Over 30 Virtual Reality Stocks - Which are the Purest Plays?

Virtual reality is the creation of an artificial environment that looks very realistic, through the use of computer technology. Virtual reality, or VR as it is commonly referred to, is one of the fastest growing industries in the areas of electronic gaming, entertainment, medical services, and military applications.

The key product utilized in the VR world is the headset, originally prohibitively expensive, but currently dropping in price. As a matter of fact, you can buy a D-scope Pro Google Cardboard 3D Virtual Reality Kit for less than $20.

Historically, one might consider the stereoscope as the first step towards virtual reality. It was invented in the 1800's and consisted of a viewer which allowed the left and right eyes to view two separate but identical pictures, giving a three dimensional effect.

The more modern version is the View-Master, created in 1939, which gave the users the same effect but gave the ability to click through a series of pictures.

Of course, Oculus is considered to be one of the largest virtual reality technology companies, with its popular Oculus Rift, a virtual reality head-mounted display for video gaming. Mark Zuckerberg saw the writing on the wall and Facebook ended up paying $2 billion for the company in 2014.

Many other companies are involved in virtual reality and augmented reality, such as Adobe (ADBE), Alphabet/Google (GOOGL), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Sony (SNE), but it is currently only a small part of their business. A list of over 30 virtual reality and augmented reality stocks can be found at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

However, although there are no truly pure plays, there are a few smaller companies where the VR business can bring a substantial amount of money to their bottom line.

One example is Immersion (IMMR) which is working on force feedback for virtual reality. Force feedback, also called haptic technology and kinesthetic communication, is the creation of the sense of touch to the user, through the use of vibrations or motions.

Immersion is one of the leaders in haptic technology. The stock has a nosebleed high trailing price to earnings ratio of 901, but a more reasonable forward P/E of 26. The company is debt free and has $2.11 in cash per share.

Kopin (KOPN) develops, makes, and markets virtual and augmented reality gaming, training and simulation products. The company is currently generating negative earnings but is debt free with $1.42 in cash per share.

Microvision (MVIS) makes PicoP scanning technology for three-dimensional sensing and image capture. This company, like Kopin, also generates negative earnings, but is also debt free. It has 22 cents in cash per share. On the positive side, Macrovision's quarterly revenues jumped 311% year over year.

These three companies are small cap, and should therefore be considered very speculative. Many other VR stocks can be found at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. Hopefully a virtual reality stock will make your profits a reality.

By Stockerblog.com

Disclosure: Author owned AAPL and MSFT at the time the article was written.

Modern picture courtesy of Pixabay.

Financial Carnival for the End of August

A financial carnival is a group of interesting links to various articles of interest to investors and others looking for interesting items relating to personal finance, the stock market, venture capital, real estate, and money.  Here is a great list of reads I came across recently for the end of August.

Amazon launches 1-hour alcohol delivery service in the U.S.
Amazon (AMZN) now beginning to deliver beer, wine, and booze.

'Spam King' guilty of posting 27 million Facebook (FB) messages
27 Million?

Where to Get Non-Recourse Loans for Your Art, Rolexes, and Other Fine Items
Need some quick cash to invest in a startup? How about borrowing against the Picasso hanging on your wall?

Get What's Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security
Are you familiar with the technique of filing for Social Security and suspending it at the same time at the age of 66, then having your spouse file for spousal benefit, then both of you apply for full benefit at age 70, in order to get tens of thousands in additional Social Security benefits? I hadn't heard about it or other techniques in the book. If you are approaching retirement you better check this out. No wonder why the book has 839 reviews and an overall rating of 4.5 stars.

Watch Sony's (SNE) prototype drone do a vertical takeoff
Big enough to carry 22 pounds

Passport Power Ranks
A ranking of passports by country

Most Expensive Listed Home in California Sold
Sorry you missed out on buying this one for only $47.5 million

Electric Surfboards
I'd like to be the VC that invested in this company


Passive Investing is Broken. Here's how to fix it by Tom Sosnoff

The Best Way to Invest in Samsung

One company that investors would like to invest in, but is very difficult to do, is Samsung, considered to be the largest technology company in the world. Its products are used by Apple (AAPL), Nokia (NOK), and Sony (SNE). The stock trades at 11.8 times trailing earnings.

