Happy New Year

[Gadget] Two More Satellite Radio Stocks

Satellite Radio is becoming a billion dollar market with millions of subscribers added every year. However this hot market is dominated by only two company, Sirius Satellite Radio(SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio(XMSR). For investors there are probably not much choices if they want to invest in Salitellite Radio related stocks. Yet if you do further investigation you'll find the following two companys related to this billion dollar business.

• RF Monolithics Inc. (RFMI): the Dallas, TX based wireless components maker is providing component for both satellite radio giant - XMSR and SIRI. The rapid growth of the satellite radio market should benefit this company. Although the stock price has been beaten down badly to the near 52 week low of $5.25 per share, massive insiders buying this month should indicate the sharehoder and top executives are bullish of the company's outlook.
• On2 Technologies Inc. (ONT): the Clifton Park, NY based video compression technology firm is in partnership with XM Satellite Radio for the new satellite video which should be another big hit for the already red hot satellite radio industry. The company is still a penny stock trading at $1.1 per share today. The stock has been off the 52 week low of $0.57 per share in September and has since gained more than 100%. If the new satellite video become another billion dollar business, see the penny stock goes wild in the next few years.

[Foreign]More Brazil Stocks

Brazil is definitely the country on the rise along with the other three of BRIC four countries - Russia, India and China. Last Tuesday we have introduced the ETF and four stocks, two related to steel and two banks from Brazil. Today we'll introduce more Brazil ADRs from different sectors.

• Petroleo Brasileiro(PBR): the Big Oil of Brazil operates in oil exploration and development, oild supply, natural gas and power. The state-run company is based in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazil capital. The stock was down 2% today despite a new discovery of new giant oil field. The stock has gained more than 60% this year and is now trading near all time high at $68.77 per share with P/E ratio of 8.84 relatively cheap compare with other Big Oil companies such as Exxon Mobil which has P/E ratio of 10.54 and BP with P/E ratio of 11.31.
• Companhia Siderurgica Nacional(SID): the Sao Paulo based integrated steel producer sells its product to Brazil and 61 other countries in North America, Europe and Asia. The stock is trading at $21.36 per share with P/E ratio of 5.44, compare with 10.75 of RIO and 7.1 of GGB. The company has consistant revenue and income growth for the past 3 years.

[Buzz] Christmas Shopping

Christmas shopping is one of the biggest event of the year. The pre-Christmas shopping is for people to get the perfect holiday gift for friends or family while post-Christmas shopping is for discount hunter to grab anything before the holiday sale is over.

After visiting the local shopping malls, I found quite a bit of crowd in the following shops.

• Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) : this is an apparel store with style. The store is focusing on the young generation but has differentiated itself from shops of similar age group like GAP and Old Navy with a more slacky style merchandises. The big line up on pre-Christmas shopping day should indicate a plus sign for the store's holiday sale. The stock were off its 52 week high recently. Yet the recent drop in share has made the stock attractive for new coverage.
• Target Corp. (TGT): went to a local Target store today, the first day of post-Christmas shopping and the place was jam-packed with shoppers. The Minneapolis, MN based discount retailer targeting higher-end family is still upbeat for the December same store sales. Analysts are predicting on average the stock to hit $64 per share, almost $10 appreciation from current trading price.

[Hot Gadget]More Xbox 360 Stock

Today for the hot gadget stock we are adding one more stock to the Xbox 360 stock list. Interestingly the stock is a penny stock which now trades at only $0.80 per share. The penny company is Mad Catz Interactive(MCZ), a San Diego, CA based game accessories and software maker for major game console such as Nitendo, Sony PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast and Xbox.

On Thursday, December 22, Microsoft and Mad Catz signed an agreement in which Mad Catz will become an official software publisher for Microsoft Xbox video game and entertainment system for Microsoft in North America and Europe. The agreement allow Mad Catz to publish games carrying Xbox logo and endorsement by Microsoft. Such an agreement means so much to a company that is trading under a dolloar per share with market cap of only $43.4 million. In addition the agreement should bring big boost to the slowly increasing revenue which records $112 million dollars as of March this year.

The stock was up as high as 30% after the announcement but profit taking keep the stock attractive under a dollar. With stock still trading at 52 week low, look for more upside for the stock.

You may visit the game accessories maker's online store to get a more detail understanding of the product.

[New Technology]Hydrogen Cell

The big hike in gasoline price this year has impacted many people finacially and has turned many people into public transportation. Although crude oil price has retreat from the year high of over $70 per barrel down to $60 per barrel, high gasoline price is here to stay. As there are more and more worries on decreasing oil reserve, governments and corporates have take initiatives to find alternative energy resources to counter the energy crisis which will come eventually. One of the most popular alternative energy resource is solar which we discussed in previous post. Today we will introduce another alternative energy resource - hydrogen energy.

