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                   B R E A K F A S T   N E W S
                    Thursday, April 26, 2001
benjamin.rogers@enron.com
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IN THIS ISSUE
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- TOP STORY: ALCATEL JOINS TELECOM SLUMP
  http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=398554

- NEWS TO GO: DAIMLERCHRYSLER, UAL CORP., AND GAS PRICES
  http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=398555

- HOT TOPICS: DISNEY, APPLE, AND IBM
  http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=398556

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TOP STORY
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ALCATEL JOINS TELECOM SLUMP
Telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel (NYSE: ALA) reported
sharply lower Q1 net income, despite rising sales. The company's
Q1 EPS dropped to $0.18 from $0.26 a year ago, though sales
increased 21%, beating Street estimates of 17% growth. Alcatel
expects a 5% to 15% sales increase this year.

>>FULL STORY:
http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=398558

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NEWS TO GO
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Got the Benz? DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX) reported a $545.7
million Q1 operating loss, against a $2.19 billion profit a year
ago. While the loss was a quarter to a third less than
projected, it was hardly cause for investor rejoicing. The
company was weighed down strongly by Freightliner, its sagging
U.S. heavy truck unit, which faces a 50% decline in the North
American market. During the quarter, the company took a $2.78
billion charge for restructuring Chrysler and 37.3%-owned
Mitsubishi, and implemented a plan to cut Chrysler jobs 20%, or
26,000, over three years. Yet despite belt-tightening, the
company's marketing expenses as a percent of revenue ballooned
from 13.3% last year and 18.3% last quarter to 21.1%, against
Ford Motor's (NYSE: F) 12.2%.

Look out, Warren Buffett! United Airlines parent UAL Corp.
(NYSE: UAL) plans to offer within five years a fractional-jet
ownership service with 200 planes seating six to 14 people. The
current market leader is Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A)
Executive Jet unit, now running full-page glossy ads with a
smiling Buffett enjoying his flight in a plane's commodious
interior. Executive Jet sports 265 planes and reportedly plans
to add 55 to 70 annually over the next five years. CEO Richard
Santulli said he welcomes the competition, and jabbed, "[United]
won't have that luxury of putting up a 'cancelled' sign for a
flight with corporate jets."

Feet on the gas. Rising natural gas prices made profits, uh,
gush at Chevron (NYSE: CHV), Amerada Hess (NYSE: AHC), Unocal
(NYSE: UCL), and Kerr-McGee (NYSE: KMG). For the quarter ended
March 31, the companies' earnings per share jumped 57%, 115%,
53%, and 65%, respectively, over the year-ago period, stomping
Street estimates all around.

Home sweet home. The U.S. Commerce Department announced that
March new home sales spiked 4.2% for a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 1.02 million units, with used home sales up 4.8%
to a 5.44 million annual pace, just below June 1999's record
5.45 million rate. The median price for an existing home bumped
up 6.5% from a year ago to $143,500, while the average price for
an existing home increased 4.7% to $179,600. Historically low
unemployment and declining mortgage rates are likely causes.

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HOT TOPICS
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MICKEY MOUSE MAKES THE MARK
Fools review Disney's earnings report and ask, "Is the glass
half-full or half-empty?"
http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=398559

APPLE'S IBOOK ON LAUNCHING PAD
"It appears that the long-awaited refresh of the iBook is
coming. But [it] emerges with some interesting questions and
handicaps."
http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=398560

BIG BLEW?
IBM buys Informix and picks up 100,000 customers for its
database business. But is this a true gain?
http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=398561

>>MORE HOT TOPICS
http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=398562

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SPONSORED BY: BUYandHOLD
Hey Fool! Want to know the SECRET to long-term investing?
Compounding and dollar-cost averaging! Start investing with
as little as $20! Just $2.99 per order!
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MsgId: msg-30034-2001-04-26_9-13-35-3321559_2_Plain_MessageAddress.msg-09:19:41(4-26-2001)
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