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Feel Like A Gladiator?

Given a near-fatal beating. Left for dead. Sold "down the river". That's what happened to Maximus Decimus Meridius, Russell Crowe's character in Gladiator. And after the last year in the market, I can relate to old Maximus Only my Roman name would be Minimus Equitus Returnus, and my fight not against Commodus, but to keep my portfolio out of the commodus. Dealing with Grouching Bear, Battered Bull has been tough. And Alan Greenspan, who disappointed again last week with a non-helpful ½ % rate cut, has not exactly played The Patriot and come to the rescue.

But I believe there is hope. And I'll look for it anywhere. Even Hollywood.
For instance, I think it's heartening that anything with conservative values
like Gladiator could win Best Picture when only left-wing Left Coasters were
voting. Especially when you consider the liberal themes of the competition:
Erin Brockovich, a single mom fights an evil utility; Chocolat, a single mom
fights traditional values in small-town France; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a single woman fights Fat and becomes weightless in tradition-ridden China; Traffic, a pure fantasy about an incorruptible Mexican cop; and U-514, the story of a liberal female Senator from New York who submerges the country further into debt by leasing a $514,148 home office in New York City that has a $91 per square foot price tag, just 14 cents less per foot than the absolute maximum allowable.

Let's hope that this thumbs-up for Gladiator will inspire Nasdaq investors,
convincing them that a Maximus-like General recovery from adversity is
possible. Maybe even a return to traditional values and valuations, like PE
ratios of 100 or higher. Otherwise, it could be especially good to win an
Oscar this year. You could melt it down for the gold.

Market Performance: The Nasdaq 100 is down 27.19 % for the year, the Nasdaq
Composite is down - 21.93 %, the S&P is down - 13.67 % and the Dow is down -
11.89 %.

PORTFOLIO NEWS:

Ericsson (ERICY-$ 5.72) won a $404.7 million order to build a Third
Generation (3G) mobile network for Amena of Spain. This backs up ERICY's
expectations that mobile systems markets in the U.S. & Europe will recover by the end of this year.

Nortel (NT-$17.40 ) announced plans for a new line of high-speed network products that will accelerate transmission speeds to 40 to 80 gigabits per second , compared to today's 10 gigabits. Shipments are to begin over the next year. NT also said it may buy Israeli optical networker Lightscape Networks from ECI Telecom for $600-$800 million.

Qwest (Q-$ 35.25) reiterated that it sees Q1 sales growth of 11.5 % to 12.5 %. Q also expects to meet analyst's 2001 revenue views. On Friday, UBSWarburg lowered its target price on Q to $68 from $78. That, of course, would still be a DOUBLE from here.

Finisar (FNSR-$13.19) has formed an alliance with VIPswitch. FNSR will supply components for the VIPswitch Terabit Switch/Router.

MPhase (XDSL-$ 1.34) has had three insiders buy 575,000 shares in the last six months, which may not be surprising given the price of the stock in the
last six months.

Scientific Atlanta (SFA-$46.28) is rated a Strong Buy by Josephthal with a
$75 price target within 12 months. They see 80% EPS growth in FY 2001 and
+28% in 2002.

Flextronics (FLEX-$20.69) was downgraded to Buy from Strong Buy by S.G. Cowen.

Ivax (IVX-$30.10) says it will beat analyst's Q1 estimates of 25-cents a share largely due to sales of Onxol, its new generic form of Bristol-Myers-Squibb's cancer drug Taxol. Sales have been better than
expected in January and February. IVX earned 16-cents a share in Q1 2000 so
earning 25-cents in '01 would represent a +36% increase. Official results
come in late April. IVX has an exclusive on a generic Taxol for 6 months and
maybe longer since it is difficult to produce. Ivax shares more than doubled
in 2000, but have fallen 20% this year, as have many others.

Medimmune (MEDI-$33.82) was named a "Focus 1" stock by Merrill Lynch last
Thursday with a target price of $53 in 12 months. Merrill noted MEDI's lead
product Synagis has a virtual monopoly and should drive EPS growth of 30-35 %
per year for the next 3 years.

