Just wanted to mention a few technology stocks that Iv'e been watching of late.
Groupon - As I cautioned people prior to the company's IPO (initial public stock offering), the stock is down over 25% from where it originally priced its stock at $25/share. The stock is now trading down to $20/share so most investors who bought the stock with the idea of making a bunch of money from the get go have lost quite a bit of money in a short period of time. Despite the massive selloff, I still think Groupon, while a great website to get coupons, is a stock that should continue to be avoided.
Brocade - The company specializes in internet related technologies and while the stock has suffered over the past year at the hands of tough competition from Oracle (who is the largest player in the space), they released very good earnings over night. I currently own the stock, which is up over 12% today to $5/share, and while I am still slightly down on my original purchase, I believe the stock will work its way back above $7/share over the coming months.
Research in Motion - The company is the maker of the Blackberry handheld device, as well as several other tablet smart phones/computers. As most know, RIMM (Research in Motion) has been losing market share to Apple's Iphone over the past year. While the company owns a ton of patents, I still don't know if they can regain the lost market share, especially in leu of the success of the droid. Even though there is the far out possiblity the company could be acquired by a Microsoft type company looking to get into the handheld market, I would still avoid the company because I don't know when the downside selling pressure will cease.
Yahoo - One of the largest search engines in the world, Yahoo has struggled as Google has continued to take massive market share from the company. While there has been no news released of late, I still continue to believe the company will be acquired by someone in the next several months. As I've written before, I own a fair amount of Yahoo stock, and would be a buyer on any further weakness in price.
On a different note, as the holiday season (and black friday) approaches, I've been researching to see if there is any "insider trading" in any names. Insider trading is where employees of companies, such as the CEO or members of the Board of Directors, buy there own stock because they believe the stock will increase in price. In all the searches I've done so far, I haven't come across any retail insiders buying there own stocks. Some of the companies I've looked at include Saks, Walmart, Target, Coach, Dollar General, Best Buy, Pier One, and Bed Bath and Beyond. I will continue to monitor these companies as I look to see what retailers might be doing well as we approach the holiday shopping season.
