It's Apple v Microsoft in the technology boxing match of the century

International Business Times Video Link (click below):

IBT Video: its-apple-v-microsoft-technology-boxing-

match-century-

We have just witnessed the so-called boxing match of the century: Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas. Reputedly grossing over half a billion US dollars, this is a financial windfall of the likes never seen before in professional sport.

But the Mayweather v Pacquiao bout has its long-running mirror in the technology arena, with American technology giants Apple and Microsoft slugging it out for the crown of the most valuable company in the world since the dawn of the new millennium.

Apple slugs it out with Microsoft

Back in 2000, Microsoft held sway with its dominance over the PC software market thanks to the prevalence of the Windows operating system and its Office software suite, wearing the "Technology Most Valuable" belt with pride.

Figure 1. Global iPhone Volume Sales Remain Very Strong 

Source: Apple

But in 2015, it is Cupertino-based Apple that is the Floyd Mayweather of the tech world –wearing the crown for being the most valuable company in the world as it is worth over $750bn (£495.7bn, €674.2bn) and nearly twice the market size of Microsoft.

Recent Apple results have underlined the pre-dominance of the iPhone 6 and 6+ models, even taking reportedly a 25% market share of the Chinese smartphone market in the face of incredibly fierce domestic competition from handset makers Huawei, HTC and Xiaomi.

In fact, Apple sold more iPhone 6 handsets in China than in the US over the past three months. The 61.2 million iPhones sold globally over the second quarter (Figure 1) served to dish up outstanding financial results at Apple, beating the expectations of financial analysts by a wide margin.

Unlike during the technology bubble in 2000, "old" technology names such as Apple (US code: AAPL) and Microsoft (US code: MSFT) are today substantially cheaper than the overall US stock market. Adjusted for the cash on the balance sheets of tech titans Apple, Microsoft and Google, you pay an average of under 12 times earnings for these globally dominant tech names; in contrast, you pay a much more expensive 18 times earnings for the overall US stock market (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Apple, Microsoft & Google: Much Cheaper than the US Stock Market 

Source: Yahoo Finance. Note: Lower P/E ratio is cheaper

While Apple and Microsoft are cheap, they still offer solid prospective growth in both profits and dividends. The combination of cheap valuation and solid growth prospects in the technology sector could be a good reason to buy exposure. However, unless you have a stock market account that allows you to buy and sell US stocks, you may find it difficult to buy Apple or Microsoft shares directly.

Buying US tech stocks via a fund

In this case, buying a sterling-denominated exchange traded fund (ETF) or investment trust focused on US technology stocks may well be an easier option. These typically have substantial weightings in both Apple and Microsoft, given they are two of the largest stocks in the entire US stock market.

Five technology fund options are below (Figure 3), all with varying weightings in these two tech giants as well as the global internet and social media behemoths Google and Facebook.

Figure 3. UK-Listed Technology-Focused Exchange-Traded Funds,
Investment Trusts 

Source: Company Factsheets

Focus instead on UK technology stocks

Instead of buying tech giants from the other side of the Atlantic, you may instead want to focus on technology closer to home. In that case, there are a number of UK technology stocks listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Narrowing down our focus to the technology hardware space, there are few large-cap stocks left for us to buy, following the recent takeovers of UK technology stocks CSR (being acquired by US semiconductor maker Qualcomm) and Pace (being acquired by US set-top box maker Arris).

ARM Holdings (semiconductor design, code: ARM), Imagination Technologies (semiconductor chip maker eg for Apple, code: IMG) and IQE (semiconductors, code: IQE) are three that remain listed in the hardware space.

In the UK software space, there are the likes of Sage (small company software, code SGE), Micro Focus (business software, code MCRO) and Playtech (gaming software, code PTEC).

But, overall, the listed UK technology sector is getting smaller and smaller, with companies being swallowed up by larger US competitors. This trend may be a good additional reason to buy into medium-sized and smaller UK technology businesses, aside from the growth attractions in technology.

So there you have it, two ways to play the technology growth theme. You can go the US route, either buying the likes of Apple or Microsoft directly or by buying a US technology fund.

