Stock Portfolio Summer Update

Hi everyone.  I know it's been several months of no updates.  The stock market had a crazy pull off around March and many stocks' price were severly beaten down.  However, looking to the long term, technology sector will still boom due to the fact that it did in fact changed our lifestyle.  We pretty much "google" everything for advice.  Whether it be checking if an item's price is competitive before purchasing, researching how to fix your house, finding guitar tabs, or just watching youtube videos for fun, you can access them everywhere.  Mobile computing and communication technolgies advancements will enable us to do many of the "googling" more effortlessly and more afordably.  The trend I see in technology that will be hot for a while is in four main sectors:  Clean Tech, Mobile Computing, Internet hardware and software(security, high performance hardware), and Mobile and web applications for nich markets.  Going with any of those 4 sectors, if researched and filtered carefully, you will most likely gain from your investments.

Enough said, let's check our porfolio performance for HDA's Portfolio since I still want to show how we did so far with our long term holds:

Symbol	Company Name	Buy Price($)	Current Price($)	% gain
INVN	Invensense	11.87	21.69	104.7
ADNC	Audience, Inc.	16.28	10.67	-48.1
AMBA	Ambarella, Inc.	16.79	29.46	69.3
SYNA	Synaptics, Inc.	38.77	57.03	114.8
HIMX	Himax Tech., Inc.	6.48	14.41	7.4
			Average % gain	49.6

As you can see, dispite of plenty of geopolitical bad news, our progress for longer term (1 year+) gain was not so shabby - average at 49.6%.   INVN is still my top holds since it has potential to grow for wearables and other mobile devices. Also, because I hold alot more INVN and trade ADNC in small amount (~1% of portfolio) on and off, the gain was much more than the merely 49.6% mentioned above. Therefore, I recommend buying INVN for long term.  As for AMBA, SYNA, HIMX, you could choose to sell for short term or hold for long term, depending on how well the google glass and smart phone sector is doing and if they remain as market leader in their specialty.  As for ADNC, if you have not bought it, buy it around 6-7 dollars range if you can get it, you will not regret it.


Have fun trading.

Our Portfoilo Progress Report

It's been awhile since I last updated.  I've been busy with school and did not get a chance to update my portfolio recommendations.  Although I haven't been updating my list via posts, I had been changing the portfolio widget on the right side of this website page (HDA's Portfolio).  Last year was a great year for all investors so my gains was nothing to be proud of.  However, I still want to show how we did so far with our long term holds.

Here's the break down:

Symbol	Company Name	Buy Price($)	Current Price($)	% gain
INVN	Invensense	11.87	21.69	82.7
ADNC	Audience, Inc.	16.28	10.67	-34.5
AMBA	Ambarella, Inc.	16.79	29.46	75.5
SYNA	Synaptics, Inc.	38.77	57.03	47.1
HIMX	Himax Tech., Inc.	6.48	14.41	122.4
			Average % gain	58.6

As you can see, our progress for midterm (half to one year) gain was not so shabby - average at 58.6%.  I still believe these companies will hold up well in the current market.  This only miss was ADNC, which didn't do as well as expected and did not go through M&A.  However, I believe ADNC will pick up in the future.  INVN is still my top holds since it has a big growth potential going forward to 2015 and on.  Therefore, I recommend buying INVN for long term.  As for AMBA, SYNA, HIMX, you could choose to sell for short term or hold for long term, depending on how well the google glass and smart phone sector is doing and if they remain as market leader in their specialty.

Have fun trading this year.

Is Google Chromecast a good deal?

Google's new HDMI streaming dongle just got released today on Google Play and Amazon.  While Amazon shows out of stock, Google play still have those neat little devices ready for order.

What is Google Chromcast? What does it do?  

The Google Chromcast is a dongle that can be plugged into any display with HDMI port and stream media from your mobile devices.  In terms of functionality it works like Apple's Airplay and Google's miracast.  However, that's the only similarity.  It doesn't stream directly using your device;  it first find the source of the media content and grabs those content directly from the net, which theoretically should give a better video streaming experience compared to Miracast and Airplay.  Currently, this device only works with a few mobile applications such as Netflix, Youtube, and Google play.  However, knowing Google, they will update the firmware and make this device work with more applications in no time.

Value Comparison

Here's a list of Chromecast's direct competitors and their market price:

Apple TV - $99
Roku Devices - $50-$99
Android sticks and other android based streaming hardware - $30 - $90

Chromcast is $35 with 3 free month of Netflix subscription (worth $24) which drops the device's cost to $11 with the Netflix subscription taken into account.  This is definitely a steal.  Although other devices might have more features, most people probably want to easily and quickly stream some Youtube video from internet.  And to do so, using a phone or table is much simpler and easier than using the smartTV's slow and cluncky built-in interface.  In addition the competitor's streaming solution is arguabaly more expensive.  Compared to the HDTV's cost to the cost of the Chromcast, it's pretty much nothing compared to the cost of HDTV itself but neverthless could drastically improve the HDTV's internet streaming's usability.

