I was thinking about these firms and wondering which position were being funded — obviously there is a ton of activity for SSD engineering talent right now — take a look:

Some of the firms had no openings or carrer links so I left them off.  The larger firm (SUN, IBM, DELL, HP, NetApp, EMC) require registration so I left them off, as well.
Plus a few others of interest:

• Fusion-io
• STEC
• MICRON

Have a look at this news report from Barrons.com on their Tech Trader site.  STEC shares lost a whopping 36% as quoted in the article and in fact were down almost 39% for the day.  So have solid state drives lost their sparkle?

Barrons also wrote the day before on the STEC earnings call.  The interesting parts are (a) EMC, who take 90% of all STEC drives, aren’t selling as many as they expected (b) other vendors (notably IBM and Sun) aren’t doing well with SSD either.  So what’s the problem here?

For STEC the problem is clear – reduced demand and increased competition,  but that doesn’t answer the question of what’s going on with the wider market.

Opinion

SSDs are expensive.  SSD integration in most arrays is clunky, being a simple substitute for a standard drive.  I also believe that many customers are struggling to identify use cases for solid state drives and have no easy way to measure and justify the potential performance improvements – other than to install the drives and see what happens.  “Buy and Try” isn’t exactly a scientific approach.

Although it will eventually happen, I think the death of the fibre channel drive isn’t about to happen for some time.

These are this morning’s top day trader alert and active trader alert stocks.  We have links through to VSInvestor.com on each stock with much more detailed data and analysis on the news, price, and volume:

Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) is up over 3%, but far less than you’d think after earnings were well above estimates.

Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE: VG) is down close to 10% despite positive earnings because revenues declined.

Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) is soaring by 25% on a huge earnings per share number, after items of course.

American Capital, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACAS) is up 18% and this is already well off highs after earnings and a potential debt restructure.

STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ: STEC) is one of the morning’s ugliest with a 30% drop on a idsappointment in its earnings and on at least two analyst downgrades.

Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) is down 2.4% on the E.U. hurdle noted last night, but this had been down as much as 8% or 9% after the news broke. (No Link)

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

From the Associated Press – Stec Inc. reported a 20-fold increase in third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, as a sharp rise in revenue boosted the bottom line.

But the maker of data storage devices such as solid state drives also said revenue for the fourth quarter won’t meet analysts’ expectations.

Shares of Stec fell $7.53, or 32.5 percent, to $15.65, in after-hours trading. The stock was up $1.59, or 7.4 percent, to $23.15 during the regular session.

Stec earned $24.5 million, or 47 cents per share, compared with $1.2 million, or 2 cents, in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue rose by 54 percent to $98.3 million.

Excluding employee stock-based compensation and restructuring charges, Stec earned 50 cents per share compared with 10 cents last year.

Analysts were forecasting a profit of 47 cents per share on revenue of $96.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

For the fourth quarter, Stec said revenue should come in at $101 million to $103 million. Earnings excluding one-time items would range from 51 cents to 53 cents.

Analysts are expecting revenue of $106 million and earnings of 52 cents per share for the Santa Ana, Calif.-based company.

TPOLY – THAI POLYCONS PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
オーダー残が公共事業の受注も併せて27億バーツを超えた。

MCOT – MCOT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
BEC – BEC WORLD PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
MCOT取締役会はBECと本日10月26日に会合を開き、独占放送権について協議。

LOXLEY – LOXLEY PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
宝くじ委員会はくじ番号下2けた3桁を当てるくじを自動くじ発券機発行すること、およびオンライン宝くじに対してので公聴会を開く。

TRUE – TRUE CORPORATION PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
SH – SEA HORSE PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
CIG – C.I.GROUP PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
タイ国証券取引所は10月26日から11月13日の取引まで、TRUE/SH/CIGの株の取引については、現金勘定のみとする”キャッシュ・バランス”の扱いにすると発表。

HEMRAJ – HEMARAJ LAND AND DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
ゴルサ・ケミテック社はイースターンシーボード工業団地内の土地5ライ（1ライは1600平方メートル）を追加取得へ。

