Intel (INTC)

All the large-cap tech names are trading at pretty attractive multiples. Now paying dividends (over 4%) which tells you they are no longer considered a typical growth company. They are such a dominant player in their space with over 80% plus share. They can’t grow when their end market, PCs, slows.

(Market Call Minute.) Has been a disappointing long-term performer. Down by a quarter in the last 3-4 months. Decent dividend yield. Rock solid balance sheet.

This one is not doing very well. Broke a major uptrend line and the 200 day moving average is at about $23. There are better stocks at this point.

CEO is retiring. Some think he did so because he thinks it will be a tough couple of years. Low debt to capitalization. 4.2% dividend, 9 times earnings, so it is a cheap stock. Hard time moving to the mobile business. That has really hurt them. Also, increased competition in the server business. It is a restructuring story and they can’t get where they are going as quickly as they thought.

Senior management is going to moving on the middle of next year, so there is still room for this one to keep trailing. Prefers another chip manufacturer.

(Market Call Minute.) Not so great news coming out of Apple (AAPL-Q) in that they are going to switch some of their chips out. Breaking into new lows so not a stock he would be purchasing.

Almost totally exposed to the PC market. Unless you get a feeling that the company is successfully diversifying in a big way or that the PC market is coming back, don’t rush into this one. If you want exposure in the semiconductor market, he would get Taiwan semiconductor (TSM-N).

(A Top Pick May 3/12. Down 23.26%.) This was a pairs trade with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD-N). Sold this in mid-July and he thinks he was flat on the trade.

All the PC industry is hurting because of the tablet market which is taking away all their sales. However, he doesn’t think the PC is going away anytime soon. Terrific dividend and a great balance sheet. Prefers Microsoft (MSFT-Q) which has a better balance sheet and also straddles the PC market, tablets, networking, video games, etc. This one has not shifted fast enough to the mobile market and that concerns him.

(Top Pick Oct 25/11, Down 8.39%) A year ago the market was lead by high tech. Now semi conductors is becoming a laggard. Intel has a big impact from the PC market. Great balance sheet and cash flow but there are better opportunities.

(Market Call Minute.) In the wrong end of the business right now and the market perceives it as being weak and having very low demand.

Has been worried about the PC sector. Tablets are literally running them down. It is not even a fair race. This company is the granddaddy of chips. Has lots of resources. They will continue to do very well in the PC market as it exists but given that it is a shrinking market he would be very careful about paying up for this company.

As a trading stock, would you buy it today or would you buy a Put a little bit out of the money and how far out of the money? Large-cap tech is performing reasonably well. Semiconductor group is quite economically sensitive because of quick inventory turnover. He does not like to buy the lagging group. This is very dependent on global growth. PCs are still a soggy market.

Usually when there is a warning from a company, it doesn’t bode very well on his ranking system so this is a company he would not want to purchase. Also, the stock is below both the 50 and 200 day moving averages.

(A Top Pick Sept 7/11. Up 20.52%.) Sold his holdings at around $24.50. He hopes people get all panicky about this stock and dump it down to around $20-$21 and he will buy it again.