Or there is the UK route, selecting from an ever shorter list of listed UK technology stocks, but perhaps benefiting from their status as potential takeover targets in a global sector.

After Shell, BG, Nokia and Alcatel, ITV and Indivior could join the takeover trail

IB Times Video Link:

Edmund Shing: After Shell, BG, Nokia and Alcatel, ITV and Indivior could join the takeover trail

KPMG says the merger and acquisition boom is back in 2015. Certainly, company takeover activity has been hotting up on both sides of the Atlantic these past few months – just think of Shell swallowing up BG in oil and gas, Nokia merging with Alcatel-Lucent in technology and FedEx buying up fellow Dutch logistics group TNT Express.

Figure 1. What factor will drive deal activity in 2015? 

Source: KPMG 2015 M&A Outlook Survey Report

One of the main reasons for expecting more takeovers is the very high level of cash that large companies are holding, and the very low interest cost on company debt (Figure 1). With money burning a hole in corporate pockets, top executives want to go shopping for growth.

In trying to predict who could become the next takeover targets, we need to know the profiles of existing targets: which industries are seeing the greatest number of takeovers and takeover rumours, and what size of company is most likely to be susceptible to a takeover approach?

Technology, healthcare, media, insurance and oil and gas are ripe for consolidation

I see four industries as prime hunting grounds to search for potential takeover targets, given recent takeover and merger activity in recent months:

1. Technology: Nokia is merging with Alcatel-Lucent in telecoms equipment, while US set-top box maker Arris is buying UK set-top-box maker Pace for $2.1bn.
   
2. Healthcare: In generic drug making, Israeli global leader Teva has bid some $40bn in cash and shares for US generic drug rival Mylan. Novartis, the Swiss drug maker, has revealed recently that it is hunting for healthcare acquisition targets in the $2bn to $5bn range.
   
3. Media: AT&T's acquisition of DirectTV in the US and Liberty Global's purchase of Belgian media company De Vijver Media NV highlight the consolidation occurring in the US-dominated broadcast media industry, with media content becoming increasingly valuable to cable and TV distributors.
   
4. Insurance: Lloyd's of London insurers has been the focus for acquisition of late, with both Catlin and Brit Insurance bought up by larger North American insurers. We can also add the merger of close-end life assurer Friends Life with Aviva, highlighting the consolidation wave under way in insurance.

Interestingly, these same industries came top in the KPMG M&A survey too (Figure 2).

Figure 2. What factor will drive deal activity in 2015? 

Source: KPMG 2015 M&A Outlook  Survey Report

What size of company could be preferred for acquisition?

While the Shell-BG deal is huge buying up huge, mid-cap companies are generally more likely to become tasty bite-sized morsels for cash-rich mega cap rivals to buy up growth prospects, relatively easy to finance and without all the complications of combining two huge companies with wide-ranging and complicated operations.

Three potential UK mid-cap takeover targets

1 Indivior (Healthcare)

Indivior (UK code: INDV) is the former pharmaceutical division of cleaning products and food maker Reckitt Benckiser, spun off from Reckitt as an independent, UK-listed company at the end of 2014. Its principal focus is on medicines to treat drug dependency, most notably alcohol, heroin and cocaine addiction.

At a market capitalisation of £1.5bn, it is relatively small versus the UK industry giants GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Shire. Furthermore, it remains substantially cheaper on a number of valuation ratios such as price/earnings than any of these larger drug companies. Potential acquirers could be larger US-based drug makers who already produce opioid addiction treatments – Actavis, Endo Health and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

2 ITV (Media)

There has been a battle for broadcast media content globally in recent months, with persistent takeover rumours surrounding £11bn market capitalisation ITV (UK code: ITV). It has most recently popped up as a potential target for the likes of US cable operator giant Comcast, the largest company in the world by broadcasting and cable revenues.

These rumours have sent the TV share price, and thus valuation, rising substantially since November 2014, with ITV's jewel in the crown being its production arm ITV Studios, responsible for drama series such as Poldark.

