'Israel' Tag RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com Yoseph West submits:

Here's Part 1.

In this article, I'll be analyzing T.A.T. Technologies Ltd.'s (TATT) balance sheet, highlighting an aspect that particularly stands out to me and explaining any adjustments I've made.

Before taking a look at the adjustments, I want to highlight how cash-rich TATT is. Without dipping into any other asset, they can easily pay off all of their liabilities (with cash to spare!). I really like this, especially when it combines with the fact that Current Assets minus Total Liabilities equals 86.5% of TATT's Market Cap. This helps provide a comfortable margin of safety, as it's not including long-term assets or the value of the business itself!

Complete Story » Yoseph West submits:

T.A.T. Technologies Ltd. (TATT) provides a variety of services and products to the military and commercial aerospace and defense industries. More specifically, it operates three businesses: original equipment manufacturing (OEM), maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services and parts services.

It's a company with a strong balance sheet, solid margins and great growth potential. Here are the key ratios:

Complete Story » Shlomi Cohen submits:

At its analysts day, SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK) exuded as much confidence, both for the long and short term, as I've ever seen.

Before I get to all the information supplied by SanDisk executives, I wanted to point out, with great satisfaction, that SanDisk has never been as "Israeli" as it is today. It is led today by seven executives, of whom five are Israeli, including founder and CEO Dr. Eli Harari, and his deputy executive VP OEM business and corporate engineering Yoram Cedar. Three others came from msystems, so that I have no doubt that SanDisk's acquisition of the company from Dov Moran three and half years ago has contributed a lot to SanDisk.

Complete Story » Shlomi Cohen submits:

If we look at what happened to Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (Nasdaq:NVMI; TASE:NVMI), a small Israeli company in the chip equipment sector, in the past year, we can understand why analyst opinions are not united regarding what will happen in the sector over the upcoming year. We can also understand why there is so much restlessness in the share price of the industry's small companies.

At this time last year, Nova shares traded at $0.34, that is to say, at a market cap of only $7 million. Two weeks ago, it succeeded in raising a net $15 million, which will apparently rise to $17 million with the underwriters' options. At the beginning of January this year, Nova's market value hit a record of $130 million.

Complete Story » David Hunkar submits:

A new report from Silicon Valley nonprofit groups Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and Silicon Valley Community Foundation casts doubt on the future prosperity of the region and mentions that the valley’s innovation engine is at risk.

From a news report:

Complete Story » Shlomi Cohen submits:

Today I am replacing the stock of e-commerce giant, eBay (EBAY), with that of a smaller one, AudioCodes Ltd. (Nasdaq: AUDC; TASE: AUDC). eBay seems to be in constant reorganization in recent years, and has a chance to succeed at it. However, I anticipate a much greater return over the next year from Audiocodes, if the strategic change it is currently undergoing works.

Since the heady days of VocalTec Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:VOCL) during the technology bubble of more than a decade ago, I have stayed away from voice over IP [VoIP] like from fire. VoIP is the industry in which Audiocodes operates.

Complete Story » ETF Database submits:

Last week saw impressive volatility in equity ETFs, as investors focused their attention squarely on the debt crisis of Greece and the reaction of wealthy eurozone neighbors. While Wall Street will continue to monitor any developments in the region going forward, there are a number of major events ahead this week that could have a big impact on markets. The U.S. earnings season has begun to wind down, but some major overseas announcements could have a big impact on a handful of funds. Below is a look at three ETFs that could be on the move this week amidst a flurry of earnings reports, data releases, and continued evaluation of the eurozone’s strength:

MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index (EIS)

Why EIS Could Be On The Move: Teva Pharmaceuticals, which accounts for about 22.5% of the fund, is reporting earnings on Tuesday.

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The shutdown of iPhone (AAPL) sales in New York City during the Christmas holidays is just the beginning of the wireless data jam. But that doesn't have to be a problem for you; just invest in the companies that are going to make it possible for iPhones, Blackberries (RIMM), Androids (GOOG), Palms (PALM) and every other smart phone to actually work.

Just as companies were trying like crazy to push sales of gadgets and gizmos during the holidays, AT&T (T) decided to shut down any new sales of one of the most popular of all consumer products: the iPhone.

Complete Story » Market Folly submits:

Josh Berkowitz and Marcel Kasumovich founded Woodbine Capital, a global macro hedge fund in January of last year after leaving George Soros' hedge fund firm Soros Fund Management. Previously, we'd seen Woodbine's thoughts on the often talked about precious metal in their commentary, Gold: The Anti-Goldilocks. In Woodbine's recent December 2009 letter to investors, we got a glimpse at five current investment themes that the hedge fund is playing in its portfolio that are detailed below. Additionally, we covered some of its macro takeaways in a separate post.

1. Exit strategies from monetary policies: In order to play this, Woodbine is long fixed income and long exchange rates in regions that have seen aggressive exit strategies. In this aspect, they are fond of Israel, Norway, and Australia. Berkowitz and Kasumovich write,

Complete Story » Shlomi Cohen submits:

This week I visited one of Israel's most veteran and most successful chip sector companies that has continued to survive as an independent entity, DSP Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DSPG).

The company was founded a generation ago, and over the years has been somewhat of a technology incubator for impressive public companies that sprung out of it, like DSPC which was sold to Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), and from there to Marvell Technology Group (Nasdaq: MRVL), and like AudioCodes Ltd. (Nasdaq: AUDC; TASE: AUDC) and Ceva Inc. (Nasdaq:CEVA; LSE:CVA).