SPACK – S. PACK & PRINT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
2009年第3四半期の売り上げは伸びるが、通年で見ると利益は確保しているが売りげ自体は落ちている。

KTB – KRUNG THAI BANK PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
2009年第4四半期の大口への新規貸付は800億バーツにもなる予測。

SECC – S.E.C. AUTO SALES AND SERVICES PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
事業を伸ばすために取ってきた、安売り方針を撤回。11月には自動車販売を再開の予定。

TISCO – TISCO FINANCIAL GROUP PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
2010年第2四半期にも売却されるとされる、サイアムシティ銀行の政府保有株の売却のためのファイナンシャルアドバイザーに、政府金融再生開発基金はTISCOを選定した。

PTT – PTT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
マプタプット地区の該当する25プロジェクトについてHIA（人体の健康被害についてのアセスメント）を国家健康委員会の基準で行うための準備を開始。

ITD – ITALIAN-THAI DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
CK – CH. KARNCHANG PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
STEC – SINO-THAI ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION PUBLIC CO.,LTD.
PLE – POWER LINE ENGINEERING PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
MRTAタイ国大量輸送交通公社はパープルラインの拡張工事契約5契約について、12月に入札の予定。

HMPRO – HOME PRODUCT CENTER PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
タイの格付け会社トリスレーティングは、HMPROの組織、及び転換社債についてA・安定の評価。 （Info Quest 10月26日配信）　

にほんブログ村

ชงครม.แก้สัญญาสีม่วง CKแต่งตัวรอเข้าพื้นที่

CPF – CHAROEN POKPHAND FOODS PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
会社筋は、トルコの災害での事業の悪影響はない。むしろ物資不足で、（ビジネスには）よい影響になろそうだ。と語った。

MILL – MILL CON STEEL INDUSTRIES PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
2009年度の業績を5%～10%ほど上方修正。パープルライン建設工事による良い影響。

THAI – THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
ノンハット・プロイヤイ空軍中尉を理事長代理に指名。

CCET – CAL-COMP ELECTRONICS (THAILAND) PUBLIC CO., LTD.
本年度9月は売上が96億バーツで、8月より9%の伸びだが、前年同月比では23%減。

STEC – SINO-THAI ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION PUBLIC CO.,LTD.
海軍の駐車ビルの建設受注4億5千500万バーツ。
（Info Quest 10月5日配信）

Álvaro Martín Corujo,  Miembro del Secretariado Nacional de STEC-IC

2S
maiへのIPO初日。売り出し価格は一株1.9バーツ。
本年第2四半期の利益1、950万バーツ。前年同期の利益は1億2千5百万バーツ。

PSL
貨物船タミサー・マリー号を1億3267万バーツで売却。

STEC
本年度の新規プロジェクトはパープルラインの鉄道建設を含み200億バーツも、本年第4四半期の着工に向けて契約待ち。

BLISS/CEN/IEC/LIVE/SSE
タイ国証券取引監視委員会はBLISS-CEN-IEC-LIVE-SSEの売却については、タイ証券取引所に売却報告を義務付けるとした。

BJC
2009年度の業績予測は、上半期の経済減速の影響を受けて10%ほど下ぶれするとみる。

LH
本年度の利益は昨年度と同程度と予測。しかし政府の（不況対策）政策によっては上ぶれ要素も。（Info Quest 9月2日配信）

STEC (Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction Public Company Limited) ワロップ代表取締役社長は、（パープルラインの）鉄道建設プロジェクトは、政府関係の仕事ぶりが遅すぎ、すぐに開始されるのか定かではないと語った。
ワロップ社長は、個人的な見解として、（地下鉄の）近郊延長工事を含む不況対策のプロジェクト「力強いタイ計画」への投資は早急に行われるべきだが、残念なことに、政府は多くのプロジェクトを同時にこなさなければならないために進行が遅れていると伝えられていることに不満を表明した。
また、ワロップ社長は「今、9月4日に首相を訪問し、この重要な「メガ・ボール」プロジェクトの進行見通しについて質し、政府は速やかに計画を推進し、企業に仕事を与えるべきであると伝えたい。」と語った。（ストックウエーブ 9月2日配信）

Verbatim continues its push in Flash memory with this tiny and tough USB drive

You’d be surprised what an old storage company like Verbatim – which started by selling data cassettes 40-years ago – can bring to the rapidly changing flash memory market.