I currently have a Panasonic smartTV and although it can also stream internet content on its own, the user interface is really clunky and responds slowly to the remote controller.  It's also hard to browse through and search for Youtube videos as compared to using phones or tablets to select contents to watch.  Another good thing about this device is that you are only sending the information of the media content you are streaming from so you can still use your phone and table while watching Youtube on TV, while with other similar streaming devices, you are essentially mirroring the display so you cannot do something else with your phone during the streaming.

Final Verdict

For $35 ($11 if taking into account the free Netflix subscription), Chromecast is a very good deal.  With a click of button, whatever you were watching on the phone (limited to Netflix and Youtube at this time) will be displayed on your HDTV up to 1080p resolution and it cost almost nothing compared to your HDTV cost .

The only major competition for Chromecast are android based streaming devices or sticks.  Those devices have functionality similar or better than Chromcast and could be as low priced as Chromecast. However, those android hardware are mostly sold and serviced in China and are not made by a big name company like Google.  If you purchased Chromecast and happened to have issues, you can safely bet that you can get it taken cared of much quickly than if you were to purchase an android stick with questionable quality and service.

At this time, I would say just buy this device if you often watch video on your phone or tablet, have a HDTV, have a decent internet connection (WIFI), and likes the convenience of streaming media from the internet with a simple click of a button on your mobile device (iphone, ipad, android phones, and android tablets).

I will post my own review of this device if I have time but in the mean time, feel free to watch the following reviews and hands-on's from other sources:

Phandroid's Review and Walkthrough:


CNET's review on Chromecast-
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-media-receivers/google-chromecast/4505-6739_7-35823617.html

TheVerge's hands-on with Chromecast -
http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/24/4553368/hands-on-googles-35-chromecast-a-streaming-tv-stick

AndroidCentral's hands-on with Chromecast -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z38pXtd6tI


Other useful information:
-http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/99426/amazon-google-chromecast-wireless-hdmi-streaming-dongle-3month-netflix-subscription
-http://www.androidauthority.com/html5-and-webrtc-the-technology-behind-chromecast-248968/
-http://chromecastcast.com/   (I like this one alot, they talked about many interesting things about this device)



Update:  The Netflix promotion is over so that makes this device a bit less appealing.  However, it's still decent at it's price point.

Updates to my portfolio and watchlists

Today I exited all of my YHOO positions and added a few new stocks.  I will keep YHOO in my stock watch list.  I did not keep YHOO in my portfolio because currently it's only fairly valued, and I found more interesting stocks to hold than YHOO at the moment.  I added the following stocks and will share my 2 cents on this move:  MX, MXIM, and ANV.

• MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp (MX) is a small CAP company with low P/E, low short rate, and a potential upside of  ~20% within 1 year.  It has a relatively steady earning and has a good potential to grow bigger in the long run.  
• Maxim Integrated Products(MXIM) is a well known semiconductor company with good balance sheet and lots of good engineering talents.  Most importantly, the company is doing well recently and it shows on its stock price.  The earning is good, the P/E is fair in my opinion, and the potential upside is in the ball park of  ~ 18% within 1 year.
• Allied Nevada Gold Corp(ANV) is a small CAP gold mining company with huge upside (~100%).  However, due to my lack of knowledge of the gold industry, I only entered a small position in this stock.  This is more of a speculative play by me with short/mid term trading in mind (up to 1 year term).  I compared this company with two other gold mining companies (AEM and NGD) with similar valuations and ended up chosing ANV for its relatively fair P/E, fair fundamentals, and huge upside potential.  Note that this stock could go down due to the volatile nature of this stock so bear this in mind.  I will write an update when I decide to exit my position in this stock.  I think I would do something similar to a trailing stop or a stop loss of 5-10%.

As you can see, I am fairly confident in MX and MXIM, not so much in ANV.  MX and MXIM are the two stocks to buy now if you want to trade in the tech/semiconductor sector.

Updates on INVN and AMBA
-Good news for Invensense (INVN) regarding to their recent deals with Google (http://www.theflyonthewall.com/permalinks/entry.php/INVN;GOOGid1841885/INVN;GOOG-InvenSense-advances-after-analyst-reports-Google-deal)

- Ambarella (AMBA) will have Q1 FY2014 Earnings Conference Call today (June 4th, 2013).  If interested, webcase is available at http://investor.ambarella.com/index.cfm.  

- More AMBA news (earning jump, EPS beat, and revenue increases):

1. http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2013/06/04/ambarella-jumps-9-fyq1-revenue-eps-beat/?mod=yahoobarrons
2. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ambarella-inc-announces-first-quarter-200500136.html

Updates on ADNC
-Good news.  Audience partners up with China Mobile (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/audience-partners-china-mobile-redefine-201855520.html)

Updates on ANV
-Long term gold prices is still more toward the downside so I've decided to exit this posititon for a loss.


