June 20th, 2000

[12:00 PM] Apple Makes Top Ten Stock Picks In New Janus Strategic Value Fund by Wes George Investors have been waiting since February when the Janus Strategic Value Fund was first rolled out as the latest hot mutual fund to join the successful family of Janus stock funds to find out what stocks the value fund would buy. Today thestreet.com spilled the news of fund manager David Decker's top ten picks for his new value fund. Apple made the list as one of only four technology corporations. The others were Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), SBC Communications (SBC) and the Comcast Corp. (CMCSK). Investors impressed by Mr. Decker past performance at Janus Special Situations stock fund have poured $3 billion into the new Strategic Value since it opened. The Janus Strategic Value Fund has 3% of their nearly $3 billion in assets invested in Apple's stock. According to thestreet.com: Investors' fervor for the fund went up a notch when the fund, up 5.9% over the last three months, weathered the tech-led selloff better than the Denver growth specialist's other funds and the S&P 500. But like many big fund companies, Janus is preternaturally secretive about its funds' holdings. The fund's holdings represent a broad range of stocks, which reflects Decker's flexible approach. Rather than focus strictly on common valuation yardsticks like price-to-earnings ratios, he sifts the market looking for companies with a catalyst for growth that might look cheap by other measures, like stock price to cash flow. Make sure you read the full article at thestreet.com for more information. The Mac Observer Spin: Mr. Decker's top ten picks will surely put some upside pressure on AAPL as we move towards Apple's earnings announcement on July 18th. Apple shareholders, especially, the small retail investors who were beginning to doubt their judgment, must now feel reassured that even one of Wall Street's most respected stock-pickers is thinking different too. Apple