Aaron Katsman
IsraelNewsletter.com

Red Red Red- That’s what the tape shows,
the market is going down everyone knows;
Step up and buy stocks off we go,
Homer, what would you say to a bank failure, Doh!

Sub-prime, oil, inflation and a weak dollar are to blame,
A year ago wasn’t the situation the same?
What goes up must come down was Newtons claim to fame,
It looks like only the shorts will be left standing at the end of the game.

Israeli stocks in the US have been shown the door,
but at current valuations isn’t there a floor?
Bears point to Iran and potential war,
Bulls say deal after deal signed, a rally we are in for.

Silicom (SILC), Alvarion (ALVR), Zoran (ZRAN), Amdocs (DOX) the list has no end,
It doesn’t look like the reversal is just around the bend;
Global banks are stuck they have no money to lend,
It will take time for all the carnage to mend.

But be optimistic there are deals to be had,
What’s great today used to be bad.
If you hit refresh on your portfolio you are sure to be sad,
Don’t fret a few good days and buying stocks will again be a popular fad.

Disclosure: Author’s fund has a position in SILC, DOX, ZRAN, ALVR. He has no position in any other stock mentioned as of 7/08/08.

Please see our Disclaimer HERE.

NEW! Introducing Israel Opportunity Investor, our monthly subscription-only newsletter. Stay ahead of the game and make smart decisions in Israel stocks. Go here to learn more.

Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

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Zoran (ZRAN) held an analyst day yesterday at its Sunnyvale, CA headquarters. Well attended by Wall Street, analysts generally left the event confident on the firm’s growth drivers and strategy but still very worried about the macroeconomic milieu at present.

Deutsche Bank believes in the Zoran story as it believes the firm will continue to see strong growth in digital TV and mobile phones in the second half of 2008. The bank believes ZRAN will conies to see demand driven from emerging markets with some support provided by converter box revenues. In a note to investors published yesterday, DB analysts said the leader in the consumer semiconductor market believes “that it is gaining share in printing, DVD, mobile phones, TVs, and printing.” (Continue »)

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Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com

At IOI we are not in the business of making fun of analysts who actually take a stand before an earnings report and tell investors what they think, even if they are wrong. In fact we applaud the move. It’s not very helpful to upgrade or downgrade a stock after earnings when the stock has already moved one way or another. Was it helpful to know that Google (GOOG) was upgraded this past Friday morning after the company blew past earnings and was up $70 in pre-market trading. Investors want information that they can use, before a difference making event happens to a company.

Last night the Israeli  hi-tech company Zoran (ZRAN) ,which makes chips for DVD players and multimedia systems, came out with numbers and provided a much rosier outlook than analysts had predicted. Ten days ago a Jefferies and Co.analyst downgraded Zoran stock down to ‘undeperform’, and slashed his numbers for the rest of the year as well.

Zoran predicted revenue of between $130 million and $135 million in the 2nd quarter, ahead of the $127.1 million that was the consensus. The company also said that they expect that margins for DTV and mobile phones will improve for the rest of the year.

IOI recently laid out the case for Zoran. Our subscribers would have known what the catalysts are going forward. With that being said, I still want to commend the Jefferies analyst for taking a position. He may have been wrong, we all are from time to time I am told, but at least he was proactive.

Disclosure: Author’s fund has a position in ZRAN, fund has no position in any other stock mentioned as of 4/22/08.

Please see our Disclaimer HERE.

NEW! Introducing Israel Opportunity Investor, our monthly subscription-only newsletter. Stay ahead of the game and make smart decisions in Israel stocks. Go here to learn more.

Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

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Stock of the Month: ZRAN

Zoran (Nasdaq: ZRAN), was January’s Stock of the Month as part of our new subscription newsletter, Israel Opportunity Investor. You can find out more about the product and the opportunities we cover at www.israelnewsletter.com

Background

Zoran develops and markets integrated circuits (ICs) that provide digital signal processing (DSP) capabilities to a variety of consumer electronic products. These products are used in DVD players, home theatre systems, and digital cameras. The company also develops products for digital video delivery via set-top box or television. The company sells through Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) who package them into digital and audio products sold to consumers.
(Continue »)

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