Note1:  One should never buy a stock without doing research yourself and never invest more money than you are willing to lose.  Everyone's strategy is different and there are no right or wrong answers to stock investing, it's about risk tolerance and your current finacial situation - how conservative you are, how much cash you have, and how much you wanted to earn each year.

Note2: Ones strategy could evolve or change through time.  So far I've transitioned from conservative to more aggresive stocks and so far I've been doing well.  This is due to the fact that the overall stock market trend is up the past year and for aggresive stocks, although more risky, the reward is much larger.

Note3:  Another thing is to never invest too much money in a field you are not very familiar of.  For example, if you just started learning about the semiconductor market, you should not invest too much of your money in that field.  I invested in many technology stocks because I am familiar with this market and know many people who works in the tech industry.  For example, Audience(ADNC) is not a very well known company since it's relatively new, but ever since my ex-collegue started working there, she had nothing but good things to say about the company.  At the time, its share price price is only 6 dollars and in one year it's more than doubled.  So I did the research, had some luck finding this small company, and profitted a little from the stock, but most importantly, I am confident about how the company will do because I am very up to date about the chip industry.

Note4: Stock trading is not for everyone but I hope I can help some people out with what I know from investing in stocks for several years, eventhough my knowledge is still fairly limited compared to the GURUs out there.  I think stock trading is fun and exciting.  If you feel the same, feel free to to join the ride :)

Note5: Never believe in any good news or bad news right away, but you should always be prepared for bad news.

Note6:  It is wise to take some short term gains from time to time and buy back the stocks in your portfolio when the market is taking a breather or have a correction.

Future of digital paper tablets?

The response of the tablet to the stylus is a bit laggy judging from the videos but the concept is still great.  I think the future is bright for note taking specific notepads that has long battery life, large storage, and fast stylus response.  I am hoping that they will sell the standard grade of this device for less than 100 dollars, which is quite doable.  They could sell a higher grade device with more and better features (i.e. faster CPU, better screen resolution, better stylus...) for a higher price.  If they are able do all of these mentioned, Sony will be back in the game since every student and working professionals probably will buy at least one of them (it saves time and money, long term, including paper and pencil costs).  Another thing they should do is to make the GUI more intuitive for sharing data wirelessly.  In addition, it would be cool if it can be charged wirelessly as well.




Other blogs talking about this device:

• http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57585367-1/13.3-inch-sony-tablet-is-like-etch-a-sketch-on-steroids/
• http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/13/sonys-got-a-13-3-inch-e-reader-with-pen-input-which-is-sort-of-like-a-dodo-with-antlers/
• http://www.geek.com/tablets/sonys-13-3-inch-digital-paper-prototype-lets-you-scribble-on-e-books-1554888/

I will follow up with more updates about this device in the future.  Stay tuned

Update: Moved MTGE back to stock watchlist. Two stocks to watch more closely (SCTY and TSLA)

MTGE is now a hold stock considering that it would only gain 5-15% including dividend.  There is not much room in the upside.  Also, considering the downside risk of holding onto MTGE, I feel at the moment it's not that great of a buy.  I chose to take it off my portflio because I've decided to invest in something more exciting (still researching).  You can still choose to hold it for receiving a solid dividend return.  Either way would be fine.


Stocks to Watch More Closely (SCTY and TSLA)

As most of people interested in stocks knows about the great run that SCTY and TSLA had recently, and there were many debates about the stock in regards to their relatively high valuation (~10 B now).  From fundamental point of view, both of the stocks mentioned is vastly overvalued.  However, if you look at it long term, it could be like investing in Apple when it just first started getting profits when they had a big slump.  You could also say that this stock is similar to Netflix, LinkedIn, and Amazon, where they had very high valuations and still going strong.  Those stocks had some correction but eventually back to the same projectory as before.  The long term price for SCTY and TSLA will last unless really bad news came out which causes insititution to sell off their holding in those stocks.

The reasons why SCTY and TSLA's valuation is this high were due to many factors.  The main reason due to the battle between Ellon Musk and the Naysayers (short sellers).  Without this many short's covering, the stock price wouldn't have this high.  However, even without the short sellers, Tesla Motors indeed executed well this year with good customer service, sales (first time profit), and the innovation of the cars as well as the car charing infrastructure plan, and thus created a sense of "hype".

No one can predict the future.  Intially I had doubts about SCTY and TSLA's profitability in the short term, but I am starting to believe this so called "hype" will last for a while as long as TSLA continues to innovate and improve their sales and margin, and as long as peopel are still buying and loving Tesla cars.  Innovation is what we need right now to improve the sentiment of this beaten down economy and I feel we do need more companies like SCTY and TSLA in the US.  Therefore, regardless of investing in the stock or not, I will be rooting for them.

