Daily Archives: July 3, 2017

Micron Technologies (NASDAQ:MU) stock has been on a rampage this year, outperforming all major market indices by far. Shares have more than doubled in 2016 and are up over 30 percent this year. The question now is whether this run still has legs or not to keep going.

In my opinion, as long as Micron keeps posting spectacular earnings and growth, there is no reason to question the run. However, it seems like the market sentiment is quickly shifting to a bearish stance on tech stocks. People are trying to hedge their positions and reduce their exposure in the tech sector due to fears about valuations. A lot of people think that there is a bubble currently with tech stocks. Now, while it is true valuations are a bit stretched, there is no logical reason to sell a fundamentally solid company backed by strong earnings just because of the sector it is in.

On Thursday, Micron posted another quarter which outperformed analyst expectations across the board. However, shares were down over 5 percent the next day. I believe this is due to hedge funds and other institutions locking in gains and limiting their exposure to tech stocks - the selling pressure probably drove share prices down. This creates the perfect opportunity for retail investors, though, who have more freedom when investing compared to institutions to pick up some shares in a fantastic company.

No matter how you look at it, this quarter did blow out analyst expectations in every conceivable way. Micron reported an EPS of $1.62 versus analyst expectations of $1.51 and a quarterly revenue of $5.57 billion versus analyst expectations of $5.41 billion. I think it is important for everyone to realize that revenue is 20 percent higher compared to the previous quarter and 92 percent higher year over year. Strong cash flows this quarter also allowed the company to strengthen its balance sheet and pay down $1 billion in debt.

This is the 8th straight quarter where Micron has been able to exceed analyst expectations, and there is no sign that the favorable earnings trend will stop anytime soon either. All its business units posted record-breaking revenues this quarter, and revenue from cloud customers alone was nearly 4 times higher year over year. Micron also projects that strong industry demand will continue to remain healthy and persist into 2018, and the company's portfolio of innovative and high-value products will be able to benefit very much from increasing demand. So far, we can see that it is taking full advantage of this broad industry trend and will not suddenly stop doing so anytime soon.

MU Price data by YCharts

Unfortunately, the price action after this earnings report was negative, and Micron shares traded down over 5 percent the following day. There is most definitely a rational reason for this - it can all be explained by looking at the current market state. People are scared and are trying to protect their gains in a bull market that has lasted over 8 years, and tech stocks have gained the most in these 8 years and are being sold off. Nasdaq has fallen 2 percent over the past month and is taking the brunt of criticism by many market bears. People think valuations are stretched and that the run has gone on for too long.

This type of thinking is often what causes people to miss out on investing in fantastic companies - the bottom line is no one has a crystal ball to predict when a sudden stock market crash will occur. As long as you diversify your holdings and adjust your portfolio positions on a regular basis, you will be fine. You cannot time the market and predict when it will fall. Retail investors who sold Micron after its earnings report will end up buying back at a higher price.

However, it makes sense why you would sell if you were a hedge fund or any other money managing institution. Hedge funds and other institutions like mutual funds have investors they need to appease regularly. They manage a lot of money and need to book profits. A lot of the selling we are seeing in the tech sector in general is due to institutions locking in profits. Most hedge funds and mutual funds also have to show all of their positions to investors at the end of the quarter, and with all of the negative sentiment towards tech, it makes sense why some institutions would reduce/sell their positions to make it seem like they are not too exposed to the tech sector. With Micron stock performing so well in the past few months, people had to take profits eventually. Turns out, Friday was that day.

A lot of analysts also upgraded Micron stock following their earnings report. Deutsche Bank raised their price target on Micron from $35 to $37 while maintaining their rating, and Goldman Sachs upgraded Micron's price target from $30 to $33. Stifel Nicolaus maintained their current buy rating and increased their price target by 50 percent, from $40 all the way up to $60 a share!

The bottom line is that it makes no logical sense for everyday retail investors to sell right now. The company's earnings were stellar and exceeded analyst expectations. Real investors do not buy/sell stocks based on the price action of stock, but rather on the fundamentals and earnings of a company. Micron Technologies has solid fundamentals backed by fantastic earnings numbers. It makes no sense for a company to suddenly be 5 percent less valuable after reporting earnings which exceeded expectations. Some people are saying it's because of Micron's valuation, though it only takes a little logical thinking to completely debunk this idea. When you value a company, you do not just look at the present cash flows and earnings - you look into the future, you look for growth. Growth for this quarter exceeded expectations, reaffirming the positive trajectory the company is going in, and the recent analyst upgrades following the quarterly results support this idea. We give Micron Technology a Buy rating and a conservative $36 price target.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in MU over the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

The rest is here:

Micron Technologies: Be Thankful For The Dip - Seeking Alpha

The White House is denying reports that the one division within the Office of Science and Technology Policy is now completely unstaffed.

CBS News reportedno staff members were left at the offices science division one of four such branches that comprise the OSTP after three employees from President Barack Obamas administration worked their final day on Friday. The OSTP advises the White House on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs, according to its website.

