Boring Portfolio

Boring Portfolio Report
Monday, May 19, 1997
by Greg Markus (TMF Boring)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (May 19, 1997) -- Major market averages rose in quiet trading ahead of tomorrow's FOMC meeting. The S&P 500 gained 0.4%, while the Nasdaq advanced a fraction of a point (+0.04%)

The Boring Portfolio gained 0.8%: five holdings up, three down, and one -- quiet CARLISLE COMPANIES (NYSE: CSL) -- "unch."

After pausing on Friday, GREEN TREE FINANCIAL (NYSE: GNT) resumed its recent growth spurt, gaining $7/8. Following the company's annual shareholder meeting on Friday, Green Tree CEO and poster-child for the executive compensation reform movement, Larry Coss, told Reuters that the company is comfortable with analysts' consensus earnings estimate of "about $3.00 a share" for 1997.

Coss said he expects Green Tree to do $14 billion in loan volume this year, "representing more than a 35% increase over last year." Coss also expects the company's consumer finance unit, which "is growing very nicely," to originate perhaps $1.3 billion in loans in 1997. That would be a 73% gain over 1996.

ORACLE (Nasdaq: ORCL) announced today that it would purchase Navio Communications Inc., a spin-off of NETSCAPE (Nasdaq: NSCP), and merge it with Oracle's subsidiary, Network Computer Inc. The new company will develop software for open standards-based network computers and other Internet appliances for use in homes, businesses, and schools.

Since its formation last year, Navio has focused on extending Netscape's Web browser technology to TV set-top boxes, Internet appliances, and smart phones. For its part, Network Computer Inc. has aimed at developing software for "thin clients" that would be used primarily in corporate settings.

Jerry Baker will remain as NCI's CEO, with Wei Yen, president and CEO of Navio, serving as president of NCI. Jim Barksdale, Netscape’s president and CEO, and Larry Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Oracle, will join NCI's board of directors, along with Baker and Yen.

Oracle will reportedly account for the deal as a purchase transaction, taking a $60 million charge, or $0.06 to $0.07 cents a share, in the first quarter of its new fiscal year, which begins next month. Netscape will retain an equity interest in the new company.

According to a press release (available at http://www.nc.com/), the new company will support "open Internet standards and development languages -- Java and HTML -- delivering the best open, thin-client computing environment for end users, network managers and developers."

In English, that means that programmers and users would presumably have a viable alternative the MICROSOFT (Nasdaq: MSFT) hegemony.

Perhaps not coincidentally, today's announcement by Oracle and Netscape precedes by one day Microsoft's previously announced "Scalability Day." That event will include speeches by Bill Gates and demos intended to promote the Windows NT operating system and Windows business software as a viable alternative to Unix OS and software produced by Oracle, among others.

Isn't this fun?


(c) Copyright 1997, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool.

TODAY'S NUMBERS
Stock  Change    Bid
ATLS  -  1/4   27.63
BGP   +  3/8   20.75
CSL   ---      30.38
CSCO  -  5/8   60.88
GNT   +  7/8   34.13
ORCL  -  1/4   44.13
OXHP  +2       65.38
PMSI  +  1/8   10.00
TDW   +  1/8   40.88

                   Day   Month    Year  History
        BORING   +0.80%   5.17%   1.03%  16.26%
        S&P:     +0.42%   3.98%  12.49%  34.05%
        NASDAQ:  +0.04%   6.39%   3.89%  28.85%

    Rec'd   #  Security     In At       Now    Change
  2/28/96  400 Borders Gr    11.26     20.75    84.34%
  5/24/96  100 Oxford Hea    48.02     65.38    36.13%
   3/5/97  150 Atlas Air     23.06     27.63    19.81%
  8/13/96  200 Carlisle C    26.32     30.38    15.38%
  6/26/96  100 Cisco Syst    53.90     60.88    12.94%
   2/2/96  200 Green Tree    30.39     34.13    12.30%
   3/8/96  400 Prime Medi    10.07     10.00    -0.68%
 11/21/96  100 Oracle Cor    48.65     44.13    -9.30%
 12/23/96  100 Tidewater     46.52     40.88   -12.14%

    Rec'd   #  Security     In At     Value    Change
  2/28/96  400 Borders Gr  4502.49   8300.00  $3797.51
  5/24/96  100 Oxford Hea  4802.49   6537.50  $1735.01
  8/13/96  200 Carlisle C  5264.99   6075.00   $810.01
   2/2/96  200 Green Tree  6077.49   6825.00   $747.51
  6/26/96  100 Cisco Syst  5389.99   6087.50   $697.51
   3/5/97  150 Atlas Air   3458.74   4143.75   $685.01
   3/8/96  400 Prime Medi  4027.49   4000.00   -$27.49
 11/21/96  100 Oracle Cor  4864.99   4412.50  -$452.49
 12/23/96  100 Tidewater   4652.49   4087.50  -$564.99

                             CASH   $7660.41
                            TOTAL  $58129.16