3 Lancashire (Insurance)

Lancashire (UK code: LRE) provides "global specialty insurance", operating as a Lloyd's of London insurer like acquired competitors Catlin and Brit Insurance. Attractions include a low valuation, high profitability levels and a juicy dividend yield projected to be as high as 9.5% in the future.

Just like Catlin and Brit Insurance, Lancashire could be the next to fall prey to a US-based reinsurer looking to expand globally.

So these are three UK mid-cap gems that I like the look of from a fundamental basis, which could also become the subject of a share-price boosting takeover in the next few months.

Why I like Cisco Systems (CSCO) Now

Please find below a link to a 1-page PDF format report on why I think Technology mega-cap Cisco Systems (CSCO) is such a good value stock here, following a strong positive recent Q2 earnings release. 

Cisco: Growth from the Internet of Things

November 2014 Investment Outlook Preparing for a Year-End Rally

Stock Markets Set Up For Continued Rally

The six weeks from the beginning of September through to mid-October inflicted substantial damage on all major stock markets barring China (Figure 1), with developed markets falling 5-11% and the MSCI Emerging Market index losing 11% over the period. 

1. All Stock Markets Fell from Start-Sept. Except China

Source: Bloomberg

Fears over the strength of the global economy have dominated, with sanctions impacting not only the Russian economy but also those in the Eurozone, including that of the export powerhouse that is Germany. As a result, business confidence in Europe has suffered, putting the brakes on business investment and condemning the Eurozone to a no-growth economy (Figure 2). 

2. German Business Confidence Takes a Big Hit

Source: Bloomberg

However, this quick stock market correction has not taken into account a number of more positive economic trends, including the positive impact of lower oil prices on global consumers. 

Oil Price Plunge Boosts Consumption

The Brent crude oil price has fallen $30 per barrel from mid-June peak to around $85 per barrel currently. Of course, this is bad news for oil exporting countries including OPEC members and Russia. But according to The Economist, if this oil price were maintained, then oil consumers would benefit by paying an oil bill some $1 trillion lower.

The positive effects of this are already starting to be seen through rising US consumer confidence, thanks to retail gasoline prices falling 17% since the end of June to $3.14/gallon now. This should feed through to US GDP growth, heading closer to 3% annual growth based on current encouraging trends in the ISM Manufacturing survey.  

Seasonal Effects Now Turn Positive

In addition, after a turbulent month of October, seasonal trends now turn more favourable from November until the end of April. Historically, the VIX volatility index has peaked in mid-October, and then fallen until Spring-time, a pattern that it is starting to repeat now after touching a 3-year peak of 26 this month (Figure 3).

 3. VIX Volatility Index Calming Down

Source: Bloomberg
    

Prefer Growth to Value: Technology, Healthcare

With the US Federal Reserve edging closer to the end of the current round of Quantitative Easing (QE), this is typically a time to favour Growth as an investment style over Value. 

From an economic point of view, the Technology sector is a growth sector that should benefit from two factors: 

1. The improving growth in business investment, particularly in IT hardware & software; and
2. Improving consumer confidence in the crucial Christmas buying season boosting demand for consumer electronics.

Healthcare is a second Growth sector that stands to benefit from the continued growth in healthcare demand from emerging market consumers, and also from the increasing penetration of US healthcare insurance coverage as a result of Obamacare.
     

4. Technology & Healthcare Lead

Source: Bloomberg
        

Where to Focus in November

Aside from remaining convinced that both Technology and Healthcare sectors can move higher still, I believe that global bond yields will remain low for the foreseeable future given the continued savings glut, with investors seemingly unwilling to commit to risky assets and preferring the safe havens of government bonds and even cash. 

But, given that the best predictor of future 10-year returns from government bonds is the current bond yield, the 2.3% on offer in 10-year US Treasuries and the 0.9% offered by German Bunds seems very unattractive, with low-volatility dividend growth stocks more attractive in sectors such as Insurance and even Real Estate.

Finally, the US dollar seems set to continue to strengthen against most other currencies,  given that the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan seems set to do whatever they can to weaken their currencies, while the US Fed is putting an end to QE (at least, for now).
    

