MEMS switch technology has clear performance, cost, and reliability advantages over other solutions," said Andrew C. Holcomb, Read-Rite's Senior Vice President of Business Development and the Company's CFO. Added Holcomb, "Teravicta's RF MEMS switch already has been sampled by leading wireless product companies, whose evaluation has shown that the RF performance of Teravicta's switch is far superior to that of conventional alternatives. Read-Rite's existing manufacturing infrastructure is a perfect fit for high-volume production of RF MEMS switches, and enables us to leverage our current process technologies and capital assets. We look forward to working with Teravicta on these and future products."
"Teravicta's alliance with Read-Rite to provide high volume manufacturing of Teravicta RF MEMS switches marks a significant step in the commercialization of RF MEMS technology," said Russ Craig, Research Director, Semiconductors at the Aberdeen Group. "Teravicta's partnership with Read-Rite will provide significant cost reductions while achieving the quality levels required for high volume wireless products."
Teravicta and Read-Rite are on a fast pace to transfer Teravicta technology into Read-Rite manufacturing to enable qualified production in 2003.
Sarals,
Didn't know which board to post this on. Combines two of your favorite themes...AK
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=545&ncid=757&e=10&u=/ap/20020908/ap_on_sp...
Quality control at KKD??
These are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters, who had the torment of staying calm and keeping a straight face while these exchanges were actually taking place.
__________________________________________
Q: What is your date of birth?
A: July fifteenth.
Q: What year?
A: Every year.
____________________________________________
Q: What gear were you in at moment of the impact?
A: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
_____________________________________________
Q: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
A: Yes.
Q: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
A: I forget.
Q: You forget. Can you give us an example of something you've forgotten?
______________________________________________
Q: How old is your son, the one living with you.
A: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
Q: How long has he lived with you?
A: Forty-five years.
______________________________________________
Q: What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke up that morning?
A: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
Q: And why did that upset you?
A: My name is Susan.
______________________________________________
Q: And where was the location of the accident?
A: Approximately milepost 499.
Q: And where is milepost 499?
A: Probably between milepost 498 and 500.
______________________________________________
Q: Sir, what is your IQ?
A: Well, I can see pretty well, I think.
______________________________________________
Q: Did you blow your horn or anything?
A: After the accident?
Q: Before the accident.
A: Sure, I played for 10 years. I even went to school for it.
______________________________________________
Q: Trooper, when you stopped the defendant, were your red and blue lights flashing?
A: Yes.
Q: Did the defendant say anything when she got out of her car?
A: Yes, sir.
Q: What did she say?
A: What disco am I at?
______________________________________________
Q: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
______________________________________________
Q: The youngest son, the 20-year old, how old is he?
______________________________________________
Q: Were you present when your picture was taken?
______________________________________________
Q: So the date of conception of (the baby) was August 8th?
A: Yes.
Q: And what were you doing at that time?
______________________________________________
Q: She had three children, right?
A: Yes.
Q: How many were boys?
A: None.
Q: Were there any girls?
______________________________________________
Q: You say the stairs went down to the basement?
A: Yes.
Q: And these stairs, did they go up also?
_____________________________________________
Q: How was your first marriage terminated?
A: By death.
Q: And by whose death was it terminated?
______________________________________________
Q: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a
deposition notice that I sent to your attorney?
A: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
______________________________________________
Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead
people?
A: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.
______________________________________________
Q: All your responses must be oral, OK?
A: OK
Q: What school did you go to?
A: Oral.
______________________________________________
Q: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
A: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
Q: And Mr. Dennington was dead at the time?
A: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy.
______________________________________________
Q: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
______________________________________________
Judge: "Well Sir, I have reviewed this case, and I've decided to give your wife $775 a week."
Husband: "That's fair, your honor. I'll try to send her a few bucks myself.
Rick, thank you very much. Also, thanks for pointing out that Google is much more of a resource than I had realized. AK
Anybody know what the application "wnad.exe" does? Apparently my computer is trying to access the internet with this application, and Norton is asking me if I want to block it. Any help would be appreciated. AK
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
A backwards poet writes inverse.