Complete Story » Ira Stoll submits:

Allowing the "re-importation" into America of medicine sold abroad is one of those perennially debated issues. I've tended to oppose it on the grounds that it would wind up reducing innovation and decreasing the discoveries of miracle drugs by importing foreign-government-imposed price controls into the American drug market. But I can also see the free-trade argument, and it irks me as an American taxpayer and consumer that we're essentially paying top retail dollar for medicine while the rest of the world gets a discount.

Some recent press on the issue indicates that the Obama administration wants to push re-importation only after a health-care overhaul is passed, so the House and Senate bills don't touch the issue. In fact, advocates of re-importation, led by Senator McCain, lost a vote in the Senate. The issue usually comes up in connection with Americans importing cheaper drugs from Canada.

Complete Story » Shlomi Cohen submits:

Many times the timing of a company's release of its financial report is terrible, without any connection to its actual results, because exactly at that point the whole market hits an air pocket. That is what happened to SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK) on Friday, when its share price fell nearly 12%.

SanDisk has always been a favorite with shortsellers, since it is a chip company, and therefore is easily labeled as a "commodities company". That is despite the fact that it is well known that the company is a technology trailblazer that knows very well how to defend its patents- the opposite of the definition of "commodities".

Complete Story » Shlomi Cohen submits:

Goldman Sachs (GS) has recommended to investors not to listen to doomsayers of chip equipment shares, and suggests taking advantage of recent sharp falls to increase positions in the sector.

In their opinion, the level of investment in equipment is still very low, and even if investment grows 60% this year, it will only reach a level which is still 35% below the previous records. In their opinion, in contrast to that of Citigroup (C) analysts, equipment maker shares will reach a peak when the pace of orders reaches a peak, and they don't see that happening until at least 2011.

Complete Story » Don Dion submits:

The iShares MSCI Israel Capped Index Fund (EIS) is designed to give investors access to the total Israeli market, but it is heavily influenced by its top holding, Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), which accounts for over 22% of the fund’s total portfolio.

While having such a large slice devoted to a single firm makes a fund riskier, TEVA’s optimistic outlook for the future may actually strengthen the case for holding EIS.

Complete Story » Shlomi Cohen submits:

The share price of Ceragon Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: CRNT) reached a more than two year high when it crossed $13 last week. One can ask what is going on in its sector, and if it is on its way to breaking its post-bubble record of $22 reached in October, 2007, or if it will now head lower.

Ceragon develops and sells wireless equipment to cellular telecommunications firms for the section of their network from the communications tower back toward the network backbone.

Complete Story » ETF Database submits:

As a country with virtually no natural resources that is surrounded by hostile neighbors, Israel’s path from an emerging market to first world status mirrored to some extent that of Singapore, embracing innovation and technological know-how in order to propel itself to developed status. This model has served the small country of just over seven million people remarkably well over the years and especially well in the face of the recent global economic slowdown. In fact, Israel has resiliently plowed through the Great Recession and its GDP is projected to grow at a 3.5% rate for 2010. With a bright future outlook, many investors seeking to diversify developed market exposure to a technology-driven, market economy are taking a close look at the Israel ETF.

Diversified Economy

Complete Story » Shlomi Cohen submits:

At the forefront of new inventions and new product launches for 2010, the world's largest electronics show, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, ended this week. If going in everyone was talking about advanced telephones, on the way out the big buzz was all about 3D.

With or without connection to the dizzying success of the movie Avatar, the first televisions with 3D processors will hit the market this year already. Together with the special glasses that will be included, we will be able to watch three dimensional content at home. Hollywood is now beginning to develop the special broadcasting channels for them.

Complete Story » Shlomi Cohen submits:

The giant Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will include almost no Israeli public companies, since Israel's high-tech industry is focused more on infrastructures and less on gadgets. Among the companies which are in my portfolio tracked by "Globes", semi-Israeli chip companies SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK) and Marvell Technology Group (Nasdaq: MRVL) will present as will Sigma Designs (Nasdaq: SIGM), which after its acquisition of Coppergate, can almost be considered half-Israeli too.

There are several other Israeli firms in my portfolio which, despite not being in Las Vegas this week, will be influenced in 2010 by products launched there.

Complete Story » Shlomi Cohen submits:

When I wrote in this column a year ago, my recommendations for 2009, I claimed that despite the fact that we were on the edge of an abyss, I believed that the trend on which I based my recommendations for 2008 was still in force. That is, that we are at the beginning of a new industrial revolution which started at the onset of the 21st century, and according to Cisco (CSCO) CEO John Chambers, the trend will continue for many years.

It is a revolution that is taking place on the back of the broadband Internet infrastructure, both landline-based and wireless, and one that we have not known anything like since we first came across personal computers and mobile phones decades ago. But the current revolution is tens of times bigger than what happened then, because it is not one gadget or another, but actually a drastic change in our lifestyle.

Complete Story » EP Vantage submits:

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) was almost certainly not the name OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (OGXI) investors had in mind as they waited for the Canadian company to deliver a much hyped deal over its lead oncology candidate, OGX-011.

Encouraging phase II data and the promise of a lucrative transaction propelled OncoGenex shares skyward earlier this year, but yesterday they came crashing back down amid disappointment over the deal terms and identity of the partner, which some have suggested casts aspersions on the quality of the asset. Still, whilst Teva might not currently be considered an A-list oncology name, the analysis below reveals that it does have a couple of novel compounds in development, and the move is certainly in line with recent comments from the Israeli generics giant regarding diversification. Assuming the drug is a success, in the long run this could well be considered a wise partnership.

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