How to Trade the "Big 3" Tech Names

Most investors believe they have to load their portfolios with small, obscure stocks to have any chance at beating the market. June 26, 2014     How to Trade the "Big 3" Tech Names   Bigger is better Mega-cap tech trounces the market Plus: Does anyone really know what to make of GDP?   Greg Guenthner coming to you from Baltimore, MD... Greg Guenthner Most investors believe they have to load their portfolios with small, obscure stocks to have any chance at beating the market. Don't get me wrong-- carefully selected small stocks can deliver impressive gains. But when market conditions are just right, you have the chance to book outsized returns by playing some of the biggest, most recognizable stocks on the market. This year, Wall Street's mega-cap tech names are among the best longer-term trades you can make. The bigger, the better... Today, I'm going to talk about the "Big 3" tech names you should consider for longer-term trades. I don't care that these stocks are household names. You shouldn't either. All I care about is the fact that these stocks are in the perfect position to deliver worry-free returns. First up is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Back in January, I called Apple a potential "trade of the year" candidate. And after a few months of sideways consolidation, Apple stock finally shot higher. It's completed all the hard work already. The stock has already bottomed out and trended higher since July 2013. Now, after a stock split has priced shares at $90, I have a feeling more investors will pile into this name thanks to the lower share price. Next up is Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Google isn't just the king of the internet. It's also the company of the future. Google has its hand in self-driving cars, automated homes, ultra-fast wireless connections and plenty of other cutting-edge industries. What I like most about this stock right now is its little secondary breakout above $580. After breaking free of its downtrend in May, Google is now showing us that it wants to attempt to take out its February highs. After what turned out to be a rough spring for this stock, it's setting up beautifully for a longer-term trade this week... Then there's Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT). Now I know you might think Microsoft is a "grandpa" tech stock. But you can't let reputations like this impact your judgment. In reality, Microsoft looks fantastic this year. In fact, this stock is actually just a couple of bucks away from its all-time highs set all the way back in 1999... Also, Microsoft shares are up nearly 14% since January 1st, easily topping the S&P's 6% gains so far this year. While other tech names dropped in April and May, MSFT held its ground. It now has one of the cleanest uptrends in the group... If you are looking to grab shares of any of these companies for a longer-term trade, it's important to give the stock plenty of room to work. Don't set a hard stop just below your buy price. Some of these trends aren't perfect. Give these trades some leeway and enjoy the gains.         The government is NOT happy about this new kind of "cash"... A government researcher at the National Science Foundation secretly created a new kind of "cash" using supercomputers he had privileged access to. Needless to say, the government was not happy about this. He was promptly fired. This new kind of cash is being created every day by ordinary people all over the world. It's behind the explosion of a new type of bank "account" that many experts believe is threatening the entire banking system. Click here to learn how you can take advantage of this.           Rude Numbers Targets, Predictions and Wild Guesses   29 points were added to the Nasdaq yesterday, helping the tech-heavy index erase its losses from Tuesday's drop. Futures are flat just before the bell this morning... $1,314 is where you'll find gold futures this morning. The yellow metal is down about $8 in early trading... $833 is the price of palladium today. The forgotten precious metal is recovering nicely from its June swoon and looks ready to resume its uptrend... 73% of all stocks trading on US exchanges remain above their respective 50-day moving averages as we head toward the end of the trading week... 15,310 is where the Nikkei closed today. The Japanese index is still about 1,000 points from its December 2013 highs...     Rude Trends When to Buy... When to Sell   By now, I'm sure the financial media has already bombarded you with a million different reasons why first quarter GDP was so terrible... It's the weather, stupid. Or maybe it was half weather, half Obamacare. Or perhaps none of the above. "The cold weather cost the U.S. economy about $15 billion," according to MarketWatch. "Maybe." Maybe. As in: Maybe no one has a clue... But while everyone was arguing over GDP yesterday morning, the stock market didn't seem to be paying attention at all. That should tell you something--not the incessant bickering over the economic performance during the first three months of the year. Remember, the market is forward-looking. It is a cauldron of investors' hopes and fears for the future. The stock market isn't going to dwell on revised government numbers from months past. Instead, it will bubble along with new worries and guesses. While everyone else is playing armchair economist, we can continue to focus on price. Ignore the GDP talk. The market will give you the real answers to your investing questions... [Ed. Note: Send your feedback here: rude@agorafinancial.com - and follow me on Twitter: @GregGuenthner]     Ignore At Your Own Peril Today's Must Read Links   This Secret Savings Account Pays You 7% Interest! Who really killed Kennedy? 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