More VOIP Plays:

It looks like the crowd "discovered" VOIP on Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday, the FCC, will try to end the controversy about regulating VOIP. Although it is unlikely that FCC will leave VOIP providers unregulated, FCC chairman Michael Powell said in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore): "Imposing regulatory burdens on these new and emerging Internet services, before the FCC fully engages the public and develops a comprehensive record, may have the unintended consequence of stifling its growth and denying the public benefits of that growth."

Congress has already ruled that provider of information services, such as VOIP providers, should not be regulated as a telecommunications service.

I would not be surprised with a "sell on news" on Monday.

ZTEL $3.00 on 11/28/2003	EGHT $7.52 on 11/28/2003
VOCL $6.07 on 11/28/2003	DDDC $4.26 on 11/28/2003
INAP $2.24 on 11/28/2003

Japanese stocks

The Japanese market has dropped to about 13% from recent highs and it will soon be oversold.

Canon (CAJ $46.65 on 11/30/03) Technology Hardware & Equipment
Fuji Photo & Film (FUJIY $28.59 on 11/30/03) Leisure Goods & Services
Honda Motor (HMC $20.23 on 11/30/03) Auto Manufacturer
Internet Initiative (IIJIE $4.99 on 11/30/03) Technology Services
Kyocera Corp. (KYO $61.34 on 11/30/03) Electrical Component & Equipment
Nippon Telegraph (NTT $24.05 on 11/30/03) Fixed Line Communication
Nomura Holdings (NMR $15.97 on 11/30/03) Investment Services
NTT DoCoMo (DCM $21.88 on 11/30/03) Wireless Communication
ORIX Corp. (IX $36.40 on 11/30/03) Diversified Financial
Sony (SNE $34.35 on 11/30/03) Leisure Goods & Services
Toyota (TM $59.57 on 11/30/03) Auto Manufacturer (It is taking market share in Europe and US.)
NEC (NIPNY $7.35 on 11/30/03) Audio & Video Equipment
Nissan (NSANY $22.78 on 11/30/03) Auto Manufacturer

Insider Buys

Apparel maker Warnaco Group (WRNC) has licenses and ownership of brands such as Calvin Klein, Speedo, Nautica and even Jennifer Lopez Lingerie. Four insiders have been buying $150,000 in shares and the stock is rising after touching briefly its 200 day moving average (seems the market overreacted to the sportswear group president's resignation and the earnings projections revised downwards - that means there is room for good surprises). If the economy recovers, retail should do well.

Other insider buys:
Boca Resorts (RST) with almost $8 million bought
WMS Industries (WMS) about $3 million and Midway Games (MWY) $788,000 being bought by Sumner Redstone
Applied Materials (AMAT) $1,1 million
James Monroe (JMBI) $1 million
American Express (AXP) $890,000
Orthodontic Centers America (OCA) $793,000
Post Properties (PPS) $937,000
General Growth Properties (GGP) $468,000
Wave Systems (WAVX) $160,000
Cohen & Steers Pfd Income (RNP) $100,000
DIGI International (DGII) $85,000
Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) $58,000
Woodward Governor (WGOV) $92,000
Noble International (NOBL) $38,000

OAO Gazprom

Although Gazprom 2nd qtr net profit more than tripled due to the higher natural gas prices, the stock has not seen the action one would expect. Gazprom exports gas to Europe and is responsible for about 23% of the global output. Maybe when the impact of Russian government's freezing Yukos shares dissipates, Gazprom stock can start its ascent. Gazprom already belongs 51% to the government so it would not make much sense for them to freeze Gazprom's shares, but this is a debt-riddled company that has been reported with inumerous accounting irregularities.

OGZPF.PK $23.75 on 11/29/2003

Speculating with the China's booming economy

The World Bank expects growth of 7.8% this year and 7.4% in the next and China has a fast growing middle class. But valuations can go far above what is justified and China has problems too: poor corporate governance, shaky legal system, scarcity of information, insolvent banking system, growing social unrest and a potential property bubble (prices have risen as much as 28% in 12 months).

