Conference 7.286::digital

re:.0 has DEC stock ever been pried higher than any other....

don't think you asked the question you meant.  It was at $132 recently.
Since I've been with the company, its done a 3 for 1 split, and I heard its
done a split prior to me joining the company.
ed

Then again, what do you mean "priced higher?" And "any other computer vendor?"
Do you just mean publicly traded companies? Including over the counter? Is
it absolute price? Or price divided by earnings? or price divided by book
value? what about stock traded only on other exchanges, such as the London
or Tokyo exchanges?

Ahh Gi'day...

	     But then, who has the privilege of stock options...

				   Not I.

	 {dennis{{{ -- Who formally asked personnel three years ago.

The BOSTON GLOBE, January 22, 1986....p 66ff:

(headline) DATA GENERAL EARNINGS PLUMMET....Sales for the quarter ended Dec.
28, 1985 were $293.7 million compared with $333.7 million for the same quarter
last year. Sales for the quarter included a benefit of $3.5 million in equipment
sales and income from operations or 6 cents a share in earnings from the
renegotiation of an existing long-term sales contract for equipment sold
in prior quarters....earnings for the quarter fell sharply to $1.1 million
or 4 cents a share compared with $23.0 million or 87 cents a share for the
same quarter last year.

(headline) BELL WILL LEAVE ENCORE COMPUTER

(in the stock listings) Digital 149 1/2 up 2 5/8.
			IBM     149 1/2 up   1/8.

--------------------------

And Wednesday morning, Strategy Committee was all smiles......

    On Monday, March 17, Digital's Board of Directors decided to split
    the stock 2:1.

    From "LiveWire":
    

                        Digital stock splits 2-for-1 

     Digital today (March 17) announced a 2-for-1 stock split in the
     form of a 100% stock dividend.  Dividend shares will be distributed
     on May 9, 1986 to stockholders of record at the close of business
     on April 18, 1986.

     The last time Digital split its stock was in October 1976, when
     the stock was split 3-for-1.  The certificates representing the
     additional shares will be mailed to stockholders by the company's
     transfer agent, Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. of New York.  It will
     not be necessary for Digital stockholders to return their
     certificates.
    

How does  this  affect  those  of  us  currently  enroled  in the 
employee stock plan?

Jeff

    What happens to people whose stock is in the Statement of Ownership
    program?  Do they just state that you own more, or do they actually
    send you certificates that you then have to put into the statement
    of ownership?  I had only been with DEC a few months when the stock
    last split and was not in the stock purchase plan then (you used
    to have to be employeed here for a year first, instead of six months),
    and the statement of wonership program did not exist then anyhow.

    Again from "Live Wire"

    The stock split will have no economic effect on the Employee Stock
    Purchase Plan and other stock plans.  The price and number of shares
    will be adjusted to reflect the split.  For instance, for the Employee
    Purchase Plan, the beginning fair market value (from December 2) will
    be cut in half and then compared against the ending (May 30) fair market 
    value in the normal way.
    

    The _first_ and _most_extensive_ coverage of the stock split can be
    found in NY1MM::INVESTING, the conference that discusses investing,
    money matters, and computing in the financial industry.  You can join
    the conference with a KP7.
    
    Questions and answers of the kind in the earlier replies to this
    note can be found there. 

        And, at least this afternoon, NY1MM:: is accessible.
        
        Tom

    I hope someone out there can help me on this on....
    
     When was Digital stock first offered on the open market ??
    
    and how much did it sell for ??
    
    		Thank-You in advance
    

    The exact numbers are living in a financial data base somewhere,
    and maybe even in a Digital library.
    
    [From memory] Around 1966, American Research and Development "cashed
    in" their one big winner, Digital Equipment Corporation.  The initial
    public offering was for about $20 million (?2 million shares @$10), the
    stock was first listed on the American Stock Exchange, and a few years
    later moved to the New York Stock Exchange where it is today. 

    Remember that the stock has split more than once!  Each share today
    is only a fraction (one sixth?) of one of the original shares.
    
    				-John Bishop

    re: .14 and .15
    
    	[From memory]American Research and Development "cashed" in their
    	stocks in 1974 or 1975 for $350 Million dollars.  They had to
    	do this as part of the requirements ARD layed on TEXTRON to
    	acquire ARD.  ARD gave this to their stockholders before the
    	merger was completed.
    
    	The stock split in 1975 3 for 1 (it was selling for $180 +/-).

    The 3-for-1 DEC stock split must have been in 1976, not 1975, since
    I remember being here when it happened but was not yet in the stock
    purchase plan (you used to have to have been in the company for
    a year to join it; I think it is now 6 months), and I started in
    January, 1976.

    Just for general knowledge, if you purchased 1 share of stock back
    when it was first sold and you didn't buy any other shares, that
    1 share would have become 18 shares by 1986 (because of the splits).

    Not a bad return on the investment then, $10 = over $2700 now

                                            
    .jim.

    Not too bad.  10 dollars 21 years ago (not in constant dollars) would
    result in $3060 today (18 shares @$170).  That's about 31.33% per year
    (compounded annually).  
    