I did put a small position in TSLA with long term thinking in mind but it's more of a gamble then higher percentage bets.  I don't consider I am really investing in this stock considering the amount I put into TSLA stock is only small percentage of my portfolio.  However, if the stock happens to go down due to correction, I would be watching closely to add some position for short term gain.  On the other hand, I might exit some positions if I think I gained enough from the stock if it did go up in price and will put in more later if opportunities arise.

Updates:  

-To replace MTGE with a more intereting stock, I found a promising small CAP company worth investing in. This company is Amberalla Inc. (AMBA).  This stock has a sound fundamental and is a niche chip maker with good IP in HD video and image processing SOCs.  I am not sure how well this company will do long term but it definitely still has room to grow.

-In addtion, I've also decided to add Yahoo (YHOO) in my portfoloio considering the recent buying pressure and their new bets.  It's worth the risk considering it's low P/E ratio and long term earning growth potential.  

-Another good buy that I've added in my portfolio is Synaptics(SYNA), it's the market leader for touch panel solution.  They seems to do fairly well recently with design wins and the buying pressure is there.

- Added Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), LinkedIn (LNKD), and Sina (SINA) to the stock watchlist.  

New Good Buy Alert - added ADNC

Earlier this week I posted update on my watchlist and my good bet list.  I talked about Audience(ADNC) could potentially become one of those dark horses in tech stocks, but was still trying to wait for better pricing as the current prices look about fair value.  However, this is only assuming that there are no good catalyst for the stock.  Yesterday's after hour trading made me curious as to why it's still going up when it seems to be fairly priced.  After some research and I've decided to put this on my good bet list for now.  Here are the 3 main reasons:

1. Signs of heavy insider buying.  Potential buyout?
2. More upsides than downside due to good fundamentals
3. More than usual volume and the stock is trending up

Another factor is that I know some people who worked there who used to be my collegues.  From what I've heard, the company seems to be very enthusiastic about their new products and everyone is working hard.  This is yet another sign of good future prospect.  If you want to invest in a company this small, how much potential a company has is very important.  Ofcourse, management is very important, but we should also look at people who works there.  Are they very optimistic and enthusiatic at what they are working on?  Are they willing to take the challenge and make products that are much better than their competition?  Are there good talents?  It seems to me that answers to all these questions will be reflected on the stock price and I am willing to bet that it's more toward the upside.  If this optimism in the company kept on going, it would also influece the likelyhood that a big company who are looking at acquiring Audiance's to make the deal.

The main bet is that it will get acquired by big company at the much higher valuation.  This seems like a more likely scenario due to Audience's CFO's massive insider buy even at a relatively high stock price.  There's only one major reason why people (especially executives) buy a stock(especially their company's), and you know what it is.

There are many ways to play this more safely by hedging or having a stoploss just in case something went wrong with the company.  As long as you are carefull with each trade.  I don't see a reason not to buy this stock at the current price for it has a potential of going 25-50% sooner or later (if it will happen, it will).

Now, have fun with trading and good luck!!!   :)

Update: JPMorgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference Call May 14, 2013 - http://seekingalpha.com/article/1435551-audience-s-ceo-presents-at-jpmorgan-global-technology-media-and-telecom-conference-transcript?source=yahoo

Updates on Stock List

Sell in May and go away. This is not just a saying. It's accurate up to more than 60-70% of the time. The stock markets hasn't been doing all that well this first half of the year. It wasn't very bad.  It's just that it wasn't very spectacular. So I am going to talk about the stocks that I am watching and the stocks I am betting on.

 Stocks I am Watching

 AAPL GOOG TSLA ADNC AMZN GOOG DDD WMC AGNC

 Most of the stocks I am watching relates to technology and are fairly well known by the industry. TSLA(Tesla Motors) is the leader of electric cars in terms of technology standpoint and could possibly be the next Apple, however, it's balance sheet is still horrible and the price is high for a company that's in debt. DDD(3D Systems) is very expensive right now but I do think 3D printing technology has a future. Google (GOOG), Amazon(AMZN), and Apple(AAPL) are fairly well known and I feel they are fairly price now, however I might snatch some shares if price looked right in the future.  ADNC (Audience) is one of those dark horses I would say that could also be a good bet but it's currently fairly priced.  It used to look really great under 10 dollars but now it's been trading 14-15 dollar range.  If some how market behaves irrationally and oversell it, it could be a good opportunity to grab some of these little gems.   Last but not least, I am into low P/E and high dividend stocks, which AGNC(American Capital Mortgage Investment) and WMC(Western Asset Mortgage) provides. AGNC just reported a disapointing quarter and slid about 7% on Friday, it if slide more this week I might snatch some for short term gain or receiving dividends . As for WMC, it is one of those small cap MREITs that I feel is doing ok but now the price point is just fair, not a good time to buy yet.

