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News
Analyst's life threatened
July 13, 2000: 8:45 p.m. ET

Bearish report on chip sector prompts threatening e-mails, phone calls
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A Wall Street analyst who made an unpopular forecast for the semiconductor sector last week has received death threats as a result, sources close to the matter told CNNfn.

Last week, Salomon Smith Barney downgraded its rating on the semiconductor sector to "neutral" from "outperform," warning of a looming slowdown in growth. The firm also downgraded its ratings on four specific chipmakers.

Several sources with knowledge of the matter this week confirmed that one of the authors of the report has since received death threats by both e-mail and telephone. It is CNNfn policy not to identify individuals under such circumstances.

They said they believe the threats came from investors angered by the unpopular report, not from anyone within the companies that were downgraded.

The report sparked considerable controversy on Wall Street last week, with most other chip analysts taking issue with some of its analysis.

graphicIt also weighed heavily on the entire semiconductor sector, which has been among the strongest performing segments of technology this year. Though it has since recovered, the report sparked a sharp chip sell-off which dragged the Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor index down more than 9 percent.

And apparently the analyst at Salomon Smith Barney is not the only prominent Wall Street analyst to experience this kind of reaction to unpopular opinions on stocks in the high-flying technology sector.

In an interview on CNNfn's Digital Jam program Thursday evening, Lehman Brothers technology analyst Dan Niles said he too has received death threats after downgrading stocks. Back to top





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