For Mark Rogers, the company’s marketing manager for its 6-year old Flash business, it’s all about:

1. Lifetime warranty on all Flash products (both cards and USB drives); replacing any faulty devices, no questions ask. Kingston also offers a lifetime warranty on its Flash memory cards, but only 5-years for its USB drives; for Sandisk its 2-years and just 1-year for PNY;
2. A standard password protection feature (for Windows only, not Macs) available on most of Verbatim drives;
3. Enough performance to speed up Windows, thanks to the USB keys “ReadyBoost” compatibility;

And in conjunction with this week Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, Calif., Verbatim introduced new USB keys – the TUFF-’N'-TINY line – that are among the smallest and sturdiest in the market.

Mobile phones are main driver of Flash memory cards sales

However, despite being the fourth top selling brand of USB flash drives in the U.S., Verbatim is yet to ship a solid-state drive (SSD) that would compete with the likes of Intel/Kingston, STEC, etc.

“But we’re in the process of launching an ExpressCard SSD [announced at the Consumer Electronics Show last January and already shipping in Europe] which is based on a removable form-factor. Verbatim is in the removable media business and we chose to start our entry in SSD in that manner ,” said Rogers.

More on our exclusive interview with Verbatim in the video below:

KTC
クレジットカードの発行枚数は7月までに8~9万枚。年末までに12万枚と予想。
LPN
上半期の売上げは二つのプロジェクトから40億バーツ。
LL
プーケットの12ライの土地を売却。Q3は地方のプロジェクトに投資か。
STEC
ふたつのプロジェクト総計4.8億バーツ受注。
DEMCO
電設工事を5~6プロジェクト、総額100億バーツ程度受注。
（Info Quest 8月10日）

It is actually slow in pre-market trading today.  These are today’s top volume alert stocks for day traders and active traders.  More detailed volume and price analysis and data is available on links through to each stock at VSInvestor.com:

Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) is up more than you’d expect on an analyst upgrade.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) is one of today’s big tech winners on earnings.

STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ: STEC) is down on insider selling despite solid earnings.

Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) is getting significant pre-market volume on reports that Pepsico (NYSE: PEP) has made a higher buyout offer.

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Los ciclos formativos se concentran en las localidades con más población de las dos islas capitalinas. Las centrales sindicales denuncian que el tipo de oferta no responde a las demandas reales de los estudiantes de cada comarca.

 MARÍA PLASENCIA | SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE
De los 88 municipios que configuran el Archipiélago canario, 59 cuentan con al menos uno de los ciclos ofertados en Formación Profesional o un Programa de Cualificación Profesional Inicial (PCPI), lo que implica que alrededor de un 33 por ciento de las localidades canarias no disponen de esta oferta educativa. Esta distribución responde al planteamiento de la Consejería regional de Educación de concentrar la oferta de FP, además de en centros de calidad, agrupada por familias profesionales.
Este criterio, evidentemente, implica que los municipios con mayor oferta, no sólo en cuanto al número de plazas sino en cuanto a la variedad de familias profesionales, son los que concentran un mayor número de población e infraestructuras. De ahí, que las cifras más elevadas de plazas ofertadas se ubiquen en Santa Cruz de Tenerife, La Laguna, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria y Telde.
Sin embargo, lo que ha levantado la polémica entre la comunidad educativa ha sido la configuración de los ciclos formativos en las islas no capitalinas y, ahora también, en los municipios del sur de las islas. “Es normal que no esté cada ciclo en cada municipio, pero la distribución no se corresponde con las demandas reales de la sociedad”, lamentó en ese sentido el portavoz de ANPE, Pedro Crespo, mientras que el representante de EA-Canarias, Manuel de la Rosa, recordó que “hay estudiantes que tendrían que desplazarse a lo largo de muchísimos kilómetros cada día para poder realizar un ciclo”.