5. US Dollar Can Still Recover a Long Way

Source: Bloomberg

Beware September; A Danger Month for Equities!

1. September Has Been The S&P’s Worst Month

2. Mid-September to Early October is Worst

3. Healthcare Does Best

4. Long Bonds Are Still A Good Place to Be

5. As Is Gold

6. Gold Stocks Get a Leveraged Boost

7. Natural Gas Tends To Be A Big Sept-Oct Winner: +22% in 2 Months on Average!

8. Total A Good Natural Gas Play

Summary

1. Equity Markets Often Suffer in September
2. Long Bonds Tend To See Lower Yields
3. Sectors: Technology is Worst-Hit, Healthcare Does Best
4. Two Commodities to Like In Sept-Oct: Gold, Natural Gas
5. Two Stocks to Like: Goldcorp, Total

Sources for charts and tables: www.equityclock.com, www.stocktradersalmanac.com

Why Sandisk is a Top Technology Pick

There are many reasons why I feel US semiconductor maker SanDisk (SNDK on Nasdaq) is one of my favourite Technology stocks of the moment. 

This is an interesting turnaround, because several years ago I was in fact an actual bear of the stock due to its very high valuation. These days, I am a big fan of the company and the stock for 7 key reasons:

1. Well-Positioned Thematically

Sandisk is a key technology company exposed to some of my favourite long-term investment themes - The Internet of Things, the Mobile Internet and Big Data. 

2. Wide Moat

Sandisk is a leading NAND flash memory maker, the type of memory used in USB drives, smartphones, tablet computers and solid state hard drives. This type of storage is more expensive per gigabyte than a traditional mechanical hard drive (of the sort found in desktop PCs), but has the advantage of consuming far less power (important for mobile computing), having much fast data retrieval times and also being more robust (mechanical hard drives are typically very sensitive to shocks and extreme temperatures). 

Sandisk spends a heavy 12% of sales on Research & Development, which over time has led to the building of an extensive portfolio of valuable patents, which Sandisk monetises in the form of royalty payments received from other semiconductor makers who use their designs and technologies. This, combined with Sandisk's focus on higher-end NAND flash memory applications has allowed the company to maintain gross margins well north of 50%, over 10% better than their memory maker rivals such as Toshiba and Micron, and currently as high as 53%. 

3. Strong Free Cash Flow

This high profit margin is converted in to bundles of cash, with between $1.4-1.6bn of net free cash flow generated per year over each of the last two years. With $4.2bn of net cash already on the balance sheet, this equates to a 8-10% free cash flow yield on Sandisk's enterprise value. Even with the drag of this cash pile on profitability, Sandisk is still achieving a Return on Equity not far shy of 15%. 

4. Valuation is attractive

An ex-cash 2015e P/E of under 12x and EV/EBIT ratio of 7.8x is cheap for such an innovative growth company, which is also paying a steadily rising dividend (1.1% yield) and which is also buying back shares (Sandisk is a member of the Powershares Buyback Achievers portfolio, for instance). 

5. Profit momentum is positive

Despite continued deflationary pressures in terms of $ per gigabyte of NAND flash storage, the drive to lower manufacturing costs and also the surge in volume demand is leading to upwards revisions to both sales and earnings forecasts (the company's consensus 2015e EPS forecast is over 10% higher today than it was at the start of 2014).

6. Leading sell-side analysts are positive

The average consensus target price is $114 (vs. $97.55 now), while leading brokers such as Sanford Bernstein have a very bullish $150 target. 

7. Positive Technical Analysis

SanDisk (NSQ:SNDK) trades at $97.55 at present, while there is an upside price gap to fill on the share chart at $105.80, giving clear upside in the short-term. There is also a solid upwards price trend, in place since mid-2012. 

All in all, I see a good number of reasons to be a buyer of SanDisk (SNDK) today, although as always, you are advised to Do Your Own Research!

