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From: "Gray Zhu, 800-289-2498, 212-279-6700" <grayzhu@panix.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <icnet-l@ifcss.org>
Subject: IC940707: Dollar, P/E, Fund closed
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==================    IC940707: Investment Club  ======================

1. Dollar come back? .................................... Gu Quanzhong
2. P/E .................................................. Xiuchun Tian
3. John Hancock Freedom Regional Bank Fund 
           is to be closed on July 25 ....................... Gray Zhu
_______________________________________________________________________
   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)
 
>From: Gu Quanzhong - Chealth <qzgu@ux2.cso.uiuc.edu>
>Subject: Re: Fed: No interest rate raise this time.

I don't think the dollar will make a big comeback anytime soon as long as
the trade deficit between the US and Japan remains.  However, if the US raises
interest rates and other G-7 countries cut theirs, the dollar may change
direction.  

The FOMC meetings in the past two days indicate no change in money policy
and that the Fed won't raise interests rates to rescue the dollar.  If the
US economy grows too fast, however, the Fed is expected to raise interest
rates again, even before the next FOMC meeting in August.  The market is
focusing on tomorrow's payrole and employment numbers.  The bonds will
react to these numbers and so will the stock market.

The weakness of dollar, however, should help boost earnings of companies
which export products to Japan and other European countries.

- Ken

2. P/E

>From: "Xiuchun Tian" <xt11@cornell.edu>
>Subject: P/E

>Hi, Dr. Zhu,
>I have been reading your (and others's) postings on icnet.  I am puzzled by
>the term P/E.  What is it and What does it tell us?
>Thanks.
>Cindy T.

Gray: P/E = Price of stock / Earnings per share per year by the
company.  There is no definite standard on P/E ratio.  If you take the
average of all stocks in the market, it is probably like 17 or 18 at
this time.  High P/E stocks are likely to be aggresive growth stock,
which may have higher risk level. Many blue chip stocks have P/E
around the avereage. Stocks have low P/E due to different reasons.

It may be a good idea to compare P/E of companies in the same industry
at the same time, such as Ford and GM, Coke and Pepsi.

-Gray

3. John Hancock Freedom Regional Bank Fund is to be closed on July 25.

I can't help telling you the news that, my favorite fund, John Hancock
Freedom Regional Bank Fund is going to be closed to new investors
after July 25, 1994, a decision made last night by the Board of
Directors.

Due to superior performance, the Fund has attracted huge amount of
money. The new money are just partially invested, because the managers
wanted to make very careful selection of the portfolio. In order to
keep a very good healthy size and good profitability for the existing
investors, they decided to closed the fund to new investors after the
date of July 25, 1994.

Since this is one of the top funds out there, I think it might be a
nice opportunity for many of us. If you miss this one, you are
probably missing an investment opportunity of a lifetime. 

-Gray.

==========================================================================

                           Disclaimers:

 a) Material on ICnet  is for general information only, and made available
    to  voluntary  subscribers  (subscription  is  free).    There  is  no
    guarantee of  accuracy in either text or numbers, so please read  with
    your own discretion.  Opinion expressed by any author is  his own, not
    necessarily  his  employer's.  Nobody on  the icnet-l or related (Hong
    Guang, Gray Zhu or their employers, or any other members, or ifcss.org
    which is the  ftp provider) except yourself assumes any responsibility
    for any consequences of using the material.

 b) You are free to forward and copy the material  for private use. If you
    do forward, it is mandatory to let it ALWAYS GO  WITH DISCLAIMER.  Use 
    of the material for commercial  purpose without written consent of the 
    author is prohibited.

 c) Any past  performance examples should not be  considered an indication
    of future results.

==========================================================================
    Any VIP related message should be addressed to: grayzhu@panix.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ICnet - Investment Club on network
__________________________________________________________________________
  SUB/SIGNOFF to: LISTSERV@IFCSS.ORG, with mailbody as:
                  SUB ICNET-L Firstname Lastname or: SIGNOFF ICNET-L
  Post mail to:   ICNET-L@IFCSS.ORG
  Anonymous ftp:  at ifcss.org, in direcctory: /org/icnet
  Gopher:         /org/icnet on ifcss.org, /ifcss/org/icnet on cnd.org
  Managers:       Guang Hong, HONG@opus.mco.edu
                  Gray Zhu, grayzhu@panix.com (800)-289-2498
__________________________________________________________________________
     ALL INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK, STUDY CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From icnet-l@ifcss.org Sat Jul  9 16:20:27 1994
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From: "Gray Zhu, 800-289-2498, 212-279-6700" <grayzhu@panix.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <icnet-l@ifcss.org>
Subject: IC940709: Messages From Insiders is BUY - NY Times
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==================    IC940709: Investment Club  ======================

1. Business affliation, IC-VIP club and its membership
2. Where to find top funds? 
3. Messages From Insiders is 'Buy' ........ New York Times July 6, 1994
_______________________________________________________________________
   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)

1. Business affliation, IC-VIP club and its membership (For new members)

>From: xu@tam.uiuc.edu ( Shaojie Xu )

>I'm interested to join the club and become the VIP member. (any
>charge for this? ).  I am assuming that you are a broker, could you
>please let me know a little more about yourself and the company you
>work with?  Thanks a lot.

I graduated from Huazhong (Wuhan) Normal University with a B.S in
physics, and then a graduate student at Institute of High Energy
Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, got M.S. in 1987. I came to
Syracuse University in 1989, and got a Ph.D. in high energy physics
early this year. I was born in 1965 in Hubei, and work hard. A fan of
NCAA (Syracuse, KU B-ball, UK B-ball, UNL football), NBA, NFL, NHL.

I am now an Account Executive (stock broker) with Chatfield Dean &
Co., an investment banking firm, with 800 people and 11 branches all
over the country. we do underwriting (IPO), retail. we buy/sell all
stocks, bonds, all load mutual funds, options (high risk, we do not
suggest too many, but covered call writing is OK), etc.  We set up and
maintain retirement plans (IRA, KEOGH, 401k, 403b, SEP).  Basically,
we are a full service brokerage firm (1%-5% commision), but we provide
discount on different situations such as frequent traders, large
amount transactions, unsolicited orders (the buy/sell is not suggested
by us, and you call us and tell us what to do), subject to minimum $75
per stock transaction. No commission for mutual funds (open-ended,
most funds are) because they have their own sales charges, and we are
paid by mutual funds for service to customers.

VIP is a group (free) where I provide my personal recommendations and
information including stocks, mutual funds, bonds, Initial Public
Offerings (IPO), and possibly private placements.

If you want specific recommendations from me, you may want to become a
VIP member by sending me (grayzhu@panix.com) your name, phone numbers
(especially daytime) and address, so that I can contact you and send
you our recommendations through post office.  Or, you can simply call
me up at 1-800-289-2498, or 1-212-279-6700, leave message if
necessary.  Even if you become a VIP, you are not obligated to buy
anything or pay for anything unless you place an order with me towards
your own benefit.  This is optional and 100% voluntary.  VIP material
is not available for ftp.

Mutual Fund purchase does not cost you commission other than the load
(which you have to pay anyway even if you buy through fund itself for
loaded fund).  Rather, you get service from us, and we execute the
order instantly (to order from a fund, you ask for the form, then they
send you the form, you fill it out - assume correct, send out..., I
don't know how long it takes).

No commision is charged to any IPO, according to the law.

-Gray Zhu, 

2. Where to find top funds?

>From: Agricultural Engineering <ageng@bmrl.med.uiuc.edu>
>Subject: John Hancock Freedom Regional Bank Fund

>Regarding to your message for the John Hancock Freedom Regional Bank Fund,
>could you tell us what is the phone number for the Fund?  What is the 
>performance of the Fund for the past 1, 3, and 5 years?  Where can we get
>more information about this Fund?  By the way, could you recommand some
>top funds for us?  Thanks.
>
>H. Song

Gray: I have replied a message concerning John Hancock Freedom
Regional Bank Fund. The top funds are Japan Funds and financial
services funds (including Bank funds). The rest are down according to
New York Times (July 3, 94). You can find out in:

Investor's Business Daily
New York times
Wall Street Journal
Money
BusinessWeek
Fortune
..

3. Messages From Insiders is 'Buy' 
     - New York Times July 6, 1994, by Floyd Norris

The dollar is down and interest rates are up. There is talk of new
bear market. In that atmosphere, who would want to buy stocks?

Corporate Insiders.

Buying by insiders - officers and directors of companies - is by some
measures running at its most intense since 1991, when the stock market
was taking off in the bull market that began with the Persian Gulf
war.

"Insiders started picking up when the market bottomed", said David
Coleman, the editor of Vicker Weekly Insider Report, a Washington
newsletter that tracks insider buying and selling. "In 1987 and 1990,
they did the same thing." (1987 market crashed, 1991 market was
affected by the war - Gray)

Reading the signs

Last week, Vickers recorded more purchases than sales among insiders
whose stocks are listed on the New York or American Stock Exchanges,
by a margin of 5 buys for each 3 sells. For the last eight weeks, the
average such figure is almost even: 1.07 sells for every buy.

