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Nihar Patel

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  • Natural Gas Keeps Rolling Forward

    By Nihar Patel - May 21, 2013 | Tickers: CLNE, CMI, WPRT

    Natural gas is in a very precarious place with oil suffering a recent decline. Oil is headed back up an is almost at the $100 mark, but it only seems to take some weak global economic news to send it down. Also, non-traditional sources of oil are becoming more viable and cheaper as things develop. At this point though, I think an economy partially based on natural gas as an more »

  • Choosing Favorites for a Contrary Buy in May

    By Nihar Patel - May 20, 2013 | Tickers: QCOM, SIRI, S

    Now that the time of year where a sound bite dictates how you handle your money is here, I thought I would choose some of my favorite stocks that warrant a buy, especially if people decide to sell off their positions. Trading is fun, and I fully support its use, but it is not the only path that should be taken. A person should work to be a great short-term more »

  • Oil Companies Are Diversifying

    By Nihar Patel - May 16, 2013 | Tickers: CHK, XOM, LINE

    It turns out oil companies are behind natural gas. It is, after all, another fossil fuel that is found with oil. However, in the coming natural gas economy, the only companies discussed are smaller ones that have the highest potential, though you can understand why investors want companies with the highest potential. Still, there is potential in the big players as well.

    King of fossil fuels

    ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is more »

  • Content Delivery Companies Are Not Created Equal

    By Nihar Patel - May 7, 2013 | Tickers: NFLX, P, SIRI

    I have a lot of friends who use Pandora Media (NYSE: P), but I was always confused about a few things regarding the company. Chief among those was monetization. My only interaction with the service was in the very early days before ads, because I listen to podcasts now instead of music. I was aware of the move to ads, but not sure about the effectiveness. I always felt like more »

  • Data Is Exploding, Buy Cloud Storage Providers

    By Nihar Patel - May 6, 2013 | Tickers: EMC, NTAP, VMW

    I have written a lot about large data centers and the cloud, and only sort of touched on storage. Information is growing like crazy, and all of that needs to be stored somewhere. Images, videos, and other content are taking over our lives. A lot of websites that used to look for writers are looking for people to do short videos instead of just simple articles.

    The capability has been more »

  • Lagging Networking Companies Providing Opportunities

    By Nihar Patel - May 6, 2013 | Tickers: ALU, CSCO, JNPR

    I have been all over the Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) site looking at routers, because I had heard an offhand comment that Juniper had a router that was at the same level regarding some physical specs as Alcatel-Lucent's (NYSE: ALU). I could not find anything that really matched the things I was impressed by, though the PTX line is pretty fantastic for offering a lot of power and capacity more »

  • Solar Will Remain on Shaky Ground...At Least for Now

    By Nihar Patel - May 6, 2013 | Tickers: FSLR, LINE, SPWR

    I understand that guiding upwards is exciting news, but I do have a few concerns regarding the announcement made by First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR). The increased guidance is on the heels of news regarding an acquisition. In February 2013, the company gave 1Q 2013 guidance below analyst expectations, and in April, it guided for the full year far above analyst expectations.

    The reaction to this good news was great with more »

  • Software Services Are the Future, Not Devices

    By Nihar Patel - May 6, 2013 | Tickers: ADBE, AMZN, GOOG

    I recent got myself a Nexus 10 tablet, because I got tired of researching and writing on my desktop. I could have used a notebook but it just was not as comfortable. I am loving the Android system, and tablets really make it easy to focus on only writing. A computer is so distracting, because multiple windows beckon to me. The home key holds no such temptation.

    Services and software more »

  • 4 Companies Pursuing the Right Course of Action

    By Nihar Patel - April 27, 2013 | Tickers: ADBE, AMD, INTC, STX

    Transitions are scary because there is no right thing to do. The company has to take a chance and see where it leads. That is even harder when a new path will take years to fully evaluate. Nothing will be gained if nothing is ventured. Making a judgment long before a plan fully plays itself out is how legends are made.