Edmund

See more at: http://www.stockopedia.com/content/why-sandisk-is-a-top-technology-pick-85555/#sthash.ciKy2SVf.dpuf

Video: Why I like Energy and Technology in a bullish US stock market environment

Why I still like the Energy and Technology sectors while US stock market trends remain bullish: 

Video link here:

Key Investment Themes: Energy, Technology, Hunt for Yield

Edmund

Bloomberg TV:Debunking "Sell in May and Go Away"

I appeared last week on Bloomberg TV in the morning, talking to host Mark Barton about why the "Sell in May and Go Away" saying is no longer strictly correct - rather, June to September is more the danger period for stocks...

CLick on the Bloomberg link below to see the Interview:

Debunking-sell-in-may-and-go-away

Alibaba.com to list at a mammoth $150-200bn? How to profit

The Chinese business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce platform Alibaba has finally filed for a US flotation (Initial Public Offering) today, due to list in the near future in New York. Current analyst estimates pitch the starting market value of the entire company at between $150bn and $200bn, a massive public company by any standards and likely to represent the largest technology IPO since Facebook came to market back in 2012.

The business, headed by former English schoolteacher Jack Ma (no wonder that he speaks English so well!), dominates business to business e-commerce transactions, typically between suppliers and customers not only in China, but effectively globally.

While a detailed description of all Alibaba’s businesses is beyond the scope of this (short) article, there is more detail to be found here on cnbc.com, for those who are interested in finding out more about the company.

Alibaba by the numbers

Just a few numbers to illustrate its 400lb gorilla-like presence in this technology transaction space:

• Over 1.5 trillion yuan, or $248bn in value of transactions executed over the last year through its 3 main marketplaces;
• 11.3 billion orders placed annually;
• 231 million annual active buyers;
• 8 million active sellers;
• 5 billion packages generated on their Chinese retail marketplace last year;
• $5.66bn of listed revenue for the 9 months to 2013 year-end;
• Net income (profit after tax) of $2.85bn for the same period.

This puts Alibaba ahead of Amazon plus Ebay together in terms of numbers of buyers and volume of transactions, according to Reuters! (Bear in mind that Amazon has a total market capitalisation in the US of $135bn, while Ebay is worth over $64bn currently).

Where could it be in the list of biggest listed companies?

At the upper estimate of a starting market value of $200bn, Alibaba would be the 14th-largest company listed in the US, between the bank JPMorgan and the telecoms company Verizon. In the Technology sector, only  Apple (market value of $512bn), Google ($350bn) and Microsoft ($323bn) would be larger. Note: at $200bn, it would have a larger value than the technology grand-daddy IBM ($192bn market value)!

Even at the lower estimate of $150bn, Alibaba would sit at number 23 in the list of largest listed US companies with the same market value as Facebook now, over 7 times more than Twitter and 9 times more than Linkedin.

How to get exposure in Alibaba?

Please click on the link below to see how you can get exposure to Alibaba...

Alibaba-com-to-list-at-a-mammoth-150-200bn-how-to-profit

 

 

Three stocks to profit from a value rotation

Momentum takes a beating, Value remains near highs

So it is true: what goes up quickly, can also come down quickly! The month of March has seen US momentum stocks fall sharply, while in contrast value stocks have held up very well. 

Figure 1 shows that momentum stocks (the line in black) have hardly outperformed value stocks (the line in yellow) over the last half-year, after a torrid month of March.

1. MOMENTUM STOCKS TAKE A HIT, VALUE HOLDS UP WELL

Source: Bloomberg

Three sub-sectors in particular have been hard-hit (Figure 2):

1. Biotech has lost 13% from its high at in February (line in yellow);
2. Social media stocks such as Facebook and Twitter have lost 14% in aggregate from their peak (line in green);
3. Recent IPOs retreat 6% from the peak, judging by the First Trust US IPO ETF (FPX; line in black).

2. BIOTECH, SOCIAL MEDIA AND IPOS CAUGHT IN THE MOMENTUM RETREAT

Source: Bloomberg

Yield back in vogue

Long-term government bonds have performed well of late. Both European and US long-term government bond funds have gained significant ground over the year-to-date. This, in spite of the poor yields being offered by both (2.1% for a UK Gilt ETF; 3.1% for a US 20+ year Treasury bond ETF).