Hydrogen is considered a clean energy source as it is colorless, orderless, tasteless and notoxic. The energy is reusable and is environmental friendly. This is why governmenet is also pusing for wider use of this alternative energy source. The followings are some players in hygrogen energy:

• Distributed Energy System (DESC): the Wallingford, CT based company engages in the development of hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen generators. It is also developing hydrogen fueling stations for hydrogen powered car. The stock has surged from $2.35 in January this year to as high as $10.7 in November.
• Hydrogenics Corp. (HYGS): the Ontario, Canada based company is developing hydrogen fuel cell for transit buses and personal vehicles. The stock, however didn't perform as well as the hype as it is now trading at 52 week low of $2.67 per share.
• Millennium Cell(MCEL): the Eatontown, NJ based company develops hydrogen fuel cells to be used in miliary vehicles, medical devices, GPS and more. Take a look at the company's website for the wide range of market of the fuel cell. The stock is also under pressure recently from more than $2.8 per share in August to $1.47 today, a 50% discount.

Mover of the Day

The mover of the day is Micromuse(MUSE), a San Franscisco based enterprise network management software maker. The stock surged 37% to $9.92 per share as IBM agreed to acquire Micromuse for $10 per share. The stock is the sixth most traded on Nasdaq with 39 millions shares traded and also the top gainer.

[Foreign]The B of BRIC Countries - Brazil Stocks

In previous articles we have talked about India and China, the I and C countries of the famous BRIC countries. Today we will take a look at the stocks from the first of the BRIC - Brazil.

According to the BRIC report prepared by Goldman Sach, Brazil is a rising market where in 2025 its economy will overtakes Italy, France by 2031 and UK and Germany by 2036. Just like the other three, Brazil is rich in natural resources. However the country's growth lags behind the other three and have growth obstacles such as less open trade, lower savings and investment and highter public and foreign debt according to the report.

Here are some of of Brazil based companys worth mentioning that are traded under US stock exchange:

Sector - Basic Material

• Companhia Vale do rio Doce(RIO): the company engages in iron ore mining with exploration in Brazil, Gabon, Chile, Mozambique, Mongolia, Argentina and Peru. In addition the company operates logistics system such as railroads and ports to be integrated with the mining operation. The stock has been on steady rise since 2003 and has been giving out cash dividend every half year. The company also has continues increase in revenue and income for the past three years.
• Gerdau S.A. (GGB): although in the same industry (Steel & Iron) as RIO, the company focus on distribution of crude steel and related products. The company markets its products in Brazil, United States, Canada, Chile and to a lesser extent, in Argentina and Uruguay. The company is 104 years old and has been on the US stock exchange since March, 1999. The stock is showing strength recently from low of $9 per share in July to $16 per share today.

Sector - Financial

• Banco Itau Holding Financeria S.A. (ITU): the Brazilian financial giant offers banking services to individuals and corporations in Brazil and internationally. The 60 year old company has total of 2,290 branches in Brazil as of June, 2005. The stock has consistantly performed well since May last year and is now trading at $23.52 today, about $10 more than a year ago.
• Banco Bradesco S.A. (BBD): this other Brazilian banking King Kong operates 2917 branches in Brazil, about 700 more than the rival ITU. The fiancial giant is showing steady revenue and income growth for the past three years. The stock is trading at $29 per share now, a 100% increase from last year and is distributing dividend every month.

Fund and ETF

• iShares MSCI Brazil Index (EWZ): if you prefer a more diversified portfolio, you can also invest in this ETF which tracks MSCI Brazil Index. Although considered as a diversified investment, the ETF still gives a juicy return of more than 50% for this year.

[trend]Country of Seniors

Which country is full of seniors? Well probably we don't want to admit it but as the baby boomers, who are now between the age of 40 and the age of 60, are getting older and older and birth rate keeps declining, very soon United States may become the old country like Japan and some European countries.

This trend of growing senior citizens gives us some idea to take a look at a industry which is somehow related to the daily life of seniors - the senior housings. Most senior housings today provide extra services such as nursing, home care, daily meals and transportation. In addition social and recreational activities help seniors adjust to retirement life easier with new friends.

Some of the senior housings stocks we have noticed are:

• Capital Senior Living(CSU): the Dallas, Texas based company owns, operates, develops and manages senior living communities throughout United States. Ending last year the company operated 54 senior living communities in 20 states. The stock has been doing well this year from $5 in January to $10 today, a 100% gain. The stock is still trading bullish above 50 day and 200 day moving average.
• American Retirement Corp.(ACR): the Brentwood, TN based company operates about 67 senior living communities in 14 different states. It operates total of thirteen thousands units which could host total of fifteen thousand residents. The stock price gained 150% from the January low of $10 per share to $25 per share today.
• Emeritus Corp. (ESC): the Seattle, WA based firm operates residential style communities for senior citizens. The company has interests in 182 communities in 34 different states as of March this year. The stock has been doing well from the low of $9 per share in January to $18.94 per share today, a 100% appreciation.
• Sunrise Senior Living (SRZ): the Mclean, VA based company provides senior living services with operations in United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Germany, all of them facing increasing senior populations. It operates total of 402 communnities with 385 in US, 10 in Canada, 5 in UK and 2 in Germany. The stock has been on steady rise since mid 2003.

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[Policy] Border Fence and Border Security

Today the House approved the building of the fence along US-Mexico border to prevent millions of illegal immigrants from the south. The US-Mexico border is about 2000 miles long so it will definitely require a lot of time and resource to complete the fence. It will be interesting to see which companys will benefit from the construction of the fences.

