$1,500 Stock-Picking Prize Kitty Available to Investors Who Attend or Order Tapes of Informed Investors' Technology Stocks Forum in San Diego Nov. 8.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 1998--In addition to up-to-date information on technology trends and stocks, individual investors who attend or buy the audio tapes of Sunday Nov. 8's Informed Investors Electronics & Technology Stocks Forum in San Diego can use their stock-picking skills to win up to $1,500 in cash or stock.

"This contest is straightforward and should be fun," said Steve Chanecka, president of Informed Investors Forum, Sacramento-based organizer of the the San Diego conference. "Contest participants can listen to company executives give presentations, then use that fresh summary of the company's prospects to predict what share price will be three months ahead."

Participants in the contest -- limited to attendees at the Forum or those who order tapes or transcipts by 4 p.m. PST, Monday, Nov. 9 -- will predict the closing stock prices as of Jan. 31, 1999 for each of the eight publicly traded companies presenting at the San Diego Forum.

Participants with the most accurate selections for any three of the eight companies -- measured by percentage variance from the closing price on Jan. 31 -- will win $500 each in cash or $500 worth of stock in the public company of their choice. It's possible for one participant to win the entire $1,500.

The San Diego Forum runs from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Radisson/Mission Valley. Cost to attend is $20 prepaid, and $30 at the door. Audio tapes of the entire Forum are available for $48.95. A transcript of the keynote speakers' remarks will be available for $25. For full details on the Forum, companies and speakers, visit Informed Investors' web site at http://www.informedinvestors.com or call 800-992-4683.

The Forum features analyst-style presentations from executives of eight publicly held technology companies, and keynote addresses from Theodore O'Neill, semiconductor capital equipment analyst at Needham & Co (www.needhamco.com) and Kevin Landis, co-founder of Firsthand Funds (www.firsthandfunds.com) and portfolio manager of the Technology Value Fund. It's a full day geared for investors interested in technology.

Companies presenting in San Diego are: Caere Corp. (NASDAQ:CAER); TriQuint Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TQNT); Watkins-Johnson (NYSE:WJ); Optical Coating Lab (NASDAQ:OCLI); Genesis Microchip (NASDAQ:GNSSF); Interlinq Software (NASDAQ:INLQ); MicroMem Technologies (NASDAQ:AVTL); and ATI Networks (NASDAQ:ATIW).

"We expect this contest will give San Diego investors additional incentive to experience an Informed Investors Forum," said Tim Quast, chief operating officer of Informed Investors. "For years, attendees at Forums have given us high marks for providing them with information and access to company executives on a par with what is available to institutional money managers and analysts. In both 1995 and 1996, the highest performing stocks of those years, Ascend (NASDAQ:ASND) and Viasoft (NASDAQ:VIAS), respectively, presented at our Forums well before their stocks rose appreciably. We consistently feature outstanding companies and speakers."

Upcoming Forums include a Drug Delivery Stocks Forum in Berkeley, CA and a Wound Care/Tissues Stocks Forum in Pasadena, CA, both on Saturday, Nov. 21, an Internet/New Media Stocks Forum in Silicon Valley on Saturday, Dec. 5, and Biotechnology Stocks Forum in Seattle on Saturday, Dec. 12.

Companies presenting at upcoming forums include: Aradigm (NASDAQ:ARDM), Endorex (AMEX:DOR), Inhale Therapeutics (NASDAQ:INHL); Anesta (NASDAQ:NSTA); Elan (NYSE:ELN), DepoMed (NASDAQ:DPMD); Atrix Labs (NASDAQ:ATRX), Matrix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MATX), Chiron (NASDAQ:CHIR), Targeted Genetics (NASDAQ:TGEN), Shaman Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SHMN), Corixa (NASDAQ:CRXA), Aronex (NASDAQ:ARNX), LJL BioSystems (NASDAQ:LJLB), AVI BioPharma (NASDAQ:AVII), Advanced Tissue Sciences (NASDAQ:ATIS), Cypros (NASDAQ:CYPR), Lifecell (NASDAQ:LFCS) and Focal (NASDAQ:FOCL). For details, check Informed Investors' website.

Since 1993, Sacramento-based Informed Investors has featured scores of quality companies and industry experts at its Forums.

Among companies that have presented at past Forums are: 3DLabs (NASDAQ:TDDDF), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), Agouron (NASDAQ:AGPH), AirTouch (NYSE:ATI), Apache (NYSE:APA), Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), AT&T (NYSE:T), Atmel (NASDAQ:ATML), AutoDesk (NASDAQ:ADSK), Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDPF), Boole & Babbage (NASDAQ:BOOL), Chancellor Broadcasting (NASDAQ:AMFM), Coherent (NASDAQ:COHR), Credence Systems (NASDAQ:CMOS), Cooper Companies (NYSE:COO), Cymer (NASDAQ:CYMI), Del Webb (NYSE:WBB), EntreMed (NASDAQ:ENMD), Fair Isaac (NASDAQ:FICI), Genentech (NYSE:GNE), Geron (NASDAQ:GERN), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD), Granite Construction (NASDAQ:GCCO), HNC Software (NASDAQ:HNCS), Integra LifeSciences (NASDAQ:IART), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), ISIS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIP), Lernout & Hauspie (NASDAQ:LHSPF), Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND), Lucent (NYSE:LU), Knight-Ridder (NYSE:KRI), Macromedia (NASDAQ:MACR), Mattson Technology (NASDAQ:MTSN), Organogenesis (AMEX:ORG), OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:OSIP), SangStat (NASDAQ:SANG), Sanmina (NASDAQ:SANM), Sola International (NYSE:SOL), Spieker Properties (NYSE:SPK), SteriGenics (NASDAQ:STER), Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS), Tektronix (NYSE:TEK), Trimble Navigation (NASDAQ:TRMB) and Visx, (NASDAQ:VISX).