plfminthemiddle
17 years ago
Venture-capital firm Harris & Harris (Nasdaq: TINY) is a difficult company to follow, because its value resides in the two dozen-plus nanotechnology start-ups in which it has an equity stake.
For a long time, one of its more visible portfolio holdings was Nanosys, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based start-up that many thought would be the first true nanotechnology company to go public.
Well, for a variety of reasons, Nanosys failed to file for an IPO back in 2004, and as a result, it has somewhat unfairly been held up as the poster child for much of the hype that surrounded the field of nanotechnology a few years back.
An article in today's Technology Review, however, reveals that Nanosys is alive and kicking, and it has made deals with both Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and Micron (NTSE: MU) to begin supplying its metal nanocrystals in next-generation flash memory chips as early as 2009.
By replacing the floating gate in existing flash chips with nanocrystals, Nanosys can help flash-memory manufacturers reduce the amount of insulating material needed and, more importantly, shorten the height of the cells. This combination means that more flash chips can be packed into Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhones and iPods so that the devices can hold more pictures, songs, and video. As an added benefit, the metal nanocrystals require a lower voltage to program, and this, in turn, allows the devices to operate for longer periods without needing a charge.
The development is significant for investors because it is yet another indication that nanotechnology is leading to material improvements in commercial products and holds out the possibility that, after a long delay, Nanosys might really be ready to go public -- an event that could give Harris & Harris' stock a nice boost.
plfminthemiddle
18 years ago
The Nano game starring TINY
After nearly a decade of hype and false starts, the National Science Foundation forecasts that $1 trillion worth of nanotechnology-enabled products will be on the market by 2015. This year, corporations and governments will spend more than $11 billion on nanotechnology research.
However, investors have been burned (charred to a crisp actually) by the big Nanotech hype back in January of 2004. Remember that? George W. Bush signed the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act in 2003, and continued mentioning nanotech throughout the year. Investors went nuts, buying anything with nano in the name - pushing stocks like Nanogen, Inc (NGEN) and Nanophase Technologies Corporation (NANX) well above $10 a share.
Fast-forward to 2006, and Nanotech been forgotten again - and that's good news for investors like you and I. Nanotech is still a long-term sector, and the best time to get in for the long haul is right now, before another hype wave brings the speculators back in.
I can't recommend stocks like NGEN and NANX right now, though - too much risk.
Enter TINY (TINY).
Since 2002, Harris & Harris has made 30 investments in startups that specialize in what it calls `tiny technology'. Charles Harris switched to nano-only deals that year, making Harris & Harris the only publicly traded VC firm devoted exclusively to nanotechnology. To underscore the point, he changed the firm's Nasdaq ticker to TINY.
A full list of the companies TINY has invested in can be viewed here.
http://www.tinytechvc.com
TINY is currently trading close to the bottom of its 52 week range. If you're looking to broaden your portfolio with a stock that is fairly low risk and has the potential for big returns over the next 5-10 years, you should include TINY in your long term portfolio
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odiaz28
18 years ago
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