Nevertheless border security, especially along the 2500 miles long US-Mexico border, has been the top agenda for the Bush administration. To cut down and control illegal immigrants, policies such as temporary worker program was brought up as a beginning of more serious action against the thousands and millions of illegal immigrants who went across the US-Mexico border every year.

Last week the House passed bill to tighten immigration laws and border security such as fence building. The passing of the immigration bill could mean more and more action from government in regards to border security. As an investor government policy such as this one should signal new investment opportunities. Companies focusing on border security would definitely be the ones that benefits the most. Here we found some companies listed in the US stock exchange that focus on national security esepecially on border security.

• Viisage Technology(VISG): the company focus its business on identity solution such as biometrics for civil identification, criminal identification and border management. The company provides document authentication system to automatically analyze travel and identity documents such as passport, visa and INS immigration card. Increase border security would make this company crucial in the process of implementing the Bush administration's new policy. The stock has been doing well since boucing from 52 week low of $2.57 per share back in April.
• IPIX Corp. (IPIX): besides identity scannig, another important part of border security is surveillance. The Reston, VA based IPIX Corp is providing security cameras for border security. Although the stock hasn't done well for the past 52 week as it is now trading at the 52 week low of $2.05 per share, you should expect some smart investors probably have already put the stock under their radars as border security get tighten up.

New Technology Day

Today is the new technolog day for the blog. As you know we have been reporting stock in different category each day of the Week with Monday on trend or buzz, Tuesday on foreign market, today on technology and tomorrow on gadget. Come back later today for the stocks regarding a new technology.

Mover of the day

8x8 Inc (EHGT) is still enjoying the Cynderalla ride after the announcement of the Bellsouth contract. The stock is up 18% and is among the heaviest traded on Nasdaq with 11,674,511 shares traded.

[Foreign]The Next Big Economy Powerhouse - India

The BRIC Nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China have gained the spotlight as the emerging economic locomotives in the 21 century and have drawn investment away from the traditional G8 - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom the United States of America, and Russia. After covering China in the previous article, it should be interesting to look another emerging mega-market from Asia's Economic Twin Towers - India.

With a significant drop in poverty rate and strong economic growth last year - 6.1%, third fastest behind China(8.8%) and Russia(8%), India is now bringing more opportunites to the investors instead of risk. With the collaboration rescue effort with long time rival Pakistan in Kashmir on October, 2005, the biggest investment risk seems to be eased. Now it seems to be a good time to invest in India.

Cheap labor? No. Not just that. Actually India is so rich with talent in industry such as Information Technology that giant software firms such as IBM has established development centers there. IBM and its Global Serivce Unit, focusing on IT outsourcing, has been getting profits every year by moving IT works from US to low cost yet high talent pool such as India.

Since IT outsourcing is one of India's major business, as a investor, you will want to take a look at the following big IT India based outsourcing firms when you want to invest in India.

• Infosys Technology (INFY): the Bangalore based consulting and IT services company has total of 36,800 employees worldwide in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific region. The revenue has increased 50% every year in from 2003 to 2005 based on the recent income statement with net income almost doubled every year around the same period. The stock is trading at the 52 week high of $77 per share and should be going strong as the stock price is trading above both 50 and 200 day moving average.
• Wipro Ltd. (WIT): rivalry to Infosys providing IT consulting and outsourcing services with sales locations in United States, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Sweden and United Kingdom. The Bangalore based IT service firm has total of 46,500, more than Infosys and is generating close to 2 billions in revenue as recorded on March this year, 300 millions more than Infosys. However the stock is trading at $11 per share and should be expected to go strong entering the new year.

Besides the IT outsourcing powerhouse, the following India based companys should also be doing well in terms of stock price entering the year 2006.

• Tata Motors (TTM): Mumbai based commercial vehicle producers focusing on affordable automobiles. It is basically the GM or Ford of India. With the decreasing in poverty rate and increasing in per capita, more and more people in India should be able to afford buying the luxury commodity which eventually should become an everyday commodity such as in United States. The price is trading at 52 week high of $13 per share so get the stock into your portfolio before it is too late.
• ICICI Bank (IBN): being the largest bank in India, the Mumbai based ICICI Bank has drawn many smart investors already as the stock was trading from it's all time low of $2.85 per share in October 2001 to $27 per share today. In addition to such an aggressive growth, the company is also giving out annual dividend of $0.39 in August, roughly 1.5% yield. With the growing economy we should expect this stock to at least doubled from the curernt value in the future.
• Rediff.com (REDF): the Mumbai based online information, entertainment and shopping service provider. Take a look at the web site if you are interested in topics related to India. Don't worry the site is in English. Although just employeeing 252 staffs, the stock listed as small cap has been doing realy well this year rising from $6 per share to $20 per share today, a 200% gain.
• Sify Ltd. (SIFY): the Chennai based company provides e-commerce services and network services for corporates in India. It also offers Internet access and online portal and content services. Ending March 31, 2005, Sify had 800,000 internet subscribers. Think of it as the AOL of India. The stock has been bullish since October this year and is still going up strong.

