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Chris Lau

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  • What To Buy as These 3 Companies Surge

    By Chris Lau - May 17, 2013 | Tickers: SODA, SCTY, TSLA

    When a stock surges to impossible heights in a short amount of time, investors get excited, and rightfully so. What investor would not want to hold stocks that doubled, the way Netflix did went it rose 223% in a one year period? Three companies that rose sharply in May are SodaStream, Tesla, and SolarCity. Their recent rise is illustrated in the chart below:

    SODA data by YCharts

    Home-made soft drinks more »

  • 2 Tech Stocks to Buy and 1 to Avoid as Target Prices Are Lowered

    By Chris Lau - May 15, 2013 | Tickers: GRMN, JDSU, VRSN

    Editor's Note: This article originally mentioned Verisign is only spending $5 million in marketing in 2013. That was incorrect and has been removed. Motley Fool apologizes for the error.

    The consensus analyst decrease in price targets for a number of technology stocks is being ignored by investors. Despite a downward revision in the target price, shares of Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN), Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN), and JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ: JDSU) are more »

  • 3 Resource Stocks With At Least 15% Upside

    By Chris Lau - May 14, 2013 | Tickers: CLF, NEM, VLO

    The basic materials sector is under-performing the overall market. As the S&P 500 rises 4.2% for the month and 15% in 2013, a number of companies in the resource sector are in the red. Unsurprisingly, analysts as a whole are bearish on some of the weak players. The target prices of companies in this sector were lowered, with the most notable changes listed in the table below:

    Company more »

  • Looking at Arena Following Sell-Off

    By Chris Lau - May 13, 2013 | Tickers: ARNA, OREX, VVUS

    A sharp drop in Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA) followed after the company reported quarterly earnings and a withdrawal of its Marketing Authorization Application (“MAA”) in the EU. Arena traded recently at around $8.00. Similar to Vivus (NASDAQ: VVUS), investor interest in the drug maker for obesity is unconvincing. Arena bounced back recently after the DEA approved the scheduling of Belviq. Now that "lorcaserin is subject to the CSA and more »

  • 2 Stocks Under $4 to Watch Now

    By Chris Lau - May 9, 2013 | Tickers: CSCO, SHOR, SONS

    Investors often forget that the market value of a company is not its share price, but its share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. Despite this, stocks trading for $5 or less are still of interest to investors who like to speculate.

    These companies are often ignored by mutual funds due to the share price being below $5. Due to the associated volatility of these stocks, companies that more »

  • 3 Reasons to Be Bullish on These 3 Tech Companies

    By Chris Lau - May 8, 2013 | Tickers: AKAM, AVG, GLW

    Quarterly earnings results give investors looking for investment ideas additional information for analysis. In the volatile technology sector, the stocks of companies reporting profits and sales that are better than anticipated will naturally go up.

    When Corning (NYSE: GLW) reported good results, the stock rose by around 10% from about $13 per share to close recently at $14.23. Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) rose 27%, while AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVGmore »)

  • 3 Attractive Dividend Payers for Income Investors

    By Chris Lau - May 3, 2013 | Tickers: ABX, POT, TRP

    The bearishness surrounding resource companies is creating an unappreciated benefit for investors: rising dividend yields. Even as the highly followed index, the S&P 500, continued its steady rise and recovered from the sell-off that began in the middle of April, key companies in the resource sector have yet to outperform the index.

    TransCanada (NYSE: TRP), Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), and PotashCorp (NYSE: POT) reported earnings recently. Barrick Gold is more »

  • The Slump in These Tech Stocks Could be Ending

    By Chris Lau - May 1, 2013 | Tickers: CTXS, CKSW, IDCC

    When a company reports quarterly earnings that miss expectations or contain a weak outlook, it gives investors something to think about. Even more analysis is required for investors when the stock drops in response.

    When Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) reported results, shared plunged. InterDigital Communications (NASDAQ: IDCC) and ClickSoftware Technologies (NASDAQ: CKSW) were in a downtrend prior to earnings announcements, and shares rose slightly in recent sessions.

    Company

    Last Price more »

  • Which Tech Stock to Buy Post Earnings?

    By Chris Lau - April 29, 2013 | Tickers: IBM, MSFT, NXPI, SNDK

    The earnings season is now underway, helping investors separate the good companies from the struggling ones. A strong report is especially important for investors holding positions in technology stocks. 

    A few notable companies that reported earnings are listed in the table below. The results are especially relevant for investors exposed to the semiconductor, co-operate server, and the PC market:

    Company

    Recent Price ($) 

    Average Volume 

    SanDisk

    53.42

    4,130,730 more »

  • Are These 3 Neglected Tech Plays Worth Buying?

    By Chris Lau - April 29, 2013 | Tickers: CREE, IRBT, LXK

    The earnings season gives investors an opportunity to review the health of their holdings. The timing is especially important because there's a high probability that the markets will correct. Markets rose steadily since mid-November, 2012, and have yet to drop.