A lot of Asian companies can only be bought through pink sheet stocks, Hong Kong accounts or US-traded mutual funds. Below, a list of some of the companies that are based in China, Hong Kong or other Asian companies that can profit from China's boom:
Anhui Conch Cement Co Ltd (AHCHF.PK)
Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd (TSGTF.PK and TSGTY.PK) is China's largest brewery selling at 34 times earnings and it is an industry undergoing consolidation. Anheuser-Busch (BUD) is investing on it.
Legend Group Ltd (LGHLY.PK and LGHLF.PK) has 20% of the global market for computer motherboards.
The Bank of East Asia Ltd (BKEAF.PK and BKEAY.PK) is a Hong Kong bank and the most modern network with branches in China.
DBS Group Holdings Ltd (DBSDF.PK, DBSDY.PK and DBSXY.PK) also is a bank with strong presence in China.
Shangri-La Asia Ltd (SHALF.PK and SHALY.PK) runs a popular chain of hotels in China.
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (CPCAF.PK and CPCAY.PK) owns a stake in mainland China's Dragonair and its brand is well regarded.
Li & Fung Ltd (LFUGF.PK) and China Resources Enterprise Ltd (CHNRF.PK and CHNRY.PK) are trading and retailing companies that can profit from Chinese consumers' spending.
Singapore Airlines Ltd (SPAAF.PK and SPOAF.PK)
Want Want Holdings Ltd (WWHGF.PK) has a good market share of beverages and snack foods in China.
Neptune Orient Lines Ltd (NPTOF.PK and NPTOY.PK) is a Singapore's prospering shipping company.
LG Chem Ltd (LGCLF.PK and LGCQF.PK) serves China's huge need for chemicals.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Corp Ltd (HNHAY.PK and HNHPF.PK) is a Taiwanese electronics maker with production in China.
Qingling Motors Company Ltd (QGLHF.PK) is a light-truck maker in China.

Now a few companies can be bought in the regular stock markets:
BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP and BBL) and Rio tinto PLC (RTP) are Australian mining companies that can profit from price increases in metals which are needed by the Chinese industry.
China Mobile (CHL) may not grow much, but it is regarded as a solid stock.
PetroChina(PTR)
Sinopec Shanghai PetroChemical Co Ltd(SHI - process crude oil into plastics, fibers, gasoline and diesel, which are in high demand. The stock is still at a small premium to book value and P/E is 14.3)
Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd(YZC)
Aluminium China(ACH - Aluminum sales have grown 11% last quarter and the company raised guidance.)
Brilliance China Automotive Holdings(CBA)
China Petroleum Chemical(SNP)
Netease.com Inc(NTES - Net sales nearly doubled, only 5% of Chinese population is online, just became profitable)
Sina Corp(SINA - Sales more than tripled, gross margin is a fenomenal 70%, just became profitable. It is likely that aggressive institutional investors will now keep a healthy buying pressure on SINA and NTES.)

Chinese clamor for low cost wireless phones

China is the only country where the personal access systems are popular. These systems consists of low powered handsets with a range of just a few miles that link to base stations in the user's home, which are connected to wireline networks belonging to China Telecom (CHA) and China Netcom.

It costs about 1.5 c/min compared with 5 c/min for celular and it is an adequate alternative for the vast underclass of China and other Asian countries such as Vietnam and India.

UTStarcom has had a fenomenal growth rate and has 70% of the handset market. Gfk Asia research firm says that about 21 million personal access-system phones will be sold in China this year and double that by end of 2004.

The company also sells specialized switches used by phone carriers to deliver high-speed Internet service to customers, having the leading DSL supplier in Japan, Yahoo Broadband, as its customer.

UTStarcom should profit well even with the increased competition offered by other companies such as ZTE Corp, China Putian (IPO soon), Huawei Technologies (IPO soon) and the cellular providers China Mobile (CHL) and China Unicom (CHU).