[Trend]Embracing Colder Winter and Higher Gas

Still remember the movie "Day after tomorrow"? The sci-fi thriller simulates the devastating result of continuing climb in temperature due to global warming such as severe tornado hit and gigantic snow storms. The fact is it probably won't happen so quickly. However scientists are still worrying the current rate of carbon dioxide buring to the atmosphere may eventually triggerred the devastating climate changes that were shown in the movie although would occur gradually. This year we are beginning to see some of the climate changes. For instance this year in Florida we are seeing record number of hurrican with more servere damage such as Katrina (although part of the reason of the tradegy is due to bureaucracy).

More recently another climate which is taking place is colder winter. The recent servere snow storms have caused troubles in northeastern United States and Texas. We are still in the beginning of the winter and to survive the long and cold winter more heating gas is needed for every household. As gas utility charge have hiked dramatically recently (50% in California), this makes a group of stocks really interesting to watch, the gas utilities. Since the snow storm is currently hitting the northeastern states, the list only contains gas utility companies in these states.

• Chesapeake Utilities(CPK) - Maryland, Delaware, Florida - continuous growth in annual revenue
• Equitable Resources Inc. (EQT) - West Virginia, Kentuky - trading near 5w week high
• National Fuel Gas (NFG) - New York, Pennsylvania - the stock has rose more than 10% since mid November
• New Jersey Resources (NJR) - New Jersey, New England - back from 52 week low of $42 per share
• Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY) - North Carolina, South Carolina - the stock is coming off 52 week low of $22 per share.
• South Jersey Industries (SJI) - New Jersey - the stock is on a rally recently from $27 per share to $30 per share
• Southern Union (SUG) - Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Missouri - the stock has just bouned off its 52 week low of $22 per share

Portfolio Performance - December 11

Since started in November 3, Smart Stock Investment has covered the following stocks according to our innovative categories: Shopping Mall Hidden Gem, Bird/Avian Flu Vaccine, Tamiflu, Halloween, New Technolog(Solar, Nanotechnology, VOIP), Harry Potter, Hot Gadget(Tivo, iPod, Satellite Radio, iRobot, Xbox 360), Thanksgiving(Turkey, Black Friday, Cyber Monday), Foreign(China , Taiwan) stocks. Here's a summary of how these stocks ending 12/9/2005.

Shopping Mall Hidden Gem (Invest Since 11/9/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
BBW / 31.00 / 25.27 / +22.68%
Overall +$573 +22.68% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Bird Flu Vaccine (Invest Since 11/8/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
CHIR / 44.54 / 44.19 / +0.79%
NVS / 53.08 / 54.33 / -2.3%
SNY / 41.82 / 40.68 / +2.8%
MEDI / 34.16 / 34.93 / -2.2%
GSK / 50.67 / 53.09 / -4.56%
NVAX / 4.07 / 3.905 / +4.23%
Overall -$278.5 -1.2% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Tamiflu (Invest Since 11/7/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
TEVA / 44.48 / 38.35 / +15.98%
BRL / 62.76 / 56.8 / +10.49%
MYL / 20.81 / 19.94 / +4.36%
Overall +$1296 +11.26% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Halloween (Invest Since 11/3/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
PCTY / 17.22 / 16.19 / +6.36%
BDAY / 13.58 / 12.9 / +5.27%
WMT / 48.08 / 47.57 / +1.07%
HSY / 55.67 / 56.4 / -1.29%
TR / 29.75 / 30.5 / -2.46%
Overall +74 +0.45% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

New Technology (VoIP stocks not included)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
NANX / 5.82 / 6.01 / -3.16%
NGEN / 2.86 / 2.91 / -1.72%
ALTI / 2.34 / 2.42 / -3.31%
PXN / 17.4 / 17.17 / +1.34%
ESLR / 11.7 / 11.2 / +4.46%
Overall +41 +1.03% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Harry Potter (Invest Since 11/14/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
TWX / 17.66/ 17.76 / -0.56%
CKEC/ 26.95 / 23.23 / +16.01%
RGC / 19.4 / 19.42 / -0.1%
Overall +360 +5.96% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Hot Gadget (Xbox 360 Stocks not included)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
AAPL/ 74.33 / 64.98 / +14.39%
SIRI/ 7.87 / 7.33 / +7.37%
IRBT / 30.73 / 36.51 / -15.83%
Overall +411 +3.78% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Thanksgiving
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
HRL/ 32.27 / 35.25 / -8.45%
WMT/ 48.08 / 50.49 / -4.77%
BBY / 50.16 / 50.63 / -0.93%
CC / 21.48 / 21.38 / +0.47%
CNET / 15.63 / 14.98 / +4.34%
EBAY / 43.42 / 45.37 / -4.3%
OSTK / 38.59 / 36.93 / +4.49%
ECST / 1.16 / 1.38 / -15.94%
Overall -562 -2.19% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

China (Invest Since 11/29/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
BIDU/ 75.84 / 76.39 / -0.72%
SNDA/ 15.36 / 18.38 / -16.43%
SOHU / 20.22 / 19.17 / +5.48%
Overall -252 -2.21% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

This week out of 9 stock portfolios we have 6 winning and 3 losing combinations instead of 2. The shopping mall gem is leading the way with 22% gain with Tamiflu stocks gaining about half as much at 11%. Besides Harry Potter stocks which still get 6% gain the others are all under 5% gain. However these portfolios have pick up more gains compare to last week. The one portfolio that falls into the red is China stocks which see both Baidu and Shanda with wider loss and average down the gains from Sohu. Although the loss for both Bird Flu and Thanksgiving stocks have widened, individual stock such as NVAX has made a dramatic comback from 12% loss to 4% gain. Other comback stock includes SIRI which went from 3% loss to 7% gain so far.

