Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[Zeev Hed]

Mike, I may have to change my stance on SARS, though I think most of the impact is panic induced. Yesterday I heard just a snippet from Jack Welch and he said that one of the businesses he "knows" (I am not sure he was talking about a GE division or something else) had sales dropped from a monthly rate of $100 MM to $8 MM, that is a major impact, even though a temporary one. If that is wide spread, though, why would INTC report growth of sales in China? The only explanation (which I alluded to before here) is companies fearing interruptions in the supply line building up inventories beyond their normal level;s to make sure they have what is needed on hand. Longer term, it just does not look like an outbreak that is spreading particularly rapidly.

Zeev