What other tech stock to consider?

[pz1975]

Let's keep the SpaceX investor thread here. We already have a thread for alternative energy investments and "other cool tech stock" in this section. I think with the link to Tesla through Elon, a SpaceX thread is just as relevant as those other 2 threads. It's just easier to find for users here - I don't go to other parts of the forum at all personally.

 

[TSLAopt]

Let's keep the SpaceX investor thread here. We already have a thread for alternative energy investments and "other cool tech stock" in this section. I think with the link to Tesla through Elon, a SpaceX thread is just as relevant as those other 2 threads. It's just easier to find for users here - I don't go to other parts of the forum at all personally.

I agree with PZ on this

 

[Julian Cox]

Thought I would check back in with this nonsense stock called PLUG (Plug Power Inc).

This is the small cap Fuel Cell stock that anti-EV money floods into in the dream of the "Hydrogen Economy obliterating TSLA".

It is now up about 100% since I last talked about it, Q4 earnings 13th March.

Not certain that this ought to be played with short term options, but as a direct holding I suspect the 12 month gains would be rather interesting.

Since the big boys have started up about hydrogen (Toyota etc) as the alternative alternative in the past year this stock is up over $4000% from the 52 week low.

Yet at sub $6 (actually more than $6 now after hours) it is still more than $140 off its all time high. The ATH occurred last time the fossil fuel and auto industry needed an alternative alternative to EVs (see who killed the electric car) around 1999 / 2000. For some reason google is showing the ATH at $1500, but pretty sure it is suppose to be $150.

At a rough guess $40 Jan 1 2015, might even pick up speed as Toyota Hyundai and others make more of a fuss about FCVs.

Obviously this is a stock to get out of before anyone figures out that nobody wants to buy an FCV. LOL.

Anyone that stuck with this story so far, congrats.

 

[clmason]

Well, apparently Hoverboard technology is a real.
Not much info on the site and nothing about investors but awesome nonetheless (assuming it is real).
HUVr - The Future has arrived.

Update:
- Never Mind - It is fake as suspected. Would be awesome though!

 

[Johan]

Thought I would check back in with this nonsense stock called PLUG (Plug Power Inc).

This is the small cap Fuel Cell stock that anti-EV money floods into in the dream of the "Hydrogen Economy obliterating TSLA".

It is now up about 100% since I last talked about it, Q4 earnings 13th March.

Not certain that this ought to be played with short term options, but as a direct holding I suspect the 12 month gains would be rather interesting.

Since the big boys have started up about hydrogen (Toyota etc) as the alternative alternative in the past year this stock is up over $4000% from the 52 week low.

Yet at sub $6 (actually more than $6 now after hours) it is still more than $140 off its all time high. The ATH occurred last time the fossil fuel and auto industry needed an alternative alternative to EVs (see who killed the electric car) around 1999 / 2000. For some reason google is showing the ATH at $1500, but pretty sure it is suppose to be $150.

At a rough guess $40 Jan 1 2015, might even pick up speed as Toyota Hyundai and others make more of a fuss about FCVs.

Obviously this is a stock to get out of before anyone figures out that nobody wants to buy an FCV. LOL.

Anyone that stuck with this story so far, congrats.

As a lottery ticket I bought a few Feb calls, expired worthless. Now if I had picked the March expiry that would have been fun. But I share your general disbelief in the technology. Perhaps, as has been discussed elsewhere, sometime in the future though it might make sense for some energy storage scenarios.

By the way Julian are you getting anywhere with LLP? It turns out I'm their first Norwegian investor

 

[longtrader]

Has anyone mentioned GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT)? Apple built a factory for them to make screens for an undisclosed product, but I am more interested in the PV development side of their company. If this blog is correct, they could be about to announce (March 14th) a way to knock 40% off the manufacturing cost of solar cells. http://margolismatt.com/ . I have been using it to learn a little about playing options and have done very well recently.