Movilidad. El caso al que alude De la Rosa bien podría ser el de un estudiante de Fuerteventura que, pese a ser la isla canaria con más superficie (después de Tenerife), sólo dispone de oferta de FP en dos de sus municipios (Pájara y Puerto del Rosario). Algo similar, pero en un área mucho menor, sucede en La Gomera donde tan sólo hay oferta de este tipo en San Sebastián y Vallehermoso, aunque en este último sólo se ofrece un Programa de Cualificación Profesional Inicial (PCPI).
Los argumentos que ha empleado la Administración educativa para justificar la distribución irregular entre los diferentes municipios se centran, además, en el objetivo de fomentar la movilidad entre el estudiantado, para lo que disponen de más de 800 plazas en residencias escolares. En ese sentido, la portavoz de STEC, Olivia Delgado, critica que “el Gobierno entiende la movilidad como la necesidad del alumno de desplazarse, pero el concepto se refiere a dar al estudiante la opción de obtener un empleo fuera de su lugar de origen”.

Más de Administración. Respecto a la distribución por familias profesionales, las que mayor presencia tienen en el Archipiélago canario son la de Administración (34 municipios), Electricidad y Electrónica (24 municipios) y Hostelería y Turismo, aunque según denuncia los representantes sindicales, “estos datos deben relacionarse con la demanda”, según Crespo quien se pregunta si “será suficiente con ofertar esta rama sólo en cuatro municipios de la provincia tinerfeña” (y otros siete en la provincia de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria).

Sin embargo, entre las principales denuncias de los sindicatos se encuentra la inclusión de los PCPI dentro de la oferta de FP. Pese a estar intensamente relacionados al ofrecer formación de cara al desempeño de una profesión determinada, los representantes sindicales recuerdan que no otorgan la misma calificación profesional que los ciclos formativos. Si se tiene en cuenta este último aspecto, el llamado mapa de FP cambiaría: este tipo de programas suponen la única oferta formativa en ocho municipios, lo que implica que los ciclos de grados medio y superior se reducen a 51 municipios. Además, es un tipo de formación que no se da en ocho de las localidades con centros de Formación Profesional.

内閣官房に3つの契約を一括提出。
正式契約はこの8月中に。

ASCON (ASCON CONSTRUCTION PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED)は63.9億バーツから50億バーツへの大幅な場値引き要求をのんで、決着した。MRTA(タイ高速度交通公社)取締役会は7月22日に、総額365.55億バーツを超えない3契約すべての最終金額を取りまとめを行う。内閣官房は今回の契約の正当性を認めているので今8月以内に正式契約が完了する予定。(タイ株式ニュース)

にほんブログ村
モチベーションアップのために↑ポチッとお願いします。

I am savagely raping short bears with STEC, turning their lifeless pelts into vast rugs, and placing them in front of my burning hearth where I’m roasting Dennis Kneale. Stocks like these look poised to make a killing as many continue to burn themselves by adding more fuel to these rockets with more shorts.

By the same token, STEC is looking pretty asymptotic, and it doesn’t help that the only visible support is around 20.37. Personally, I’d love to see a consolidation, a bit of pullback for some breathing time, otherwise I’ll probably shit the bed and jump out too early.

VistaPrint (VPRT), O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY) and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (PFCB) share similar technical traits with STEC, GMCR and PALM, so I’m holding these names as the market continues to rise. The collapse of CIT may continue to add pressure to the market, but the bulls remain in charge, so don’t get gored.

MRTA（タイ高速度交通公社）は、パープルライン第二区画工事契約でシノタイ(STEC)JVグループは、当初提示価格の153.2億バーツから、130億バーツへの値引き（15%）の契約をのんだと伝えた。また、同筋は第三区画工事契約でも10%値引きさせ、最終的には合計360．055億バーツを超えない予算実行金額になる見通しであると伝えた。(ข่าวหุ้ง)

にほんブログ村
モチベーションアップのために↑ポチッとお願いします。

By: Charles Rotblut
July 01, 2009

Though the Nasdaq has been one of the best-performing indexes this year, tech stocks could be poised for further gains in the second half of the year.

