An AOL counter-bid is not out of the question. The nice thing about a Cox deal is that it would be part of AOL and part of its revenue and cash flow .

I am most surprised by the lack of competitive response by AT&T and WorldCom. If AT&T had lowered rates they would have stable revenue instead of double-digit declines.

Comcast was very aggressive in highlighting how poorly run AT&T was. Comcast was very 'in your face' in terms of the first offer.

If DT Telecom or NTT come in with an $80-a-share offer, management might have a tough time not accepting such a high offer price.

AT&T has been performing poorly all along and in a slowing economy we can expect that trend to continue.

They're up against the wall. If the bankers decide not to play ball, Qwest could be in bankruptcy later this year.

SBC sounded like they were throwing in the towel. They were pretty downbeat.

These cable systems are in rural areas, so they potentially are not as profitable. AT&T is looking to unload them because their focus is not on rural cable markets.

What could drive upside is more significant price cuts, and it wouldn't surprise me if it happened after the spring of 2004.

This tracking stock phenomenon doesn't make sense. I wouldn't be surprised if they went down to $0.