Nasdaq Goes Into Freefall Before Making a Recovery

NYTimes, April 5, 2000: Nasdaq Goes Into Free Fall Before Making A Recovery

On their roller coaster ride yesterday, investors and executives in technology companies traded on the Nasdaq market could be expected to feel a little queasy.

A co-worker approached Dr. Pehong Chen, chief executive of a software company called Broadvision, based in Redwood City, Calif., and asked him how he was early in the morning. ''He saw me standing at the trash can and thought I was throwing up,'' Dr. Chen said. In fact, ''I was peeling an orange.''

Though he said he had lost about $2.5 billion on paper over the last two weeks, Dr. Chen seemed calm yesterday. Then again, his stake is still worth at least a couple of billion dollars since the stock was one of the best performers on Nasdaq last year.

Ha, I owned that one. IIRC, it went from hundreds of dollars to sub-$1 before being taken over.

Deseret: Words of wisdom from plumber who plays the market, First and only tip to N.Y. analyst was 'buy the dips'

Barton Biggs, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.'s chief equity strategist, periodically cites in his weekly strategy reports the stock market wisdom of an unlikely source: his plumber.

The plumber, Ron Valentine, came to the rescue during a dinner party at the Sun Valley, Idaho, vacation home of Biggs, one of Wall Street's most outspoken bears. "I recognized him because he's always on TV, bad-mouthing the market," Valentine said. So, after unclogging the kitchen sink, the plumber offered some unsolicited advice on the stock market: Buy the dips.That was over Labor Day weekend, 1997. Soon after, Biggs recalled the exchange in a report distributed to clients and the press titled "The Plumber Who Buys the Dips."

Valentine -- who has never been identified by name in the reports -- said Biggs hasn't seen or spoken to him since their first meeting. Still, Biggs' reports continue to quote the plumber's views on stocks as if the two periodically chat about the market. Biggs declined to comment about his use of the plumber.

Always remember: it's not the content that matters as much as when the media decides to publish it. Buying the dips is smart in a bull market, but they ran this two months after the Nasdaq topped and four months before the S&P 500 gave out.

CNN Money: Soros facing an exodus

Hedge funds managed by George Soros could be hit with up to $3 billion in redemptions following heavy losses in his flagship Quantum Fund and the resignations of two top managers, industry watchers said Thursday.

Soros, who spoke about the market at a conference in London on Thursday, has liquidated some holdings into cash to prepare for the expected exodus of investors, and industry experts have been speculating about the blow.

"Our expectation is that there would be significant redemptions from the fund -- about $3 billion over the next three to six months," said Barry Colvin, director of research at Tremont Advisors in Rye, N.Y.

...Meanwhile, Soros warned on Thursday that the recent erosion in U.S. share values suggests that the United States is already in the grip of a bear market.

"We probably are in a bear market, only we don't know it yet," he told a group of journalists at the Association of American Correspondents in London. "I think one has to position oneself accordingly."

However, Soros offered hope that canny investors could still profit in spite of the overall slippage in share values.

"In any bear market, you have pockets that go against the market. I've made quite a bit of money ... in bear markets, in special areas," he said.