Micron Sues Rambus
By Tom Jacobs (TMF Tom9)

Rambus, designer and licensor of speedy chip-to-chip technology, is betting the company on its ability to convince the world's top 10 DRAM (dynamic random access memory) makers to sign agreements paying Rambus royalties on all current DRAM. Yesterday, U.S.-based holdout Micron Technology filed suit against Rambus to stop the royalty grab. Micron concedes the validity of Rambus's patents, but asserts that Rambus obtained them fraudulently and enforces them anticompetitively. Because a verdict would almost certainly devastate the loser, the companies should settle before trial.
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FOOL ON THE HILL An Investment Opinion
Compaq Looking for iPAQ Impact
By Brian Graney (TMF Panic)

No doubt about it, Compaq is bouncing back from a terrible 1999. Leading the way are four new iPAQ Internet appliances, the most exciting products to hit the consumer computing world in years. However, even though the PC business is changing, some fundamental elements of the industry are not. Thanks to its customer information and inventory-related benefits, the PC industry's "direct" model is here to stay.
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RULE BREAKER PORTFOLIO A QuickNews Extra
Break Down: Human Genome Sciences, Part 2
By Jeff Fischer (TMF Jeff)

In part two of our research, Human Genome Sciences is shown to meet the key Rule Breaker criteria, namely that of sustainable business advantages and great management. HGS's several thousand potential gene patents are promising, but its future resides in developing drugs. It has three interesting drugs in trials.
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RULE MAKER PORTFOLIO A QuickNews Extra
Comparing Cisco and JDS's Ledgers, Part 2
By Richard McCaffery (TMF Gibson)

Last week I wrote about purchase and pooling acquisitions, and arrived at the conclusion that purchase accounting provides investors with better visibility on the balance sheet. I still feel that way, but I slipped up if I led investors to believe purchase accounting is a silver bullet. It's not. It can make comparing earlier financial statements very difficult.
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FOOL PLATE SPECIAL An Investment Opinion
Whirlpool Gets Washed Away
By LouAnn Lofton (TMF Lou2)

Appliance company Whirlpool was hit with a "sell" rating yesterday, a mark nearly unheard of on Wall Street. The analyst pointed to the possibility of the company's market share falling as a reason for his call. The threats to Whirlpool are very real, to be sure, but to write it off now is to do so while the story's still incomplete.
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AOL, Amazon Extend Partnership
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz (TMF Edible)

Extending a 1997 marketing agreement, Internet bellwether America Online will continue to promote e-tail giant Amazon.com. Both companies have grown plenty since the original deal was signed making a big deal even bigger.
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BREAKFAST WITH THE FOOL
AT&T Tightens Control Over Excite@Home
By Brian Graney (TMF Panic)

Telecommunications and cable carrier AT&T (NYSE: T) announced late yesterday that it is increasing its voting interest in broadband services company Excite@Home (Nasdaq: ATHM) and also tweaking its earnings guidance for the current third quarter.
FULL STORY

Today's Market Movers

Ups

Network equipment company ADC Telecom (Nasdaq: ADCT), recently the subject of a Fool News & Commentary piece, moved up $3 5/8 to $40 5/16 today as CEO William Cadogan said in an interview with Bloomberg that fiscal Q4 (ending Oct. 31) sales could jump as much as 50% over last year's mark. The company expects to meet Wall Street's $0.19 per share net profit estimate.

Online government services company NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV) jumped $3 1/32 to $10 today on news that it would team with online services giant America Online (NYSE: AOL) to work with all 50 states in providing state government services and information through AOL's Government Guide.

Online content route management systems company InterNAP Network Services (Nasdaq: INAP) jumped $5 15/16 to $33 on news that corporate Internet infrastructure services company Loudcloud will use its routing technology. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

IT consulting firm American Management Systems (Nasdaq: AMSY), which lost ground last week on news that a Mississippi jury ruled it owed the state damages totaling more than $474 million in a contract dispute case, recovered $4 1/2 to $20 5/16 after the company settled for significantly less. Most of the $185 million award will be paid by the company's insurers, with American Management taking an after-tax charge of $0.56 per share -- or $23.5 million -- in fiscal Q3 (ending Sept. 30).

High-speed Internet and network access provider Covad Communications (Nasdaq: COVD) dialed up gains of $1 3/16 to $17 1/16 as Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Janigaa started coverage of the company with a "market outperformer" rating.

Downs

Biopharmaceutical company Guilford Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: GLFD) said it agreed to call off a proposed merger with biosurgery and therapeutic products developer Gliatech (Nasdaq: GLIA). The news sent Gliatech's shares down $15 3/16 to $10 3/16, while Guilford rose $3 5/8 to $22 1/4 today. Guilford cited Gliatech's need to "focus on certain of its ongoing regulatory and product development matters." Gliatech, meanwhile, stated that it is "taking all appropriate steps" to address concerns recently raised by the FDA regarding clinical trials of its ADCON-L product for inhibiting postsurgical scarring.

Online business services company Sapient (Nasdaq: SAPE) dropped $3 15/32 to $48 15/16 today. The company closed the acquisition of Human Code, a developer of rich media applications for entertainment and online education companies, for 1.5 million shares of company stock -- or about $79 million. The transaction will be recorded using purchase accounting, which Rich McCaffery examined in a recent Rule Maker column.

Corporate electronic data services company QRS (Nasdaq: QRSI) dumped $5 1/8 to end at $16 15/16 on news that Deloitte & Touche quit as the company's independent auditor. The company, in an SEC filing, spooked investors by not saying why the firm resigned; no replacement was immediately named.

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