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Technology stocks in the US continue to recover in 2006 as spending surpasses expectations, and although some sectors like communications gear and semiconductors would thrive, others would suffer. A Seligman Communications and Information Fund portfolio manager with an excellent track record among large technology funds explains why companies like Symantec, McAfee, Cymer, Seagate would do well and why investors must steer clear of stocks like Dell, The Knot, and Avici Systems.

Prospects for Cisco Systems' continued growth are discussed, with particular attention paid to its individual product segments: routers, switches, advanced technologies, and services.

Albert Reynolds, ex-Irish prime minister and chairman of the Nasdaq firm called Life Energy & Technology Holdings (LETH) offers incinerators to turn municipal trash into clean green electricity. In seeking a permit in Louisiana in 2003 LETH submitted evidence of only two environmental tests, one for the Lebanese burner and the other for an incinerator which is claimed by a Colorado's firm as its own.

Incidents of amateurish research, resulting in unsupportable forecasts, were numerous during the technology stock bubble of the late 1990s. Reform that targets corruption and fraud in the securities industry is not enough. New research methods are needed for producing reliable, understandable forecasts.

Avalon advice is sought by major hedge funds, who trust its sector-savvy analysts and large external cadre of informants, such as 50 practicing oncologists. Its minimum retainer is $60,000 per year.

A series of reverse acquisitions engineered by Broad Capital personnel Murray Huberfeld and David Bodner are scrutinized in the light of their previous history on Wall Street, which has included SEC investigations, civil penalties and probation sentences for intent to defraud. The reverse acquisitions in question involve US public corporations with declining stock prices changing hands with high technology start-up companies located in Israel.

Health care industry analysts Stephen Savas, Arnold Snider and H. John Wilkerson describe their predictions for certain sectors and the factors that led to their predictions. The stocks of favored companies are examined.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission's new rules limiting 'selective disclosure' of financial data from firms to favored Wall Street analysts has won nearly 3,000 favorable letters during the rulesmaking comment period. However, 'Reg FD' may have unintended consequences, such as making all firms less available to scrutiny.

Despite the fact that more stocks fell than rose in 1999, several analysts predict at least a 10% rise in the Dow Jones in 2000. A history of the five-year bull market and it's tech stock leadership is also provided.

]Five publically traded firms including Scorpion Technologies, Builders Warehouse, and Osicom, which are linked to Chadha and Witz, all made offshore deals. Described are the several investigations into these deals, money laundering, and massive securities fraud based on the loophole in the 1933 Securities Act called Reg S.

The number of money managers that are bearish in Jul 1996, according to Barron's Big Money Poll, has increased 15% in a three-month period. Most believe that the Dow Jones Industrial Average will drop in the months ahead, but they also agree that it will begin ascending again by the end of 1996.

Lee Ainslie of Maverick Capital discusses his investment strategies for his hedge-fund. Since his start at Maverick, the fund has annualized at 36.1% excepting fees. Ainslie takes a classic approach to investing by using leverage while buying long and short stocks.

Ordinary stock investors did well in 1995 along with everyone else. Blue chip stocks did especially well, out-performing high technology stocks. Drug manufacturers, airlines and software companies also performed well in 1995. Retail stocks did poorly and semiconductor industry stock prices crashed.

A look at 158 China reverse-merger stocks in the U.S. reveal that the median underperformed the index of U.S. listed Chinese companies by 75% in their first three years. These reverse merger stocks also lagged the Russell 2000 index of small cap stocks by 66%.

The values of the shares of NovaGold Resources and Seabridge Gold depend largely on the amount of gold in their properties. The share prices of the two companies have jumped as expert estimates of their gold resources rose.

The shares of for-profit colleges appear unattractive due to concerns about their recruiting practices and the possible impact of student loans. There are also concerns about the quality of education provided by these colleges to their students.

Intuitive Surgical's shares go for over 75 times trailing 12-month earnings which reflect the adoption of the company's da Vinci surgery robot. The shares could fall 25 percent once people get their surgery robotically especially since system sales contribute to half of the company's revenue.

