08:34 ET Thomas Weisel downgrades select semi equipment names
Thomas Weisel lowers their sector weighting on the Semi Capital Equipment sector to Mkt Weight from Overweight; believes that industry is entering a period of bifurcation as the prolonged downturn has created a chasm between co's that are profitable, have strong balance sheets, and little debt, and co's that are burning cash and are more highly leveraged; unless the industry is bailed out by an unexpected near-term recovery, firm expects this trend to continue. Downgrades KLAC, AMAT, NVLS, AEIS, LRCX, MKSI, TER, and VECO (see upgrades/downgrades for details).