The winning stock this week is Build a Bear Workshop with 22% gain followed by Carmike Cinema's 16% gain. TEVA is picking up more strengh with 15.98% gain, up from 9.75% gain last week. Apple is making yet another week of strong performance with 14% gain, up from 10% last week. The worst performer this week is Chinese Game Maker with 16% loss.

EGHT jump 42% for the day and 73% after hour

The biggest mover today probably belongs to 8x8 (EGHT), the internet phone company who see its stock jumped 42% for the day and 73% after hour from $1.2 per share to $3 per share in just one day!! The company has won contract from Bellsouth and is expected to bring in great amount of revenue along with the big contract.

[Hot Gadget] Stylish Game Console - Xbox 360 Stocks

Recently I have checked some sites talking abou the top 10 holiday gadgets. Although you probably won't be expecting identical list from any two sites, some gadgets do pop up in all diffeernt list. One of those gadget is iPod, the most talked about gadget recently which I have covered two weeks ago. The other one which just released recently is Microsoft's(MSFT) Home Entertainment gadget - XBOX 360.

So is Microsoft the only company you can invest if you want to buy XBOX 360 related stocks? For sure Microsoft is expected to be the biggest winner of this hot gadget in the long run. Yes in the long run because the equipment itself cost so much that actually Microsoft is losing money for every XBOX console sold. The real meat only comes when the game producers will give Microsoft money for every game produced which will come a little bit later. Therefore the real winners in XBOX so far is not Microsoft but all the equipment suppliers for this game console.

The first real winner from XBOX is its graphic adaptor maker, nVDIA Corp(NVDA), a Santa Clara, CA based graphic processor maker. Looking at the 52 week performance of NVDA and you will see that the stock has outperformed MSFT with a large margin. And if you buy the stock at its bottom in September, 2004 around $10 per share you will be now enjoying a close to 300% return with the stock trading at $36 per share.

Another big winner is the game console's graphic processor maker, ATI Technologies(ATYT), a Canada based company. The stock have been bullish lately as the price has jumped from the 52 week low of $12 per share in September this year to $16 per share today, a 30% plus return.

XBOX is basically using Power PC processor which is produced by IBM(IBM). Although IBM is a blue chip and the stock seems expensive at $86 per share, however the stock was also doing well recently from $75 per share in July to $86 per share today, a 10% plus return which is amazing for a blue chip stock.

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It's Gadget Friday

Probably some of you have noticed lately that I have been writing articles in certain orders. Now Monday is the buzz word or new trend day followed by foreign emerging market Tuesday. Wednesday I will talked about stocks on the move while Thursday is new technology day. And on Friday we have the hot gadget day. During the weekend is normally the report card day as I'll review the stock portfolios I have covered and see who's on the rise and who's not doing well.

Today is the hot gadget day so wait and see what gadget I'll introduce.

[New Technology]Internet Phone Stocks

Still using local baby bell as your main telephone service providers? Still suffering from all the extra service fees and taxes that add on to your monthly phone bill from the phone service that charge you money for unlimited calls only to your neighbors? If all these bothers you and you are the person who need to make regular phone calls to your family on the other side of the continent, you probably want to do what many people are doing now - switching to internet phone.

Internet phone uses technology known as VoIP(Voice Over IP) in which voice communication is converted and transferred thru digital signal over the internet instead of traditional analog signal. So now you don't really need to subscribe to any regional bell telephone company as long as you have broadband services such as those provided by most cable company.

Currently there are three different ways of using this type of technology. First is to use an ATA or Analog Telephone Adaptor which is a box for you to connect your ordinary phone to the VOIP network. Second is to use specialize phone called IP Phone thru VOIP service provider. Third is also to use IP Phone but to connect with another IP Phone directly.

So why use VOIP? The primary reason for people and business to switch to VOIP service is lower cost. Instead of having data service on internet and voice service on analog phone line now both data and voice are on the broadband which eliminate the need of leasing the analog line. Secondly it can be nearly as flexible as cell phone. For instance if you are on a business trip you may still use your IP phone to receive phone call whenever there's internet connection available.

Enough of the technicals, now let's take a look at the companys that engage in VoIP business. For instance Level 3 Communications (LVLT), a communication s and information services provider, is offering softswitch services including wholesale and consumer voice-over-IP component services. The stock prices which has been beaten down for the past few years has picked up some strength in the past few months and was on a 150% rally from $2 per share in September to $3.5 per share in November.

