Intel Corp (INTC)

[imho]

ChipGeek,

One step at a time.

I completely agree; I still find myself feeling extremely cautious as well...

Well you would not be an Intel shareholder if you felt any other way ;))

Cautious optimism is the best way to describe what is happening. If you look at Intel's stock performance you come to realize that its stock performance and its business performance have diverged. Good business performance, despite some major Intel missteps. One must conclude that these missteps and the perception they caused, was the driving force for the divergence. Hopefully, Intel has taken the proper steps to correct this. The transition is not seamless however.

The analogy that best describes what is happening to Intel stock price at this moment is to visualize AMD with a 2 room apartment it has all decorated and prettied up starting about 3 years ago. By comparison Intel owns a 8 room mansion (rooms==marketshare). Intel is in the midst of a major renovation and wouldn’t you know it, guests (analysts) show up on the doorstep. The house is a mess, with contractors and building material all over the place. Unless you are an analyst that can envision the end result, utter chaos is the probable impression.

Of course, just like in the analogy, the end result, though nice and clean, may not impress everyone. Oh yes, AMD could be adding some new furniture to their apartment or moving into a 3 or 4 room home, as well. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

IMHO