One of my favorite "tells" is finding strong stocks in weak markets. These picks oftentimes fly when the market turns positive. Cree closed up 2% today at (or near) the H.O.D. on good volume as the market was tanking. It hit a 52 week high on 6/5 and I have been watching it on the pullback. I took an initial position on Monday and am looking for a breakout through 27.50 to add. This is part of my North Carolina "homegrown" portfolio. Another good mover today was KKD - which just could be an awesome turnaround story.
Here's the reason for the initial jump: bizjournals.com Analyst: Cree shares could double in a year Friday June 1, 5:14 pm ET Shares of Durham lighting company Cree were up more than 10 percent Friday on a new analyst's prediction that the stock will more than double in the next year. American Technology Research initiated Cree on Friday with a buy rating and a 52-week target price of $50. The research firm said it expects LED lighting, Cree's main business, to take off in the next year as public opinion turns against energy-guzzling technologies like the incandescent light bulb. Shares of Cree (Nasdaq: CREE - News) jumped 10.3 percent Friday to close at $24.81. Published June 1, 2007 by the Triangle Business Journal
Toby Smith is pumpin' it also: Clean energy turns spotlight on Cree E-mail Digg It! Thursday, 14 June 2007 Changewave Investing gets its names from its focus on investing in "upstoppable" growth trends, and editor Toby Smith is known for finding these emerging trends well before Wall Street joins the bandwagon. Here, he looks at "the secular shift to solid-state lighting" and a "clean energy" play on Cree (NASDAQ: CREE), an LED solid-state lighting component manufacturer. "The transformation from commodity LEDs for cell phones to broader market opportunities has gone slower than expected for the company, but with a key new acquisition and mandates around the world for the elimination of incandescent bulbs, I believe the time is right to buy shares. "Once consumers see the difference in durability (50,000 hours versus 1,000) and the quality of light for LEDs vs. compact fluorescent bulbs (night and day, almost literally), and see that they use 90% less electricity at the same time, Edisonâs light bulbs will go the way of the dodo bird. The investment world is rapidly coming to this conclusion as well. "The world can no longer afford incandescent lighting, and that puts Cree in the catbird seat. The firm has the best white-light LED technology, the necessary manufacturing expertise, and now they have a subsidiary in -- you guessed it -- China, which is really supercharging their white-light LED sales. "The wave of light-bulb banning is huge -- worldwide -- and growing. California and Canada are banning the use of incandescent bulbs by 2012, while Australia has announced plans to ban incandescent bulbs by 2010. "The European Union votes on a region-wide ban by 2012 in the next few months. And in New Jersey, where the first practical incandescent bulb emerged from Thomas Edison's laboratory in 1879, a bill has been introduced to ban its use in government buildings. "Why? Energy conservation and strategies to overcome global warming are becoming increasingly important political and social issues. The fact is, banning incandescent light bulbs is a relatively easy way to make a significant contribution to energy conservation -- and politicians get all the glory for relative zero negative press. "Therefore, the death of the incandescent bulb in the United States and many other developed countries is only a few years away. In the United States, lighting accounts for 22% of all electric consumption. "There is no denying that financial results at Cree have been disappointing for the last few years. But thatâs about to change. In Creeâs most recent quarter, the company basically broke even, although it officially posted earnings of 27 cents per share, with the majority of these profits due to a tax benefit. "Over the past few years, investors have often expected faster growth and higher profits than Cree has been able to produce, and shares of Cree have dropped from about $35 to the $19 range. "Cree noow has a very compelling valuation. Cree has a market cap of about $1.8 billion, $266 million in cash, and no significant long-term debt. As news about legislation banning incandescent bulbs continues, Cree now has the potential to live up to its appreciation. Now is the time for Cree -- and now is the time to invest on the solid-state lighting wave."
Got a mention in the current Business 2.0 / CNN/Money: The 50 Who Matter Now John Edmond Co-founder, Cree Rank: 39 Why he matters: The light-emitting diode is poised to become the new lightbulb, and for that, Edmond deserves much of the credit. At Cree, the LED manufacturer he helped start two decades ago in North Carolina, Edmond is pushing the technology into the mainstream. At a time when 22 percent of the nation's energy is spent keeping the lights on, an LED bulb can burn for almost six years before it needs to be replaced, and some consume even less energy than compact fluorescent bulbs. Edmond's LEDs are beginning to replace outdoor lighting in parking garages and streetlamps, and the indoor lighting market is set to open up as well. http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/biz2/0706/gallery.50whomatter.biz2/11.html
52 week high today on better than average volume. Topped at 29.26 then faded late to close at 28.85. Next resistance at April '06 highs around $35. June short interest 13.9M shares (16.9% of float), an increase of 2.4M shares since May. On REG SHO list. Anything above 30 could trigger massive short covering.
52 week high today on better than average volume. Topped at 29.26 then faded late to close at 28.85. Next resistance at April '06 highs around $35. June short interest 13.9M shares (16.9% of float), an increase of 2.4M shares since May. On REG SHO list. Anything above 30 could trigger massive short covering.
i like CREE as well. keep in mind they are famous for guiding lower. there are also competitive concerns and margin concerns as well. Tobin Smith pushed CREE lat year whn it was in the 30's and then it nose dived and he was pushing it again in the low 20's. CREE is bascially up on buyout spec since CLRK was aquired last month.
Another 52 wk high, closed at high of day at 30.01. Up 15% since original post. Added more today. Just a matter of time before the squeeze begins. Anybody else in?