Stocks I am Betting on

INVN MTGE

 MTGE is also one of those small cap MREITS that are doing ok but not great. However, it's still one of the most stable stocks that I've owned so far that provide a huge dividend.  The price of MTGE should be in the ballpark of 26-27 dollar range but now it's been sitting at 24-25 dollar range which I believe is cheap for what the stock is worth. It is a grade B stock on Navellier's portfolio grader and was rated well on the street. It is a no brainer buy at the moment. Ofcourse there are much more to MREITs that people have doubts with but I feel that goes with most stocks out there. We cannot forsee the future, but we know at the present, the price is quite good and if we bet the wrong way, we can always stop loss and or wait to receive the 14% dividend.

INVN is the one I am most excited about and is the one that I had been holding, buying, and selling for a while now ever since 2012. It's what I called a rollercoaster stock which could make people dizzy  but some what predictable. It's a low volume small cap stock and the company is the leader in motion sensors. It's major competitor ST Microelectronics had been losing the design wins to them. The chips are in many mobile phones now, primarily in android phones (i.e. Samsun Galaxy S4). But rumors has it that Apple will also start to use their chips in the future. At the moment the price of the stock should be around 13.5-14.5 dollar range if they are just doing about the same. However, the fact that it is possible they can be bought up by bigger companies and that they could partner up with Apple makes this a very good bet at this time. Short term and long term trend are favoring the upside.  All in all, Invensense as a company has a competitive edge against competitors for it's low profile MEMs technology and it's decent fundamentals (no debt and growth is great year over year).

Update:  Add GLW(Corning) and AEM (Agnico Eagle Mines) to the stockwatch list.  Corning has very broad range of technology and is the leader in the glass sector for mobile devices and is used in many mobile devices.  Agnico Eagle Mine could be a bargain since it could be oversold; however, I do not know enough about the gold market right now to make the bet yet.

Haven't had a post in a while but during these couple of months I've changed the looks and feel of this site and added a stock watch widget on the right panel. I also got rid of many of my stock holdings these several months because I found that although having bigger stock portfolio is safer, smaller but even more carefully chosen stocks will improve the gain percentages. I am back and will start doing more frequent updates since I am finally done with my masters degree. Work's been busy as well but I think I can still manage. Ken

My Portfolio List

Earning releases for my recommended stocks are updated on the calender. You can see it from Investments and Personal Finance -> Stock Watch List (Earning Release).

Below are stocks that I currently own.  Buy at your own risk but I have done serious research before buying.  I will let you guys know if I plan to sell and of the stocks below.  My portfolio is currently B ranked based on Navilier's Portfolio Grade (free for us to use, see recommended sites section) and is earning a little more than  S&P at the moment.

  Symbol AAPL, ABV, ARMH, BAK, BCPC, BLL, BT, BWA, CF, COST, CPL, EW, GLW, GTAT, IBM, KO, MCRL, MSFT, NOV, NXPI, PAY, PM, ROST, SLW, STV, TDC, THI, TIBX,TSU, VSCP, VZ

$199 Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet Unveiled, is it a steal?

The stock market is a mess this week but there were still exciting news announced in NYC at the Amazon Tablet Event.  The very first Amazon android tablet called Kindle Fire is all over the news, but is it a steal at $199 price tag?

Lets first examine the specs and then compare it to the competitor.

Specifications

•  7-inch IPS panel
• Gorilla Glass coating
•  1GHz TI OMAP dual-core CPU
• 512MB of RAM,
• 8GB of internal storage
•  weighs 14.6 ounces
• Access to Amazon's services (Android Appstore,  Kindle books,  free Amazon Cloud Storage )

Comparisons (taken from geekapolis.fooyoh.com and unplggd.com)

Final Verdict

It is one of the cheapest android tablet given the spec.  All the cheap tablets out there under $200 do not have IPS screen and duo core processor.  However, the lack of camera,  expandable storage, bluetooth, GPS and Google's android market will pull some people's interest away from this tablet.  If you want all that bells and whistles (i.e bluetooth, GPS, front and back camera, USB ports, HDMI ports), you are still better off getting other tablets like Ipad or honeycomb tablet.

If you want a very portable device specifically for reading books, surfing the net, play multimedia, casual gaming, this device is for you.   Also, if you like Amazon services and you shop from amazon often, this tablet is really good for that as well since you can get a month of free amazon prime membership if you pre-order the device now.

By the way, if you are only interested in ebook reading, then you should also consider the new Amazon Kindle and Kindle touch as they are much cheaper.

You can buy this amazing tablet here.

Resources

-Engadget's  liveblog of the Amazon event and Amazon Kindle Fire First impression (Video)

-Cnet's take on the Kindle Fire

-Gizmodo's take on the Kindle Fire

Stock Pick Performance

On Feb 08 this year I recommended 2 stocks.  Lets look at the performance of those two stocks FOSL(Fossil, Inc.) and SNDK(Sandisk Corp.)

Up to this point, our stock pick has a 50% hit rate, but average gain is about 27%, which is not bad for 5 months performance.  Both stocks are fairly conservative stock with decent balance sheet, therefore, I would expect in the long term, the gain will be much higher.  Stay tuned for more stock picks and performance report.

