Replies to post #17612 on Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[girlfriend]

GLW...any body know why the little trend change <up> today out of its channel on almost 2x the volume??

Been holding some since 1.55

Jane

[wstera2]

North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts July 2002 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.16

SAN JOSE, Calif., August 20, 2002 -- The North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.15 billion in orders in July 2002 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.16, according to the July 2002 Express Report published today by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI). A book-to-bill of 1.16 means that $116 worth of new orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in July 2002 was $1.15 billion. The bookings figure is two percent below the revised June 2002 level of $1.17 billion yet 50 percent above the $769 million in orders posted in July 2001.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in July 2002 was $995 million. The billings figure is seven percent above the revised June 2002 level of $927 million and 17 percent below the July 2001 billings level of $1.19 billion.

"The July bookings data likely reflects renewed questions about the robustness of the economic recovery and the prospects for the consumption of electronic goods," said Dan Tracy, Ph.D., director of industry research and statistics for SEMI. "The data is consistent with recent announcements of reduced capital spending plans by some global chipmakers and supports the consensus of industry analysts projecting market recovery in 2003."

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average billings for the North American semiconductor equipment industry. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

http://dom.semi.org/web/wpress.nsf/174c224b2afaf5e7882565b60079d14a/489d9a9af703819c88256c1b007662f7....

[sylvester80]

Zeev, what affect do you think this could have to the markets if it was to happen?

http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/08/20/wsaud20.xml&sSheet=/news/...

Saudi threat to withdraw billions in US investments
By Simon English in New York
(Filed: 20/08/2002)


Saudi's richest investors are threatening to pull billions of dollars out of America in anger at suggestions they helped fund Osama bin Laden.

A lawsuit filed by relatives of 900 people who were killed in the September 11 attacks is provoking fury among wealthy Saudis.

The suit filed in a Washington court last week seeking damages of $100,000 billion names three members of the Saudi royal family, including defence minister Prince Sultan bin abd al-Aziz al Saud.

The lawsuit alleges that Saudi money has "for years been funnelled to encourage radical anti-Americanism as well as to fund the al Qaeda terrorists".

Banks and charities named in the suit are calling on Saudi Arabia to review its financial and political ties to the US.

Bishr Bakheet of the Bakheet Financial Consultancy said: "Naming Prince Sultan is the equivalent of saying J Edgar Hoover was a communist spy. Assuming the court proceeds with this lawsuit, the Saudi investment community, already in shock, will start withdrawing their money. People are really going to walk out."

This threat comes as foreign investment in the US dries up because of business scandals, lower corporate earnings and the collapse of the technology boom. According to government figures, foreigners put $124 billion into the US last year, down from $301 billion in 2000.

Economists say the reluctance of wealthy outsiders to expand their business interests in America is a major threat to the world's largest economy.

Saudi investors have $750 billion in the US. A mass walkout would seriously impede the US's attempts to pull away from recession.

A spokesman for the Al Rajhi Investment and Development Corporation, a bank named in the lawsuit, said: "This is an act to extort Saudi money deposited in the United States and a way of meddling in the region."

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers involved in the September assaults have been identified as Saudi, though the government has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Muslim groups in both Saudi Arabia and Britain believe there is a media campaign against the kingdom aimed at pressuring it to support an attack on Iraq.