Wednesday's Tech Recap

June 6, 2012  |  includes: AAPL, ACOM, AUTH, CSOD, ELON, FB, FCEL, GOOG, INTC, INVN, LNKD, MSFT, NXPI, ORCL,PCLN, RAX, RP, SGI, SSNLF.PK, WFR

The tech sector had one of its best days of the year. The sector as a whole was up 2.45%. It was one of the best performing sectors as many tech stocks when on bullish runs during the day. Several of the large cap stocks recorded significant gains. Facebook (FB) was up 3.64%, Oracle (ORCL) by 3.09%, and Priceline.com (PCLN) grew by 3.66%. Intel (INTC) and Microsoft (MSFT) also both grew by more than 2%.

The tech sector pushed the Nasdaq up as the index grew by 2.40%. The S&P 500 grew by 2.30%, while the Dow Jones grew by 2.37%. The large growth by all three indices resulted from hope in Europe as the European Central Bank announced new measures to help the struggling countries in Europe.

The recent growth in the tech sector is an encouraging sign that it has now reached rock bottom. The sector is now up 3.68% for the week. Of particular interest is the recent growth experienced by the key technology company involved in NFC technology, NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI), the company has grown more than 8% since bottoming out in the afternoon on Monday. It does not seem to be stopping either as it was up 4% today off strong buying. 2.09 million shares traded hands versus an average of 1.52 million shares. This company will continue to get more valuable as NFC technology becomes more important. It has been argued that this technology could replace credit card payments in the near future.

Top Gainers

• InvenSense (INVN) up 14.65%
• MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) up 12.34%, up 0.58% after hours
• Ancestry.com (ACOM) up 10.74%, but down 4.19% after hours
• Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD) up 10.57%, but down 3.10% after hours
• Silicon Graphics International Corp (SGI) up 10.34%

Top Losers

• FuelCell Energy (FCEL) down 14.52%
• AuthenTec (AUTH) down 5.98%
• RealPage (RP) down 5.01%, down 0.02% after hours
• Rackspace Hosting (RAX) down 4.51%
• Echelon Corporation (ELON) down 2.50%, down 0.02% after hours

Key Events

• LinkedIn (LNKD) is currently investigating the possibility that several million of its users' passwords might have been leaked. The breach is probably genuine as the hackers who stole the data have already placed the encrypted data online and invited fellow hackers to decrypt the data. In response to the claims, LinkedIn has already announced that it will 'no longer send data from the meeting notes section of your calendar.'
• Samsung (SSNLF.PK) has announced its intent to launch a cloud gaming system for its televisions. This deal with Gaikai will allowSamsung's premium TVs to play PS3 and Xbox games without the gaming consoles. This deal might well make Samsung's products more attractive, however, Gaikai's critics have argued it offers a lower quality and slower service than the PS3 and Xbox.
• The IDC has forecast that Microsoft's Windows mobile software will overtake Apple's (AAPL) iOS in market share over the next four years. If it happens, this will mean Windows mobile software will be second in the market to Android's platform. Apple is projected to have 19% of market share in 2016, Microsoft is projected to have 19.2%, while Google's (GOOG) market share will be significantly higher than either Microsoft or Apple. This represents an important development in one of the most important software markets.

By Rupert Nicholson

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.