Another big player in VOIP in Sonus Network(SONS) which develop switching and equipment for voice service to be delivered via over pack-based network. The stock is now trading near its 52 week low and will need to go thru at least a month of bottom build-up before becoming a more attractive buy. Other VOIP companys are:

• Delta Tree (DDDC): a VOIP service provider and also IP phone maker. The company's revenue has jumped from 2003 to 2004 and should be expected to grow again this year. The stock is trading near its 52 week low of $2.78 and should be an attractive long term investment
• Net2Phone (NTOP): the company offers various VOIP service to consumer and small to mid size business. Net2Phone provides PC-to-PC PC-to-Phone and PC-to-Fax service. The company reported a narrowing first quarter loss yesterday but the price didn't change much. The stock price should be ready for a big run in the next few months based on techical chart.
  
  

Stocks on the Move

After getting FDA approval for trial of experimental diabetes drug, Spherix Inc(SPEX) has seen its shares soared from $1.26 before the news announcement to as many as $5.85 this morning, a near 500% gain in just two days. The Beltsville, Maryland based company is developing drug to treat Type 2 diabetes, the most common diabetes.

Cisco System(CSCO), the leader in networking and communication product is the heaviest traded this morning in Nasdaq and is up 2% on JP Morgan upgrades and the acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta Inc(SFA). Shares of Cisco has been trading near 52 weeks low but may go thru some short term rally based on MACD indicator.

Shares of fabless semiconductor Sigmatel Inc. (SGTL) is down 12% today to $13.78 as analyst exepecting the fourth quarter revenue to fall at the lower end of the estimate. The weakening demand on the company's cell phone sound processors and competition from Apple's(AAPL) iPOD is contributing to the bearish analyst comment. The stock has been trading below both 50 day moving average and 200 day moving average and the price could fall further as the stock technical also showing weakness.

[Foreign] Investing Taiwan.

The foreign emerging market we will talk about today is Taiwan. Taiwan what? You mean Tailand? No. Taiwan. Many people mistaken Taiwan with Tailand. However this little known island, located near the south east coast of China and south of Japan, is a crucial and stradegic location for United States to hold off the Chinese military expanding control into the Pacific Ocean. It is a water way connecting Japan and Phillipines for the USSR Seventh Fleet to navigate. Political wise it's a democratic government yet is still recognized worldwide as part of the China.

The recent island wide municiple election turned out to be a postive sign for foreign investors as the conservative party has seized control over most part of the island. The conservative party has been trying to establish communication with Chinese communist government and should benefit the island's economic outlook.

If you are not familiar of Taiwan, you probably have heard of Yahoo(YHOO). The Chief Director of Yahoo, Jerry Yang, who co-founded the internet portal giant with David Filo in 1994, is a native from Taiwan. Other US entrepreneurs from Taiwan includes BroadVision(BVSN) chairman and CEO Pehong Chen.

Not only in US, the island itself also has some respectable globally known corporations which are traded in Nasdaq. Trend Micro(TMIC), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a Taiwanese company founded in 1988 by Taiwanese native Steve and Kenny Chang. The company is known by its award winning anti-virus detector PC-cillin. Another well known Taiwanese company in the semiconductor industry is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.(TSM), a leading wafer processing company founded by ex-Texas Instrument(TXN) VP Morris Chang. The company is located in Hsinchu Science Park, located 1 hour drive away from Taipei, which hosts a mega supply chain of semiconductor industry.

The semiconductor companys located in Hsinchu Science Park and are traded in Nasdaq include United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), a direct competitor with TSM and Macronix International(MXICY) and memory chip manufacturer. Another company located in the science park is AU Optronics(AUO), a leading manufacturer of transistor liquid crystal display panel(TFT-LCD), the popular new display technology on your laptop, PC monitor and living room mega TV.

In the south at Nantze Export Processing Zone in Kaoshiung seaport you have Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASX) which offers semiconductor packaging and testing service.

Not only in the semiconductor industry, the entertainment and broadband internet provider GigaMedia(GIGM) should offer you some investment alternative as Taiwan is seeing aggressive growth in internet population.

If you don't want to take the risk of investing in foreign operating companys you may put your money in iShare MSCI Taiwan Index(EWT), a more balanced yet ETF alternative which equals investing in top Taiwanese equities.

If you want to know more about Taiwan, you may visit my travel blog which talks about various travel destinations in Taiwan.

[Trend]ESPN on iTune - Shifting from Old to New Media

ESPN network, the sport cable network owned by Disney(DIS), is thinking of distributing programs on Apple's(AAPL) iTunes. As the music industry is gaining extra cash by having the music available on Apple's popular gadget iPOD, more and more media companies are paying attention to this new media gadget. Traditional media such as radio and tv no longer reach the majority audience as new technology such as satellite radio and internet have taken a big slice of time that were originally spent on the old media.

Comaparing the 1 year pstock performance of the old media versus the new media and you will get a clearer picture of how the business environment has changed.

