Focus on quality firms to cut your tech risk

Article Excerpt

The recent market downturn has hit technology stocks particularly hard. That inherent volatility is why we advise investors to stick with well-established tech firms with popular products and services, such as Apple, Intel and IBM. All of them remain in a strong position to quickly rebound with the overall market. Even so, Intel and IBM are your best options for new buying. APPLE INC. $141 is still a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol AAPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 16.2 billion; Market cap: $2.3 trillion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.9; Dividend yield: 0.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apple.com) now gets about half of its revenue from iPhone sales. The other half comes from sales of its Mac computers, iPad tablets and other products. The company continues to benefit as users upgrade their older iPhones to new models that run on ultrafast 5G wireless networks. Those users are also buying more subscription services, such as music and video (TV shows and movies) streaming. In the company’s…