Use Market Volatility As "Entry Portals" To Buy
Bargain Tech Stocks, Top Portfolio Manager Advises
Investors
Serge, when Stephens is downgrade PAIR people buy when he is upgrade PAIR we sell...
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 3, 1998--Successful technology stock investors
believe in the long-term prospects of the industry and use short-term market volatility as ''entry portals'' to scoop up the best
stocks at depressed prices, according to a leading technology fund manager.
''This sector has big mood swings,'' said Kevin Landis, co-founder of Firsthand Funds of San Jose (www.firsthandfunds.com)
and portfolio manager of the Technology Value (NASDAQ:TVFQX - news), Technology Leaders (NASDAQ:TLFQX -
news) and Technology Innovators Funds. ''It's an emotional pendulum that goes back and forth. On one mood swing, investors
get scared of the volatility and can't get out fast enough. On the next, investors get anxious because technology means growth
and they don't want to be left out.
''If you believe in technology, that over the next five or ten years these companies will grow faster than the economy and
prosper, then you employ new capital on dips in these shares,'' Landis said. ''You have to be very careful, of course. I just
hope other investors have finished panicking in my stocks. I think the worst is over, but you can never be sure.''
Landis is a keynote speaker at Sunday Nov. 8's Second Annual Informed Investors Electronics & Technology Stocks Forum
at San Diego's Radisson/Mission Valley. In addition, the Forum features analyst-style presentations from executives of eight
publicly-held technology companies and an opening keynote address from Theodore O'Neill, semiconductor analyst at
Boston-based Needham & Co (www.needhamco.com). It's a full day of information geared for individual investors interested
in technology stocks.
The Forum runs from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Cost to attend, which includes continental breakfast, is $20 prepaid, and $30 at the
door. Audio tapes of the entire Forum are available for $48.95. Individual company tapes are $18. A transcript of O'Neill's
and Landis' remarks will be available for $25. Call Informed Investors at 800/992-4683 to register, order tapes or for
additional information. Also, check informedinvestors.com for updates.
The presentations can also be heard either live or archived on the Internet through Vcall. Access Vcall's site at www.vcall.com
for details.
''With the technology sector rebounding off its lows of early October, it's a good time for investors to be updated on
technology and stocks,'' said Tim Quast, chief operating officer of Informed Investors. ''Bellwether issues such as Intel
(NASDAQ:INTC - news), Lucent (NYSE:LU - news), Advanced Micro (NYSE:AMD - news), IBM (NYSE:IBM - news)
and Micron Technology (NYSE:MU - news) are acting a lot better lately. And the Internet sector is heating up again led by
AOL (NYSE:AOL - news), Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO - news), E-Bay (NASDAQ:EBAY - news) and others. The $64
question is whether this momentum will continue or falter.''
Presenting executives are: Bob Teresi, Chairman and CEO, and Blanche Sutter, CFO, Caere Corp. (NASDAQ:CAER -
news); Ed Winn, VP/Finance and CFO, TriQuint Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TQNT - news); Frank Emery, VP/Corp.
Planning, Watkins-Johnson (NYSE:WJ - news); Craig Collins, VP/Finance and CFO, Optical Coating Lab (NASDAQ:OCLI
- news); Paul Russo, CEO, Genesis Microchip (NASDAQ:GNSSF - news); Stephen Yount, CFO, Interlinq Software
(NASDAQ:INLQ - news); Larry Bestor, CEO, ATI Networks (OTCBB:ATIW - news) and Mark Brecher, MicroMem
Technologies, formerly Avanticorp (OTCBB:AVTL - news).
Landis will give his outlook on tech stocks, from the communications sector to the PC industry to semiconductor equipment
makers. While technology inexorably marches forward, the timing of being invested in specific stocks is key for long-term
success, he says. Landis has been a top performer among fund managers from the inception of Technology Value Fund in May,
1994 through mid-1998 with gains of approximately 40% compounded annually.
As of Sept. 30, the top 15 holdings in the Technology Value Fund were: PMC Sierra (NASDAQ:PMCS - news), Applied
Micro Circuits (NASDAQ:AMCC - news), Level One (NASDAQ:LEVL - news), Avanti (NASDAQ:AVNT - news),
Centocor (NASDAQ:CNTO - news), Immunex (NASDAQ:IMNX - news), Adaptec (NASDAQ:ADPT - news), Arterial
Vascular Engineering (NASDAQ:AVEI - news), Integrated Process Equipment (NASDAQ:IPEC - news), Endosonics
(NASDAQ:ESON - news), Medco Research (AMEX:MRE - news), Endocardial Solutions (NASDAQ:ECSI - news),
Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX - news), Guidant (NYSE:GDT - news) and HCIA Inc. (NASDAQ:HCIA - news). Other
notable holdings in Technology Value Fund include Celeritek (NASDAQ:CLTK - news), Affymetrix (NASDAQ:AFFX -
news), Cymer (NASDAQ:CYMI - news) and Pargain Technologies (NASDAQ:PAIR - news).
O'Neill focuses on the semiconductor industry for Needham. Among the companies he covers are: Applied Science and
Technology (NASDAQ:ASTX - news); ATMI (NASDAQ:ATMI - news); Brooks Automation (NASDAQ:BRKS - news);
Emcore (NASDAQ:EMKR - news); FSI International (NASDAQ:FSII - news); Helix Technology (NASDAQ:HELX -
news); SpeedFam (NASDAQ:SFAM - news); and Semitool (NASDAQ:SMTL - news). Other companies O'Neill follows
either himself or together with fellow Needham analyst Leonard Sanders include: Align-Rite (NASDAQ:MASK - news); ASM
Lithography (NASDAQ:ASMLF - news); Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU - news); Dupont Photomasks (NASDAQ:DPMI -
news); and Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - news).
Since 1993, Sacramento-based Informed Investors has featured scores of quality companies and industry experts at its
Forums.
Quan Nguyen |
