Cisco (CSCO)

Sold his position last year at around $26. Likes the company very much and is a big believer in the evolution and growth in the Internet of things. This company is a central component of that hub. They are dealing with competitive pressures out of China, and a lot of their major customers are building a lot of their own products internally. It was major currency headwinds that caused him to pull Sell. Good strong balance sheet and a good dividend yield. He expects he will own this again in the future, but doesn’t think the stock is going anywhere soon. We are still early in this correction.

(A Top Pick Feb 27/15. Down 18.1%.) The story hasn’t changed. With the increased usage of smart phones, there is a need to stay spectrum efficient. This company is helping the carriers do that with networking solutions. Also, with the Internet of Everything, this company tends to benefit in terms of integration of networks. He is excited about their cyber Security side of things. Pays a great dividend, so you need to be a little more patient with this.

He owned it years ago and did well. A lot of their technologies have become commoditized and the competition has become extreme. The CEO has stepped aside. He may be talking about this one in two or three years. He would want to have more certainty before committing capital to it.

(A Top Pick Oct 9/15. Down .96%.) The last half of the year tends to be dominated by consumer spending, and the 1^st half of the year by industrial production. He wanted to take advantage of the tendency for consumer stocks to run higher to the Christmas season. The average gain between October 3 and December 5 is 10.5%, and it was actually higher over that period by 14.8%.

Thinks the stock is worth $40.95 and is currently trading at $27.17. They got a new CEO a year ago, and maybe it is time for him to put his stamp on the company. He would buy this one.

A great company, a great long term success story. He likes it here. They had FX headwinds and some of the general macro noise about spending being weak has people worried, but he thinks that is already in the stock price and he would buy it here. The free cash flow, dividend increases and the long term free cash flow make it worth more than it trades at.

(A Top Pick Jan 28/14. Up 4.06%.) Struggling big time from currency headwinds. They have a new CEO and a very strong balance sheet with a good track record of increasing its 3% dividend.

Facebook (FB-Q), Google (GOOG-Q) and Apple (AAPL-Q) are the pipeline companies, and this one is the ditch digger that makes all the stuff work behind them. Great dividend yield of 3.08%. A solid operator. They are struggling through foreign currency problems, so it may be a challenging environment. Has some competition from the Chinese, but it is a very innovative company and very strongly ingrained in the infrastructure of the Internet, which we’re going to continue to see grow.

They have spent over a decade in China building the base for the expansion that is going to occur. Thinks it is going to be fairly significant and could add a lot to this company. New technologies have to pretty well use this company. It has a good dividend and will grow over the next few years. Dividend yield of nearly 3%.

(Top Pick Feb 27/15, Up 0.86%) He is okay with the return given the short period of time. He is still buying it for new clients. With increased use of smart phones CSCO-Q benefits from networking infrastructure. Their cyber security business was up 20%. It is reasonable at these prices and you get a decent dividend. They have a strong brand and moving from hardware to software is not the only thing they are trying to do in terms of transition. He is okay with the CEO leaving.

It has always generated lots of free cash flow. The challenges are the forward growth prospects for the business and he worries about this.

Retailers do well into the Christmas season (Oct 3 to Dec 5). We had a double bottom pattern and then it broke above resistance. Pick it up on weakness because of the run up it had this week.

Just an amazing company. Their growth has slowed, but they are still at mid-single digit growth. $25 billion of net cash. Over 3% dividend that will be increased 10% per year. He is comfortable with the new management coming in. He thinks new blood will be helpful.

They are an older technology and they have not grown to any great degree. The change in management could lead to some movement, but if you look at the technology, it is not so leading edge, but highly commoditized. There are better opportunities.

Has been a bit disappointing. Has a good yield, and he feels very secure with the name. It has buckets of cash, so there is no debt issue at all. He is just waiting for the recovery to come after this correction, and he thinks this will get up and go. Likes the yield.