Insider Report on Stockhouse.com -QCOM Leads Wall Street?s Wireless Windfall; Who?s Next? IDC, T.IW stockhouse.com
The champagne corks were popping a bit early this year as the Nasdaq finally closed above 4000, as well as new record highs for the DJIA, the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 index. Although the market is at a level that is unprecedented, we are looking around for some clues that may explain the holiday action. Traditionally, the week between Christmas and New Years is marked by the end of tax-loss selling and relatively low trading volumes, often some of the quietest of the year next to the week leading up to Labor Day weekend. We have been witnessing the mother of all exceptions to this rule; a breathtaking Holiday rally lead by shares in Qualcomm [QCOM], up over 20% after a price target of $1000 was set by a major US brokerage. Qualcomm is the best performing large cap stock this year, up from around $25 to almost $700. Since the adoption of their patented CDMA standard for digital cellular phones, Qualcomm is in a position to collect a rich royalty stream from the world?s cell phone manufacturers. Recently, the company sold its own manufacturing division to Kyocera of Japan. The principle of not needing to own the cow when getting the milk for free is at work here, hardware manufacturing is a cutthroat business.
Who?s Next?
The surge in value of the leading wireless company is creating an air of excitement in the market akin to the crowd surrounding a craps table when a high roller is making the numbers. Casinos love this phenomenon because it draws in more gamblers to the table eager to get in while the pickings are lush. We have seen the shares of InterDigital [IDC] start to fly after CNBC carried a story about who the next wireless winner might be. IDC has a number of important patents for technology incorporated in the IMT-2000 standard, also referred to as the third generation (3G) wireless standard, which defines specifications for the digital mobile radios which can be selected or aggregated by equipment manufacturers to produce standards-compliant third generation wireless products for their customers. (whew, try saying that with a mouthful of crackers) With 3G products mostly on the drawing board, and broad based consumer acceptance 3 to 5 years away (an eternity) the quickly shifting tech landscape poses great risks as well as rewards. Currently Ericsson is challenging some of InterDigital?s patents through a lawsuit, not unlike some of the legal wrangles experienced by Qualcomm until about a year ago. Again, slam-dunk twenty-baggers don?t happen along everyday and this is another example of a stock that ?might-be? someday and worth looking at closer.
Infowave Software [T.IW] ? Compaq Alliance a Cat in the Bag?
Our contributors are world-class Internet surfers. Not just the Yahoo! variety, but hardcore propeller-heads, wired on Jolt Cola, that pick through corporate websites like a cat be boning a fish. Our last scoop on Infowave corporate developments came in the from the popular BullBoards thread for T.IW. A sharp poster found a page on the Phone.com [PHCM] website that listed Infowave as a development partner and put up the URL. Within hours the link was dead, but not before we had a chance to look at it and had the edge of knowing about the deal a week before the ?official? announcement. Could we have a repeat? One of the surfers found this page on the Compaq Computers [CPQ] site listing Infowave as an Solutions Alliance partner, providing Infowave ? for Exchange CLICK HERE partner.digital.com
As the market is awaiting further news from Infowave, the stock continues to consolidate in the low teens from the recent pop to over $17. Compaq is the #2 PC company behind Dell [DELL] and although has had a rough go of it over the past year is one of the alliance?s that should be big news for Infowave. What?s the hold-up? We have to assume that we have a bit of a scoop and that the general market isn?t aware of the development. The Insider Rides Again!
When looking a little closer at Compaq, we see a company that is trying to move beyond the PC with it?s sights set on wireless in an effort to regain lost ground from it?s competitors, as described in the CNET article ?Compaq seeks wireless partner for devices? news.cnet.com .
Dell Computer [DELL] announced November 22 an agreement with Research in Motion [RIMM][T.RIM] to resell its RIM?s two-way pagers. An appreciative market sent the stock to record levels on the news. What effect would a Compaq announcement have on Infowave? |