That may not sound all that bullish, but it is. Insiders have lots of
ways to get their hands on stock before they resort to buying it on
the open market. Many have shares from before the company went
public. Even more get options to buy stock. Such options are often
exercised at the same time the stock is sold, leaving the insider with
no market risk.

As a result, there are almost always more open-market sales of stock
by insiders then there are similar purchases. And while insider
selling is often a warning of bad news, insider buying is viewed as an
even better indicator of a stock's being worth consideration. After
all, as many a corporate officer has explained, there are lots of
reasons for an insider to sell besides bearishness. The insider wants
to diversify investments, or pay for a new house, or college
tuition. But there is no obvious reason to buy, except hope that the
price will rise.

There is, of course, no gaurantee that an insider will be right. And it
is a crime for an insider to buy if he or she has material nonpublic
information.

Nonetheless, as Mr. Coleman noted, "they are the people that know
companies best, and when they start buying, that is a good signal."

A level of buying as high as the current one has often served as an
indicator for the entire market. Vickers regards as bullish a ratio
under 1.32 sales for each open market buy.

Insiders are required to report their transactions to the SEC by 10th
day of the following month. Thus all June trades are due at the SEC by
next Monday. Many such reports still come in late, but stiffer rules -
including a requirement that companies report to shareholders why
officers and director were late in filling - have prompted the filing.

As a result, the ratios now being reported include activity in May as
well as in June, and thus are somewhat behind the time in terms of
actual activity.

Vickers compares the number of sales by insiders with the number of
open-market purchases, regardless of the size. And while Vickers
reports weekly figures - last week's ratio of 0.61 sell to each buy
was the second lowest in the last 3 years - it focuses on an 8-week
moving average to smooth out the data.

"Since October 1974, when we began plotting this data, the market has
not failed to improve significantly when our eight-week sell-buy ratio
fell below 1.0". Mr. Coleman said. The ratio fell below that figure
last month, although it edged back up at the end of the month.

Mr. Coleman said he also computed a ratio showing the rate of change
for the 8-wekk moving average. Rapid falls, he said, can warn that
even an otherwise bullish indication is suspect, while fast rises can
indication that insider opinion is turning. That indicator, which was
negative as recently as early May, has grown to its most positive
level since, once again, 1991.

Among individual stocks, Mr. Coleman said he had seen condiderable
interest in a number of gambling stocks. Casinos were darlings of Wall
Street in 1993, and a lot of insiders chose to sell then. But the
stocks have been driven down this year, and recently there has been
interest shown by insiders in such companies as Boyd Gaming, Circus
Circus, Casino Magic, Station Casinos, Grand Casinos and Sahara
Gaming.

And IBM has had substantial insider buying, at prices from $55 to $58
and a bit higher, Mr. Coleman noted.

/the end of story.

==========================================================================

                           Disclaimers:

 a) Material on ICnet  is for general information only, and made available
    to  voluntary  subscribers  (subscription  is  free).    There  is  no
    guarantee of  accuracy in either text or numbers, so please read  with
    your own discretion.  Opinion expressed by any author is  his own, not
    necessarily  his  employer's.  Nobody on  the icnet-l or related (Hong
    Guang, Gray Zhu or their employers, or any other members, or ifcss.org
    which is the  ftp provider) except yourself assumes any responsibility
    for any consequences of using the material.

 b) You are free to forward and copy the material  for private use. If you
    do forward, it is mandatory to let it ALWAYS GO  WITH DISCLAIMER.  Use 
    of the material for commercial  purpose without written consent of the 
    author is prohibited.

 c) Any past  performance examples should not be  considered an indication
    of future results.

==========================================================================
    Any VIP related message should be addressed to: grayzhu@panix.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ICnet - Investment Club on network
__________________________________________________________________________
  SUB/SIGNOFF to: LISTSERV@IFCSS.ORG, with mailbody as:
                  SUB ICNET-L Firstname Lastname or: SIGNOFF ICNET-L
  Post mail to:   ICNET-L@IFCSS.ORG
  Anonymous ftp:  at ifcss.org, in direcctory: /org/icnet
  Gopher:         /org/icnet on ifcss.org, /ifcss/org/icnet on cnd.org
  Managers:       Guang Hong, HONG@opus.mco.edu
                  Gray Zhu, grayzhu@panix.com (800)-289-2498
__________________________________________________________________________
     ALL INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK, STUDY CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From icnet-l@ifcss.org Mon Jul 11 22:23:54 1994
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From: "Gray Zhu, 800-289-2498, 212-279-6700" <grayzhu@panix.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <icnet-l@ifcss.org>
Subject: IC940712: SPECIAL - JH Bank Fund
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==================    IC940712: Investment Club  ======================

            John Hancock Freedom Regional Bank Fund Special
            ===============================================

 (I have got a lot of phone calls and E-mail messages concerning the JH
  Bank Fund. I'd like to summarize the questions and contributions here.)

1. "A" share and "B" share (Front or back load, choose one)
2. Minimum purchase ($2000)
3. Is the price too high (P/E=9.5)
4. Where to buy (JH or broker)
5. Commission
6. Comparison with others
7. Fund size ($540 Million, doubled in last 2 months, inception 1985)
8. About John Hancock 
   (A financial services company in Boston, over 20 funds)
9. Why close, does close means close-end Fund? (NO)
_______________________________________________________________________
   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)

1. "A" share and "B" share

There are two kinds of shares, "A" and "B". they are just two
different ways of buying it. - same fund.  A share has a front load of
5%, and B share has a decreasing sales charge (back-load or redemption
fee) of

5% if redeem 1st year
4% if redeem 2nd year
3% if redeem 3rd year
3% if redeem 4th year
2% if redeem 5th year
1% if redeem 6th year
0 after

after 8 years, B share will be converted into A share. 

A shares has less charge on management fee, A: 1.4%, B: 2.1%.  

Both A and B are selling around $22 (NAV) a share.

Buying A or B is a matter of "5/10" or "8/16". Comparing them you have
to know how the fund performs, where it goes, nobody can predict
that. I respect customer's choice.  You can flip a coin to decide.  I
would buy A for myself. But as a matter of fact, most of my clients
bought B. Because most people do not want to pay a charge, they put
money to make money.

2. Minimum purchase

My minimum order is $2000, JH's minimum is $1000.

3. Is the price too high.

Someone says the fund has appreciated a lot, is it at high price?
Consider its P/E ratio at 9.5 and S&P 500 P/E is about 17 or 18. the
while bank group is selling at a discount vs S&P 500.

Mutual funds are not sold by shares, you can have fractional shares
(like 90.879506007 shares).

4. Where to buy

You can buy either through me or from John Hancock. If you do not want
to buy through me, I can still provide you information (free).

5. Commission

>From: z0z1908@geopsun.tamu.edu (Zhiqiang Zhou)
>You said that your commission is about 1%-5%. Does that apply to
>closed-end funds? Say, 10 share of CHN, what's your commission?

Close end funds are actually stocks. So it applies stock commission
rate. If your purchase is like $2000-$3000, the commission is likely
$90 or so.  10 shares of CHN would be $75 (I personally get $0).

6. Comparison with others

There are other funds which have better yield than this one. As a
matter of fact, Fedelity has two similar funds. My suggestion was
based on a) low risk - low volitility, b) best risk-adjusted return
Alpha, c) overall past performance and management (JH Bank Fund Jim
Schmit's profile is on the New York times July 3 1994). I may promote
the other funds as well. You can check them out for yourself, if you
really find the others beat this one, I can sell them to you, or you
can buy for yourself.

7. Fund size

The total asset is about $540 currently (July 3, NY TIMES). It has
doubled in the past two months.

Inception was 1985.

8. About John Hancock

JH is a life insurance company and financial services company. It is
the 3rd most recognized name in the financial industry.

They are a number of good funds in the family, such as Special Equity
Fund which closed earlier, the manager Mike Dicarlo, a musician, said
to be the second Peter Lynch, small stock wiz. He started another
similar fund Special Opportunity Fund (relatively stable than the
Special Equity Fund, because this new one has a lot of blue chips)
which is down a lot this year, currently selling at about IPO price;
Soverign Investor Fund (Blue chip like) has made gain in each of the
past 15 years - very consistent.

9. Why close, does close means close-end Fund?

Because the fund double size last 2 months, it has some uninvested
cash, which doesn't make money. It is like 7 people's production
shared by 10. Close to new investor, the manage can arrange jobs for
the 3 free guys.

This is a perfect example of load vs no-load. The market is down,
people like to withdraw money from no-loads, while this one doubled in
size in the last two months.

