intel

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or subindex. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....

Beware of penny stock promoters. They are usually more interested in boosting their stocks than building their business.

Penny stock promoters love to make deals with major, household name companies. They find it far, far easier to sell stock to the public if Goldcorp, BHP Billiton or some other major mining company has agreed to finance exploration of their mining claims, or if Apple or Intel or some other household-name multinational has agreed to evaluate their revolutionary software or “cloud” application....

Our advice is keep it simple when you invest in ETFs. Three “plain vanilla” ETFs give you an efficient way of investing in U.S. stocks.

POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $106.09 (Nasdaq symbol QQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares.com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks representing the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange by market cap.

The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial firms. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets. It yields 1.0%.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Amgen, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel Corp., Amazon.com, Gilead Sciences, Comcast and Facebook.

...

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....

INTEL CORP. $32 (Nasdaq symbol INTC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 4.7 billion; Market cap: $150.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.intel.com) has purchased Recon Instruments, a privately held Vancouver firm that makes heads-up displays for sports goggles and other specialized eyewear. This is a small acquisition for Intel: the $175-million purchase price is just 9% of the $2.0 billion, or $0.41 a share, the chipmaker earned in the three months ended March 28, 2015. However, Recon’s technology will help Intel profit from rising sales of wearable devices, such as wristwatches that monitor heart rates and other biological data. Intel is a buy....

INTEL CORP. $32 (Nasdaq symbol INTC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 4.7 billion; Market cap: $150.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.intel.com) has purchased Recon Instruments, a privately held Vancouver firm that makes heads-up displays for sports goggles and other specialized eyewear.

This is a small acquisition for Intel: the $175-million purchase price is just 9% of the $2.0 billion, or $0.41 a share, the chipmaker earned in the three months ended March 28, 2015. However, Recon’s technology will help Intel profit from rising sales of wearable devices, such as wristwatches that monitor heart rates and other biological data.

Intel is a buy.

...

INTEL CORP., $31.84, Nasdaq symbol INTC, has agreed to acquire Altera Corp. (Nasdaq symbol ALTR). Altera specializes in chips called field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that users can program to perform specific tasks. This helps make server computers faster. The company focuses on chip design; it outsources manufacturing to other firms, including Intel....

These three companies have a long history of developing cutting-edge products. That’s partly why they’re hitting new multi-year highs. However, disruptive new technologies could quickly overtake their latest offerings and slow their growth. APPLE INC. $129 (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.8 billion; Market cap: $748.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.7; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apple.com) aims to cut its reliance on the iPhone smartphone, which supplies nearly 70% of its revenue, with several new products....

POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $105.60 (Nasdaq symbol QQQ; buy or sell t h r o u g h b r o k e r s ; www.invescopowershares.com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange, based on market cap.

The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets.

The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Microsoft, Amgen, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel Corp., Amazon.com, Gilead Sciences, Comcast and Facebook.

...