How to use this site to its utmost potential

Most of you who visit this site once a while are probably wondering why this website has infrequent posts.  The reason is simple; we do not post a deal unless we think it really a good deal.  On top of that, the deals websites we recommended and the deals feeds on this website is more than enough for people to screen out the good deals from the bad and to use them as a reference to how much a product should cost.  This post is to help the readers of this site understand how to use this website to save money, make money, and most important, to have fun during the money saving as well  money making process.

What is a hot deal?  Everyone has their own definition of a hot deal.  But here's mine:

A hot deal is a product or service that one has interest in or are useful to one's daily live but for a bargain price (i.e. price much lower than competition and much lower than MSRP).  Whether a hot deal is a hot also depends on how much money you are willing to spend on a product or services and how much you can tolerate bad customer service or bad quality products and services in return for cheaper cost.  Sometimes a hot deal is something that can hold or increase its value through time (i.e. investment deals).  In addition, a hot deal could also mean free or low cost services that can help you be more productive or to save or make money.  

This website include many, if not all of the tools needed to find and analyze hot deals for saving, making money, and buying bang for the buck products and services.  All of the recommended sites on the top right hand corner are the main tools for you to get the hot deals that I have described above.

The HDA(Hotdealanalyzer) Way

If you are a gadget person like me then you will like all many of the deals posted on the deal websites that I recommended on this website (slickdeals.net, fatwallet.com, dealslava.com).  Also, this website takes the top 5 current feeds of the popular tech reviews, blogs, and deal websites so that you can get up to date information without actually going to those websites.  All the links recommended on this site should be more or less what you need to analyze whether a deal (especially electronic deals) is good enough for you.  Typically this could save you $10 to several hundred dollars. 

So you save couple bucks here and there.  What now?  There are several things that you can do to get more out of these savings.  You can buy more than one of these deals then sell them on Ebay or Craiglist for some profit.  Or, you could use the savings to buy more gadgets or services that is also a hot deal.  OR, you can put the savings in the bank to earn some interest.  Or, best yet, you could invest the amount of money you saved from those deals for much more interest than the bank.

That's what lendingclub.com, fool.com, and other investment related links and posts are for; to make your hot deal a even better deal.  Worst case scenario is losing the amount money you saved from the deals and it's as if you buy something that you are going to buy anyway but without discount.  The best case scenario is having additional cash power without affecting the money you already have in the bank.  

Typically,  I recommend signing up electronic accounts for credit cards, banking, and investments because you can link and monitor all those accounts from a single site called Mint.com.  I strongly encourage everyone to try it out and it is a free tool that can help you figure out your financial situation and to help you save money toward a certain goal.  It is really safe because mint.com is built from the company who created Turbotax, so it's it's really safe if not safer than Turbotax.

From the saving you get from the deals you find, you can invest those saving or keep those money saved in the bank.  By using mint.com, you can keep track your spending and prevent unnecessary spendings so that you can save more money that you can use for future purchases or investments.  What you can get out of doing all these work is having additional money to buy stuffs you like but without worrying about your financial situation.  

Finally, I really hope people can benefit from this website and I will post more details how to use all the free tools that I recommended.

Eee Pad Transformer North American Launch

The highly anticipated android tablet will finally be available in North America at various well known retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. This sweet tablet runs for only $399 and the optional keyboard dock runs for $149.(see Eee Pad Transformer North American Launch News for details)

Why is this tablet a big deal and what is this tablet different from any other android tablets out there?

This is the cheapest android tablet out there that sport the latest android software, the tegra 2 processor, and an IPS screen with resolution that is same if not better than its competitors.  Combined with the dock, the combination can get very good battery life, ~15 hours, and weights only about 2.9lbs total.

Shown below is a comparison table taken from Anandtech's recent review on the transformer tablet.:

As you can see, the Asus Eee pad has a very competitive pricing compared its rivals and I am glad to see this as it will create pressure on the cost of tablets in the future.  I believe that netbook/tablet transformer platform will dominate the market in term of mobile gadges in the near future.

For more detailed review on this tablet, please check out http://www.anandtech.com/show/4277/asus-eee-pad-transformer-review and http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/asus-eee-pad-transformer/4505-3126_7-34467853.html?tag=mncol;txt.

Related videos



CNET's video review:


User review by andyxover:




BTV's first look clip on the Asus Eee Pads product line:

$114 Amazon Kindle 3 Wifi Special Edition

Just recently found a deal from dealslava.com that book lovers shouldn't pass up.  This special edition is the newest kindle 3 WIFI along with bunch of freebies and sponsored screen savers.  It is cheaper than the normal version which is $139.  The only draw back to this deal is that it's on pre-order and they will not be released until beginning of May.  The Kindle3 is a really neat device and many specs were improved from the previous version.