    Though an investment in the employee stock plan makes more than that
    (15% ROI on 13.5 weeks since its payroll deducted, twice a year, is
    about 60% interest even with the $0.25 per share selling cost) even if
    the stock doesn't rise and you sell immediately. 

    That investment is limited though.

         Down five points in two days...argh...
    
                                         

    Dear DEC25::BRUNO:
    
    Don't worry.  The stock is just doing a standard 'before-I-sell'
    dip which will bottom out the day I put in the sell order so I can
    pay off some debts.  It'll be over 100 within ten days of that sale.
    
    Don
    
    (BTW I, personally, ended the oil-crunch, high-gas prices and OPEC's
    solidarity by buying oil stocks when they were high, so I know whereof
    I speak.)
    
    

    re:.22
    
    Do you take requests from others as to when you do your buying????
    :-)

	Filene's puts coats on sale,

	Star Markets puts tuna on sale,

	Wall Street puts DEC Common on sale!

						:7)   actually  :7( 

			

	RE: .24 When tuna and coats go on sale it saves me money. When
	DEC common goes on sale it costs me money. Though I guess if I
	was in a position to buy stock I'd feel different. But it's been
	a while since my last raise and I'm not in a position to buy as I'm
	trying to raise money not get rid of it.

			Alfred

Re .25 and others: Well, I'm not in a position to do any stock
buying either; but if I were, DEC would be a good deal now.

I suspect that a lot of the recent downward pressure on DEC and
other high-tech stocks results from year-end "tax selling."
That is, investors look for losses to offset their capital gains;
lots of tax advisors say to sell your "poor performers," and
DEC's stock price surely qualifies it as that. Also, there's
apparently an expectation among many investors that next year
the capital gains tax rate will be lower -- thus making any loss that
can offset this year's capital gains (taxed at what is expected
to be a higher rate than next year's) more "valuable," thus adding 
further pressure on stocks currently in the Wall Street dog house.

And finally, there's the old "window dressing" factor: Around the
end of each quarter and especially at the end of the year, mutual
fund managers tend to unload "dogs" and buy stocks that have been
"hot" -- so that when the quarterly and yearly reports of the
fund holdings are published, they appear to be expert stock pickers.

    I'd wondered if this drop had something to do with the Stockholder's
    plan passed by the Board earlier this week.  Considering how many
    of today's Wall Street stock analyses turn into self-fulfilling
    prophecies, I had also wondered if some analyst had torpedoed us.
    
    I guess if I really knew the answer, I wouldn't have to slave over
    a hot terminal all day ... :-)
    
    Geoff
    

    Funny (or not so funny) how much influence Wall St. has over people. 
    My friends and aquaintences are all asking me why DEC is doing so
    poorly.  I answer them with an astounded "WHAT?!?" look on my face.  I
    wish that the general public were a bit more educated to other economic
    indicators outside of Wall St.
    
    --David 

    re: .28
    
    When people talk to me as though the fortunes of Digital Equipment
    Corporation were related to the price of DEC stock, I tell them that
    the only relationship between the company and the stock is a
    coincidence of names.  Unless the company liquidates (which is unlikely
    in the forseeable future) the price of the stock depends on the stock
    market, which is driven primarily by psychological forces, not by
    whether or not the company is doing well.
    
    Think of it as a college and its football team.  The performance of the
    football team has very little to do with how well the college educates
    its students.
        John Sauter

    FWIW. As of 10:00 EST, we are back up to 82.125. Must have been a good
    weekend.
    
    
                                Phil

    As promised in a previous note, which I can't find right now...
                                                          
    As, perhaps, the world's least lucky investor, I have always had the
    honor of selling low and buying high.  After all, someone has to.
    My skill at this is so great that I consider myself a market indicator.
    If I buy, a stock will drop.  If I sell it will rise.  Therefore,
    as a service to my fellow Digits, I offer the following notice:
    
    A 'forced' (by my Christmas bills) sale of most of my shares of 
    Digital took place Monday, January 22.  As your daily paper shows,
    the stock has risen since then.  In keeping with my past performance,
    it is likely that Digital shares will rise above the $90 mark within
    30 days.  I hope y'all do better than I.
    
    
    Don

    Hmmm.  Let me know next time, and I'll consider buying your shares.

Follow-ups to SUBWAY::INVESTING please
    
Digital Equip (DEC) P-Alert: - 4 on 490,400
FEB 25 1991 1145


11:32 ET
DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP 
 Last Trade NYSE: - 4 at 72 on 1 downtick 
 Trade vol:         23,700 =    5% ttl vol=   0.0% shrs out 
 Ttl blk vol:      146,200 =   30% ttl vol=   0.1% shrs out 
 Avg blk vol:      248,286 =   30% avg daily vol 
 Ttl vol:          490,400 =   59% avg daily vol 
 Avg daily vol:    836,394 / Prev day - 1/2 on 986,500 
    

    Pardon my ignorance, but I don't understand any of the previous
    note. Is it saying that the stock dropped $4 on one sale? How
    big a sale? Why such a big drop? Should we care?