Jim Cramer's stock picks are analyzed. Cramer, host of the television program 'Mad Money', regularly shares his opinions and advice regarding stocks. The analysis shows that his picks are not always successful, in comparison to Standard & Poor's, a company that also provides analysis on stocks.

The rise in the instances of Alzheimer's disease, treatment availably and cost are discussed.

Panelists on the healthcare Roundtable debate the appeal of Boston Scientific, Cephalon, Regeneron, and other health-care stocks. The three experts are Dr. Kris Jenner who manages the US$1.7 billion Health Sciences fund for T. Rowe Price, Dr. Joseph F. Lawler who invests in biotechnology at the hedge fund Sagamore Hill Capital Management, and Bruce Nudell who follows medical-device stocks at Sanford C. Bernstein.

'The Little Book That Beats the Market' written by hedge-fund manager Joel Greenblatt that has become a sensation among investors for picking stocks is reviewed. Greenblatt describes a 'magic formula' to identify winner stocks when tested on a historical database which finance experts predict as unlikely in real world.

Flash memory is beating the hard disk drive as the flash technology shares are believed to fare well and reward the investors who buy these expensive stocks. Apple Computer has replaced the iPod Mini with nano thereby shifting itself from being the world' largest buyer of little hard drives from Seagate Technology and Hitachi and International Business Machines to the largest buyer of flash from Samsung Electronics.

Diabetes rates are rising among younger adults, as two-thirds of the people in the United States are overweight from too much high calorie food and too little exercise and the country should try to reform its diabetigenic lifestyle urgently. Most people have trouble sticking to diet-and-exercise regimens and the pharmaceutical industry sees the diabetes epidemic as a great opportunity.

High-definition television (HDTV) is the new technology that ensures digital viewing and crystal-clear programmers, thus inviting global competition among every business connected to television. It is expected to boost sales of Sony, Microsoft, AutoDesk and Avid Technology, but it is a drawback for blockbusters.

Loral Space & Communications, a the commercial-satellite maker is giving its ownership of the business to the hedge funds that has paid pennies for the companies debts that would wipe out the equity of existing stockholders. The shareholders have thus waged a battle in bankruptcy court against the Loral Space & Communications.

Roche is leading the way toward 'personalized medicine' and for biotechnology, by combining drugs and diagnostics. Roche's non-voting shares traded in Zurich have increased more than 50% in the past couple of years, to 128.50 Swiss francs in 2004, due to which stockholders are quite satisfied.

Statin drugs help preventing heart attacks and strokes, with only rare side effects and although medical evidence suggests that more people should be taking these cholesterol reducers, statin prescription growth has been slowing down since the past few years mainly due to high prices. New entrants will crowd this slow-growth market and trigger a price war and generic versions of a brand name statin will make it harder for brands like Lipitor to charge a premium price.

Only a small number of biotechnology firms have clinical test results to show a prospective bidder and such validated products are commanding high prices in the new license deals and acquisitions. In picking possible beneficiaries, firms with new treatments for the toughest medical problems, like cancer are highlighted.

Stocks of major health industry sectors, including pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, are in decline. A panel of industry investment analysts revisit and revise earlier prognostications.

A round-table of experts on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors examines the growth possibilities of the major players in the industry. The year 2000 represented the high-water mark for share prices, and no one foresees a return to those levels. Health care providers are seen as a mixed bag, while biotechnology firms still need only one clear research win to make it big.

The stock market experienced volatility due to the uncertain presidential election outcome. Technology stocks experienced sharp declines.

Dow industrials enjoyed a strong week, up 2.4%. But telecommunication stocks (excepting Qwest Communications) are sinking because voice communications are becoming commoditized. Citigroup's bid for Student Loan Corp., and ATI Technologies poor quarter are also analyzed.

Mutual fund managers Luskin, Nadig and Werdegar discuss the investment strategies they have leveraged to parley their $28 million OpenFund to 160% gains in the six months since its August 31, 1999 inception.