The fund will still be called open-ended. Close-end fund is really a
company like GM, the difference is that GM deals with cars, and
closed-end fund deals with stocks. There is no tight relation between
GM and its stocks except dividend or new offering. But open-ended fund
is directly invest your money. Close-end fund could be selling below
NAV(Net Asset Value) and it cannot happen for open-ended funds.

==========================================================================

                           Disclaimers:

 a) Material on ICnet  is for general information only, and made available
    to  voluntary  subscribers  (subscription  is  free).    There  is  no
    guarantee of  accuracy in either text or numbers, so please read  with
    your own discretion.  Opinion expressed by any author is  his own, not
    necessarily  his  employer's.  Nobody on  the icnet-l or related (Hong
    Guang, Gray Zhu or their employers, or any other members, or ifcss.org
    which is the  ftp provider) except yourself assumes any responsibility
    for any consequences of using the material.

 b) You are free to forward and copy the material  for private use. If you
    do forward, it is mandatory to let it ALWAYS GO  WITH DISCLAIMER.  Use 
    of the material for commercial  purpose without written consent of the 
    author is prohibited.

 c) Any past  performance examples should not be  considered an indication
    of future results.

==========================================================================
    Any VIP related message should be addressed to: grayzhu@panix.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ICnet - Investment Club on network
__________________________________________________________________________
  SUB/SIGNOFF to: LISTSERV@IFCSS.ORG, with mailbody as:
                  SUB ICNET-L Firstname Lastname or: SIGNOFF ICNET-L
  Post mail to:   ICNET-L@IFCSS.ORG
  Anonymous ftp:  at ifcss.org, in direcctory: /org/icnet
  Gopher:         /org/icnet on ifcss.org, /ifcss/org/icnet on cnd.org
  Managers:       Guang Hong, HONG@opus.mco.edu
                  Gray Zhu, grayzhu@panix.com (800)-289-2498
__________________________________________________________________________
     ALL INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK, STUDY CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From icnet-l@ifcss.org Sat Jul 16 20:32:49 1994
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From: "Gray Zhu, 800-289-2498, 212-279-6700" <grayzhu@panix.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <icnet-l@ifcss.org>
Subject: IC940716: Superhighway Stocks
X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
X-Comment:  Investment Club on network
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====================    IC940716: Investment Club  ======================

                        Information Superhighway
                        ========================

0. We need your contribution (no money) to this net ....... Gray Zhu
1. Introduction to information superhighway ............... Gray Zhu
2. A list of companies (with ticker) among the ones which are actively 
   participating .......................................... Some One
3. A hitchhiker's guide to the information superhighway ... CFO magazine
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (the following is no recommendation to any of the companies mentioned)
_________________________________________________________________________
   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)

*************************************************************************
0. We need your contribution to this net.

This net has been existing for some time, and I have been one of the few
major contributors to this net so far. I am surprised by the fact that
you are still sticking with it, thanks for your corporation! But as a
salesman, I personally need more time to sell stocks and mutual funds to
pay my bills :-(. So, I hope you can contribute more to this net rather
than just listening - you are in danger of being brain washed :-), tell
us your investment ideas, experience, or whatever. -Gray
*************************************************************************

1. Introduction to information superhighway

The justice department has turned on the green light for AT&T's
acquisition of McCaw Cellular Communications, which owns the largest
wireless communication network Cellular-1. It is a victory for AT&T,
because this will better position AT&T in the competition of informatin
superhighway business. What is the superhighway?

The information superhighway is a high-capacity 2-way electronic pipeline
to the home - capable of simultaneously transmitting a huge number of
different television programs and other electronic services - with
telephone-like connectability between users and services and between
users and other users.  Its principal value will be to greatly expand
what can be done with television.  Digitization and digital compression
are the key elements that make it all possible.  The basic technology is
available, but the practical implementation of this technology is largely
in the experimental state, with many different concepts and variations
being tested and refined.

Multimedia meets the "Information Superhighway". The alchemy of these two
Wall Street metaphors is magic; it has fueled investor speculation that
three seemingly distinct industries: technology; telecommunications.

In reality, the "Information Superhighway" does not exist as a monolithic
interstate highway system.  There is no single Interstate 80 that
connects the digital equivalent of the New York George Washington Bridge
to San Francisco's Bay Bridge.  Instead, the "Information Superhighway"
is about many forms of high speed broadband network transport whether it
be land-based telephone, air-based wireless, modem-based PC's or
satellite transmissions. Simply put, the transport routes on the
"Information Highway" are boundless.

Any successful transportation system requires traffic. Without traffic
there are no toll revenues. Toll fees are needed to finance the ongoing
operation of the highway, whether its the $4.00 toll to cross the George
Washington Bridge or $1.00 for the Bay Bridge. Multimedia is fuel for the
Information Highway. Multimedia is about converting content into digital
data, regardless of whether this content is created from software,
entertainment or the publishing industry.

The market can be divided the market into three segments:

o Content Providers: largely software and entertainment/media industry;
o Transport Providers: principally telecommunications, cable and
   wireless industries; and
o The Enablers: cross-section of technology and telecommunications
   equipment industries.

**********************************************************************

2. A list of companies (with ticker) among the ones which are actively
   participating as Content Providers, Transport Providers or The 
   Enablers.

Company                        Ticker     Price 4/11/94
-------------------------------------------------------
3Com                           COMS              53 1/8
ADC Telecom                    ADCT              38 1/8
America Online                 AMER              58 3/4
Ameritech                      AIT               37 7/8
AT&T                           T                 50 1/8
Avid Technologies              AVID              27 1/4
Bell Atlantic                  BEL               51 1/2
Broderbund                     BROD              32 3/8
Brooktree                      BTRE               6 1/2
Cabletron Systems              CS                98 3/4
CBS                            CBS              289 1/2
CUC International              CU                30 3/8
Disney, Wait                   DIS               41 5/8
Dun & Bradstreet               DNB               56 7/8
Electronic Arts                ERTS              20 3/4
General Instrument             GIC               43 3/4
Intel Corporation              INTC              63 3/4
WPP Group                      WPPGY              3 1/2
Lotus Development              LOTS                  63
LSI Logic                      LSI                   18
MSF Communications             MFST              27 1/4
Micron Technologies            MU                83 5/8
Microsoft Corporation          MSFT              84 7/8
Motorola                       MOT               95 1/2
Oak Industries                 OAK               17 3/4
Oracle                         ORCL              29 3/4
Pacific Telesis                PAC               30 7/8
Proxima                        PRXM                   9
Ramtron                        RMTR                   4
S3                             SIIl              11 3/4
Scholastic                     SCHL              37 1/4
Sierra On-Line                 SIER              22 7/8
Sybase                         SYBS              43 1/2
Tele-Communications, Inc.      TCOMA             20 1/8
Tellabs                        TLAB              52 3/4
Texas Instruments              TXN               70 1/4
US West                        USW               40 1/2
Viacom                         VIAB              22 1/4
Weitek                         WWTK                   6
Zilog                          ZLOG              31 3/4

**********************************************************************

3. A hitchhiker's guide to the information superhighway
================================================================
CFO: The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives, May 1994

A hitchhiker's guide to the information superhighway
                 by Zygmont, Jeffrey

Consider the following propositions:

(a) The information superhighway is coming, and it will change the way   
companies do business.

(b) Every business that uses a telephone is already on the information
superhighway.

Both statements are true. The seeming contradiction stems from the popular
notion that the so-called information superhighway, like four lanes of
concrete, is a physical entity awaiting construction. Think of it instead
as an evolving concept that promotes an expanded role for
telecommunications.  Certain significant elements are already available;
many more are quickly emerging.

Right now, for example, anyone with a telephone and a modem can hook a
computer to the Internet and be in touch with thousands of computer
networks around the globe.  Companies of all sizes engage in
videoconferencing.  Advanced techniques for packaging and sending data are
already changing the way business is done. New vehicles for marketing and
delivering products are being developed.

What does this evolution portend for business? In the near term, companies
will be looking for applications that give them a competitive advantage.
"The leader is going to be the one that asks, 'How do I use this technology
to do my business?'" says Bill Wilson, vice president of strategic planning
for WilTel Inc., a Tulsa-based full-service telecommunications provider. In
the long run, says Wilson, "The basis of competition in a number of
industries is going to change."

"The biggest risk is in not participating," warns Timothy Price, president
of MCI Communications Corp.'s Business Markets operating group. "The
information superhighway won't have toll booths or troopers, but it will
have a passing lane."

ROAD BUILDING

Eventually, today's voice-only telephone system will be superseded by a
broadband, high-capacity data network that folds in components of cable TV,
cellular telephony, and other wireless systems. As with the phone system,
the illusion of a single network will be produced by many different
networks and facilities operating in a coordinated fashion. Users will be
able to plug in information appliances as easily as they plug a blender
into a wall socket.

Digital technology will make this transition possible. The vast majority of
telephone voice traffic still travels in the form of analog signals. In its
mature stage, the information superhighway will carry primarily digital
signals--voices and other data encoded by and for computers. Digital data
can be compressed, making more room on transmission lines and speeding the
transfer of such data-intensive products as video programs.