When asked about the alleged vacancies, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told HuffPost on Saturday the report was false.

This is not true, Sanders said in an email. Sadly, someone was more concerned about attacking [President Donald Trump] than getting their story straight.

A White House official familiar with the OSTP told HuffPost that there are 12 staffers currently working in the science division, despite the report that said otherwise. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the matter, also said there are 35 people total on staff in the OSTP.

The official said the work of previous science division workers had been passed on to new staffers who have expertise in similar areas of study.

The three science division staffers who finished up on Friday includedElle Celeste, who was previously a biomedical and forensic science expert for the White House. The White House official told HuffPost that Fridays departures were a matter of contract expiration.

After departing from the OSTP, Celeste tweeted her final goodbyes, along with a photo of the science division placard with text saying science division out. mic drop.

Kumar Garg, another former OSTP employee who left his job in January, tweeted that Fridays departures mean there are zero people left in the division. He was the OSTPs assistant director for Learning and Innovation when Trump took office in January.

The Trump administration has faced sharp criticism from the scientific community.In April, tens of thousands of people participated in an estimated 600 March for Science events across the country in protest of the administrations stance on various issues.

Trump, who hascalled climate change a hoax orchestrated by the Chinese, has proposed massive budget cutsfor federal programs including the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, the Department of Energys office of science, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

After Trump revealed his 2018 budget proposal in March, Jeffrey Mervis, science policy reporter for Science Magazine wrotethat it confirms two things that U.S. scientists have long suspected: The new president is no fan of research, and his administration has no overarching strategy for funding science.

The White House has also yet to appoint one of the most influential science roles in federal government,the presidential science adviser, who heads the OSTP. When asked about that vacancy, the White House official familiar with the matter told HuffPost that several very promising candidates for OSTP director are under consideration.

Neither Celeste nor Garg immediately responded to requests for comment from HuffPost.

More here:

White House Denies Report That Part of Its Science And Technology Office Is Empty - HuffPost

The first of 7,000 Ford GoBikes waiting to be shared in downtown San Francisco.

Ford GoBike, a co-venture from Ford Motor Company and Motivate, last week launched the first phase of what will be the second largest bike share network in the US with a goal of 7,000 bikes in San Francisco and the Bay Area from Oakland to San Jose.

The service costs $3 per trip and monthly and annual passes are available plus it works with the Clipper commuter card used by millions of people on local buses and trains.

It might seem strange to see Ford investing in bicycle sharing but the company sees it as a way of better understanding future transportation needs. Last year it acquired San Francisco based Chariot, which provides short route on-demand commuter services.

Ford is the sponsor but the heavy lifting is done by Motivate, a fascinating startup based in New York, which designs, builds and operates bike networks in nine cities and counting. The largest bike share network is in New York with 10,000 CitiBikes.

Motivate does far more than a typical Silicon Valley software startup. It not only develops the mobile app that users need to find and unlock bikes but also installs; thousands of bike stations; while dealing with city permits; and it also designs its bikes -- the San Francisco bicycles are made lighter and with gear ratios for the city's hills.

Cycling commutes...

Ford GoBike is aimed at the commuter: all trips have to be under 30 minutes; and the bike stations are located close to public transport. Building the outlying bike stations quickly is the challenge.

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My Test Ride of Ford GoBike

It's tough for me to get across town to San Francisco's CalTrain station without at least two buses so I was glad I had an alternative using the Ford GoBike service.

About a week ago I downloaded the app to my iPhone and it showed several bike stations close to my apartment.

It was the day after the official launch of Ford GoBike and I had to get to the Mission Bay district of San Francisco so this would be a perfect test of a multi-mode bus, bike, light rail and/or car-share route now made possibly faster.

I fired up the Motivate app but was disappointed there were no bike stations operational yet, near me. But there were plenty of bikes at the downtown stations.

I jumped on a bus downtown and walked a few blocks to find a bike station. No problem unlocking the bike with my Clipper card. Bike seat was very easy to adjust and the radial gear change was easy to operate.

Riding crosstown in San Francisco is not for the feint of heart. Roadworks and heavy traffic make space tight on the bike routes.

Arriving at the Caltrain station I was concerned because there were just four bike slots and each was full. Fortunately, someone unlocked one of the bikes so I was able to park and lock mine.

There was a crew of workers installing several dozen more bike slots. I stopped and chatted with them and they were very friendly. They said a lack of city permits were holding them back in some neighborhoods. I told them I liked the service so far based on one trip!

I've lost plenty of bicycles to theft over the years. Bike share networks outsource that risk for a very small price.

Public transport commutes are vulnerable to missed connections. It's here that a bike share network can make a huge difference to people's commute times.

However, riding is not easy or safe on the streets of San Francisco. The city pulled down its elevated crosstown freeways after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake forcing traffic onto the streets. This makes for very crowded roads at commute times and makes it more dangerous for cyclists -- potentially discouraging the use of Ford GoBikes.