If your broker has access to a German exchange, you can buy Samsung Electronics (SSU.DE) or through the London Exchange, you can also buy Samsung (BC94.L).

However, most Americans don't have this access. So another option is buying the Samsung (SSLNF) over-the-counter on the Pink Sheets. The problem with this is that it is very illiquid, with only about 500 shares traded per day on average.

However, there is one other way to get in on the Samsung stock. You can buy shares of the Korea Fund (KF), which owns a huge amount of Samsung, making up almost 20% of the portfolio. This closed end fund also owns several other Korean companies, such as Hyundai (HYMTF). So you also get some diversification, plus some liquidity.

You get one other bonus. The Korea Funds trades at a 10.5% discount to net asset value. The fund uses no leverage and has a price to earnings ratio of 4.5.

If you like interesting stocks list this, check out the free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author owns AAPL.

By Stockerblog.com

Top Super Bowl Stocks

The Big Football Game is this Sunday, February 6, 2011, between the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the NFC champion Green Bay Packers, held for the first time at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The event involves sports and fans and celebration, but beyond that, it involves money and in a big way. I'm not just talking about the $135,000 seats still available in the Hall of Fame Suites at the stadium, I mean the amount of advertising dollars generated. It can cost a few million dollars for a 30 second ad.

Most of the companies that have chosen to advertise during the Super Bowl XLV broadcast are publicly traded stocks, so if you think these companies will benefit from this advertising, now is the time to pick out a few good ones and jump on the bandwagon. Here is a list of the advertisers along with their stock ticker symbols.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD)
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY)
Bridgestone Corp. (BRDCY.PK)
CarMax Inc. (KMX)
Coca Cola (KO)
Disney (DIS) Pirates of the Caribbean
E*TRADE Financial Corporation (ETFC)
Ford (F)
General Motors (GM) Silverado, Cruze, Volt
Hyundai Motor Co. (HYMTF.PK)
Kraft (KFT) Planters Nuts. Wheat Thins, Chips Ahoy
Motorola (MOT)
PepsiCo (PEP) Doritos
Salesforce.com (CRM)
Skechers USA Inc. (SKX)
Sony (SNE) Just Go With It, Battle: Los Angeles, Priest
Viacom (VIA) Paramount Pictures: Kung Fu Panda 2
Volkswagen AG (VLKAY.PK)

If you like interesting stock lists like this, don't forget to check out the other lists available at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author owns DIS and F at the time the article was written.

Super Bowl is a registered trademark of the NFL.

By Stockerblog.com

Beatles Stock Index Outperforms S&P 500 by 7.5 percentage points!

Exactly one month ago yesterday, I reported on ways to invest in the Beatles through companies related to the Beatles and their songs. Several stocks were mentioned in the article, including Apple (AAPL), Starbucks (SBUX), Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (LYV), and Sony (SNE), along with several other companies.

If you had invested an equal dollar amount in each of those companies, your account would be up as of yesterday's close, by an amazing 11.7% in only one month. If you invested that same total amount in the S&P 500 (to give an apples to apple comparison - no pun intended), your account would only be up by only 4.15%. So the Beatles Stock Index outperformed S&P 500 by an amazing 7.5 percentage points! You would have achieved almost twice the return from 'buying the Beatles.'

For a list of all the stocks in the Beatles portfolio, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author owns AAPL.

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia. No celebrity endorsement expressed or implied.

By Stockerblog.com

How to Invest in the Beatles

If you never saw the PBS program 'How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin,' you have to watch it; it has been appearing fairly regularly on the network. It shows how the Beatles had a major influence on the fall of communism in the USSR during the early sixties, and how Beatlemania lead to entrepreneurship, free enterprise, capitalism, and free thinking. You can see the preview in the YouTube video below.