    The Nasdaq index, as measured by the PowerShares QQQ ETF (QQQ), did dip 3% before nearly recovering those losses. The index is now trying to reach a peak it more »

  • 2 Buys and a Sell as these Semiconductors Report Earnings

    By Chris Lau - April 28, 2013 | Tickers: AMD, ARMH, STM

    There are three technology companies that should be on the radar of investors. After reporting first-quarter earnings, shares of ARM Holdings (NASDAQ: ARMH), STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM)(NYSE: STM), and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) are up. In the last five days, the companies are all up approximately 13.8%, 14.4%, and 3.6%, respectively.

    ARMH data by YCharts

    The quarterly results help investors differentiate good companies from the struggling ones. The more »

  • 3 Stocks to Buy as Risk Aversion Rises Again

    By Chris Lau - April 24, 2013 | Tickers: ETFC, FFIV, SNDK

    A weekly drop of 2.6% in the equal-weighted Nasdaq 100 in the week of April 15 is creating an even bigger gap between analyst target prices and stock price. Led by a decline in commodity stocks and in banking, the technology sector is following suit.

    Take E*TRADE Financial (NASDAQ: ETFC) as an example that supports a negative change in sentiment. E*TRADE is down 17% from a 52-week more »

  • What to Focus on As Risk Aversion Rises for Tech Stocks?

    By Chris Lau - April 22, 2013 | Tickers: AMAT, FSLR, NFLX

    A significantly large gap between consensus analyst targets and the share price of companies is a starting point for investors screening for investing ideas in a down market. After the Dow dropped a net 200 points last week and the Nasdaq dropped 80 points, opportunities will arise for the patient investor.

    Since companies in the technology sector tend to act as a leading indicator for markets, they are worth a more »

  • These Resource Stocks Could Return As Much As 70%

    By Chris Lau - April 19, 2013 | Tickers: AA, CLF, NEM

    The devastating sell-off in the stock market on April 15 is, so far, net-neutral on returns on equity for the year. The S&P 500 index is up 11% in 2013, as measured by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, while the Dow Jones is up 13.5%. A recovery in the index a day after the sell-off does not imply gains will hold. If investors look more closely at more »

  • What to Focus on as Risk Aversion Rises for Tech Stocks

    By Chris Lau - April 17, 2013 | Tickers: AMAT, FSLR, NFLX, XRX

    A significantly large gap between consensus analyst targets and the share price of companies is a starting point for investors screening for investing ideas in a down market. After the Dow dropped a net 200 points on the week of April 15 2013 while the Nasdaq dropped 80 points, opportunities will arise for the patient investor.

    Since companies in the technology sector tend to act as a leading indicator for more »

  • 3 Tech Buy Ideas As Bears Retreat

    By Chris Lau - April 17, 2013 | Tickers: ADBE, ROVI, SFLY | Editor's Choice

    A decline in short-selling volume for companies could be interpreted in two ways. First, bears could be locking in gains and anticipating that any additional downside is limited. A second reason could be that the negative bet isn't playing out, so investors are covering their shorts. On the Nasdaq exchange, companies that fit under one of those two categories could be a source for further upside.

    Company

    Mar 28 more »

  • These Resource Stocks Could Return as Much as 70%

    By Chris Lau - April 16, 2013 | Tickers: AA, CLF, NEM

    The devastating sell off on the stock market on Monday, April 15 is so far net neutral on returns on equity for the year. The S&P 500 index is up 11% in 2013, as measured by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, while the Dow Jones is up 13.5%. A recovery in the index a day after the selloff does not imply gains will hold. If investors look more »

  • A Tech Buy and 2 Sells As the Nasdaq Reaches New Heights

    By Chris Lau - April 16, 2013 | Tickers: AMAT, CIEN, MCHP

    The seemingly unstoppable rise in the Nasdaq Index is disconcerting for bearish investors and for those looking for an entry point. The equal-weighted Nasdaq 100, as measured by the ETF (QQQE) rose again on the week of April 8. The index is now up 15.64% for the year-to-date. How should investors interpret bearish activity? Some of the companies with the largest short interest volume on the Nasdaq index are more »

  • A Tech Buy and 2 Sells As the Nasdaq Reaches New Heights

    By Chris Lau - April 16, 2013 | Tickers: AMAT, CIEN, MCHP

    The seemingly unstoppable rise in the Nasdaq Index is disconcerting for bearish investors and for those looking for an entry point. The equal-weighted Nasdaq 100, as measured by the ETF (QQQE) rose again on the week of April 8. The index is now up 15.64% for the year-to-date. How should investors interpret bearish activity? Some of the companies with the largest short interest volume on the Nasdaq index are more »

  • A Tech Stock Buy and 2 Sells as Nasdaq Reaches New Heights

    By Chris Lau - April 13, 2013 | Tickers: AMAT, CIEN, MCHP

    The seemingly unstoppable rise in the Nasdaq Index is disconcerting for bearish investors and for those looking for an entry point. The equal-weighted Nasdaq 100, as measured by the ETF (QQQE) rose again on the week of April 8. The index is now up 15.64% for the year-to-date. How should investors interpret bearish activity? Some of the companies with the largest short interest volume on the Nasdaq index are more »

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