Old Media

1. Viacom(VIA): The 52 week stock performance of this cable, tv and radio giant (the traditional media) have dropped from $36 per share to $34 per share. Not the end of the world for this stock. However you'll know the difference when you compare it with the new media stocks
2. News Corp.(NWS): Everyone know Sir Murdoch and his media giant which owns business in cable, tv, magazine, newspaper and recently satellite tv. However the investors haven't gave the traditional media giant any break as the stock price has dropped from $18 from beginning of this year to $15 today, a 16% discount.
3. Comcast(CMCSA): The Philadelphia based cable network company hasn't done well this year with stock price falling frim $32 in January to $27 today, a 15% drop.
4. Satellite TV(DISH, DTV): Every house is getting a satellite dish on the roof so satellite tv stocks must be doing well right? Well still considered as traditional media, both major satellite tv company EchoStar(DISH) and DirectTV(DTV) didn't win support from investors as EchoStar's stock price drop 18% this year to $26 per share while DirectTV also dipped from $16 at the beginning of this year to $13.5 per share today, a 15% loss.

While most traditional media company are going south, how about the new media company's? Well let's take a look.

New Media

1. Google(GOOG): Instead of passive information fetching by reading newspaper, watching tv or listening to radio, people are now prefering active information fetching by using search engine on the internet. Being the most popular search engine with many innovative service such as the famous Google Map, Google's stock price has done tremendously well. So instead of losing 15% average on traditional medias, investing the same amount of money on Google will give you a 100% return! Those who invested last September, when the stock was going IPO, is getting a juicy 400% return now! How many stocks can do that?
2. Apple(AAPL): After introducing iPOD, Steve Job had turned Apple Inc. from a traditional PC maker to a new media company. Investors are cheering for this dramatic turn around and have awarded the company with a one year stock performance of 100% gain and a 2 year stock performance with a monsterous 800% gain from $9 per share to $71 per share today.
3. Sirius(SIRI): Satellite Radio is attacking the market of the traditional radio industry such as Viacom with its quality service. This new market of satellite radio is still on the rise and is still seeing subscriber growth. Although the stock hasn't done well this year going from $8 to $7 per share, the two year stock performance is still a sizzling 350% gain from $2 to $7 per share.

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Portfolio Performance - December 4

Since started in November 3, Smart Stock Investment has covered the following stocks according to our innovative categories: Shopping Mall Hidden Gem, Bird/Avian Flu Vaccine, Tamiflu, Halloween, New Technolog(Solar, Nanotechnology), Harry Potter, Hot Gadget(Tivo, iPod, Satellite Radio, iRobot), Thanksgiving(Turkey, Black Friday, Cyber Monday) and China stocks. Here's a summary of how these stocks ending 12/2/2005.

Shopping Mall Hidden Gem (Invest Since 11/9/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
BBW / 27.95 / 25.27 / +10.61%
Overall +$268 +10.61% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Bird Flu Vaccine (Invest Since 11/8/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
CHIR / 44.3 / 44.19 / +0.25%
NVS / 53.3 / 54.33 / -1.9%
SNY / 41.46 / 40.68 / +1.92%
MEDI / 35.47 / 34.93 / +1.55%
GSK / 51.04 / 53.09 / -3.86%
NVAX / 3.42 / 3.905 / -12.42%
Overall -$213.5 -0.92% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Tamiflu (Invest Since 11/7/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
TEVA / 42.09 / 38.35 / +9.75%
BRL / 57.51 / 56.8 / +1.25%
MYL / 20.81 / 19.94 / +4.36%
Overall +$532 +4.62% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Halloween (Invest Since 11/3/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
PCTY / 17.24 / 16.19 / +6.49%
BDAY / 12.96 / 12.9 / +0.47%
WMT / 47.97 / 47.57 / +0.84%
HSY / 55.28 / 56.4 / -1.99%
TR / 30.29 / 30.5 / -0.69%
Overall +18 +0.11% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

New Technology
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
NANX / 5.95 / 6.01 / -1.00%
NGEN / 2.86 / 2.91 / -1.72%
ALTI / 2.35 / 2.42 / -2.89%
PXN / 17.04 / 17.17 / -0.76%
ESLR / 11.83 / 11.2 / +5.63%
Overall +32 +0.81% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Harry Potter (Invest Since 11/14/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
TWX / 18.27/ 17.76 / +2.87%
CKEC/ 26.86 / 23.23 / +15.63%
RGC / 20.1 / 19.42 / +3.5%
Overall +482 +7.98% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Hot Gadget
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
AAPL/ 72.63 / 64.98 / +11.77%
SIRI/ 7.12 / 7.33 / -2.86%
IRBT / 30.15 / 36.51 / -17.42%
Overall +108 +0.99% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Thanksgiving
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
HRL/ 32.98 / 35.25 / -6.44%
WMT/ 47.97 / 50.49 / -4.99%
BBY / 48.85 / 50.63 / -3.52%
CC / 21.45 / 21.38 / +0.33%
CNET / 15.69 / 14.98 / +4.74%
EBAY / 45.19 / 45.37 / -0.4%
OSTK / 40.43 / 36.93 / +9.48%
ECST / 1.33 / 1.38 / -3.62%
Overall -252 -0.98% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