 

[pz1975]

Another interesting non-publically traded company is Palantir Technologies. They were founded by a group including PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. They have developed software that performs focused data analysis for trends and anomalies and have contracts with the FBI and CIA (counter-terrorism) as well as pharma company.

From their website: "We currently offer a suite of software applications for integrating, visualizing and analyzing the world's information. We support many kinds of data including structured, unstructured, relational, temporal and geospatial.Our products are built for real analysis with a focus on security, scalability, ease of use and collaboration. They are broadly deployed in the intelligence, defense, law enforcement and financial communities, and are spreading rapidly by word of mouth into applications in other industries and realms of impact."

Current valuation is estimated at $9 billion and estimates are for >$1 billion of contracts in 2014. No plans to go public at this point. I am going to research them some more and look private shares. They look like the gold standard for a very important and growing field.
Home | Palantir
Big Data, Big Dollars: Palantir Valued at $9 Billion - WSJ.com

 

[AudubonB]

Has anyone mentioned GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT)? Apple built a factory for them to make screens for an undisclosed product, but I am more interested in the PV development side of their company. If this blog is correct, they could be about to announce (March 14th) a way to knock 40% off the manufacturing cost of solar cells. http://margolismatt.com/ . I have been using it to learn a little about playing options and have done very well recently.

Yes, I was pounding the table on GTAT early last autumn - bought in Sept at $7.14 - I think my entry is one of the first posts in this thread. Other than a basket of alternative energy stocks, I have extremely few "cool tech" stocks in my portfolio, and the only one I've advanced here. GT Advanced has been one of my top 2 or 3 performers since then: up 140% in almost exactly six months. I think it has a good solid "known" earnings potential, and a significant "might be giant" on top of that. A caveat is the hold Apple has on GT Advanced: what the gross margin may be on any sapphire glass it does sell to Apple isn't divulged.

 

[kenliles]

Has anyone mentioned GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT)? Apple built a factory for them to make screens for an undisclosed product, but I am more interested in the PV development side of their company. If this blog is correct, they could be about to announce (March 14th) a way to knock 40% off the manufacturing cost of solar cells. http://margolismatt.com/ . I have been using it to learn a little about playing options and have done very well recently.

I've got a set of LEAP options on GTAT; AudubonB beat me to it as I came in much later. But I like the company and their future in both Saphire and PV production. I'm in and will add if they pull back much

 

[borat99]

Another interesting non-publically traded company is Palantir Technologies. They were founded by a group including PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. They have developed software that performs focused data analysis for trends and anomalies and have contracts with the FBI and CIA (counter-terrorism) as well as pharma company.

From their website: "We currently offer a suite of software applications for integrating, visualizing and analyzing the world's information. We support many kinds of data including structured, unstructured, relational, temporal and geospatial.Our products are built for real analysis with a focus on security, scalability, ease of use and collaboration. They are broadly deployed in the intelligence, defense, law enforcement and financial communities, and are spreading rapidly by word of mouth into applications in other industries and realms of impact."

Current valuation is estimated at $9 billion and estimates are for >$1 billion of contracts in 2014. No plans to go public at this point. I am going to research them some more and look private shares. They look like the gold standard for a very important and growing field.
Home | Palantir
Big Data, Big Dollars: Palantir Valued at $9 Billion - WSJ.com

My customers use Palantir and its one of the hottest startup right now. Employee benefits are on par with Google or better. Lots of interests from private investors. May get bought out by the big boys before going public though.

 

[borat99]

I've got a set of LEAP options on GTAT; AudubonB beat me to it as I came in much later. But I like the company and their future in both Saphire and PV production. I'm in and will add if they pull back much

I got in last month but sold in a week for 20% profit. I'll definitely get back in with leaps if it pulls back.

 

[EchoDelta]

My customers use Palantir and its one of the hottest startup right now. Employee benefits are on par with Google or better. Lots of interests from private investors. May get bought out by the big boys before going public though.