We can see that yield is becoming very popular once again as an investing strategy; this is evident from the recent performance of both US high yield corporate bonds (in black) and also US real estate trusts (REITs; in orange)...

 

To read the rest of this article, please click on the Mindful Money link below:

Three-stocks-to-profit-from-a-value-rotation

Happy value hunting!

Edmund

Reuters TV: Wealth Strategies interview

I appeared recently on a new Reuters TV segment called "Wealth Strategies", discussing Russia, Technology and peripheral Europe amongst other things...

Click on the web link below to view the 6-minute video!

Edmund on Reuters TV: Wealth Strategies

Is India the First among Emerging Market Equals? Time to buy?

Astute observers will have noticed that the Indian Sensex index has just hit a multi-year high at over 22,000 (Figure 1).

1. THE INDIAN SENSEX INDEX HITS A NEW MULTI-YEAR HIGH

Source: Bloomberg

Not only that, but the Indian rupee has also started to gain ground against major currencies such as the US dollar, the euro, and sterling.

Given the relatively poor backdrop for most emerging markets thanks largely to Russia and China, why is India bucking the trend so successfully?

New central bank governor, maybe a new government?

A widely respected central bank governor, Raghuram Rajan, has already been installed at the Reserve Bank of India. He has lent a lot of credibility to the central bank policy of attempting to control Indian inflation which is still relatively high at 8.1%, but which is finally starting to come down.

A second driver for a positive view on India comes from Indian politics. Parliamentary elections are due to be held soon in India, and current opinion polls indicate that Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata (BJP) opposition party is likely to win power, ousting the long-serving Congress party in the process. This is being seen as a good opportunity to see widespread reform within India, which may remove some of the structural roadblocks to Indian growth.

Clearly, while it is not clear that tensions over the Russian annexation of Crimea are calming or that sanctions will not be intensified on the part of the US and European Union, and while it is not clear as well that China will reignite growth in the near future, nevertheless India remains a bright spot within the emerging market universe.

Please click on the web link below to read the rest of the article and see the
ETFs and investment trusts recommended:  

  

Mindful Money: :Time to Buy India Today?

  

  
All the best, 
Edmund 

View my CNBC WorldWide Exchange TV interview!

Here is the video link to to my CNBC Worldwide Exchange interview from this morning:

CNBC Worldwide Exchange: Favoured Sectors

Click on it and have a look!

Best,
Edmund

On CNBC Europe this morning - my preferred sectors...

I went on CNBC Europe's WorldWide Exchange programme this mornign to talk about company results and my favourite sectors. What are they? Well:

1. UK housebuilders - like Inland Homes (INL), Barratt Developments (BDEV) and Telford Homes (TEF). Note the strong results this morning from builders' merchants Travis Perkins (TPK), helped by the strong UK housing market, together with the Government's aid from the Help 2 Buy programmes.
   
2. Technology stocks, in particular semiconductors - Infineon (IFX in Germany) and Sandisk (SNDK in the US) would be two good plays here; cash-rich and benefiting from the "Internet of Things" theme.
   
3. Mining stocks, which are cheap and recently posted good Q4 results: in the short run, they will be driven by sentiment over Chinese growth, but I still like Rio Tinto (RIO) and Anglo American (AAL) in the medium-term. 

While stock markets had a very strong 2013 and have bounced back to new highs this year, I see further positive momentum ahead as economic momentum picks up in the Eurozone, and recovers from a short-term dip in the US and China. 

The Idle Investor: Today's Bloomberg TV interview re Emerging Markets, Technology allure

Top of the morning to you!

Since I had to get up super-early to go to do this TV interview live at Bloomberg at 7am this morning, I thought I would take this opportunity to inflict the interview on you as well...
  
              Bloomberg TV: Putting-the-emerging-market-slide-in-perspective

The topics of this 5-minute interview were the value that can be found today in Emerging markets and European stock markets, following the current correction. 

Personally speaking, I am even starting to be interested by Russian stocks, given the very low valuations (often 3-4x P/E and 5-6% dividend yields!) on offer now from Russian giants like Gazprom and Lukoil, at massive discounts to Western oil & gas producers. 