China (Invest Since 11/29/2005)
Stock / Current / Start / Change(%)
BIDU/ 78.9 / 76.39 / +3.29%
SNDA/ 17.04 / 18.38 / -7.29%
SOHU / 20.19 / 19.17 / +5.32%
Overall +219 +1.92% (*buying 100 shares for each stock)

Please note that we have rearrange some stocks to more accurately reflect the true nature of the stocks. For instance iRobot is now part of the Hot Gadget stock as it is more a gadget rather than a technology. Instead new technology is now consisted of nanotechnology and solar energy stocks. We have added China stocks and Thanksgiving stocks recently. After the rearrangement we now have a total of nine differet portfolios, one more than last week. Out of the nine stock portfolios, seven of them are gaining money while two of them are losing money. The portfolios that are losing money are both losing less than 1% while more bullish portfolio such as Hidden Gem, Harry Potter and Tamiflu are gaining 10%, 8% and 5% respectively. Please also note that some portfolios have no begin investing date since the stocks in the portfolio have different starting investment date. You may check the article link to get above to find the exact coverage date.

The best performing stock overall is now Carmike Cinema(CKEC) with 15.63% gain followed by 11.77% gain from Hot Gaget iPOD maker Apple(AAPL). Build a Bear Workshop has fall back to only 10% gain while Tamiflu manufacture TEVA is holding a 9.75% gain.

[Hot Gadget] Watching TV?

Did you miss last night's episode of The Apprentice because you had to work late? Or you couldn't watch Thanksgiving Day football while you were at your parents house for Thanksgiving dinner?

TIVO
Well guess what, not anymore. Because the hot gadget we are going to introduce today, called DVR, stands for Digital Video Recorder, will let you record the shows you have missed while you are away. Even more with this innovative service offered by TiVo Inc.(TIVO), you would use search-engine like feature to find your favorite show, transfer the recorded show to you laptop and burn the show to DVD. You probably have been using your VCRs to record your favorite TV show. However the recording features that TiVo can offer are so robust that thousands of people, 379,000 from Direct TV(DTV) and 55,000 from its own, have already signed up for the 12.9 per month service in the prior quarter.

Financial
Looking at the financial part of TiVo, the company's Cash Flow shows a postive income in the third quarter, compare to net loss in the prior three quarters. However the stock price is off the 52 weeks high of $7 per share and is now trading at $5.64 per share. The slow down in subscription growth probably has somewhat hurt the stock. Nevertheless the end of year is normally a time when gadgets are getting the high sale volumn. With the stock now climb back from it's 3 month low, look for more upside at least till the beginning of next year.

If you are interested in getting a DVR, there's plenty of them to choose from on eBay including the one offerred by TiVo. Another way to get a DVR is to subscribe to DISH Network Satellite TV service.

[New Technology] Nano Technology Stock

Ever heard of nanotechnology? Don't think of it as a technology from outter space. Basically it is the technology of producing things in nanometer scale, a scale so small that human eyes can't see it. So how big is one nanometer? Being a math expert I found out that one nanometer is about one thousand times less than one micrometer. Still no clue? Let me give you something you probably will know better. Basically 6 micrometer is the diameter of your red blood cell. So 1 nanometer is about 6000 times smaller than the width of your blood cell. I would bet no one will be able to see anything the size of one nanometer unless using microscope.

If you want to know more about nanotechnology, I would suggest you to check Wikipedia in which there's a detail definition and usage of nanotech. Enough of boring science now that's talk about stuff that's more interesting - the nano technology stocks.

The first application of nanotechnology is for basic material. Altair Nanotechnologies(ALTI), a Reno Nevada based basic material manufacturer, is manufacturing nano sized ceremic material to be used in commercial applications such as battery materials, thermal spray, photo-catalytic activity, algae mitigation and air purification. The stock is trading at $2.41 per share and could be a steal if the technology takes off.

Nanophase Technologies(NANX) is another company engages in nanomaterial called nanocrystalline. The material is to be used in commercial application such as abrasion resistant coatings, deodorant, foot powder, fuel cells, glass polishing, oral care, sunscreen, semiconductor polishing, textile fiber and more. The technology can be applied to a wide range of industries which is why the nanotechnology stocks have the most growth potential in the next decade. The stock is still trading around $6 per share and is considerably cheap.

The pharmaceutical industry is also a popular place using nanotechnology. Company like American Phamarceutical Partners(APPX), has the right of selling ABRAXANE, a proprietary nanoparticle injectable oncology product for cancer treatment. The stock is off its 52 weeks high at $36 per share and will probably go thru some correction.

Of course this promising next generation technology isn't hiding away off the radar from blue chip companies. For instance 3M Co.(MMM), famous for its convenient Post-It, is under research and development of nanotechnology related application. In addition DuPont(DD) is also exploring the usage of nanotechnology such as DNA sorting. Both of these blue chip stocks are still relatively cheap and are less volatile.

One nanotech related stock which many day traders are eyeing on is mPhase Technologies(XDSL.OB). The Norwalk, CT based company is developing Nano-Based batteries and is trading just 0.17 per share. Imagine of the investment return you will get if the company ever gets to more than a dollar per share.

If you are interested in more nanotech related stocks, you can get the Nanatech Report from Forbes which has more detail analysis.