UTSI $37.88 on 11/29/2003	CHA $32.23 on 11/29/2003
CHL $14.61 on 11/29/2003	CHU $9.59 on 11/29/2003

These news may be worthy of due diligence

The port of Singapore, the second busiest container port after Hong Kong, lost a huge chunk of the traffic from the biggest shipping container lines (Maersk and Evergreen Marine) and numerous feeder lines. Tanjung Pelepas, in Malasia, is their new port of choice. Dubai also lost its role of Middle East trans-shipment hub to the port of Salalah, in Oman.

Maersk says that its loading operations in Tanjung Pelepas are 25% faster than it was in Singapore, giving a better reach in logistics and better deals with retailers like Walmart and Target, and Reebok and Ikea. Tanjung has larger cranes and deeper water to accommodate the next generation of huge container vessels.

PSA, Singapore's state-controlled port operator, had to cut its rates and sold stake on two terminals to the shipping line Cosco.

However, according to ACNielsen, the majority of people in Singapore think their economy will improve next year. The same happens in Hong Kong and South Korea. Asian consumers still have been tightly holding their wallets though.

***

As the Thai stock market soars, government is looking for ways of curbing speculation to avoid another meltdown. In 1997, Thailand's growth spurt ended abruptly, triggering the Asian financial crisis. Now the government is wary of the boom in the property and equity markets in Thailand, curbing stock purchases made on credit, limiting the amounts held in foreigner's bank deposits and considering limits on real-estate credit. Thai property stocks more than doubled this year, land sales values increased 36% in the first semester. S&P says there is a lot of bad loans secured by nonproductive assets infecting 30% of the Thai financial system.

***

As per CSM Worldwide, the real profit in US is based on volume sells of V-8 engines, SUVs and pickups. Toyota's new Prius hybrid (55 mpg and a lot more power) was named "Car of the Year" and it is selling 25% above projections, but Toyota is investing in pickup-trucks too. Hopefully, Prius will gain more mass appeal.

***

US and foreign markets often rise and fall together, but large-cap US and foreign stocks often generate very different annual returns. Over the past 2 decades, there were 13 years when the performance differed 10%, according to a study by Meir Statman and Jonathan Scheid.

***

After 3 years of rising rates, insurance rates for commercial property are expected to drop 10% to 20%. There are more of that kind of insurance in the marketplace now due to an influx of insurers from Bermuda and London and other factors.

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) seems promising

That is the technical term for Internet Phone Service. The internet has been largely unregulated by the government, and, as expected, innovation is sparkling on it. Sending phone calls over the internet is one of many emerging technologies moving quicker than regulators can react.

VOIP providers gives their customers an adapter to turn a high-speed internet line (either cable or DSL) into an internet phone and you can take the adapter everywhere in the world and pay the same low rates. Your phone number no longer has any direct relationship to where in the world you are located. This may be the end of long distance rates!

Companies like Vonage Holdings (private), Voiceglo and 8 x 8 Inc are on the crest of this wave.

If one believes the VOIP trend, the only public companies I found are 8x8 Inc (Nasdaq: EGHT), Net2Phone (Nasdaq: NTOP) and TheGlobe (OTC: TGLO.OB). But beware of the established phone companies like AT&T, Sprint, MCI, Bellsouth, SBC, etc. Verizon and Qwest are already about to launch their own internet phone services. They don't want to be left behind.

8 x 8 has two subsidiaries - Netergy Microelectronics and Centile, Inc. - that are VOIP providers and seems more promising to me.

EGHT $7.52 on 11/29/2003

NTOP $6.22 on 11/29/2003

TGLO.OB $1.59 on 11/29/2003

STOCK SPLITS

Companies split their stocks because they want the price to be low enough to entice more people to buy it. That usually propels the stock even higher. That is a cycle companies want to perpetuate. The important point is that the company that splits its stock is most likely doing well fundamentally. So, if one looks for companies that are splitting one will probably find companies that are fundamentally sound and are experiencing growth with regard to their stock price. The best of both worlds. Most companies that have stock splits see their stocks rally back to the pre split price within several months.