The Beatles are considered to be one of the most successful popular music bands in history, and the band's four members, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr can be recited by music fans of all ages. So is there a way for an investor to jump on this bandstand?

Apple (AAPL) television commercials have been appearing since November 16, announcing that Beatles music is now available through the company's iTunes Store, playable on iPods, iPhones, and numerous other devices. So Apple, the very successful debt free company, would be the primary way of playing the Beatles market. The stock trades at 14 times forward earnings and reported a 70% boost in quarterly earnings on a 67% rise in revenues. The company has an incredible $25.62 billion in cash, which works out to almost $28 in cash per share.

Analysts seem to favor the stock. Ticonderoga and Jeffries recently initiated coverage on the company, giving it a Buy rating, and Robert W. Baird, which also just initiated covered last month, gave it an Outperform rating.

Investors could also look at some of the Apple product component manufacturers, such as Samsung Electronics (SSNLF.PK), which makes flash memory chips and applications processors, Toshiba Corp. (TOSBF.PK) which makes iPod hard drives, and Liquidmetal Technologies Inc. (LQMT.OB), a developer of amorphous metals which have been used in some iPhones and which owned numerous patents that Apple purchased the exclusive licenses to.

Samsung trades at 14 times forward earnings and reported an 83% increased in earnings for the quarter ending June 30, on a revenue increase of over 16%. Toshiba sports a price to earnings ratio of 30. The company reported an enormous 29,000% increase in quarterly earnings on a 3% increase in revenues for the quarter ending September 30. Liquidmetal just reported earnings yesterday, announcing a 686% increase in revenues over the prior quarter. However, the company generated a net loss of 23 cents per share for the quarter.

In regards to the Beatles music catalog, which featured nearly every song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney until the Beatles broke up in 1970, a series of owners have been involved including Michael Jackson. Jackson purchased the catalog for $47.5 million back in 1985. Ten years later, Sony (SNE) offered Jackson $90 million for half ownership of ATV Music Publishing, the holding company for the songs. The catalog is now owned by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which is 50% owned by the Michael Jackson Family Trust and 50% owned by Sony. Sony has the right to buy out the Jackson portion at any time for $250 million.

Sony/ATV receives as much as $45 million per year from Beatles songs. Sony's share, at $22.5 million, represents about 2.4% of Sony's income.

Sony has a forward PE ratio of 20. Latest quarterly revenues were of 4.3% and earnings were 94 cents per share versus a loss during the same period last year. The company has about $16 in cash per share.

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the two surviving members of the band, recorded a song together 'Walk with You' which is the lead single from Starr's most recent album 'Y Not,' distributed by Universal Music Group, a division of Vivendi (VIVDY.PK), the digital media company based in France. Vivendi also owns Mercury records, the United Kingdom distributor of McCartney's album 'Good Evening New York City.' The stock has a PE of 36, and reported an 8.5% increase in sales but a 38% drop in earnings.

Interestingly, the US distributor of 'Good Evening New York City' and McCartney's 21st studio album 'Memory Almost Full,' is distributed by Hear Music, owned by Starbucks (SBUX), the largest coffeehouse chain in the world. The stock trades at 26 times earnings and sports a yield of 1.6%. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 86% on a 17% rise in revenues.

Of course, the ticket sellers are benefiting from McCartney concerts. As a matter of fact, fans crashed the Ticketmaster servers due to huge demand for McCartney's Mexico City concert in May of this year. Ticketmaster is owned by the worldwide concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (LYV). Live Nation has a forward PE of 285.5 and reported a 2.3% increase in quarterly sales but a 26% drop in earnings for the quarter.

For a list of all the stocks in the Beatles portfolio, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.



Disclosure: Author owns AAPL and LQMT.

