*AV*--After a very gut wrenching survey of the universe of stocks I frequent, I came up with the following list. The list is premised on today's prices and having no cash tied up in the market. By this I mean, if I were to take someone with lots of $$$ who is not invested in the market and who is looking for a good 3-5 year return, I would be looking at the following companies very carefully:
TOP 5 IN ORDER
1. CYMI
2. ASYT
3. KLAC
4. AMAT
5. NVLS
If anything cash were left over, I would move to the second tier and consider:
6. PAIR
7. IDTI
8. INTC
9. ATMI
10. UTEK
This probably is the top 10 list for me with a gap between the #5 and #6 slot. History has dictated that NVLS seems to come out of adversity very well. Whether it is an industry downturn or litigation losses at the hands of AMAT. I do not include LRCX, IPEC, CFMT, SFAM and a few others on this list because I think they are going to be takeover targets with little to no premium paid for them. Also, I believe the acquisitions will be done with stock in some of the above mentioned companies.
Andrew
OOPS-I didn't answer your question. In the field of copper, the play will be limited to 4 companies from the list above: AMAT, NVLS, LRCX, and ATMI. From this group the safe play would be AMAT since they will deliver both a deposition and etch solution to the market. NVLS and LRCX will each supply half the solution. ATMI will most likely be selling the high margin chemicals used in the process. NVLS would be my second choice out of the group. |