I've used Palantir stuff and it's ok. Lower barrier to entry than folks not in the know would imagine. (they'll get a good run out of gov contracts for sure) . yet I wouldn't invest in them out of ethical considerations (I'm just that sort of investor)

 

[DaveT]

I've used Palantir stuff and it's ok. Lower barrier to entry than folks not in the know would imagine. (they'll get a good run out of gov contracts for sure) . yet I wouldn't invest in them out of ethical considerations (I'm just that sort of investor)

What kind of ethical considerations do you mean?

 

[LiteWait]

Yes, I was pounding the table on GTAT early last autumn - bought in Sept at $7.14 - I think my entry is one of the first posts in this thread. Other than a basket of alternative energy stocks, I have extremely few "cool tech" stocks in my portfolio, and the only one I've advanced here. GT Advanced has been one of my top 2 or 3 performers since then: up 140% in almost exactly six months. I think it has a good solid "known" earnings potential, and a significant "might be giant" on top of that. A caveat is the hold Apple has on GT Advanced: what the gross margin may be on any sapphire glass it does sell to Apple isn't divulged.

@AudubonB:

Any idea why the CFO Richard Gaynor is leaving the company during such a transformational year? I mean I would want to stick around for the next couple of years.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

IPWR: A solution to our PV DC/AC/DC waste problem or smoke and mirrors?

I've been wondering about methods to avoid the excessive waste (~20 or 30% or more?) in taking the DC power from my solar panels, converting it to AC power (via the somewhat wasteful inverters) so that it can be used by the grid (and my house. Then I waste more power converting that electricity back to DC when my MS converts it to charge the battery. Ugh!

This is stupid and wasteful, and will be exacerbated when I get a Tesla home battery.I found Ideal Power (IPWR) last night and just purchased 1k shares this morning, BUT: I've only had a year of college EE classes and that was decades ago. Are there any EE's on this forum that can provide additional guidance on this tech?

My concerns:

1. It's a very small company, working out of some tiny offices near Austin.
2. It's not that long since they've had their IPO.
3. How did IPWR come up with this tech and the big guys are still at the gate or _________________?
4. Any other thoughts--things that I'm not even aware of but should be aware of?

Here's a link to their conference call from earlier this week:Ideal Power | Ideal Power Inc. Announces 2013 Results

Obviously, if these guys have the "secret sauce" then I'll buy more. Distributed power and storage IS the future; that's a no-brainer and I'm sure Tesla owners will be among the first to adopt this technology. It's just that I'm not smart enough to know what's BS and what's not when it comes to the technical info on the AC/DC conversion process, hence my request for info from the smarter brains here.

Your knowledge appreciated!

Think Globally; Act Locally . . . .

 

[pz1975]

I posted some new stuff in the SpaceX investor's thread (General forum -> Off-topic). Sorry to put this here but I have noticed the thread has gone dead since it was moved from here, which is too bad.

 

[AudubonB]

LiteWait -
No, I've no insight at all into Gaynor's departure. I'm old school in virtually all ways, and key personnel departure, regardless of reason, sits poorly with me. That said, it wasn't one of those "left in order to spend more time with family" excuses that normally are synonymous with "was fired". I also am cognizant that job hopping is a lot more normal now than formerly.

 

[Robert.Boston]

I posted some new stuff in the SpaceX investor's thread (General forum -> Off-topic). Sorry to put this here but I have noticed the thread has gone dead since it was moved from here, which is too bad.

FWIW, the SpaceX investor's thread is now here: General Forum / Cars and Transportation / SpaceX

 

[Raffy.Roma]

FWIW, the SpaceX investor's thread is now here: General Forum / Cars and Transportation / SpaceX

I didn't know there is a SpaceX stock. How is it called?

 

[pz1975]

There isn't a publically-traded stock, only private shares that are hard to come by. I have learned that Sharespost has tried to acquire SpaceX shares for clients before but have always been blocked by SpaceX (they have right of first refusal on any share purchases). They are planning on creating their own LLC to increase purchasing power and maybe be able to get some shares. I am planning on being part of that whenever it happens.