Below are the features and improvements of Kindle3 as compared to Kindle2 (taken from Amazon.com):

• All-New, High-Contrast E Ink Screen - 50% better contrast with latest E Ink Pearl technology
• Read in Bright Sunlight - No glare
• New and Improved Fonts - New crisper, darker fonts
• New Sleek Design - 21% smaller body while keeping the same 6" size reading area
• 17% Lighter - Only 8.5 ounces, weighs less than a paperback
• Battery Life of Up to One Month - A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off
• Double the Storage - Up to 3,500 books
• Built-In Wi-Fi - Shop and download books in less than 60 seconds
• 20% Faster Page Turns - Seamless reading
• Enhanced PDF Reader - With dictionary lookup, notes, and highlights
• New WebKit-Based Browser - Browse the web over Wi-Fi (experimental)
• Special Offers - Special offers and sponsored screensavers display on the Kindle screensaver and on the bottom of the home screen—they don't interrupt reading

In my opinion, the specifications for the Kindle3 is really decent considering the fact that it's a relatively low cost device.  It's about the same or cheaper than it's predecessor but with all the above improvements.  Personally, I would get this device just because of it's great e-ink screen, it's super light weight, and it's superb battery life.  Although some people think that ipad or other tablet would do the trick, but I believe this version of Kindle is best ebook reader you can get on the block. 


VIDEO REVIEWS

MobileTechReview:


D3Live(this kid did a really good job talking about the Kindle3):


A user review on the PDF part of the Kindle3:

More updates on the anticipated NoteSlate

From two posts ago, I briefly talked about a $99 NoteSlate that is due to come out in June, a simple paper replacement for taking, saving, and sharing your notes.  To me it seems like a bargain because of it's simple concept and it's usefulness factor.  Just recently NoteSlate.com updated their website and more information was provided in their design, products, and features section of the site.  I was glad to see the progress they made and was hopeful that they will market their product on time.


Here's a brief list showing what this device can do and the pros of this device:  

• tablet device, 1-bit display, monochrome, 1 touch
• simple device, slick body, paper look and feel
• has low power consumption, solar accessories, and passive mode for displaying static pages.
• can store up to70,000 pages of notes
• can share files through WIFI and USB
• flexibility in the firmware modification.  The firmware will be later available for opensource community. 

The technical details of NoteSlate is shown below:

There'll be no all color version anymore.  The picture below shows only the color variants of NoteSlate that will be available this June.  In the future they will have the custom colors version available for purchase as well.

For more details, feel free to go to www.noteslate.com.  You can also signed up a pre-order newsletter on their website so that you will be contacted whenever pre-order is available online.  This device will be sold only through this website as well.

US Stock Pick of the Week

I have recently found two really good stocks for you to buy this week, FOSL and SNDK.  


When to buy them?  This week

For good short term/mid term gains,
FOSL: buy under $80
SNDK: buy under $55

Estimated FOSL to go >$100
Estimated SNDK to go >=$65


Note: my predictions are based on market studies, forum opinions, and intuition.  Follow at your own risk.  However, I am confident you will get some profit from it if you get in now.

Update 2/15/2011: The market starts out very weak today due to fear of inflation, but I believe that the future is still bright with the stock market. However we need to be more cautious about our stock purchase from now on.  On the side note, solar stocks are really hot now due to oil price rising so now it's good time to grab some solar sector shares into your porfolio!!!

NoteSlate /// intuitively simple monochrome paper alike tablet device

From a recent post by Gizmodo.com, I found a rather interesting device. NoteSlate!!! It's a tablet built with the sole purpose of note taking and PDF viewing/editing. 

"NoteSlate is low cost tablet device with true one colour display, real paper look design, long life battery (180h !), together with very handy usage and very simple and helpful interface for pen and paper. This easy, compact and portable gadget is used anywhere you want to make any notes, drafts, sketches, any ideas for future reference. Paper for everyone! Write a note and check it later, save it, or delete it. Maybe send it after. Just one colour is enough to express the basics. Keep your life simple. You will love it. For $99."

-Noteslate

This would potentially be a cool and useful device and it's not very expensive (~$99).  Although this device is not available for purchase right now,  I am expecting more of this type of device coming out later this year and early next year so stay tuned.

Here's Gizmodo's take on noteslate:

http://gizmodo.com/5752688/i-really-really-hope-this-noteslate-paper-tablet-is-real

Here's Engadget's take on noteslate:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/18/99-concept-noteslate-tablet-does-electronic-ink-in-color-but-o/

Other's take on noteslate:

http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/02/04/noteslate-a-simple-e-paper-device-that-may-or-may-not-exist/

http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/2011/02/04/noteslate-the-100-single-color-tablet-that-will-replace-your-legal-pad-forever/

http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/2011/02/04/noteslate-the-100-single-color-tablet-that-will-replace-your-legal-pad-forever/


Update:  some people commented that NoteSlate concept is really similar to Boogie Board LCD Writing Tablet which is available for purchase online already for about $40, albeit not as sleek and have lesser spec. (limited functions, cannot save, etc) as compared to the NoteSlate. 