In particular, demand for storage devices and smartphones is showing signs of strength. During the past 2 weeks, several brokerage analysts have raised their profit projections on makers of these products.

Storage Device Revenues Higher Than Anticipated
Two storage makers recently raised their quarterly guidance. Seagate Technology (STX – Snapshot Report) said last week that both unit demand and pricing were “tracking favorably”. As a result, the company expects fiscal fourth-quarter revenues to be in a range of $2.2 to $2.3 billion. Previously, STX had guided for revenues of $1.9 to $2.2 billion.

Gross margins should also be better at approximately 15%.
Ten of the 17 covering analysts promptly raised their projections in response, narrowing the expected loss by 15 cents to 16 cents per share. Expectations for fiscal 2010 were revised as well, with profit of 52 cents now expected.

Strong sales of its ZeusIOPS solid-state drive led STEC, Inc. (STEC – Snapshot Report) to recently raise its second-quarter guidance. Solid-state drives are faster and use less energy than the hard drives currently used by most computers. Though still more costly, solid-state drives are starting to appear in more high-end laptops.

STEC now expects second-quarter non-GAAP profits to total between 32 and 36 cents per share, versus the previous forecast of 20 to 22 cents per share. Nearly all of the covering brokerage analysts raised their forecasts in response, pushing the consensus earnings estimate up to 32 cents per share. (Full-year projections were also revised, sending the consensus estimate 36 cents higher to $1.08 per share.)

Smartphones Selling Well
The bullish guidance for the hard drive makers came as smartphone makers Research in Motion (RIMM – Analyst Report) and Palm (PALM – Analyst Report) delivered comparatively good earnings reports.

Though RIMM’s fiscal first-quarter results were not well received, the company did beat expectations with profits of 98 cents per share. More importantly, 29 analysts raised their fiscal 2010 projections. The revisions sent the consensus earnings estimate 18 cents higher to $4.11 per share. (One analyst revised his forecast within the past 7 days.)

PALM, one of the year’s hottest stocks, saw its shares jump even higher following last week’s report. The company generated a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of 40 cents per share, which was 32 cents better than the analysts had projected. PALM’s results were aided by the initial shipments of the Pre, though the new phone will have a much greater impact during fiscal 2010.

Following the report, 4 of the 6 covering analysts revised their projections for the current year. The consensus estimate now calls for a loss of 28 cents, 88 cents narrower than the average forecast of a week ago.

Of course, any discussion about smartphones would not be complete without mentioning Apple (AAPL – Analyst Report). One million units of the iPhone 3GS were sold during the launch weekend, an impressive number.

Two analysts have since raised their fiscal 2009 forecasts. Though the revisions were not significant enough to move the consensus earnings estimate (36 analysts cover AAPL), they do suggest that the average projection of $5.50 per share could be too conservative.

PALM and STEC are a Zacks #2 Rank (“buy”) stocks. AAPL, RIMM and STX are Zacks #3 Rank (“hold”) stocks. STX and STEC is classified in Computer-Storage Devices. PALM and RIMM are classified in Telecom Equipment. AAPL is classified in Computer-Micro.

The Zacks Industry Rank List can be viewed at http://www.zacks.com/zrank/zrank_inds.php. This interactive list allows you to see all of the companies, and their Zacks Rank, within more than 200 industries. Shown below is the Zacks Sector Rank List, which shows the trend in estimate revisions on a broader scale.

These are this Wednesday’s top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls:

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) Raised to Top Picks at FBR Capital; but shares were also Cut to Hold at Lazard.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Energizer Holdings (NYSE: ENR) Cut to Neutral from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE: GET) Raised to Market Perform at both FBR and at Wells Fargo.
Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) Cut to Hold at Lazard.
General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ: STEC) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; Cut to Source of Funds at ThinkEquity.
Viacom (NYSE: VIA) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) Started as Buy at Janney Montgomery.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG