Intel Corp (INTC)

[Tim May]

I think these announcement events are good to be separated from the even more frenetic Mega Conferences in Las Vegas and the like. (Apple pulled out of the Vegas circus a while back.)

Probably the CNBS talking heads will be all Lady Gaga over Apple's teasings. And will probably not even mention Intel's IDC. (I wouldn't.) I'll bet there are 45 minutes of Apple coverage for every 2 minutes of Intel coverage.

I'll be only mildly interested in the Apple event, as I am well kitted-out with a new Mac Pro, my trusty Retina Mac Book Pro, an older iPad 3 (also Retina), and one-year-old iPhone 5S. They're all great, none need replacement for a while. I have no interest (yet) in the iWatch thingamajig, rumored to be announced.

I won't follow the IDC too closely, either. Intel's roadmap is pretty well known, so I don't expect any big surprises. (Of course, their might be an "Oh, and one more thing..." surprise, perhaps a replacement for the Mac Mini. But I would expect any big Mac announcements to be held at other events, perhaps in January, perhaps in the usual June period.

It's all execution now on Intel's part, and with 3 fabs revving up for 14-16 nm TriGate/FinFET production, apparently still somewhat ahead of TSMC and Samsung, I'm holding on to my stock.

(I have other reasons to hold on to it, like tax reasons. This has served me pretty well for the past 30 years. Never thought I'd thank high tax rates, but it caused me to hold on to most of my Intel stock.)

--Tim