What to check out this week?

Yesterday, the stock market was doing well and we found several good deals online, but it gets boring after while. Earning money and saving a few bucks here and there is all great; however, I do feel we need to entertain ourselves with other exciting things to look for.

So, what is new?

Android OS is the king of tech news this week with Google's official live demo of the new Android Honeycomb and the new web-based android market today in Mountain View. If you search Honeycomb in Google News search, you will see what I mean. Here are few links from my favorite tech blog sites about these:

http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-6452_7-10006502.html
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/02/a...s-a-web-store/
http://gizmodo.com/5750049/the-new-features-of-android-30-honeycomb

Here's a preview of Honeycomb(Android 3.0):

Here's the Google's live demo of Android 3.0 Honeycomb at CES 2011

Live Event Recording This Morning

Why is this a good news?

Honeycomb OS is an android OS that is optimized for tablets and bigger screen devices. If in the coming years honeycomb tablets can take about 30% to 50% of the tablet market, we as consumers will benefit from the price competition among Apple and other brands. We can potentially get cheaper tablets with above average specs.

2011 is the year of tablets. This could potentially be great for investors and traders to take advantage of this trend to gain from the emerging tablet sector as well as the general semiconductor sector.


Update: The web version of android market is alive! Check it out. I have an Android device so I am excited to see this working today.

CNET TV's first look video on the new web version android market:

Navellier's Watch list and Stock Earning Release Date

Trading is fun and I am providing you a list FOR FREE that people would pay money for.  The list below is a really decent list of stocks. Research carefully before you buy but they all have decent fundamentals and have the potential to grow.  The list is recommended by Navellier (see recommended links section on the right):

Buy List By Earnings Date

Stock	Date
Altria Group Inc. (MO)	01/27/11
Amazon.com (AMZN)	01/27/11
Amerisourcebergen Corp. (ABC)	02/04/11
Apple (AAPL)	01/18/11
AutoZone Inc. (AZO)	03/01/11
Baidu (BIDU)	01/31/11
BorgWarner Inc. (BWA)	02/10/11
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH)	02/07/11
Companhia de Bedidas sas Americas (Ambev) (ABV)	03/03/11
Ctrix Systems (CTXS)	01/26/11
Deere & Company (DE)	02/16/11
DIRECTV Holdings LLC. (DTV)	02/17/11
Dr. Pepper Napple Group Inc. (DPS)	02/24/11
Express Scripts (ESRX)	02/23/11
F5 Networks (FFIV)	01/19/11
Ford motor Co. (F)	01/28/11
H.J. Heinz Co. (HNZ)	02/18/11
Hospira Inc. (HSP)	02/02/11
Ilumina Inc. (ILMN)	02/08/11
Limited Brands Inc. (LTD)	02/23/11
Magna International inc. (MGA)	02/24/11
McDonald's Corp. (MCD)	01/24/11
NetApp Inc. (NTAP)	02/16/11
Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO)	02/02/11
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY)	02/16/11
Priceline.com (PCLN)	02/17/11
Reynolds American inc. (RAI)	02/03/11
Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM)	02/17/11
SanDisk Corp. (SNDK)	01/27/11
Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW)	03/03/11
Tata Motors Ltd. (TTM)	01/25/11
VMware Inc. (VMW)	01/24/11

From my research, I personally recommend AMN, AAPL, FFIV, ILMN, MGA, NVO, BIDU, SNDK, CTSH, ABV, and VMW.   every other stocks on the list are great as well except HSP which you are supposed to sell now instead of buy.  Amazon just recently dropped a bit but it's still a good buy at the current price as a conservative long term stock.

In addition, another stock to buy is MIPS.  It got oversold by the market despite the good earning release and decent company fundamentals.  I believe if you get in at the right time now you should get some short term gain.

Please consult Navellier's portfolio grader as well as Motley Fool's websites (under recommended link section on the right) before you make any decision to buy any of these stocks.


Update 2/01/2011:  If you had followed my recommended stock pick, you would have gained earnings of 4%  from MIPS, 1.5% from AMN, 1.7% from APPL, 1.6% from FFIV, 2.1% from ILMN, 1.1% from MGA, 1.3% from NVO, 9.3% from BIDU, 2.3% from SNDK, 3.4% from CTSH, 1.2% from ABV, 1.4% from VMW.  I made a purchase for MIPS this morning at $12.70 per share and now it's at almost $13.00 per share.  Gained 30 cents per share!!!  If you invested 100 shares then you get $30 gain.  I would not recommending selling right away though.  You need to consider the cost of trade commissions and tax which would make your actual gain about $5 (buy a trade is $10 commission, sell a trade is $10 commission, tax will take about 50% of your gain after commission).  Regardless, this stock will go up even more and make this better deal.  Depending on how much you invest, your earning will vary.

Update 2/04/2011:  I added a calender showing earning release date for the stocks that I am watching.  You can find it under the investment and personal finance tab.