As always, I am very interested in any feedback you may have, so don't hesitate, fire away!

Edmund

The case for the US technology hardware sector

Tech has only marched halfway up

While technology stocks have enjoyed a strong rally since the stock market nadir at end-2008, it is perhaps surprising to note that they have only recovered 50% of the ground lost during the 2000-2003 tech bust.

But over the last decade or so, there have been many changes in tech-land. Many mobile phone makers such as Nokia, Motorola, SonyEricsson and Blackberry have come and largely gone, to be replaced by Apple, Samsung, LG and a whole raft of Chinese Android smartphone producers. We have seen the advent of the tablet and even the “phablet” (a crossover between a smartphone and a small tablet), and of course we have witnessed the phenomenal rise of social media, with Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin leading the vanguard. I want to focus in this article on the technology hardware sector, makers of physical technology objects rather than providers of services or software.

Improving Capital Spending Trends Are a Help

The technology sector is particularly geared to macro investment trends, as companies tend to favour technology-related investments in good economic times as they tend to bear quick-to-emerge and sizeable fruit in the form of productivity, boosting profitability. Guess what? US durable goods orders have recovered steadily over last year, pointing to improving corporate investment trends that should benefit tech stocks.

To read the rest of this article, please click on the MindfulMoney link below:

Tech-has-only-marched-halfway-up

Bon weekend,

Edmund

Video: Why I like the (US) Technology Hardware space

Good day to all,

I wanted to draw your attention today to a video I recorded with the financial news and analysis website Mindful Money, focusing on why I like the Technology Hardware space (particularly in the US) right now.

Please click on the link below to go to the Mindful Money home page, and then click on the video on the right-hand side of the page to play it (7 minutes long):

Mindful Money Video on Technology Hardware

I hope you find it interesting!

All the best,

Edmund

Early Morning Interview on Bloomberg TV - discussing US Media, technology stocks

Hi there,

You may be interested to hear what I had to say on Bloomberg TV early this morning (Tue Jan 14, 2014) on the subject of US Media and Technology stocks, in focus on the back of the unsolicited takeover offer for US cable operator Time Warner Cable from rival Charter, for $61bn in cash and shares.

I remain bullish on both these sectors for 2014, both in the US and in Europe...

Bloomberg TV: Why-you-may-want-to-invest-in-media-tech-stocks

Edmund

Clean energy has the solar wind in its sails

In hunting around for investment themes for 2014, you could do worse than look to what has already performed well through 2013. Remember, momentum tends to be persistent in financial markets, i.e. unlike the effect of gravity in the physical world, in stock markets what goes up tends to keep on going up.

One of the hottest investment themes of 2013 was Clean (or Renewable) Energy. In the US, the Guggenheim Solar ETF (code TAN) gained 125% over calendar year 2013, while the First Trust Global Wind ETF rose 64%. Could this stellar performance possibly be repeated this year?

 2014 Trend number 2: Clean Energy Gathers Ever More Momentum

The first question that needs to be answered is of course: what is driving these solar and wind energy stocks up? The simple answer is a combination of two factors:

Please click on the Mindful Money web link below to read the rest of the article, including potential ways to invest in this theme:

Clean-energy-has-the-solar-wind-in-its-sails

Take advantage of this following wind for your investments!

Edmund

Weekly Global Strategy Screencast: Playing "The Internet of Everything" investment theme

Screencast: Playing "The Internet of Everything" investment theme

In this week's animated presentation with audio commentary, I take a look at how to play the "Internet of Everything" investment theme, without falling into the trap of paying very high valuation multiples for social media and e-commerce stocks, i.e. the likes of Facebook, Amazon.com and Linkedin.com. 

Screencast presentation (Youtube): Investing in "The Internet of Everything"

Or simply click to watch the video (small window size) below:

For an introduction to the Internet of Everything, watch the Youtube videos below:

Introduction to the Internet of Things

What is The Internet of Things?

Dr. John Barrett: The Internet of Things (speech)

Happy investing!

Edmund