It is not so uncommon that a stock doubles after the split. Let's look at what happened to Nam Tai Electronics Inc ($36.10 on 11/24/03). In 7/8/2003 it splitted 2 for 1 (that is, every shareholder received 1 extra share for each share he already owned and the price was divided by 2). The post-split adjusted price was around $17, now it is around $36.

By the way, this seems to have been an excelent trading stock since then. It is easier to buy it at the bottom of the range, sell it high, and wait for it to go to the bottom of the range to do it again. Look at how it often goes higher several percentage points after approximating the 50 day moving average.

Would you imagine this company could make a machine as cool as this?

Antifreeze proteins and their genes: From basic research to business opportunity

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are found in vegetables and fish from cold regions and they may be used in biotech, food and agro industries.

Another study that favors value stocks

From the Journal of Finance LII(2): 859-874 June 1997
"Good News for Value Stocks: Further Evidence on Market Efficiency" (*)

Abstract: This article examines the hypothesis that the superior return to so-called value stocks is the result of expectational errors made by investors. We study stock price reactions around earnings announcements for value and glamour stock over a 5-year period after portfolio formation. The announcement returns suggest that a significant portion of the return difference between value and glamour stocks is attributable to earnings surprises that are systematically more positive for value stocks. The evidence is inconsistent with a risk-based explanation for the return differencial.

(*) I consider this far from "Evidence on Market Efficiency". If there are earnings surprises and "expectational errors", that means the market failed to forecast earnings correctly. Too many good stocks go down because of temporary panic and too many stocks go up because of hype.

Price/book, price/sales and debt/equity better predictor than P/E and Beta ?

From the Financial Analysts Journal May/June 1997: 75-80
"A Fundamental Analysis of Korean Stock Returns"

Abstract: In an investigation of the relations between stock returns and fundamental variables in Korea, annual stock returns during the 1982-93 period were positvely related to book-market, sales-price, and debt-equity ratios, negatively related to firm size, and not significantly related to the earnings-price ratio or beta.

These results add to the growing international evidence that value stocks outperform growth stocks over long periods. Also for Korean stocks, book-market and sales-price ratios are more efficient indicators of value than the earnings-price ratio, and the debt-equity ratio is a more reliable proxy for risk than beta.

Nice list of Biotech companies from the NASDAQ

Nasdaq will add 55 securities to the Biotechnology Index on November, 24th.

RFID Technology

People who still try to delude themselves about the future of RFID do so at their own peril. RFID represents an unusual business opportunity. At the risk of using a cliché, it really is a chance to take operational efficiency to a whole new level. That’s not just my opinion; it’s what I hear all the time from those who have actually deployed the technology. Including Wal-Mart. Here is what Mike Duke told the suppliers in Arkansas: “What we see with RFID is an infrastructure breakthrough.” - Mark Roberti, Editor of RFID Journal

