Video Animation: Mark Bohr Gets Small: 22nm Explained

http://youtu.be/YIkMaQJSyP8

Intel CEO: U.S. faces looming tech decline

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20014563-38.html#ixzz1BMAPnzv9

Competitiveness and jobs

Has America lost its competitiveness? And is this why jobs are migrating offshore?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/opinion/03friedman.html?hp#

The other side of calls and puts...

Most speculators buy calls and puts, looking to earn exponential returns if they guess right on the movement of shares. Reading charts and using technical analysis, as well as exercising discipline and pricing models are pre-requisites in order to succeed. A great sense of timing--and luck help.

I normally don't like to do it, but selling covered calls is actually a conservative strategy to increase income and overall returns, so I've been known to utilize that strategy occasionally.

And I've never entertained selling puts--until now. Due to high volatility (as measured by the volatility index) and extreme uncertainty in the markets, options premiums have been astronomical. Hence, I sold a few puts on INTC, collecting the premiums, and lowering my entry point on Intel shares, should they dip below my strike price. If they don't hit, I still keep the premiums. Not a bad way to make money by doing nothing and standing pat.

And if the world were to end tomorrow, people will still go on-line, so Intel will be one of the strong brands that will be left standing. They have dominant market share, a strong cash position, no debt, and high margins. I like them at the present price, but I like 'em even more if the price falls further.

Why Obama will win...

Obama is more media-friendly, specifically internet-savvy. He owns the youth vote (I've read up to 92% of young voters in urban centers), and one could argue he's younger and resonates with the youth better than McCain. I would drill down deeper and say he had better technical advisors, leveraging the internet to his benefit, while McCain ran a more traditional campaign. McCain is out of touch with America and especially the youth.

As a proponent of technology, I may be overstating its role in this election, but I could also make a very compelling argument that the US defeated the USSR in the cold war because of our smart investments in technology. Due to our capitalist system, we were able to launch smarter, more powerful weapons of destruction. How? The transistor, the precursor to today's high-intellectual content of semiconductors. Russia had a huge lead on us in Physics (they were first to launch humans into space, for instance), but our country fostered an environment conducive to innovation, as we allowed Moore's Law to produce smaller, faster, and most importantly, cheaper processing power. Hence, our bombs and missiles were more precise. We not only outspent the Russians, we were more precise in our investments. They had to inevitably declare "Uncle"--we tapped them out.

While they were playing around with glass tubes, Intel was busy producing CPU's cheap enough and powerful enough to house more processing power in one chip than in a whole Univac machine back in the day.

Much like the former Soviet Union, McCain never had a chance. The problem is whether we learn from our "win", because Russia and the rest of the eastern Europe certainly has learned from their "loss".

We need to keep developing the next great mousetraps, whether it's in nanotechnology, a cancer cure, genetic bio-indicators of disease, sustainable technology ("greening" our ecosystem), etc. We not only have to make things smaller, faster, and cheaper, but we also need to make them consume less power.

Who stands to benefit from this? Buy Intel. They've created a moat around their business, continually road-killing potential competitors. Their huge market capitalization makes them an unlikely 25% gainer per anum, but it's a play on America's future.

The market may tank more short- and mid-term, but when the dust is settled, Intel will be standing. No one else can power your laptop like Intel can. Of course, please consult your investment advisor, as any investment has risk. This is not a solicitation to purchase stock. This is just what I've done personally, as I hope to live another 40 years. As a non-real estate professional, certain areas seem pretty cheap long-term also. Not sure where the bottom is, but I would hope we're close to it. Although, hope is no strategy.

I'm out of MS for a tidy profit

Morgan Stanley shares were actually up over 80% at the end of the trading day yesterday, and were up big again today, as a certain Japanese bank thinks they're worth $25. I got the cue, hit my target, and sold for a 100% gain in less than a week. I am normally not a trader, but this one was too sweet to pass up.

I'll stick with my INTC position and scour for companies with dominant market share, plenty of cash, and a solid balance sheet. The market still has a lot of pain to endure over the next couple years, but there are bargains out there if you are looking for long-term value.

Good huntin'.

I screwed up...

I violated my rule of not trying to catch a falling knife, and nibbled at shares of Morgan Stanley--I'm down 25% in ONE day, and was actually down even further intraday. Of course, MS is already down over 90%, so at least I avoided the majority of the decline.

I also nibbled on INTC, and am down 10%--still manageable, as this will be a long-term play--INTC has plenty of cash, market share, and a competitive advantage in their manufacturing processes, which gives them pricing power. Hence, they are killing their only remaining viable competitor, AMD, which announced they are pursuing the fabless model. Going fabless frees up cash (a state of the art fab costs up to $4 billion these days), enables agility in fast-moving markets, but you lose control over your manufacturing process, and your variable costs can spiral out of control, especially during allocation (tight supply).

INTC will test their 52-week highs within a year. I really should have stuck to what I know--semiconductors, vs. credit default swaps (I'm not sure anyone understands how to value cds's--which is exactly why we're in the mess we're in).

Lesson learned.