In some sectors, the analog-to-digital conversion is far advanced. Across
much of the country, phone companies are upgrading facilities so that
businesses can utilize integrated services digital networks (ISDNs).
According to Bellcore, the Livingston, New Jersey, research collaborative
of the seven Baby Bells, all seven plan to offer ISDN capability over at
least half their service areas by the end of this year. The more ambitious
among them, including Ameritech Corp., Bell Atlantic Corp., and Pacific
Telesis Group, are racing toward 80 to 90 percent coverage by the end of
1995.

Meanwhile, phone companies have already woven a lattice of high-capacity
fiber-optic cables over the United States. And they have installed much of
the digital switching computers necessary to effectively route
data-intensive transmissions. "On the interexchange carrier network, we're
already set up," says David Malfara, president and chief executive of Pace
Long Distance Service, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.  The "last mile" of the
superhighway, the link to individuals, is being fought over by
local-exchange carriers, cable TV operators, and entertainment providers,
sparking a frenzy of mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. "The entity
that owns the information link to the user will hold a lot of power," says
Malfara.

Individuals will be connected to the superhighway via information
appliances designed to send and receive large chunks of data. Anticipating
an eventual merger of televisions, personal computers, and telephones,
computer makers are working on products that, they hope, will create vast
demand for such appliances. IBM Corp., for example, is conducting trials
with Bell Atlantic on making home cable TVs interactive by attaching a
special microprocessor.  Apple Computer is engaged in a similar trial of a
set-top box, while Compaq Computer Corp.  has entered into about 20
alliances to help it create multimedia appliances.

SEE IT NOW

The hottest vehicle on the superhighway is videoconferencing. Eight years
ago, video meetings had stimulated a mere $1 million worth of interest;
last year, businesses bought almost $500 million worth of videoconferencing
systems.  Conservative estimates have purchases exceeding $2 billion by
1997, as more companies employ video meetings to join workers in distant
offices, share visual information, even bring in customers from outlying
areas.

The popularity of videoconferencing surged when miniaturization--and
corresponding price reductions--arrived in earnest last year, largely
through desktop products that harness a personal computer to serve as
videophone.  PictureTel Corp.'s Live PCS 100, for example, combines a small
camera atop a monitor, video-and audioboards, and a speaker phone, plus
appropriate software. The cost of the basic system is $5,335, compared with
$13,000 to $47,000 for room-sized installations designed to handle large
audiences.

The chief justification for videoconferencing has been the spiraling costs
of business travel. But as the equipment becomes smaller and cheaper, new
applications are appearing in the service sector.

Huntington Bancshares Inc., in Columbus, Ohio, recently became the first
bank in the country to offer interactive video banking. Video machines at
sites in Columbus and Dayton enable customers to meet face-to-face with a
teller or loan officer at any hour. Such around-the-clock service has been
available over the telephone, notes bank spokesperson Cynthia Phillips, but
the video link gives customers "a greater level of confidence that the
transaction will be done correctly." Depending on customer reaction, says
Phillips, the bank could reconfigure up to 40 percent of its branches to
accommodate video banking.

Meanwhile, Kinko's Copy Centers, working with the long-distance company
Sprint Corp., will have installed videoconferencing services in about 150
of its print shops by year's end. Kinko's is betting that customers will be
willing to pay $150 an hour and up to connect with associates at any of
approximately 3,000 videoconference installations on the Sprint
international system.

The ability to view and manipulate the same data screens simultaneously has
spawned "data conferencing": two or more people working on the same
document at the same time, over phone lines. Co-workers using a PictureTel
PCS 100 system can share computer data on a special "whiteboard" that
appears on the computer screen beside the videophone image. Similarly, for
$2,499, Intel Corp.'s ProShare Video System 200 adds a live video window to
shared data screens on personal computers.

MAKE ROOM FOR DATA

Businesses usually pay dearly for extra transmission capacity, often in the
form of "T-1" lines--fat conduits stuffed with wires dedicated to specific
tasks.  Increasingly, however, transmission providers are offering "data
dial tone," which makes more bandwidth, or data capacity, available only
when needed.  Data dial tone is opening up the phone networks for a wider
spectrum of data transmission needs.  "It's something that's built into
everything we do," says Paul Weichselbaum, vice president of data marketing
for MCI.

Ryder System Inc., the Miami-based truck-leasing giant, is installing
equipment that by year-end 1995 will allow nearly 100 branches and regional
offices to use data dial tone and frame relay, an advanced high capacity
data-packaging method.  Using frame relay, two distant Ryder machines will
be able to effortlessly swap information such as billing, equipment
availability, and maintenance schedules.

A newer, faster data-packaging technology than frame relay is asynchronous
transfer mode (ATM), which gives businesses the potential to handle all
forms of data communication through the public networks. The data move at
extremely high speeds; ATM can push the equivalent of a 400-page book
coast-to-coast in one second.  With ATM, virtually every node on he
communications network becomes a potential communicator.  "ATM gives us the
opportunity to get our services out to a much wider market," says Bill
Grant, vice president of networking services for Minnesota Supercomputer
Center Inc., in Minneapolis, which provides high-speed number crunching for
such tasks as modeling DNA. The company can pull a computing problem from a
customer over long-distance lines, do the processing, and return the result
at speeds that, says Grant, will eventually "make it appear like our
supercomputers are right on a person's desk."

Data dial tone and data-packaging technologies promise to benefit any
widely dispersed enterprise that feeds on information.  For example,
automotive design centers around the world will be able to collaborate more
easily.  Or, an investment bank's subsidiary in, say, Buenos Aires will be
able to harness the computer facilities of the home office in New York.

THE INFORMATION MARKET

Just as ATM provides computer and software companies with a whole new
medium for distributing product, the information superhighway promises to
do the same for a wide spectrum of businesses.

For the consumer industries, it enables home shopping to become an
interactive experience.  In Bell Atlantic's Stargazer program, currently
being tested in northern Virginia, special-purpose computers equip
televisions with "video dial tone"--two-way communication of multimedia
signals, on demand, like a telephone. Stargazer allows shoppers to wander
through different departments, inspect a particular product, and place
orders.

"Every large company, in some form or fashion, will be a videoinformation
supplier to somebody," says Thomas G. Dalrymple Jr., director of video
applications for Bell Atlantic's Large Business Services. Even companies
that don't hawk consumer wares will use video, he says, perhaps to provide
customer training.

For companies with information to sell--virtually any visual, audio, or
knowledge product that can be rendered in digital code--expansion of the
superhighway will provide access to a market still in its infancy. On-line
services like Nexis/Lexis, Prodigy, and others stand to become more
widespread as expanding telecommunications capabilities make browsing
easier and provide more nodes capable of receiving information.

THE WIRELESS CONNECTION

No discussion about the information superhighway would be complete without
at least a nod to wireless communication.  The popularity of cellular
phones, along with new satellite systems, assures them a role as
transmission media connecting individuals to the wide-area network. One
market leader, Motorola Inc., expects wireless services to account for $600
billion, or 20 percent, of the $3 trillion global telecommunications market
that is expected to develop by 2010.

"Our business customers have an almost insatiable demand for mobility
services," says John Losier, president of Large Business Services for Bell
Atlantic. He expects cellular phones to move in as office equipment as soon
as microcellular technology takes hold. By fragmenting regions into smaller
cells, microcellular technology increases the capacity of a cell-phone
network.

Technologies to turn cellular systems into digital data handlers are in
development.  The two hottest, code division multiple access and time
division multiple access, promise to increase the capacity of cellular air
space up to 15 times.  Cautions Ann Lynch, a market analyst for BIS
Strategic Decisions, in Norwell, Massachusetts, "It's going to take a while
until digital cellular is up and running everywhere in the country."
Meanwhile, programs to launch satellite communication networks are gaining
momentum. One of the most advanced, Motorola-backed Iridium, seeks to bring
phone service to remote regions and even compete with wired services.

Just  as it propels the emergence of the information superhighway at large,
the  convergence  of  transmission  technology  and low-cost computer power
underlies  the expansion of wireless services. The connection shows clearly
in  the halting progress of personal digital assistants (PDAs). Largely the
province  of  computer  makers,  these new-breed devices emerged in 1992 as
electronic  memo  books  that  could send messages. The first round of PDAs
suffered  disappointing sales, though; industry analysts say that many just
don't  communicate  easily  enough.  Apple Computer's Newton, for instance,
requires expensive modem and pager attachments.

Thus, PDAs are going back to the drawing board. Eo, a venture largely
underwritten by AT&T Co., is expected to replace its tablet-style "personal
communicator" with a smaller, flip-up-style phone that includes a small
computer.  Motorola is preparing its own personal wireless communicator,
which will emphasize communications over computing.

