06/17/96 'I GO FOR HYPE STORIES AND...DETERIORATING FUNDAMENTALS'

'I GO FOR HYPE STORIES AND...DETERIORATING FUNDAMENTALS'

Kopin, a former certified public accountant, began his short-selling career with Gilford Securities in 1984. He has run Chicago's Lynx Partners since 1991.

ON WHY HIGH PRICE-EARNINGS RATIOS DON'T ALWAYS MEAN A STOCK SHOULD BE SHORTED
-- ``A high p-e ratio doesn't necessarily mean that a company is worth shorting. Sometimes a company can `grow into' the multiple--sort of the e catches up with the p.

ON THE HIGH P-E STOCKS THAT HE WON'T SHORT
-- ``Take Coca-Cola Co., for example. It's trading at a 35 p-e, which is difficult to justify. I have no idea if it's worth that amount, but it's a good company. I wouldn't short that stock on the basis of p-e alone.''

ON THE STOCKS THAT HE DOES SHORT
-- ``I go for hype stories and stocks with deteriorating fundamentals that the Street hasn't fully recognized. [One example of the latter] is Bay Networks Inc. It had a bad quarterly earnings report, and everybody thought it would be a one-time event. But I think their business will continue to be lousy.''

ON HOW HE COPES WITH THE BULL MARKET
-- ``I decrease my invested position and raise the amount that I have in cash. In theory there should be stocks that go down in all markets, but the difficulty is getting the timing right. I can't always sit there with a 150% invested position.''