By Stockerblog.com

World Cup Soccer Stock Portfolio

The 2010 FIFA World Cup, the top international association soccer (called football outside the US) tournament started yesterday. It is being held in South Africa, and will continue until July 11, 2010. The World Cup is an extremely popular event, and the last game is expected to be the most watched sports game ever. With lots of viewers, there will be lots of money involved.

Several publicly traded companies are either official partners or sponsors, and could be used to build a World Cup Soccer portfolio.

One of the partners is Adidas (ADDYY.PK), the athletic shoe manufacturer, sportswear, and other sports equipment. The stock has a market cap of $10.9 billion.

Coca Cola (KO) is another partner. The stock has a PE of 17 and a yield of 3.4%.

Hyundai Motor (HYMTF.PK), the automobile manufacturer is also on the partner list.

Sony (SNE), the electronic equipment manufacturer, has a forward PE ratio of 12 and a PEG of 1.92.

The credit card company Visa (V) has a PE of 23.5 and pays a yield of 0.7%.

Budweiser, which is made by Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) is one of the official sponsors. The stock has a PE of 17.7 and a yield of 0.8%.

McDonalds (MCD) is another sponsor. It has a PE of 16.4 and a yield of 3.3%.

The sponsor Yingli Solar, is a brand of Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (YGE). The stock has a PE of 11.5 and a PEG of 0.65.

Mahindra Satyam (SAY) is a sponsor that was formerly known as Satyam Computer Services Ltd. The stock has a market cap of $3.4 billion.

MTN Group Ltd. (MTNOY.PK), a South Africa-based telecommunications company, is a sponsor with a market cap of $25.5 billion.

If you like interesting portfolios, you should check out the free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which can be downloaded, sorted, and added to.

Author owns MCD.

By Stockerblog.com

Porn Stars Creating Hot Business for Sony 3D TVs

Sony Corporation (SNE) will be releasing their 3D TVs this month, and a big factor that will help their sales is the Japanese pornography industry. Two top stars of adult oriented movies, Mika Kayama and Yuma Asami, will be appearing in a couple of digital discs for 3D TVs.

This should be a benefit for both the adult industry and the 3D industry. Even Playboy (PLA) is getting in on the 3D act with a 3D centerfold this month.

If you like investing in these types of businesses, you should check out our article from a while ago on sexy stocks.

Author does not own any of the above.

Angelina Jolie Year End Stock Index Update

Angelina Jolie Outperforms the Stock Market

Lots of negative press may appear in the tabloids about Angelina Jolie, but you can't keep a great actress down. Her stock index, which is made up of the stocks of companies that distribute her motion pictures, has significantly outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average this year. The stocks in her index include the following.

Components of the Angelina Jolie Stock Index:
Sony SNE - Girl, Interrupted
Viacom VIA-B - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life; Beowulf
Time Warner TWX - George Wallace; Taking Lives; Alexander
News Corp. NWS-A - Mr. & Mrs. Smith; Life or Something Like It
General Electric GE - [Universal Pictures] The Bone Collector; The Good Shepherd; The Changeling
Disney DIS - Playing by Heart; Gone in 60 Seconds
Comcast CMCSA - Original Sin
DreamWorks Animation DWA - Shark Tale

Assumptions:
This is a price-weighted index, similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It includes dividends.

Returns:
From January through today (12/28/09), the Angelina Jolie Index is up 22%, outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average which is up 16%.

If you like celebrity stock indexes, you should check out the Heidi Klum Stock Index, the Eva Longoria Stock Index, the Jessica Alba Stock Index, the Nicole Kidman Stock Index, the Freida Pinto Stock Index, and the Taylor Swift Stock Index.

Author owns TWX, DIS, and DWA.

By Fred Fuld for Stockerblog.com.

Supermodel Stock Index Update: Celebrity Models Outperform the Dow

Two top modeling celebrities, Gisele Bündchen and Heidi Klum, both of which had celebrity stock indexes created by Stockerblog.com, have had their indexes updated and compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The one thing that these women have in common, other than the fact that they are wealthy, successful supermodels, is that both of their indexes have outperformed the Dow over the last two and a half years.

