INTEL Increases Guidance/Vimicro

1. Intel (owned): I have said in this blog that the identity of someone rendering an opinion is of far less importance than the merits of their opinion, and simply whether or not it makes any sense to you after considering and weighing the relevant reliable information. Barron’s, whose forte is to feature the most bearish people in the world on the economy, the stock market, or a particular stock, had a negative piece on Intel in April written by Eric Savitz. Bought 50 PYT/ Abbott Lowers Sales Estimates for Humira/NY Fed Manufacturing Index/ Beige Book/JPM Shortly before that column, Eric featured comments by a money manager, Daniel Berenbaum, who asserted that Intel was his best short idea. Intel was then at $14.58. Dynamic Asset Allocation Trumping Trading Rules/Oops Forgot about 55 million/Earnings Yields for Recent Stock Purchases

I did not listen to Eric, as I am prone to do most of the time. Maybe it is because I am not a Tech Trader, not even a tech investor. Or, maybe lacking in sophistication about the products made by the tech firms, calling them all tech products by a common name- thingamajigs, I am simply to too ignorant to know any better. Whatever the source of my foolishness, I decided to buy Intel when it was trading at around $15 viewing it as a decent entry point for a multi-year hold. The last 2 buys was at $14.46 and $15.25:Potpourri This Sunday Afternoon: Notable News 10 22 2008 & END OF DAY TRADES (IR, INTC, TE AND EHL) My average cost is around $15. In short, even though Eric without a doubt knows more about the thingamajigs than I do, without question, his negativity on Intel at $15 made no sense to me. That relates to a distinction sometimes between quantity of information and judgments based on material information. I did say in the earlier posts that I would quit reinvesting the dividends when the price crossed $20, which I expected to happen when I made that comment earlier, and now I need to either implement that prior decision or postpone it, since Intel opened today at over $20. This does not look like a good short idea to me, let alone the best short idea someone could have.

Maybe I am being too harsh on myself about the extent of my knowledge about tech products. I do refer to Intel's product as a processor rather than a thingamajig.

Anyway, whatever, Intel raised this morning its third quarter revenue and margin expectations.

2. Vimicro ( Owned-LOTTERY TICKET). I bought 100 shares of Vimicro at $1.97, calling it extremely speculative. Lottery Ticket Purchase 100 of VIMC: EXTREMELY SPECULATIVE This is a Chinese company that makes thingamajigs. The stock is trading up 15 cents in early trading today based on the news of an acquisition. Vimicro Acquires ViSS Business from Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell I was thinking of exchanging this LT for one that I actually understand, but may wait to see what happens based on this latest news.