THE PACESETTERS

Although enthusiasm for the superhighway is running high in government and
academia, Corporate America is generally taking a wait-and-see approach.
"Most of what happens will be slowly integrated into the transaction of
business over years," concedes Pace's Malfara.

The inertia of business-as-usual may be the greatest hurdle to adopting the
new capabilities in telecommunications. But superhighway advocates remain
confident that traditions will fall as more pioneers demonstrate that
profits await.

They look for leaders to come out of financial services, where "information
is money, and that's very well understood," says Wilson of WilTel. They
expect leaders to emerge among manufacturers, especially automakers and
aerospace companies, where rapid product development is a must, and where
dispersed engineering and production resources must work cooperatively on
complex, information-intensive products.

Health care is also cited as a leader, as diagnostic talent begins to
spread via video-and data-conferencing.

Even the fashion industry, which must respond quickly to market shifts, may
have a prime role in fostering the superhighway, says Wilson. "Buyers in
New York, designers in Europe, and manufacturers in Asia could examine
fabrics and designs as if they were together in the same room," he says.
"Once you know what's working in the marketplace, if you could shave two
months off the delivery process, the profits would be enormous."

Jeffrey Zygmont writes on business and advanced technology from Salem, New
Hampshire.

==========================================================================

                           Disclaimers:

 a) Material on ICnet  is for general information only, and made available
    to  voluntary  subscribers  (subscription  is  free).    There  is  no
    guarantee of  accuracy in either text or numbers, so please read  with
    your own discretion.  Opinion expressed by any author is  his own, not
    necessarily  his  employer's.  Nobody on  the icnet-l or related (Hong
    Guang, Gray Zhu or their employers, or any other members, or ifcss.org
    which is the  ftp provider) except yourself assumes any responsibility
    for any consequences of using the material.

 b) You are free to forward and copy the material  for private use. If you
    do forward, it is mandatory to let it ALWAYS GO  WITH DISCLAIMER.  Use 
    of the material for commercial  purpose without written consent of the 
    author is prohibited.

 c) Any past  performance examples should not be  considered an indication
    of future results.

==========================================================================
    Any VIP related message should be addressed to: grayzhu@panix.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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__________________________________________________________________________
     ALL INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK, STUDY CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From icnet-l@ifcss.org Mon Jul 18 23:14:56 1994
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From: "Gray Zhu, 800-289-2498, 212-279-6700" <grayzhu@panix.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <icnet-l@ifcss.org>
Subject: IC940719: Funny - HUMAN NATURE AND STOCKS GREED/FEAR CHART
X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
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==================    IC940719: Investment Club  ======================

1. Funny: HUMAN NATURE AND STOCKS GREED/FEAR CHART ............. FPW
2. Correction about the JH Bank Fund ........................... Gray
_______________________________________________________________________
   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)

	       HUMAN NATURE AND STOCKS GREED/FEAR CHART
	       ========================================

 The following is originally a chart shown on Financial Planning on
 Wall Street, July/August 1994 issue. I think it is funny, depicting a
 perfect BUY HIGH SELL LOW and SELL LOW BUY HIGH psychology. Because I
 cannot plot the chart here, I use numbers and a table here to emulate
 the funny chart: (- Gray Zhu)

 The numbers on the left are stock price, and the right is "someone"'s
 thinking. As time goes on:

 50 This growth stock only yields 2% but it should split. Working on a
    cure for cancer, Electronics, lasers, outer-space, etc.
 45 I'll sell on the next rally.
 47 No, I want to get out even.
 40 Too late to sell now, It yields 5%. (profit inversion).
 35 Why is it dropping? It yields 6%, Earnings are good. I'll be an investor.
 30 Broker-buy again. I'll average down on this bargin.
 25 What a surprise! Rotten earnings and a dividend cut.
 22 Can't sell now. Too big a loss.
 20 Why am I so unlucky?
 17 How much lower can it go?
 15 Oh
 12 it can't go any lower
 10 Broker! Sell my stock!
 22 Good, I've sold it. I don't care if it's up. I won't touch that dog again.
 15 See, it went back down. Knew it would. Glad I am out.
 22 So it's up. It'll re-test those lows. It's a dog.
 14 Oh, I get it, a trading range. What a hell, I'll buy it.
 22 It worked! Broker, sell my stock! (I made something back, anyway.)
 12 Yippee, it went back down. I'll buy it again and sell it at the top of 
    the range. What a trader I am!
 14 A gold mine, for sure!
 20 Broker, sell my stock! (I am even more this time-I'll just wait 'till 
    it goes back down and buy it once more. Trading stocks sure is fun.)
 22 Huh? It was supposed to go back down.
 24 What rotten earnings. It has to go down. I know what I'll do. 
    I'll sell short.
 30 I can't believe it is still up. If it drops and I break even, I'll cover.
 35 Darn my broker! Why didn't he warn me.
 40 How much higher can it go? I'm breeding to death here on the short end.
 42 Oh.
 43 It can't go higher
 45 Why am I so unlucky.
 47 look at those good earnings!
 50 Broker! buy. Cover, help!
=======================================================

2. Correction about the JH Bank Fund:

a) The close date is July 22, Friday.
b) The validity is based on the date on the stamp, i.e., you have to 
   mail out the form by July 22, it doesn't have to be received by
   JH on July 22.  John Hancock's phone number is: (800)-255-5291, 
   you can call and ask for the form.
==========================================================================

                           Disclaimers:

 a) Material on ICnet  is for general information only, and made available
    to  voluntary  subscribers  (subscription  is  free).    There  is  no
    guarantee of  accuracy in either text or numbers, so please read  with
    your own discretion.  Opinion expressed by any author is  his own, not
    necessarily  his  employer's.  Nobody on  the icnet-l or related (Hong
    Guang, Gray Zhu or their employers, or any other members, or ifcss.org
    which is the  ftp provider) except yourself assumes any responsibility
    for any consequences of using the material.

 b) You are free to forward and copy the material  for private use. If you
    do forward, it is mandatory to let it ALWAYS GO  WITH DISCLAIMER.  Use 
    of the material for commercial  purpose without written consent of the 
    author is prohibited.

 c) Any past  performance examples should not be  considered an indication
    of future results.

==========================================================================
    Any VIP related message should be addressed to: grayzhu@panix.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ICnet - Investment Club on network
__________________________________________________________________________
  SUB/SIGNOFF to: LISTSERV@IFCSS.ORG, with mailbody as:
                  SUB ICNET-L Firstname Lastname or: SIGNOFF ICNET-L
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  Managers:       Guang Hong, HONG@opus.mco.edu
                  Gray Zhu, grayzhu@panix.com (800)-289-2498
__________________________________________________________________________
     ALL INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK, STUDY CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From icnet-l@ifcss.org Sun Jul 24 10:07:35 1994
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Subject: IC940724: Great Divide, Comments on Price/Book Ratio ...
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==================    IC940724: Investment Club  ======================

1. Phone numbers for Compuserve, America Online, Prodigy ... Gray Zhu
2. Price/Book Ratio - *** Some THOUGHTS and COMMENTS *** ... Gray Zhu
3. The Great Divide - difference of losers and winners ..... Barron's
4. Regional Banks and Transportation: 
   - Two industies with superior potential ......... S&P Market Month
_______________________________________________________________________
   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)

======================================================
1. Phone numbers for Compuserve, America Online, Prodigy.

>From: Yingfang Xu <uyxu@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu>
>Subject: help

>If somebody know about "COMPUTE SERVE", Can you let me know?  I want to
>take part in "compute serve". I am intersting in stock market.
>Thank you!

Compuserve 800-848-8990
America Online 800-827-6384
Prodigy 800-prodigy

they all offer one month free trial. Call and get a free software. 
I like Prodigy. -Gray

====================================================== 
2. Price/Book Ratio - Some Thoughts ........................ Gray Zhu

Price/Book ratio is an important fundamental quantity. Price is the
price of the stock, and book value is the value (in $) of the company
divided by the number of shares outstanding. This ratio varies from
industry to industry and from company to company. It could be less than
1 (e.g. some banks), and could be 10 (e.g. some software).

The point I'd like to make is: YOU KNOW A COMPANY WELL AND IT IS DOING
WELL, IT DOESN'T MEAN THE STOCK IS GOING TO DO WELL. The market is a
supply and demand market, the general market condition could make a
company's price/book ratio from 4 to 2 regardless of the company's
business condition. The demand or supply is a reflection of investors
psychological expectation, which could be affected by not only the
company, but the industry, the market, the economy, the upgrade or
downgrade of a brokerage firm, or even a analyst's comments. For stock
with price/book ratio is 4, three quarters of the price is supported by
psychological factor (demand).