Brazilian ADR list

Company Name	Quote	Sector
ARACRUZ CELULOSE SA	ARA	PAPER & PULP PRODUCTS
BANCO BRADESCO SA	BBD	BANKS
BANCO ITAU HOLDING FINANCEIRA SA	ITU	BANKS
BRASIL TELECOM PARTICIPACOES SA	BRP	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BRASIL TELECOM SA	BTM	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BRASKEM SA	BAK	CHEMICALS
CIA BRASILEIRA DE DISTRIBUICAO GRUPO PAO DE ACUCAR	CBD	FOOD PRODUCTS & SERVICES
CIA DE BEBIDAS DAS AMERICAS	ABV	BEVERAGES
CIA DE SANEAMENTO BASICO DO ESTADO DE SAO PAULO	SBS	WATER PRODUCTS & SERVICES
CIA ENERGETICA DE MINAS GERAIS	CIG	ELECTRIC UTILITY
CIA PARANAENSE DE ENERGIA	ELP	ELECTRIC UTILITY
CIA SIDERURGICA NACIONAL SA	SID	METAL PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION
CIA VALE DO RIO DOCE	RIO_p	MINING
CIA VALE DO RIO DOCE	RIO	MINING
EMBRATEL PARTICIPACOES SA	EMT	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
EMPRESA BRASILEIRA DE AERONAUTICA SA	ERJ	AEROSPACE
GERDAU SA	GGB	METAL PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION
NET SERVICOS DE COMUNICACAO SA	NETC	MEDIA
PETROLEO BRASILEIRO SA - PETROBRAS	PBR	OIL & GAS
PETROLEO BRASILEIRO SA - PETROBRAS	PBRa	OIL & GAS
SADIA SA	SDA	FOOD PRODUCTS & SERVICES
TELE CELULAR SUL PARTICIPACOES SA	TSU	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELE CENTRO OESTE CELULAR PARTICIPACOES SA	TRO	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELE LESTE CELULAR PARTICIPACOES SA	TBE	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELE NORDESTE CELULAR PARTICIPACOES SA	TND	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELE NORTE CELULAR PARTICIPACOES SA	TCN	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELE NORTE LESTE PARTICIPACOES SA	TNE	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELE SUDESTE CELULAR PARTICIPACOES SA	TSD	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELEMIG CELULAR PARTICIPACOES SA	TMB	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TELESP CELULAR PARTICIPACOES SA	TCP	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
ULTRAPAR PARTICIPACOES SA	UGP	CHEMICALS
UNIAO DE BANCOS BRASILEIROS SA	UBB	BANKS
VOTORANTIM CELULOSE E PAPEL SA - VCP	VCP	PAPER & PULP PRODUCTS
CIA DE BEBIDAS DAS AMERICAS	ABVc	BEVERAGES
PERDIGAO SA	PDA	FOOD PRODUCTS & SERVICES
TELECOMUNICACOES DE SAO PAULO SA	TSP	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
ACESITA SA	ACAHY.pk	METAL PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION
AES TIETE SA	CDEOY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
AES TIETE SA	CDEEY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
BAHIA SUL CELULOSE SA	BHIAY.pk	PAPER & PULP PRODUCTS
BOMBRIL CIRIO SA	BMBPY.pk	CONSUMER PRODUCTS
BRAZIL REALTY SA	BZEXY.pk	REAL ESTATE
CENTRAIS ELETRICAS BRASILEIRAS SA	CAIGY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
CENTRAIS ELETRICAS BRASILEIRAS SA	CAIFY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
CENTRAIS ELETRICAS DE SANTA CATARINA SA	CEDWY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
CIA DE TECIDOS DO NORTE DE MINAS - COTEMINAS	CDDMY.pk	TEXTILES
CIA DE TRANSMISSAO DE ENERGIA ELETRICA PAULISTA	CTPZY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
CIA ENERGETICA DE SAO PAULO	CESQY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
CIA ENERGETICA DE SAO PAULO	CSQSY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
CIA FORCA E LUZ CATAGUAZES - LEOPOLDINA	CFLPY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
CIA PARANAENSE DE ENERGIA	ELPVY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
CIA SIDERURGICA DE TUBARAO	CSTBY.pk	METAL PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION
CIA SUZANO DE PAPEL E CELULOSE	CSZPY.pk	PAPER & PULP PRODUCTS
DUKE ENERGY INTERNATIONAL GERACAO PARANAPANEMA SA	DEIPY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
DUKE ENERGY INTERNATIONAL GERACAO PARANAPANEMA SA	DEIWY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
EUCATEX SA INDUSTRIA E COMERCIO	EDAUY.pk	BUILDING PRODUCTS & MATERIALS
GLOBEX UTILIDADES SA	GBXPY.pk	RETAIL SERVICES
IOCHPE MAXION SA	IOCJY.pk	AUTO PARTS & EQUIPMENT
KLABIN SA	KLBAY.pk	PAPER & PULP PRODUCTS
LOJAS AMERICANAS SA	LOJAY.pk	RETAIL SERVICES
MARCOPOLO SA	MCPOY.pk	AUTO PARTS & EQUIPMENT
PARANAPANEMA SA	PNPPY.pk	MINING
ROSSI RESIDENCIAL SA	RSRZY.pk	REAL ESTATE
SAO PAULO ALPARGATAS SA	SAALY.pk	APPAREL
SAO PAULO ALPARGATAS SA	SAANY.pk	APPAREL
SUZANO PETROQUIMICA SA	SUZPY.pk	CHEMICALS
TELEFONICA DATA BRASIL HOLDING SA	TDBPY.pk	TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TRACTEBEL ENERGIA SA	TBLEY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
TRACTEBEL ENERGIA SA	TBLGY.pk	ELECTRIC UTILITY
USINAS SIDERURGICAS DE MINAS GERAIS SA	USNZY.pk	METAL PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION
USINAS SIDERURGICAS DE MINAS GERAIS SA	USNMY.pk	METAL PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION

