Oracle (ORCL)

(A Top Pick November 13, 2017. Down 1%). This reminds him of Oracle and Cisco, which sat at the same level for a long time and then revitalized themselves. Oracle relies on the big banks and other large companies with large databases. Other companies have moved into Software As A Service with applications that run across the cloud. Oracle’s customers have huge data centers and don’t need to move. Data protection is challenging in the cloud. The street has been looking to Oracle to increase its presence in the cloud. It is moving but not as fast as people want. He likes the business and it will get there eventually, but it will take more time.

Overall, they are not as profitable as he would like to see. He would continue to hold, despite the sell off from the recent earnings.

The world's largest provider of database software. Historically it’s been a great company. Another good software company that produces a wall of free cash flow. Has had a good run over the last year and is not as cheap as it used to be. Prefers Microsoft (MSFT-Q), but it is a good solid company. As a lot of business evolves to more Web services, they are potentially going to be under pressure. Meanwhile they continue to produce a lot of free cash flow. He would rate this as a Hold to a Weak Buy.

One of the great names in software. Largely database and largely financial institutions. The US banks in the last 10 years have been fixing themselves. Oracle is moving to the Cloud, and he can see this moving into the $60 range. Dividend yield of 1.5%. (Analysts’ price target is $57.)

A big software tech company, but hasn’t grown organically. Basically, it grows by acquisition. His question is, who are they going to buy next. It is getting to the point where it has been a great rewarder for shareholders, but it needs to continue to acquire. Valuations are very rich. Pick this up when there is a little more downside on it.

It has strong seasonality from now until early January. It is forming a trading range and is breaking above it. Stick with it or buy some more.

He likes this, but doesn’t own it. A leader in databases and a number of other areas in software. They are starting to make some progress, and he would categorize this as a more conservative way to play technology. It has had a run, so he wouldn’t be a buyer here. In the lower $40, it would be quite interesting.

(A Top Pick June 24/16. Up 31.13%.) This was a sleepy, boring name. His argument was always that the company was going to do exactly what Microsoft and Adobe did successfully, trying to convert from a legacy based platform to online Cloud. They are doing that.

It recently had a pretty good earnings beat. Technically, it has broken out of a cup. Right now, the water is going against tech, and this has had a phenomenal run and valuations are very high. He would suggest moving your money to another allocation. Dividend of about 1.5%.

(Top Pick June 24/16, Up 15%) They are getting more subscriptions and more products on the cloud. There is lots of completion in the cloud space, but they have done a great job. They are still inexpensive.

Had owned this for a while, and sold it at around these levels 2 or 3 years ago. They are struggling to morph from a hardware/sales business into a software/service business. It has gotten very competitive. He is avoiding this area because it is so competitive. A lot of the big players are building a lot of the stuff internally themselves. He would rather focus on things like Facebook (FB-Q), and possibly even Google (GOOGL-Q).

This has been moving sideways for a while, although its last earnings report beat the street, and the stock popped up a little. There is more room to come. They are transitioning into Cloud very successfully, and as we increasingly use mobile devices, all the storage is up there in space. One of the few tech firms that can successfully acquire other companies. Has a very strong track record of folding other companies in, merging the culture and making money out of them.