When talking to potential clients, I found many insist on "I don't
consider a stock which I don't understand". O.K., I agree you should
consider something you have some general idea about the company's
business, but DO YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND THE STOCK? (I do not mean I do,
but I work full time watching stocks and market)

I have spoken to a guy who works for a semiconductor company. He is the
kind "I don't consider a stock which I don't understand". Here is the
conversation:

"I have friends work for CISCO, National Semiconductor, Intel, I know
their companies are doing well, huge backlog, etc., I have those
stocks".
"So, your stocks must be all up?"
"No, all down" 
"Do you know why?"
"Ah...unlucky..."
"Although you are not putting eggs in one basket, but you are carrying
all the baskets by one or two fingers. You know this market is not a
hi-tech-only market, if Wall Street doesn't like the two fingers, you
could feel much heavier. As a matter of fact, there is signs of computer
slow down, even though the industry is doing well, but people are used
to expecting growth's growth's growth, do you expect this year after
year?"
"Uh? ..."
"What about some Bank Fund? ;-)"
..

Here is another story: Two weeks ago, one of my clients call me at 8:00am,
"Enter the buy order 200 shares Crysler for me! I've just seen its earnings
up 40% from the previous quarter!". I told him wait and see what happens
when the market opens (9:30am). As it turned out, Crysler was down about $1
the same day (he didn't buy), and hasn't been up from that point. Crysler
might (or might not) be a good investment, but the earnings news didn't
help much.

I (myself) bought some SGI at $22 on the news of SGI and Nippon alliance,
it was down the same day (I sold at $22 7/8 later).

The market is a total chaos. It is supported by demand, and it is resisted
by supply, and supply and demand are all psychological. Overall evaluation
is as important as the evaluation of the company and industry.
Diversification can make your sleep a lot easier.

====================================================== 
3. The Great Divide - There's a difference in the mind-sets of winning - 
   and losing - investors.

(A great story on Barron's July 18, 1994. This is my short rewrite of the
story using "MyEnglish", not the original - go read it. -Gray)

A broker sold two clients each with 1000 share of Scitex at $7/share March 
1987 (Scitex was lossing money at that time). In Nov that year, the market
"crashed", the price dropped to $2, Customer A sold for the $5000 loss;
customer B bought a few thousands more shares (dollar-cost averaging), and
each time when the stock hit new high, he buy some more shares. In Nov.
1992, the stock was selling at $39, B sold his stocks and made $500000,
with about $20,000 (?) total investments.

==============================================================
4. Regional Banks and Transportation: Two industies with superior potential

  - Market Month, July 1994, Standard & Poor's (S&P) investment review 
                  and forecast

Regional banks' fundamentals bright. Conventional wisdom holds that bank
stocks are hurt by rising interest rates. Not so this time around. Despite
the Fed four short-term interest-rate hikes so far in 1994, the S&P major
regional banks index is up 8% through early June vs a decline of 1% for the
S&P 500. The group should contine to do well in view of good earnings
prospects. A pick-up in loan demand, especially in the Midwest and
Southeast, should more than offset thinning net interest margins (the
spread between cost of funds and the rate of loans). In addition, improving
asset quality and the industry's very conservative reserving practices of
recently years will lead to lower loan loss provisions through the reminder
of the year. Earnings, moreover, will benefit from increased efficiency as
a result of industry consolidation and cost reduction programs. Possible
enactment of interstate banking legislation by late summer that would lead
to further consolidation of the industry has heightened investor interest
in the stocks. With excess capital to put to work, dividend boosts and
stock-repurchase programs should continue to spread. Our favorite regional
banks issues are: ... (ommited).

Transportation stocks offer good value. With the S&P transportation index
down more the 7% since the start of the year, we believe selected stocks in
the group offer outstanding value. The best situated are in the rail and
shipping sectors. The rail industry is benefiting from good economic growth
and heavier demand for coal. After years of downsizing, the industry has
started to encounter bottlenecks and capacity constraints. While increased
capital investment and improved operating strategies should alleviate the
industry's capacity problems, we think the rails will also use higher
freight rates to ration their service. Most freight moves under long term
contracts, but higher rates on renewals should contribute to a 1% rate
boost vs. a 0.7% increase in 1993, and we look for record profits this
year. Our top picks are: ... (ommited).

==========================================================================
                           Disclaimers:

 a) Material on ICnet  is for general information only, and made available
    to  voluntary  subscribers  (subscription  is  free).    There  is  no
    guarantee of  accuracy in either text or numbers, so please read  with
    your own discretion.  Opinion expressed by any author is  his own, not
    necessarily  his  employer's.  Nobody on  the icnet-l or related (Hong
    Guang, Gray Zhu or their employers, or any other members, or ifcss.org
    which is the  ftp provider) except yourself assumes any responsibility
    for any consequences of using the material.

 b) You are free to forward and copy the material  for private use. If you
    do forward, it is mandatory to let it ALWAYS GO  WITH DISCLAIMER.  Use 
    of the material for commercial  purpose without written consent of the 
    author is prohibited.

 c) Any past performance examples should  not be considered a guarantee of
    future   results.    Any  company mentioned   does    not constitute a
    recommendation by any body.
==========================================================================
    Any VIP related message should be addressed to: grayzhu@panix.com
            (contact grayzhu@panix.com for more information)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ICnet - Investment Club on network
__________________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________________
     ALL INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK, STUDY CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From icnet-l@ifcss.org Mon Jul 25 18:14:26 1994
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From: "Gray Zhu, 800-289-2498, 212-279-6700" <grayzhu@panix.com>
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Subject: IC940725: Investment Experience - Yuan Jiang
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==================    IC940725: Investment Club  ======================

1. Investment Experience .................................. Yuan Jiang
_______________________________________________________________________
   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)

======================================
1. Investment Experience - Yuan Jiang

>From: jiang@ifcss.org (Yuan Jiang)
>Subject: Investment experience

Since Gray asked for contributing investment experiences, I share mine here.

I first select a group of comapanies that are foundamentally sound, and
then buy low sell high.

I know computer and semiconductor industries well, and feel confident
to judge the companies' conditions.  I find that you actually don't
have to know the industy well to judge whether a company is good
or not.  Often I find that your experiences with the comapnies'
you deal with every day as a consumer also give you indications.  For
example, when you take a air trip or go to a department store and you like
thire services and prices, it usually tells you that the companies are
good.

Why not let your friends or Wall Street Journal to tell you whether a
company is good or not?  To be able to buy low, you have to know the
company is sound before every
one else thinks so.  When you heard the news that Crysler's incoming gained
40%, everyone has known.  It should been the time to sell.  There are
several situations that you can buy low:
1) Market swings down, but there is nothing foundamentally wrong with the
economy/market.  The down swing caused by the low dollar a couple of weeks
ago was an example.  Gray recommended "buy".  That was the time.
2) An artificial bad news about the company.  When the company's newly
released earning is down and spending is up.  Everyone takes it
as a bad news.  But you know that the company spent a low in last
quarter promoting new products, and the spent money is busy at work
to bring in more income in the future.
3) Other company's (often an leading company in the industry) bad news
brings down the stocks of the whole industry.

Before a "buy", I always go to the library to check the DJ News to
see whether there is any new development that could affect the foundamental
condition of the company.  This step is time consuming for me (because
the news is not at my finger tip), and often prevents me from acting
quick.  For example, a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to buy more stocks
during the market down swing and when Gray recommended "buy".  But
I was too busy at work to go to the library.  When my work is not busy,
the market is up again.  It would be a nice if I can work with a broker 
who can check the DJ news for me.

Good luck everyone.

Yuan
==========================================================================
                           Disclaimers:

 a) Material on ICnet  is for general information only, and made available
    to  voluntary  subscribers  (subscription  is  free).    There  is  no
    guarantee of  accuracy in either text or numbers, so please read  with
    your own discretion.  Opinion expressed by any author is  his own, not
    necessarily  his  employer's.  Nobody on  the icnet-l or related (Hong
    Guang, Gray Zhu or their employers, or any other members, or ifcss.org
    which is the  ftp provider) except yourself assumes any responsibility
    for any consequences of using the material.

 b) You are free to forward and copy the material  for private use. If you
    do forward, it is mandatory to let it ALWAYS GO  WITH DISCLAIMER.  Use 
    of the material for commercial  purpose without written consent of the 
    author is prohibited.

 c) Any past performance examples should  not be considered a guarantee of
    future   results.    Any  company mentioned   does    not constitute a
    recommendation by any body.
==========================================================================
    Any VIP related message should be addressed to: grayzhu@panix.com
            (contact grayzhu@panix.com for more information)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ICnet - Investment Club on network
__________________________________________________________________________
  SUB/SIGNOFF to: LISTSERV@IFCSS.ORG, with mailbody as:
                  SUB ICNET-L Firstname Lastname or: SIGNOFF ICNET-L
  Post mail to:   ICNET-L@IFCSS.ORG
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  Gopher:         /org/icnet on ifcss.org, /ifcss/org/icnet on cnd.org
  Managers:       Guang Hong, HONG@opus.mco.edu
                  Gray Zhu, grayzhu@panix.com (800)-289-2498
__________________________________________________________________________
     ALL INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK, STUDY CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From icnet-l@ifcss.org Tue Jul 26 22:55:21 1994
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From: "Gray Zhu, 800-289-2498, 212-279-6700" <grayzhu@panix.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <icnet-l@ifcss.org>
Subject: IC940727: Questioning Investment Experience - Sheng Zhu
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==================    IC940605: Investment Club  ======================

0. Stock picking contest and EXPANSION plan ............ Gray Zhu
1. What is DJ news? .................................... Yuan Jiang/Gray
2. How to ftp FAQ of misc.invest ....................... Gray Zhu
3. Questioning Yuan Jiang's "Investment Experience" .... Sheng Zhu
                                           Comments .....Gray Zhu
_______________________________________________________________________
   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)

=============================================================
0. Stock picking contest and expansion plan ............ Gray

Somebody suggested to us to hold a stock picking contest. I wonder if
you have enough interest to participate, let me know if you have the
intention to share with us your picks. Please pick from investor's
point of view, not from trader's point of view.