Nice price action in these stocks for the last 6 months.

On 11/07/2003:

ALOT	$17.04
EAR	$1.85
LIOX	$10.20
OPSW	$8.96
OPTV	$4.92
QRSI	$10.35
SYMM	$7.23

Check it out!

Anti-impotence cream to take on Viagra

This small NJ biotech company is posed to steal 50% of the market away from Pfizer's Viagra. It is a lotion that causes instant erection with no side effects in minutes as opposed to Viagra's 1 hour. NexMed has been quietly selling the Befar lotion in China since last July and is ready to bring the cream to the rest of Asia and eventually the US.

Befar's improved active ingredient, Alprox-TD, developed by NexMed, works by widening the blood vessels, allowing the organ to be engorged with blood.

The original substance alprostadil has been used to treat erectile dysfunction for several years around the world but in some cases caused painful priapism for several hours because it was administered via injection directly into the penis (ouch!).

NexMed is in the phase III testing of Alprox-TD and testing a similar product for women called Femprox.

NEXM will announce earnings on 11/14/2003.

NEXM $4.91 on 11/07/2003

Some value plays with some momentum out there (screened today):

Symbol	Company Name	P/E Ratio: Current		% Price Change Last Month		Industry Name
SISI	SI Technologies, Inc.	5.9		30.2		Diversified Machinery
JST	Jinpan International Ltd.	14.7		96.6		Diversified Electronics
EY	Ethyl Corporation	9.5		47.1		Specialty Chemicals
JAX	J. Alexander's Corporation	13.6		37		Restaurants
WRLD	World Acceptance Corp.	14.7		38		Credit Services
CALM	Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.	6		42.3		Farm Products
DW	Drew Industries, Inc.	14.7		34.2		General Building Materials
CCRT	CompuCredit Corporation	9.9		35.3		Credit Services
KOR	Koor Industries Ltd. (ADR)	5.2		42.8		Conglomerates
DRAX	Draxis Health Inc.	8.6		49.7		Drugs  Wholesale
MRY	Memry Corporation	5.8		45.6		Machine Tools & Accessories
USLM	U.S. Lime & Minerals Inc.	11.8		46.2		General Building Materials
WEX	Winland Electronics, Inc.	12.4		58.6		Scientific & Technical Instruments
ASPT	Aspect Communications	10.5		59.1		Diversified Communication Services
MKTG	MKTG Services, Inc.	0.3		491		Business Services
LCOR	Landacorp, Inc.	14.3		49.3		Internet Software & Services
OMNI	OMNI Energy Services Corp.	13.8		38.7		Oil & Gas Equipment & Services
ISRL	Isramco, Inc.	6.2		38.4		Independent Oil & Gas
RTWI	RTW, Inc.	2.5		46.8		Property & Casualty Insurance

From CBS MarketWatch:

Canadian stocks that can profit from another rise in the Canadian dollar/commodities price (that is a hedge against inflation/U.S. dollar devaluation): oil producer Encana (ECA), fertilizer producer Agrium (AGU) , and pipeline holding company TransCanada (TRP).

