Terrorist Poised to 'hit U.S. hard'

The front-page of the Thursday, 27 May 2004, Arizona Republic had a headline warning us that the U.S. may be under terrorist attach sometime this summer. How will the stock market react?

ePresence (EPRE) [SELL report]
[Friday, 28 May 2004] The company has decided to liquidate itself; therefore, we closed out our position.
   SOLD      EPRE       4.04      05/28/2004  [+ 9%]

   200, 3.20, Buy,  02/12/2004,  [3 months]   [+26.3%]
   200, 3.60, Buy,  02/05/2004,  [3 months]   [+12.2%]
   100, 3.55, Buy,  12/15/2003,  [5 months]   [+13.8%]
   300, 3.78, Buy,  11/04/2003,  [6 months]   [+ 6.9%]
   200, 3.95, Buy,  10/30/2003,  [7 months]   [+ 2.3%]
Lucent Technologies (LU)
[Monday, 24 May 2004] Prudential Equity Group sees better revenues for Lucent and they re-iterated their 'Overweight' rating on LU shares at $3.20.

[Wednesday, 26 May 2004] LU shares were up 6.75% closing at $3.48.

Lynx Therapeutics (LYNX)
[Wednesday, 26 May 2004] LYNX shares have been in a free fall but on Wednesday they were up 26.76% closing at $2.70. Trading volume was averge.

[Thursday, 27 May 2004] LNYX closed on Wednesday at $2.70 per share. During AM trading on Thursday the stock hit $4.62, up 71%. Sorry Bree.

Nanogen (NGEN) [BUY report]
[Friday, 28 May 2004]
   BOUGHT   NGEN   6.25   05/28/2004

   3rd purchase; avg. cost per share is $6.58
Novell (NOVL)
[Tuesday, 25 May 2004] Novell reported a good quarter and NOVL shares were down 8+% in early Tuesday AM trading. Is this an example of selling on good news? Or is Linux dead? I doubt Linux is head. GDT::Portfolio is holding onto its NOVL shares.
Opsware (OPSW) [SELL report]
[Wednesday, 26 May 2004] Sold 1.3% of our OPSW shares for portfolio adjustment. The transaction took place prior to Opsware reporting solid quarterly results. The sold shares were purchased on 26 July 2001 at $1.99 for a three-year long-term gain of 312%.
   SOLD      OPSW       8.19      05/26/2004  [+312%]

   avg. cost per share remains at $1.48
Portal Software (PRSF) [WATCH report]
[Wednesday, 26 May 2004] Portal Software has been added to the GDT::Portfolio at $4.66; however, no position has been taken. PRSF "is engaged in the development, marketing, provisioning and support of billing and customer management solutions for telecommunications and information service providers." The company reported disappointing quarterly results and the stock got hammered.
   good: PSR is 1.77
   good: 26% of the stock is closely held
   good: $1.96 cash per share
    bad: 31% of the stock is held by institutions

Kaufman Brothers downgraded the stock from 'Buy' to 'Hold.'

Red Hat (RHAT) [SELL report]
[Monday, 24 May 2004] Banc of America Securities issued a 'Buy' rating on Red Hat at $25 on Friday, 21 May 2004.

[Wednesday, 26 May 2004] UBS issued a 'Buy' rating on Red Hat. The stock made a new 52-week high hitting $27.57.

   SOLD      RHAT      28.00      05/26/2004  [+691%]

   avg. cost per remaining share is $6.52

Sold 10% of our RHAT shares that were purchased 21 September 2001 -- almost three years ago. The shares sold were purchased at $3.54 for a 691% long-term gain.

[Thursday, 27 May 2004] Schwab Soundview issued an 'Outperform' rating on RHAT shares at $27.70.

Spire (SPIR) [BUY report]
   BOUGHT   SPIR   4.96   05/27/2004

   2nd purchase; avg. cost per share is $5.10
VA Software (LNUX)
[Wednesday, 26 May 2004] VA Software announced solid quarterly results. On Monday, LNUX closed at $2.04. The stock closed at $2.19, up 7.4%, on Tuesday. In early Wednesday trading the stock was up another 10% to $2.42, but they closed up 5.5% at $2.31. LNUX 52-week high and low have been $6.38 and $1.30, respectively.
Viisage (VISG) [SELL report]
[Wednesday, 26 May 2004] Sold 7% of our VISG shares for portfolio adjustment. The sold shares were purchased were purchased 05/12/2003 for a one-year long-term gain of 103%.
   SOLD      VISG      10.25      05/26/2004  [+103%]

   avg. cost per share is $4.17
Yahoo (YHOO) [SELL report]
[Monday, 24 May 2004] YHOO opened the week making a new 52-week high. The stock made another new 52-week of $30.41 on Tuesday, 25 May 2004.
   SOLD      YHOO      30.11      05/25/2004  [+110%]

   3rd sale; sold 9.0% of our holdings
   avg. cost per share is now $6.87

This sale closes out our initial YHOO position that was taken on 12/22/2000. Average gain: 52.3%.


Author: Gerald D. Thurman [gdt@deru.com]
Created: 28 May 2004