There is something everybody can and should contribute. 

Although we are a 500 member club, most of us are learning. I do not
want to brain-wash everybody by sending my point of view most of the
time, and my time is limited even though I barely survive.  Don't you
think we could have more contributors if we had more people to
subscribe?

Apparently, you are staying with ICnet because some of the information
is useful, otherwise, you could have "unsub"-ed.  Should you hide this
nice ICnet from your friends, or should you send a message let them know?

Here is what we should do: EXPAND this NET to 2000 members.

Please send a message about ICnet to every friend you know, and
possibly to the organizational e-mail mailing lists you know. When we
get bigger, we can set up a committee or consol team to organize and
manage this net, and we can plan a well scheduled, systematic
investment lecture series. Don't you think this is going to help?

Let me know if you have any suggestions or questions, as always.
============================================================= 

1. What is DJ news?

Yuan Jiang: It's Dow Jones News of course.  It covers all companies
listed on the markets.  Of course, some comapnies don't generate much
news.

Gray: you can get DJ news on Prodigy, which may be the
cheapest. During non-market hours, the DJ news is included in the
monthly fee ($15?), during market hours, they charge like $3.5/hour
after using some hours per month, don't bother to do that if you are
an investor rather than a trader. There are other places you can get
the News, like DJ News/Retrieval (online service) and many real time
quote providers.

Reuters (RT) news is also very quick as well. other business related
includes: PR newswire, First Call (FC) etc. FC provides earnings news
sometimes faster than others.

A full service broker should be able to tell you the news. Actually,
he/she should call you about any significant development of your
holdings, if he is not, come to me :-)

=============================================================
2. How to ftp FAQ of misc.invest...
 
>Please tell me the ftp site for (Frequent Asked Questions) or send me
>FAQ files:

Availability of the FAQ:
    via news: 
        posted monthly to misc.invest,misc.answers,news.answers
    via anonymous ftp: 
        host: rtfm.mit.edu
        path: /pub/usenet/news.answers/investment-faq/general/*
    via mail:
        address: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
        required msg body: send usenet/news.answers/investment-faq/general/*

=============================================================
3. Questioning Yuan Jiang's "Investment Experience" - Sheng Zhu

Subject: Re: IC940725: Investment Experience - Yuan Jiang 
From: szhu@mailbox.syr.edu

> I first select a group of comapanies that are foundamentally sound, and
> then buy low sell high.

Everyone probably knows buy low sell high, the key is how to judge
when is high or low, and how to judge a company to be "foundamentally"
sound. Would you explore more on that? more specifically?

> I find that you actually don't have to know the industy well to
> judge whether a company is good or not.

Although you don't necessarily need to know an industry to judge a 
company, but you do need to know some "foundamentals" of the company to
make a buy. Good price and service can indicate a company is either doing
well, or doing very poorly.

>Why not let your friends or Wall Street Journal to tell you whether a
>company is good or not?  To be able to buy low, you have to know the
>company is sound before every
>one else thinks so.  When you heard the news that Crysler's incoming gained
>40%, everyone has known.  It should been the time to sell.  There are
>several situations that you can buy low:
>1) Market swings down, but there is nothing foundamentally wrong with the
>economy/market.  The down swing caused by the low dollar a couple of weeks
>ago was an example.  Gray recommended "buy".  That was the time.

Market timing is dangerous for average investors. In a long run, market
trend is more important than market swing. Market swings not without reason
could be indicative to future market trend.

>2) An artificial bad news about the company.  When the company's newly
>released earning is down and spending is up.  Everyone takes it
>as a bad news.  But you know that the company spent a low in last
>quarter promoting new products, and the spent money is busy at work
>to bring in more income in the future.

It's usually not easy to find out how a company is spending except big
charge items. Is there any way for individual investors to check out
whether a company is spending in good way? Average individual would sense
good when a company is spending more, and earning more. Without inside
information or detail, spending more and earning less is usually a bad
sign.

>3) Other company's (often an leading company in the industry) bad news
>brings down the stocks of the whole industry.
>
>Before a "buy", I always go to the library to check the DJ News to
>see whether there is any new development that could affect the foundamental
>condition of the company.  This step is time consuming for me (because
>the news is not at my finger tip), and often prevents me from acting
>quick.  For example, a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to buy more stocks
>during the market down swing and when Gray recommended "buy".  But
>I was too busy at work to go to the library.  When my work is not busy,
>the market is up again.  It would be a nice if I can work with a broker 
>who can check the DJ news for me.
>

You would really need a full service broker if you want to follow the
market that close. No one would be able to follow each piece of news, to
check out latest development of the company, to catch daily activities of
Wall St movements. Only professionals can do that. Ask Gray, how much daily
reports you receive from your analysis department, how much news you catch
from your company's broadcast, and how many phone calls your staff make to 
check out latest development of a specific company? Not even easy for a
professional with support of full-time staff and analytics department.

Would be more interested to learn the result (return) of your investment.
Some examples and specifics would be more helpful and appreciated.

Sheng Zhu

--------------------
Gray's comments:

When to invest depends on you are an investor or trader. Investors are
different from speculators/traders. The former are the ones investing
for long term, and for ownership of a company, the latter are the ones
making money by purchase and sell frequently. Of courses, they are all
for the money. Whether to be an investor or trader depends on your
interests and time. If you are an investor and trade less than 10
times, you'd better find a trusted full service broker, because the
time and effort you spend on the research may well over the commission
expense, you could use the time and effort to make more money by doing
what you do well. If you are a trader, you know a lot about stocks,
and you have time, there are cheap places you can go to, like E-trade,
National discount charge $25 per trade. I think, if one does not know
much or not have the resources, and wants to save commission, he may
end up with paying some "tuition" in the beginning. I primarily talk
to investors, we talk "dollar-cost-average", "accumulating" more
often. Traders talk "short", "option", "cover" more often.

>Ask Gray, how much daily reports you receive from your analysis
>department, how much news you catch from your company's broadcast, and
>how many phone calls your staff make to check out latest development
>of a specific company? Not even easy for a professional with support
>of full-time staff and analytics department.

Everyday, 1-10 pieces of reports, ~2 hours news conference plus news
announcement on the speakers any momemt, ~150 phone dials, ~4 hours
talking on the phone, watch news and quotes every second on the
computer screen, in addition to numerous paperwork including trades,
comfirmations, letters ... etc.

==========================================================================
                           Disclaimers:

 a) Material on ICnet  is for general information only, and made available
    to  voluntary  subscribers  (subscription  is  free).    There  is  no
    guarantee of  accuracy in either text or numbers, so please read  with
    your own discretion.  Opinion expressed by any author is  his own, not
    necessarily  his  employer's.  Nobody on  the icnet-l or related (Hong
    Guang, Gray Zhu or their employers, or any other members, or ifcss.org
    which is the  ftp provider) except yourself assumes any responsibility
    for any consequences of using the material.

 b) You are free to forward and copy the material  for private use. If you
    do forward, it is mandatory to let it ALWAYS GO  WITH DISCLAIMER.  Use 
    of the material for commercial  purpose without written consent of the 
    author is prohibited.

 c) Any past performance examples should  not be considered a guarantee of
    future   results.    Any  company mentioned   does    not constitute a
    recommendation by any body.
==========================================================================
    Any VIP related message should be addressed to: grayzhu@panix.com
            (contact grayzhu@panix.com for more information)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ICnet - Investment Club on network
__________________________________________________________________________
  SUB/SIGNOFF to: LISTSERV@IFCSS.ORG, with mailbody as:
                  SUB ICNET-L Firstname Lastname or: SIGNOFF ICNET-L
  Post mail to:   ICNET-L@IFCSS.ORG
  Anonymous ftp:  at ifcss.org, in direcctory: /org/icnet
  Gopher:         /org/icnet on ifcss.org, /ifcss/org/icnet on cnd.org
  Managers:       Guang Hong, HONG@opus.mco.edu
                  Gray Zhu, grayzhu@panix.com (800)-289-2498
__________________________________________________________________________
     ALL INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK, STUDY CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From icnet-l@ifcss.org Fri Jul 29 19:26:14 1994
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From: "Gray Zhu, 800-289-2498, 212-279-6700" <grayzhu@panix.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <icnet-l@ifcss.org>
Subject: IC940729A: 30% tax, invest style, money market
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==================   IC940729A: Investment Club  ======================