ECA $34.59 on 11/07/2003

AGU $15.66 on 11/07/2003

TRP $20.38 on 11/07/2003

Killing cancer with a benign virus

Doing DD on Oncolytics Biotech.

ONCY $4.57 on 11/05/2003

Radio Frequency Identification technology

This November, Walmart will tell its 100 largest suppliers to start planning the use of passive RF tags (Radio Frequency Identification) on their products to tell precisely where everything is in the supply chain. The US Army and International Paper are doing the same.

Here are some of the companies that can profit from this new technology (11/05/03 close prices):

Alanco Tech (ALAN) $1.10 (got ALAN very early, check my September 24th post below) Unova (UNA) $23.11 Nanopierce Tech (NPCT.OB) $0.32 ScanSource (SCSC) $43.95 Id Systems (IDSY) $9.25 Printronix (PTNX) $14.80 Manhattan Assoc (MANH) $28.64 CheckPoint (CKP) $19.20 Digital Angel (DOC) $2.50 Environmental Techs (EMTI.PK) $0.21 Advanced Id (AIDO.OB) $0.59 Axcess (AXSI.OB) $2.42 Hei (HEII) $3.78

Texas Instruments (TXN) $29.84 Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) $59.14 Avery Dennison (AVY) $52.14 Dow Chemical (DOW) $37.61 Gillette (G) $34.15 Procter & Gamble (PG) $97.35 Kon Philips (PHG) $27.21 Symbol Tech (SBL) $12.54 Samsys Tech (SMY.V / SMSSF.PK) $2.66 STMicroElectron (STM) $26.94 Sun Microsystems (SUNW) $4.27 Tyco International (TYC) $22.50 WJ Communications (WJCI) $6.119 WalMart, of course (WMT) $58.66.

I am also considering this high risk especulative play on the chip implant company (Verichip to be approved by FDA): Applied Digital Solutions (ADSX) $0.39

ALAN $1.10 on 11/05/2003 UNA $23.11 on 11/05/2003 NPCT.OB $0.32 on 11/05/2003

TXN $29.84 on 11/05/2003 ZBRA $59.14 on 11/05/2003 ADSX $0.39 on 11/05/2003

More about the Russian crisis

WHEN the Moscow stock market opens tomorrow morning it will not just be traders who will watch nervously to see what President Vladimir Putin’s next move will be in what, in the space of a week, has become a fully fledged political crisis. ...

The Russian crisis may be an opportunity. Government made an arrest of a oil magnate alleging tax fraud (very likely, it was politically motivated) and threatened the Yukos oil company. Russian press is accusing the government of "stalinism". This, after a month of Russian stocks declines, may make a lot of folks give up and sell.

I remember that during the Argentina crisis TEOBF.PK was sold at less than $0.4 (now it is $1.45) and after the Indonesia bombing TLK was sold at less than $5.62 (now it is $14.20).

VIP $65.10 on 10/31/2003	TNT $20.90 on 10/31/2003
ROS $11.40 on 10/31/2003	MBT $77.49 on 10/31/2003
YUKOY.PK $46.75 on 10/31/2003	WBD $18.92 on 10/31/2003
LUKOY.PK $82.25	VLGAY.PK $4.65
UVYZY.PK $5.75	USERY.PK $25.25
SGTZY.PK $24.25	SBKYY.PK $20.75
OGZPF.PK $23.75	NILSY.PK $51.00
GUMRY.PK $3.62

But keep in mind this would be a risky play!