This Week's 5 Smartest Stock Moves
If you're feeling good about the market, you're not alone. Take my hand as we go over some of this week's more uplifting headlines.
1. The nuances of smartphone investing
My pudgy fingers may finally get the break that they've always wanted.
Voice-recognition specialist Nuance (NAS: NUAN) may be playing a major role in Apple's (NAS: AAPL) upcoming mobile operating system update, allowing users to simply tap a microphone icon and speak text messages and email responses.
The Apple watchers at 9to5Mac posted screenshots this past weekend claiming to show Nuance speech-to-text integration in the upcoming iOS 5 update. It would be a major win for the company behind the Dragon Naturally Speaking software.
This encouraging nugget is making investors forget that Nuance actually posted mixed quarterly results this week, as a slightly better than expected adjusted profit was offset by a top-line miss.
2. You should be dancing
The iconic Studio 54 is long gone, but some of the names behind the legendary disco club are teaming up with Sirius XM Radio (NAS: SIRI) to launch a commercial-free channel featuring retro dance classics and interviews.
Once again, Sirius XM is flexing its programming muscle in a way that terrestrial radio or streaming websites are unlikely to duplicate given either their limited audience sizes of deployable capital.
The new channel will air on Channel 15 -- sorry, 54 is already spoken for -- starting next week.
3. Lighting the way home
Universal Display (NAS: PANL) surprised the market with a rare quarterly profit this week. The patent-rich provider of organic light emitting device -- or OLED -- technologies also impressed the market with its 170% spike in commercial sales.
The benefits of OLED have never been questioned, but things are finally starting to click, with major manufacturers jockeying for position to introduce high-def televisions with OLED displays.
4. The car's in charge
After seeing their stock get pounded over the past year and change, shareholders of lithium-ion battery pack maker A123 Systems (NAS: AONE) finally got a welcome piece of good news.
General Motors (NYS: GM) awarded a contract to A123 for battery packs in future electric cars.
Now, we don't know when A123 will begin delivering these lithium-ion car batteries to GM. An A123 spokesman did concede that it will be for thousands -- and potentially tens of thousands -- of battery packs a year, but we still don't know in which year we can begin modeling this substantial and model-affirming order for A123.
A123 will take it. The stock traded as high as $28.20 the month after it went public two years ago. When it bottomed out this month, the stock had surrendered 89% of its peak value. If the GM order is for deliveries that will come sooner rather than later -- or perhaps more importantly, if other carmaker orders follow -- A123 is going to finally start making up for lost time.
5. No CARB-free diet on Wall Street
Brazen enough to leave its buddies behind and jump into choppy waters on its own, Carbonite (NAS: CARB) went public yesterday.
Most companies slated to make their exchange debuts this month have decided to postpone their IPOs. Carbonite could have done that. The provider of online data backup services had to pay the price for its difficult timing. Carbonite was initially set to go public between $15 and $17, and it had to settle for $10 a share.
However, we all know the drill these days. Companies will go public by offering just a small number of shares. Secondary offerings at higher price points are no longer frowned upon by investors.
Step lively, Carbonite. Welcome to the jungle.
At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of General Motors, Apple, Nuance Communications, and Universal Display, as well as creating a bull call spread position in Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is an optimist at every turn. He does not own shares in any of the stocks in this story. Rick is also part of theRule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
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