Their indexes are based on the companies that they are connected to in some way, such as acting as celebrity spokesperson. Since January of 2007, the Gisele Bündchen's index was down 6.7% and the Heidi Klum's index was up 1.1%, and both were significantly better than the return on the Dow which was down 26.1%. The stocks in their indices are as follows:

Gisele Bundchen
Volkswagon (VLKAY.PK)
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL)
Vivo Participacoes (VIV)
News Corp. (NWSA)
Sony (SNE)
Procter & Gamble (PG)
Disney (DIS)

Heidi Klum
Limited (LTD)
McDonalds (MCD)
Volkswagon (VLKAY.PK)
Target (TGT)
Procter & Gamble (PG)
Nike (NKE)
Jones Apparel Group Inc. (JNY)
Hennes & Mauritz AB (HNNMY.PK)

Assumptions:
These are price-weighted indexes, similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Dividends were included.

Check out additional details on Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, and Angelina Jolie.

Author owns DIS, MCD, and TWX.

By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com

Beyoncé Stock Index Outperforms the Dow Jones Industrial Average

The famous singer and actress, Beyonce, appears on the cover of the June 22 issue of Forbes Magazine. She earned $87 million according to the magazine, achieving fourth place on the 2009 Forbes Celebrity 100 list, and the second highest position for a musician. If you look at all the stocks of companies that she is connected with to build an index, her index outperforms the Dow Jones Industrial Average from the beginning of 2008. The Dow was down 30.7%, whereas the Beyoncé Stock Index was down only 23.8%.

Her index includes:

General Mills (GIS) served as celebrity spokesperson

Sony (SNE) Columbia Records label, Obsessed movie, distributed by Screen Gems, subsidiary of Sony; Cadillac Records movie, TriStar subsidiary of Sony

Viacom (VIAB) Dreamgirls, The Fighting Temptations, and Fade to Black movies, distributed by Paramount, subsidiary of Viacom

Pepsi (PEP) TV, radio, and Internet commercials

L'Oréal Group (LRLCF.PK) earned $1 milion as a celebrity endorser

Other celebrity stock indexes you may be interested in include the Heidi Klum Stock Index, the Eva Longoria Stock Index, the Angelina Jolie Stock Index, the Jessica Alba Stock Index, the Nicole Kidman Stock Index, the Freida Pinto Stock Index, and the Supermodels Stock Indices.

Assumptions:
This is a price-weighted index, similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Author does not own any of the above. No celebrity endorsement expressed or implied.

By Stockerblog.com

Supermodel Gisele Still Outperforms the Dow Jones Industrial Average

Gisele Bündchen, who was named by Forbes Magazine as the top earning supermodel and Guinness World Records said that she is now the richest supermodel in the world. In 2007, I developed the Gisele Bundchen Stock Index, which contained the stocks of companies that Gisele is connected with, such as being the celebrity spokesperson. At the time, her index was outperforming the stock market. I have updated the index to the present time, and noticed that Gisele has continued to outperform the Dow Jones Industrial Average significantly.

The stocks in her portfolio include:
Volkswagon (VLKAY.PK)
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL)
Vivo Participacoes (VIV)
News Corp. (NWS-A)
Sony (SNE)
Procter & Gamble (PG)
Disney (DIS)

Although the Gisele Index was down by 15.7% since the beginning of 2007 to the present, it far outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average which was down over 30% during that same time frame.

Other celebrity stock indexes you may be interested in include the Heidi Klum Stock Index, the Eva Longoria Stock Index, the Angelina Jolie Stock Index, the Jessica Alba Stock Index, the Nicole Kidman Stock Index, the Freida Pinto Stock Index, and the Supermodels Stock Indices.

Assumptions:
This is a price-weighted index, similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Author owns DIS.

By Stockerblog.com