Oracle (ORCL)

(Top Pick June 24/16, Up 15%) They are getting more subscriptions and more products on the cloud. There is lots of completion in the cloud space, but they have done a great job. They are still inexpensive.

Had owned this for a while, and sold it at around these levels 2 or 3 years ago. They are struggling to morph from a hardware/sales business into a software/service business. It has gotten very competitive. He is avoiding this area because it is so competitive. A lot of the big players are building a lot of the stuff internally themselves. He would rather focus on things like Facebook (FB-Q), and possibly even Google (GOOGL-Q).

This has been moving sideways for a while, although its last earnings report beat the street, and the stock popped up a little. There is more room to come. They are transitioning into Cloud very successfully, and as we increasingly use mobile devices, all the storage is up there in space. One of the few tech firms that can successfully acquire other companies. Has a very strong track record of folding other companies in, merging the culture and making money out of them.

A great company, but has made its name through big database centric applications, but other companies, such as Salesforce, have just been really beating this company to the punch, which is the Cloud, cloud-based solutions, software as a service, which is where the world is going.

This makes just as much money as semiconductor stocks, and has lagged, giving an opportunity. If the sales surge for semiconductor companies is any indication of corporate spending, the stock should do well. It is much cheaper. Dividend yield of 1.4%. (Analysts’ price target is $45.)

What he likes about this company is that they have pulled a Microsoft (MSFT-Q). They are converting all their business to the Cloud and are at an inflection point. He thinks we are going to start to see it ramp up in 2017-2018, so the time to buy this is now.

ORCL-Q Vs. IBM-N. IBM-N works hard on their balance sheet. ORCL-Q is old tech. He bought ORCL-Q at $12 a share. He likes it and it probably has the most upside. His model price is $46.11, or 0% upside, but IBM is $165.03, trading right on its model price also. He likes the diversification of both.

(Top Pick Jul 7/16, Down 3.82%) It is amongst the more steady Eddies. You can still buy and be pleased a couple of years out.

(Market Call Minute.) Cloud is getting more and more important and he likes that technology space. The stock is doing well and is breaking out.

This has done wonderfully over the years. It spiked higher around a decade ago. It has room to recover. The leadership has been very steady for years. We are at a shorter term pause where they are building out in the cloud. It is a great core holding.

Thinks this is doing the Microsoft Playbook, which is growing quickly in the Cloud, and getting more licenses and revenues and annuities instead of selling a one-time package. Thinks the turning point for this company is here. Generating a lot of free cash. Very reasonably valued. Dividend yield of 1.51%.

(A Top Pick June 16/15. Down 7.67%.) This is old tech. His model price is $48, and he is showing a 20% upside. If it got down to $33, he would buy more.

(A Top Pick March 5/15. Down 10.73%.) Although this is old tech, he still likes this company. His model price is $46.72, still a 22% upside.

IBM (IBM-N) or Oracle (ORCL-Q)? Not a fan of either. If looking for a dividend play, IBM pays a much nicer dividend, close to 4% versus 1.5%. Growth rate is probably high single digits. Technicals don’t look very good for either. Would prefer Microsoft (MSFT-Q).

(A Top Pick Dec 3/14. Down 7.21%.) Model price is $47, which is a 23% upside. Still a Buy.