THE BASKET OF TECH STOCKS THAT PATRICK LYONS picked in January 2007 had a good year. But for investors disciplined enough to take at least some profits after four of the five stocks reached Lyons’ 12- to 18-month price targets, it was a great year.
The stocks selected by Lyons, a portfolio manager with Durham, North Carolina-based NCM Capital Management Group Inc. (No. 7 on the BE ASSET MANAGERS list with $2.5 billion in assets under management), were up 5.8% a year later, despite the broad market sell-off early in 2008. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 5.1% over the same time period.
Qualcomm led the pack with a gain of 13.1% and traded at $47.72 in May, ahead of Lyons’ $45 target. Oracle also performed well, with a gain of 12.5%. Shares had been up as much as 35% in December, when the price hit $23.31–well over Lyons’ $20 target. Lyons is still high on the company thanks to its plan to buy software company BEA Systems. “Their acquisition will help fill out their product lineup,” he says.
Two of Lyons’ other picks bested his targets at different points during the year. In December, Intel touched $27.99, $4 above its target, and Microsoft hit $37.50 in November, $1.50 better than its target.
The only stock that fell short was Harris Corp., which came within 6 cents of its $67 target back in November. Lyons remains high on the tech companies he selected, noting that he would buy more of each stock except for Qualcomm, which has been plagued by ongoing litigation.
PATRICK LYONS
| Â | Price | Price | Total |
| Company (Ticker) | 1/19/07 | 2/20/08 | Return* |
| Harris Corp. (HRS) | $48.79 | $54.04 | 10.8% |
| Intel (INTC) | 20.30 | 20.38 | 0.4 |
| Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) | 30.57 | 28.22 | -7.7 |
| Oracle (ORCL) | 17.27 | 19.43 | 12.5 |
| Qualcomm (QCOM) | 38.35 | 43.37 | 13.1 |
| Total Portfolio | Â | Â | 5.8 |
| Nasdaq | 2,451.31 | 2,327.10 | -5.1 |
Current Value of $5,000 Investment: $5,290.85
*REFLECTS STOCK SPLITS AND DIVIDENDS SOURCE: YAHOO FINANCE