Intel (INTC)

Great company, a pioneer of the Internet. Gets fairly seen as a one trick pony. Prefers QCOM-O. But INTC-O is not a bad company.

They had some hiccups here. He keeps hearing there are positive announcements coming up this fall. There might be some good fundamental stuff coming out. We are past the technology period of seasonal strength. He would hold off on purchasing it until it proves itself. Look at it later in the year.

(Top Pick Mar 26/14, Up 37.19%) They are coming out with new products. This is old tech but it has been really good to him. His model price is $54.26, or a 60% upside. It has a 2.81% yield. He has a 35% weight in old tech.

This is a similar situation to Microsoft (MSFT-N) in that they are a very large company and generate a fair bit of cash, but there is really not a lot of traction. Although PCs have had a bit of resurgence, long term he doesn’t think much has changed in terms of predictions that it will be a falling situation.

The period of seasonal strength for technology is predominantly from October through to the middle of January. However, you can see a bit of a pickup in technology from around April through to July. This is where you would want to look to make your entry point. From now into mid April, technology tends to do rather poorly. It doesn’t necessarily go negative, but tends to underperform the market. The better time to invest is more towards April to June, and ideally, from October to January.

Peaks around this time of year. January until spring it underperforms. It is a good time to take profits and move to sectors that do well this time of year.

Coming out with more chip products. 40% model price differential. 30-40% upside. 2.6% yield.

A very, very good business. Free cash flow generation is very strong and the computer cycle was better than anticipated in 2014. Thinks it will be a sound business still in 2015. A great alternative for people looking for fixed income. It will be challenged to grow going forward however.

The undisputed leader in semiconductors. Many would say they are 3 years ahead of their competition when it comes to manufacturing technology, and they are accelerating their pace of innovation. Somewhat economically sensitive. Dominant in data centres, which has rapidly growing revenues. PC market seems to be stabilizing. Will probably grow 10%-12% a year going forward. They’re returning cash to shareholders by buying back shares and raising their dividend. It will grow its dividend at 15% per year. Yield of 2.64%.

Largest chip manufacturer globally. Has always tended to have cyclical earnings. Earnings have had a very nice run. Wouldn't want to be buying it here because if you look at the last 20 years, earnings can move up and down very significantly. You need to buy this when the gross margins are dropping a bit and earnings are down sharply. This will happen as it does in every cycle.

(A Top Pick Oct 8/13. Up 60.79%.) Hit his target so he sold his holdings at around $27-$28. We do have a good PC upgrade cycle and they do seem to be doing things well in the mobile market, but there are rumours that they are paying people to use their chips.

(A Top Pick Sept 6/13. Up 50.73%.) He liked it because people were overly pessimistic. It was paying a good dividend. Financially strong. They are fixing the problem now. It is a lower margin product. Got to a level that he thought was pretty reasonable, and he Sold his holdings.

This is a stock that has broken out from a long-term trend. Had fallen into the category of old tech. This one is up over 30% year to date. Not overly cheap. Trading at a forward PE multiple of over 16X. Had a big run, so wouldn’t run after it here. If you own, consider taking some profits.

Great company. Generates a lot of free cash flow. Thinks there are better technology names out there for his clients. 2.6% dividend yield. Prefers Qualcomm (QCOM-Q).

They have resources. They used to be the leader in the PC market. They have a $12 billion capital expenditure budget. It is one to keep an eye on.