William Baker, founder of GARP Research, details his strategy for researching growth stocks in 'new economy' industries such as high technology and biotech.

Financial analyst Mark Roberts of the Off Wall Street Consulting Group offers financial reports that both please and infuriate corporate executives. Roberts has experienced success in the bull market of the 1990's, including short-sale ideas involving Sunterra and Sirrom Capital.

Medicare will propose regulations to reduce its spending on drugs at average wholesale prices (AWPs), which are higher than wholesale prices available to most buyers. Investigators are trying to identify the source of published AWPS because of the high prices of generics.

Concord Communications' steady growth is attributed to the addition of big name companies to its roster of clients, including Delta Air Lines and General Motors Corp. In February 1998, the Marlboro, MA-based networking company was adding 50 big name customers per quarter. But in the quarter ended September 1998, the added 100 domestic and overseas customers, including the US division of Mercedes-Benz, Putnam Investment, Fuji Photo and Cable & Wireless. Big name clients has indeed helped Concord Communications boost its shares from 19 in February 1998 to a peak of 46. For the quarter ended September 1998, the company reported $2.4 million in earnings, against $202,000 in the same year-ago period, and revenues doubled to $10.6 million, compared to $5.3 million last year.

Hapoalim Securities solar analyst Aaron Chew forecasts 13.3 GW in 2011 for the solar industry and he believes that the tight supply in the industry is on the cusp of loosening. Chew gives his forecast on Suntech Power Holdings, First Solar, Yingli Green Energy, and Trina.

The stocks of Clean Energy Fuels appear overpriced as it has already priced in the company's growth prospects as a supplier of natural gas to trucks and buses . The company's shares, which trade at around $21 a share, could drop in value by 30%.

The shares of British software company Autonomy appear overvalued and do not reflect the company's returns on investments. The company's share prices are trading at 1,846 pence and are overvalued by about 20%.

Gordon L. Johnson II, an analyst at Hapoalim Securities, shares his opinions on solar energy stocks. He recommends that investors sell some solar energy stocks and hold others due to a potential supply glut in the industry.

The shares of online brokerage optionsXpress appear overvalued after their price rose to $17.75 each. The firm's purchase of trading seminar group Optionetics may fail to boost growth.

The shares of MasterCard trade at a discount at just 15 times its anticipated earnings and some believe that these shares may be a better play in an economic recovery. The prospects of these shares are compared with those of Visa.

The shares of Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger could drop due to decreasing sales of assault rifles. Assault rifle sales increased after the 2008 US presidential election due to fears of a sales ban on these weapons.

Several stocks traded in strange ways at the close of trading on 29 May 2009, indicating efforts by investors to increase market capitalization and secure inclusion in the Russell 2000 index. Trading volumes for these stocks rose to as much as seven times their 15-day trading volume averages.

Federal prosecutors are investigating Mike Schaefer, Adam S. Gottbetter, and Mark N. Tompkins for promoting the shares of Gran Tierra Energy. The shares of Alternative Energy Sources were also used by the three investors to gain money.

The shares of solar panel manufacturers First Solar and Energy Conversion Devices appear vulnerable and may drop due to declining silicon prices. The gap between supply and demand of silicon could widen in 2010, reducing their per-watt advantage over their rivals.

US stock market returns in the 10-year period ending in 2009 are the worst since the 1930s, and possible the worst 20-year holding period ever. Investment-grade debt does not hold promise of future returns despite having a high rate of return since 1989.

Mark Roberts, founder of Off Wall Street Consulting Group, discusses his stock preferences. He believes that many hedge funds will not survive the financial crisis, and that short selling has been very useful during this crisis.

Republic Bancorp offers tax-refund anticipation loans with ultra-high interests which many regulators and consumer activists consider predatory. The shares of the bank have more than doubled to a high of $35 but have settled to a price of around $24 as of November 2008. The shares could fall if the government curbs tax-refund anticipation loans.