1. About the 30% tax withhold .......................... Ken Gu, Bob Ge
2. Investment style .................................... Jian Yuan 
3. What is short-term money market? .................... Gray Zhu
_______________________________________________________________________
   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)

=============================================================
1. About the 30% tax withhold

>From: Gu Quanzhong - Chealth <qzgu@ux2.cso.uiuc.edu>

It all depends if you file tax return in the US.  If you do, you can request
for exemption of that 30% withhold.  Ask for the exemption form from the
mutual fund family.  I never had any trouble when I was in F-1.  Good luck,
Ken

>From: xge@euridice.ess.ucla.edu (Xiaobin Bob Ge)

I'd invested in mutual fund for several year before I got my PR. I did not
heard the "30% withheld". At least Fidelity won't do that to their
investors. By the way, if you target at 12% upper solid return without much
risk, mutual fund may not be a good choice. Or at least not the only
choice. One thing people should always keep in mind before an investment
decision: term-yield-risk-amount. I don't surprise for your consideration
here since so far this club only encourage people to go for stock or mutual
fund.

I am high appreciate Gray's contribution to the Club to date, I hope
we can have more people to speak out and share their information and
knowledge about investment.

>From: Gray: You have to file W-8 correctly, call the funds and ask them
about the tax problem.

=============================================================
2. Investment style ... Jian Yuan

From: Yuan Jiang <yjj@Glue.umd.edu>
Subject: Investment style

Sorry for not responding the questioning on my investment style soon.
Busy time comes again.

Yes, my investment style has the element of that of traders.  But if you
stick to the classical "investor style" of investing, it means investors
will alsway be bottom feeders.  Small investors are suppose to buy stocks
then profit from the future gains of the companies.  However, we all know
that the stock price =equity+future gain.  The future gain is already
discounted in the stock price.  You pay for the future gain in advance.  How
much gain you actually get in the future?

I'm not criticizing anyone's investment style.  It's a complicated market
and each one entitles their own.  I was just trying to share mine with
others.  The reason that my style resembles that of traders' has a lot to do
with the fact that I know a certain industry well, better than most of the
stock analysts.  I'm fully aware the drawbacks.  The tideousy mentioned last
time is one.  The other problem is that I get short term gain but loss long
term one.  For example, I first bought Texas Instruments at ~$33 (1990),
then sold them when it reached ~$40 a few months later.  If I had held on
them, them are ~$80.

1.5 year ago, my friend D-M Tang asked me how I felt about DEC.  I told him
that DEC could be the second Wang -- going bankruptcy because it did not
have good products.  Most of the analysts thought the problem was that DEC
had good technologies but lossy marketing.  Now we know how much has
improved since the marketing guy was picked to be the CEO.  We see too much
wasteful money spent on marketing but not enough on technologies.

My current stock picks are Apple Computer and Pinnacle Microsystems.  I
bought them 2-3 months ago at $30 and ~$15 respectively.  I wanted to buy
more Apple during the past market low (at $25-26) when Gray suggested "buy".
I did not have the time to do my homeworks.  Now Apple is back up again.

Good luck,
Yuan

=================================================================
3. What is short-term money market?

>From: Steve_Jin.XKeys@xerox.com
>What do you mean by short-term money market? Is that simply equivalent to CD?
>If not, how can I find out info on how to invest in short-term money market?

Gray: Money market instruments are debt securities with 1 year or less
until maturity: (They are all defined on the Wall Street Journal)

Treasury Bill: a kind of Gov't Bonds
Jumbo CD: $100,000 demomination
Commercial papers: corporate short term debt, maximum maturity 270 days.  
Banker's acceptances: Discounted time draft - payable at specific time in
	the future.
Federal Funds: Excess reserves or useable funds loaned overnight among
	commercial bank
Repurchase Agreement(Repo): Securities sold (pledged as collateral) to 
	raise temporary capitcal, to be bought back at same price plus 
	interest.
..

By putting money into money market, you are putting into money market mutual
funds. Because of short-term and some of the securities are secured, it is
low risk and of course low return - similar to or slightly higher than one
year CD. Banks, Mutual Fund Companies, and Brokerage firms offer money
market accounts - you can put cash into the accounts, call them for
details. With a mutual fund company, you can switch your money between a
normal growth or income fund and money market fund. But, there maybe
restrictions to the B share (back-load). With a brokerage firm, when you
sell your stocks or funds, the money can be sweeped automatically to money
market.

==========================================================================
                           Disclaimers:

 a) Material on ICnet  is for general information only, and made available
    to  voluntary  subscribers  (subscription  is  free).    There  is  no
    guarantee of  accuracy in either text or numbers, so please read  with
    your own discretion.  Opinion expressed by any author is  his own, not
    necessarily  his  employer's.  Nobody on  the icnet-l or related (Hong
    Guang, Gray Zhu or their employers, or any other members, or ifcss.org
    which is the  ftp provider) except yourself assumes any responsibility
    for any consequences of using the material.

 b) You are free to forward and copy the material  for private use. If you
    do forward, it is mandatory to let it ALWAYS GO  WITH DISCLAIMER.  Use 
    of the material for commercial  purpose without written consent of the 
    author is prohibited.

 c) Any past performance examples should  not be considered a guarantee of
    future   results.    Any  company mentioned   does    not constitute a
    recommendation by any body.
==========================================================================
    Any VIP related message should be addressed to: grayzhu@panix.com
            (contact grayzhu@panix.com for more information)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  ICnet - Investment Club on network
__________________________________________________________________________
  SUB/SIGNOFF to: LISTSERV@IFCSS.ORG, with mailbody as:
                  SUB ICNET-L Firstname Lastname or: SIGNOFF ICNET-L
  Post mail to:   ICNET-L@IFCSS.ORG
  Anonymous ftp:  at ifcss.org, in direcctory: /org/icnet
  Gopher:         /org/icnet on ifcss.org, /ifcss/org/icnet on cnd.org
  Managers:       Guang Hong, HONG@opus.mco.edu
                  Gray Zhu, grayzhu@panix.com (800)-289-2498
__________________________________________________________________________
     ALL INVESTMENTS INVOLVE RISK, STUDY CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From icnet-l@ifcss.org Fri Jul 29 19:42:08 1994
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To: Multiple recipients of list <icnet-l@ifcss.org>
Subject: IC940729B: Interstate Banking, New Bank Fund IPO
X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
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==================   IC940729B: Investment Club  ======================

1. Banks drawing takeover interest ................. Dan Dorfman 
                                                     (USA Today, July 29)
2. A close-ended Bank Fund to debut (IPO) .......... Gray Zhu
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   (be sure to read the Disclaimer in the end if you have not read)

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1. Banks drawing takeover interest  
               - Interstate-banking bill sets stage

USA Today, July 25, 1994. NEW YORK

Hey, let's play the name bride - the banking bride, that is. Or put simply
the next bank to be swallowed.

This ongoing Wall Street game is suddenly heating up big time after a
House-Senate conference committee earlier this week set the stage for
legislation to give banks the green light to open branches around the
country.

A bill OK'ing nationwide interestate banking should be voted on shortly. And
pros figure it's practically a sure thing.

What are the implications?

"You'll see a sharp flurry of merger-and-acquisition activity," says Thomas
Hanley of CS First Boston, Wall Street's top-rated banking analyst. "About
80% of the banks will consolidate over the next few years, and interstate
banking willl accelerate the M&A trend."

So his stratugy for bank-stock investing: "Play the potential takeover
targets, it's the best way to make money." On average, he sees acquired
banks throwing off 40% premium above their current prices.

...... (omitted)

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., there were 10957 banks
(excluding thrifts) at the end of last year, down from a peak of 14483 in
1984.

Ernesel figures interstate banking could lead to a 10% annual contraction in
the numbers of banks and thrifts the next seveal years.

..... (omitted)

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2. A close-ended Bank Fund to debut (IPO) ........ Gray Zhu

I was told today, that John Hancock's is about to start a new bank fund:
Bank & Thrift Opportunity Fund. It will be managed by the same manager James
Schmit of John Hancock Freedom Regional Bank Fund (open-end, but no longer
selling to new investors) and Southeast Thrift & Bank (close-end).

This offer is apparently to take the full advantage of the bank further
consolidation as the result of the interstate banking bill.

The IPO will take place August 1. It will be traded on NYSE. Please note
that close-end funds trade as stocks, so don't ask John Hancock to purchase
the new fund. 

            Nice market rally today - sorry short sellers!
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