    1. If you cannot compete, avoid the gladiator pit more »

  • 3 Stocks That Defy Reason

    By Nihar Patel - April 27, 2013 | Tickers: AMZN, CSCO, SIRI

    There will always be stocks that do not trade like you would expect them. Some flexibility when it comes to analysis is necessary even if that just means using a different analytic model. There might not be lessons to learn from stocks that behave like crazy people, but they can be fun and profitable investments. If you can get a sense of why the stock defies reason, which is extremely more »

  • AMD Powers the Heart of the Next Console Generation

    By Nihar Patel - April 27, 2013 | Tickers: AMD, INTC, NVDA

    AMD (NYSE: AMD) isn't joking when it comes to a turnaround. I expected the company to sit on its hands and have success come to it. Sarcasm aside, I'm surprised that AMD’s good news came from winning a place in the Playstation 4 and the Xbox 720. I'm even more surprised that it will utilize a Radeon GPU instead of something from NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA). As more »

  • Physical and Digital Retailers Deserve Consideration

    By Nihar Patel - April 24, 2013 | Tickers: AMZN, BKS, COST

    Almost everybody I know loves Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST). I just cannot handle the lines there sometimes. The fact that after work or on a weekend Costco becomes impenetrable for someone with my patience is what turned me against the company. It is just a shame that by the time I got my lazy self to look closely at it, the stock was already up a lot.

    Growing horde of more »

  • Software-Defined Networking Grows More Crowded

    By Nihar Patel - April 24, 2013 | Tickers: ALU, CSCO, VMW

    There has been some news in software-defined networking (SDN), though there is nothing that will immediately impact the share prices of the companies in the space. However, there are large implications for software-defined networking, from lowering operating expenditures, lowering capital expenditures, and offering features immediately rather than through the next update cycle. Software-defined networking will be lucrative for whomever leads the market. The bulk of the rewards remain a few more »

  • Should You Trust Gold?

    By Nihar Patel - April 17, 2013 | Tickers: ABX, VALE, GLD

    Unemployment is still a major issue. The Fed has pointed at the unemployment rate as a key number that influences their policies. Like a plague, unemployment has spread north to Canada, and Europe continues to lag.

    Currencies are seeing a race to the bottom, with every bank trying to finesse their currencies into a price that is more acceptable to them. Japan, in an effort to avoid yet another lost more »

  • Industrial Metal Prices Will Go up Eventually

    By Nihar Patel - April 15, 2013 | Tickers: AA, VALE, FCX

    Metal prices will go up. I do not know when, but I am fairly certain that when global manufacturing of all varieties picks up, there will be upward pressure on the price of industrial metals. That is good news for a company that is poised to benefit from such a rise.

    Aluminum has lagged considerably

    For me, that company is Alcoa (NYSE: AA). Despite the trying price environment that seems more »

  • Importance of Network Persistence Plays to This Company's Strengths

    By Nihar Patel - April 15, 2013 | Tickers: CSCO, BLOX, VMW

    The digital world is moving over there, and for the most part, it has already moved over there. The rise of the cloud means that less is done locally than ever before. People thought the internet moved the world into a digital age, but thinking back about the recent trends seem more like a digital age. Desktops and laptops are giving way to tablets and phones, with a majority of more »

  • Will Fantastic Game Launches Help These Stocks Soar?

    By Nihar Patel - April 15, 2013 | Tickers: ATVI, EA, TTWO

    I am going to do some serious backpedaling, because BioShock Infinite from Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) is game of the year material. I was wrong to question whether it would be a good game. This is based on reviews and what I have heard from people I trust. I have not had the time to sit down with the game yet. I am a player that needs to get to more »

  • 3D Printing Early Movers Will Reap the Rewards

    By Nihar Patel - April 15, 2013 | Tickers: DDD, SSYS, XONE

    3D printing is amazing. For me, it is one of those things like the smartphone and modern tablets that really highlights how we live in the future. 3D printing is one of those things that might not blow your mind with the technical details, since it is not faster-than-light travel, but there is a lot of potential. Many of the crazier ideas with 3D printing might take a decade or more »

  • Natural Gas Suppliers Will Benefit From Rising Prices

    By Nihar Patel - April 10, 2013 | Tickers: CHK, XOM, LINE

    I was worried about rising natural gas prices for companies that make products with the intentions of unseating oil’s dominant position, but the flip side of that is the benefit to the suppliers.

    One of the great things about investing is that a problem in one place can mean an opportunity in another. The companies could only go for the easiest, also known as cheapest, gas available. If the more »

  • Solid State Drives are Not the End of Seagate

    By Nihar Patel - April 5, 2013 | Tickers: SNDK, STX, WDC

    I have built a few computers for myself over the years, and I remember when large amounts of storage used to be a significant cost. If it came down to more processing power, more RAM, and a better video card or more storage, I always come to the conclusion that I would just erase stuff. Now you can get a few terabytes for relative pennies. By sheer happenstance, I always more »

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