Invitrogen (IVGN-$ 53.47) has been awarded exclusive worldwide rights to
distribute 300,000 gene clones from The Institute For Genomic Research
(TIGR). They have also announced that they now have exclusive worldwide
rights to distribute 35,054 gene clones from Genoscope, France's national
gene sequencing center. This enhances IVGN's position as the leading gene
supplier in the world.

SuperGen ($9.38) announced it plans to buy back an additional one million
shares of its stock, in addition to the million-share buy-back authorized by
their Board 9/28/00. One insider sold 10,000 shares recently, though.
Aventis (AVE-$74.50 ) has sold its stake (66%) in Messer Griesheim, an
industrial gas Company, to Goldman Sachs. Initial market reaction was a 2 %
hike in price.

Icos (ICOS-$ 44.38) announced positive Phase II research results for their
"Viagra" drug, Cialis, which is now in early Phase III trials, the last before submission to the FDA for approval. Cialis was effective in 81% of men
tested and seemed to cause fewer cases of blurred vision and reddened face
than with Viagra. Sales of Viagra were $1.34 billion in 2000, up 32 % from
1999.

Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB-$22.69) has been downgraded to Long Term Attractive from Buy at Robertson Stephens.

Convergys (CVG-$33.94) is now being covered by Legg Mason, who rates them as a Buy

Fearless In Carolina

Last week, a reader in North Carolina shared three stock picks he had just
made. Fearlessly wading into this market, he bought National Semiconductor
(NSM-$29.95), Oracle (ORCL-$15.88) and Keithley (KEI-$16.65). For the week,
NSM was up 26.1 %, ORCL up 12.9 % and KEI up 11.3 %. It helps to have brains along with courage

Like To Know The Stocks On Track To Grow Profits 20 % This Year,
Regardless Of Greenspan's Dumb Moves ?

Our brain-dead Federal Reserve Commisar hasn't screwed up every company's profits. Last Tuesday, Investor's Business Daily ran a list of the 355 companies who expect 20 % or more profit growth in fiscal year 2001 and have Earnings Per Share ratings of 80 or above. This included 17 portfolio stocks:

STOCK Profit Growth FY01 Current Q Estimate

# 7 Actrade (ACRT-$23.75 ) 72% 57%
#26 TTI team Telecom (TTIL-$ 12.44 ) 33% 56%
#49 Flextronics (FLEX-$ 20.69 ) 60% 63%
#65 Carreker (CANI-$ 16.38 ) 30% 63%
#66 SEIC Investments (SEIC-$ 33 ) 29% 44%
#95 Taro Pharmaceuticals (TARO-$ 42.38) 27% 36%
#100 Quanta Services (PWR-$22.37) 25% 36%
#110 Expeditor's Int. (EXPD-$ 45) 22% 24%
#118 Pericom Semiconductor (PSEM-$ 16) 38% 14%
#177 Philips Electronics (PHG-$27.74) 38% 0 %
#196 Finisar (FNSR-$13.19 ) 183% 100%
#204 Dataram (DRAM-$ 9.88) 31% 0%
#234 Elan Pharma. (ELN-$ 48.75) 23% 18%
#239 Convergys (CVG-$33.94 ) 20% 21%
#252 AXT (AXTI-$ 20.50) 63% 110%
#296 Zoll Medical (ZOLL-$36.13) 32% 30%
#318 Wind River Systems (WIND-$ 24.69) 33% -36%

Of course, all this is subject to change, as Philips illustrated on Wednesday. They warned that, due to weakness in the semiconductor market, they won't meet
Q1 and full-year profit projections.

Here are the ten stocks with the highest expected profit growth rates this
year:

Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS-$133.80) 2,137% 0%
Kemet (KEM-$18.38) 362 93
AVX (AVX-$18.22) 266 82
Western Resources (WR-$22.45) 260 0
Evergreen Resources (EVG-$37.70) 208 533
Nu Horizons (NUHC-$9 ) 188 80
Finisar (FNSR-$13.19 ) 183 100
Adams Resources (AE-$13.65) 164 0
Exar (EXAR-$25.50 ) 143 40
Rambus (RMBS-$25.55 ) 140 175

Have A Profitable Week!
randybarker@aol.com