A few week-ending thoughts
It has been a pretty interesting week for me in the market. A couple things I'm thinking about:
As I wrote last night, Jack Byrne potentially leaving as chairman of Overstock (OSTK) worries me. I'd like to see more than just this Wall Street Journal article that quotes him as saying he'll "think about it", however ... will see if I can hold on for long enough to get a more definitive answer, or if I decide that it's just not worth it to watch OSTK decline.
I'm thinking about giving Irobot (IRBT) a chance. I've been critical of them and their products since their IPO, don't remember if that criticism was in this space or not, but now I'm thinking that perhaps they have something worth investigating. I think the Scooba is doomed to failure as a floor cleaning robot, and I still am very skeptical of the Roomba even though it certainly has a huge cohort of fans, but maybe I'm thinking of this the wrong way. I listened to the CEO on the radio and found his arguments fairly compelling -- the company is focused on practicality and cost effectiveness in robotics, which certainly makes sense. After all, the stuff on the Jetsons is almost all available to us right now ... if we're billionaires. It's IRBT who has brought the first significant robotic tool for a humdrum daily task into our homes at a reasonable price, so perhaps I shouuld look into it with a less jaundiced eye. I also am convinced that their military robots might show some real promise. Hopefully I'll have a chance to read up on the company in the near future.
CV Therapeutics (CVTX) has had a rough week after earnings -- their lost a little more than expected, which is not a huge cause for concern since they're transitioning to building a sales force, but analysts are sounding warning bells that Ranexa's uptake in the market may be slower than folks are expecting. If it's just "slow", then I might see an opportunity to add to my shares this year before Merlin results hopefully allow for an expanded label ... if it's "slow" because there are actual concerns about the drug in the marketplace among cardiologists that could be a cause for actual concern. We'll see.
And I'm wondering why Formfactor (FORM), a company that has had a huge run, is filing for a secondary share offering that could pull in about $200 million at today's share price. They've got about $5 a share in cash already as far as I can tell and no debt, and they've already completed a large new facility ... I'd hate to see them diluting our shares just because they know they can get a good price for them today, but if they have plans in mind for expansion or acquisitions I'd be interested to hear them.
And finally, it looks like I jumped too soon in taking a flier on my Intel options ... I was guessing that the bad news was out and it wasn't likely to get much worse for this gigantic workhorse trading at a bargain valuation ... but now they've warned that revenues will likely be lighter than estimates and the shares are falling again. I'm still holding a small position in January LEAPs at $20 at a fair loss right now, but on the whole I still think Intel has a good chance to recover in the next several months as folks gear up for the replacement cycle with Vista. So far, Intel's warnings haven't impacted anyone else, and my other semi companies -- WFR and FORM -- have not caught the cold that semi companies typically catch when Intel sneezes, which is good news.
As I wrote last night, Jack Byrne potentially leaving as chairman of Overstock (OSTK) worries me. I'd like to see more than just this Wall Street Journal article that quotes him as saying he'll "think about it", however ... will see if I can hold on for long enough to get a more definitive answer, or if I decide that it's just not worth it to watch OSTK decline.
I'm thinking about giving Irobot (IRBT) a chance. I've been critical of them and their products since their IPO, don't remember if that criticism was in this space or not, but now I'm thinking that perhaps they have something worth investigating. I think the Scooba is doomed to failure as a floor cleaning robot, and I still am very skeptical of the Roomba even though it certainly has a huge cohort of fans, but maybe I'm thinking of this the wrong way. I listened to the CEO on the radio and found his arguments fairly compelling -- the company is focused on practicality and cost effectiveness in robotics, which certainly makes sense. After all, the stuff on the Jetsons is almost all available to us right now ... if we're billionaires. It's IRBT who has brought the first significant robotic tool for a humdrum daily task into our homes at a reasonable price, so perhaps I shouuld look into it with a less jaundiced eye. I also am convinced that their military robots might show some real promise. Hopefully I'll have a chance to read up on the company in the near future.
CV Therapeutics (CVTX) has had a rough week after earnings -- their lost a little more than expected, which is not a huge cause for concern since they're transitioning to building a sales force, but analysts are sounding warning bells that Ranexa's uptake in the market may be slower than folks are expecting. If it's just "slow", then I might see an opportunity to add to my shares this year before Merlin results hopefully allow for an expanded label ... if it's "slow" because there are actual concerns about the drug in the marketplace among cardiologists that could be a cause for actual concern. We'll see.
And I'm wondering why Formfactor (FORM), a company that has had a huge run, is filing for a secondary share offering that could pull in about $200 million at today's share price. They've got about $5 a share in cash already as far as I can tell and no debt, and they've already completed a large new facility ... I'd hate to see them diluting our shares just because they know they can get a good price for them today, but if they have plans in mind for expansion or acquisitions I'd be interested to hear them.
And finally, it looks like I jumped too soon in taking a flier on my Intel options ... I was guessing that the bad news was out and it wasn't likely to get much worse for this gigantic workhorse trading at a bargain valuation ... but now they've warned that revenues will likely be lighter than estimates and the shares are falling again. I'm still holding a small position in January LEAPs at $20 at a fair loss right now, but on the whole I still think Intel has a good chance to recover in the next several months as folks gear up for the replacement cycle with Vista. So far, Intel's warnings haven't impacted anyone else, and my other semi companies -- WFR and FORM -- have not caught the cold that semi companies typically catch when Intel sneezes, which is good news.
This article posted by One Guy @ 3/03/2006 10:57:00 AM 0 comments
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