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Espin electric pedal-assist bicycle

I recently had a chance to use a pedal-assisted electric bicycle made by a Bay Area company Espin, founded by husband and wife Josh Lam and Yina Liu, and I really liked it. Motivate should use these bikes!

The bike is large and heavy at about 50 pounds but with the pedal assist electric power boost they feel as light as a feather when riding.

This was my first time on such a bike and for about four days I rode it through some rugged urban terrain and along hard-to-pedal tidal beaches and came away very impressed.

I liked the fact that you have to pedal and that there is no free ride. If you stop pedaling the power assist stops dead so it's a very natural way of operating the bike.

The gears are selected as normal from the right handlebar while the left side selects five levels of power assist. Downshifting requires selections from both sides of the handlebar which takes a little practice.

The range is 25 to 50 miles from a powerful electric motor inside the back wheel and a lockable lithium ion battery. Commuters have been buying the bikes but also it's popular among gig workers for delivering food and packages.

The bike can quickly reach 20 to 25mph which builds a lot of momentum but with the excellent stopping power of the disk brakes I had no problem staying comfortably in control.

The Espin bike is a wonderful way to get around a city. The assisted power will take you from a stop to a fast start so there's less temptation to roll through stop signs.

And you can get places very fast. At 20 to 25 miles per hour you are moving faster than than the average speed of a bus in San Francisco at 8mph, or car at 12mph. Plus you arrive sweat-free.

However, if you want a work-out headed home you can simply switch off the assist. These bikes are great off-commute, too. With one of these I could keep up with some of my sportier friends.

Josh Lam says the Espin bikes are less expensive than many other similar bikes because they source their own components and design. The price is $1800 and gig delivery workers get a $400 discount.

Espin or Ford...

Espin is a great choice if this is can be your only way to get to work but for a patchwork commute that's typical of the Bay Area Ford's bike share is a more practical choice.

But until Motivate builds out the next phase of the San Francisco network the downtown areas are of little use because you are already at your destination. It will require building bike stations in the outlying neighborhoods (especially around Divisadero and Eddy 🙂 to test its promise.

Read more from the original source:

Technology and Commuting: Ford's 7000 bike launch in San Francisco; Espin is a new spin on eBikes... - ZDNet

Unless you have lived in a fallout shelter for the last 20 years (it could happen), you are quite aware of the proliferation of technology into our lives.

Right now in our house, there are four laptops, three tablets and five cell phones. Add in the three strategically placed TVs and thats 15 screens for four people. Averaging nearly four screens per person, there is a lot of opportunity for screen time."

This is often what kids will default to.

It's not new information for most parents. I am as guilty as anyone of using the screen as a babysitter for a little while. But as our kids get older, they need to be taught how to manage their time, especially around screens. When we were kids, if our parents wanted us to stop the screen time, they would turn off the TV and tell us to go play. We couldnt carry a screen with us (unless you picked up the 40-pound TV and went looking for an outlet). Now, kids often have a choice of which screen they want. Do they grab the cell phone, the tablet or the laptop? Regardless, they just switch to something different and carry on staring.

Right now Im sure youre asking, Ben, what can I, as a responsible parent, do to thwart this menace to my childs social development? To which I answer, nice usage of the word thwart. But furthermore, there are a few solutions to make technology a useful tool but not the default thought process.

First, limit the time they use screens. That may seem like a blatantly obvious solution, but it can be challenging. Kids are sneaky. Once you go back to your daily routine, they will quickly be back on a screen. And this isnt really a malicious act, they just don't understand that when you tell them to get off the tablet or computer, you mean for the rest of the day. Not just until you look the other way.

Second, give them an alternative they will like (and by give, I mean make them do it). These can include going outside to play, reading a fun book or cleaning their room though that last one may not induce squeals of excitement. Presenting them with an alternative helps the under-developed planning part of their little brains get past what they cant do and see what else is possible.

And third, hide the screen device up someplace high. That one may not seem very fair, but the phrase out of sight, out of mind actually works sometimes. If they dont see the device around the house, they cant absentmindedly grab it. This tactic, by the way, works for us adult-types who may be a little too addicted to screens ourselves.

Ultimately, the best way to help kids recognize how much is too much screen time is to limit our own. Yeah, you may have to stare at one all day for your job, but do you really have to come home and immediately flip on the TV or answer that email on your phone? Dont think your kids arent taking cues from your actions. They watch you just as closely as they watch those screens.

Now go find a screen and turn it off. In the long run, everyone will be better off for it. Its what Im going to do.

Right after I finish this level of Candy Crush on my phone.

Ben Price, a 42-year-old married father of two from Kansas City, Missouri, wrote this guest blog for momaha.com. Outside of being anIT security professional, hespends much of his time in pursuits related to his family, including being a coach, scout leader and kid chauffeur.

See the rest here:

3 ways dad limits technology use in his house - Omaha World-Herald