    		Alfred

    In transactions today to 11:30AM on the New York Stock Exchange the
    market values of Digital Equipment Corporation Common Stock lost 5.5%.
    
    Such a sharp drop triggers a price alert to the subscribers of Dow
    Jones Professional Investor Report.

Uh, you'll have to speak gently to us engineering types.

What does "in transactions today ... lost 5.5%" mean?

Does it mean that the selling price at the end of some given
period was 5.5% lower than at the beginning of the period?

(It's that "in transactions" part that bothers me - it sounds
 like it could have a technical meaning.)

    Could someone post why Digital stock is DOWN 5 1/4 - according to my
    stock.exe program?
    
    I don't own stock, but, I want to continue working for Digital.
    
    Charlie

    re -1
    
    
              DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION ANNOUNCES PROBABLE
    
             OPERATING LOSS FOR QUARTER ENDING DECEMBER 28, 1991
    
    
    
    Received a memo with the above heading......
    
    Guess I can't publish it here, or I will get fifty lashes with a wet
    noodle :-).....
    
    
    
    Lou

From VTX LIVEWIRE: 18-Dec-1991

          Digital announces probable operating loss for second quarter
                          (ending December 28, 1991)

  Digital today announced that preliminary indications for the quarter ending
  December 28, 1991 point to a probable loss from operations due principally
  to reduced customer demand for larger computer systems resulting from weak
  worldwide economic conditions as well as competitive pressures.  In
  addition, as previously noted, several recently announced products are not
  yet shipping in significant volume due to normal volume manufacturing ramp
  up.  All products are expected to be fully available during the March quarter.

  The company's services and software businesses, which are somewhat less
  impacted by economic swings, continue to show growth and now account for
  over 50% of the company's operating revenues as they have for the last
  several quarters.

  The company anticipates releasing its operating results for the quarter on
  January 16, 1992.

    Anyone happen to notice that this was published on LIVEWIRE as it was
    being announced to Wall Street instead of several days later.  Maybe
    we actually heard this news before folks outside the company.  Start
    of a new trend . . .??
    

re .40:

We'd better not be hearing it first -- that leads to insider trading.

We're safe -- I checked Livewire after reading the information in DOWVISION,
and it wasn't there yet.

    re: .40
    
    The only difference is, the "street" is notified directly.  There is no
    internal system that I know of that says "quick, look in LIVEWIRE for a
    major announcement that may cost you $$$".  When we internal folk are
    afforded the same level of visibility regarding the posting of such
    information, then I'll view it as the start of a new trend.
    
    I guess our only alternative is to check LIVEWIRE every few minutes for
    late-breaking news stories.

I'm no expert, but perhaps Patrick Sweeney can verify or refute my
understanding of this:

The story was announced before the stock market opened.  Trading in DEC
was delayed because of an order imbalance (more people wanted to sell than
buy).  Theoretically, there was no way for you to get a better price for
your stock even if you had real-time access to the information.

    Yup.
    
    Major planned announcements are always scheduled before or after
    market opening or closing to allow the investor community to absorb
    information.
    
    Because the 8:30 AM announcement resulted in a large number of SELL
    orders which were not balanced by BUY orders the market opening of
    Digital was delayed.
    
    As EMPLOYEES I know of no potential event that would require the
    company to create a communications infratstructure that would allow
    real-time notification.
    
    As INVESTORS there are plenty of opportunities to obtain market
    information, the most basic of which is the services of a stock broker,
    either full-service or discount.
    
    If a one-day decline of 10% in the common stock price of Digital has a
    material effect on your personal wealth, I suggest that you diversify:
    you already are "investing" your career here.
    
    Digital is and will continue to be a volatile stock and unsuitable as a
    single investment for a conservative investor.
    
    More in SUBWAY::INVESTING

   <<< Note 75.43 by NOTIME::SACKS "Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085" >>>
> Theoretically, there was no way for you to get a better price for
> your stock even if you had real-time access to the information.

Theoretically, you could choose to sell your shares in another exchange
(NYSE, Pacific, London, Hong Kong, etc.), or elect to sell them outside
of an  exchange all together, that is, as a private sale.

- tom]

    ISN'T THIS ALL IRRELEVANT WHEN YOU SEE WHAT DIGITALS STOCK PRICES ARE
    TODAY. ITS NOT SO MUCH WHAT THE PRICE PER SHARE IS BUT THE FACT THAT
    THIS COMPANY IS NOT EXPANDING. YOU MUST BE IN AN EXPANDING COMPANY TO
    MOVE UP, OTHER WISE THE COMPANY IS EITHER LAYING OFF OR GETTING READY TO
    GO OUT OF BUSINES.    

    		Stop shouting, please, I hear you!

    >>> Stop shouting, please, I hear you!

        Yes, please do ... and, if you really feel that intensely 
        about it, please try to relax.  You might hurt youself.

    RE: .46  by ODIXIE::SUAZO 
    
    >THE COMPANY IS EITHER LAYING OFF OR GETTING READY TO GO OUT OF BUSINES.  
    
    or both...