As the global recession has hurt every aspect of the economy, some sectors are thinking outside of the box to gain a competitive advantage and boost the market value of their stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs).
Sony (SNE) has recently been in talks with Google (GOOG) to post movies on YouTube. As of now, no major Hollywood production company shows full-length films on YouTube, which is the Internet’s most-viewed site. By posting full-length movies on the Internet, film companies will be able to reach a broader audience and keep up with society’s changes and likes, states Andy Fixmer and Brian Womack of Bloomberg.
This will not be an easy task to deal with because of the pressures that come with film piracy. However, CBS (VIA) and Walt Disney (DIS) have already started to put clips and full-length episodes on You Tube.
To add more spark to the technology sector, Intel (INTC) has announced that its venture capital arm is eyeing investments deals in the $10 million to $50 million range. The company’s mandate is to provide funding to foster technologies that will later help microprocessor sales, states Ian King of Bloomberg.
Intel is no stranger to the venture capital game. Since the inception of its venture capital arm, it has given a total of $7.5 billion to about 1,000 companies. With its current focus, the microprocessor king could potentially double or triple its past investment deals. To make it even sweeter, with initial public offerings at an all time low and traditional venture capitalists hesitant to throw money into a start up, Intel can really fuel a spark in technological innovation.
Next week will indicate the impact that the aforementioned news has, as both Intel and Google will release earnings.
If you want grab exposure to the technology sector, take a look at the following ETFs:
- iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology (IYW): up 10.5% year to date and above both its 50- day and 200-day moving averages; INTC is 6.4% and GOOG is 6.2%.
- Select SPDR Technology SPDR (XLK): up 6.4% year-to-date and has crossed both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages; GOOG is 4.64% and INTC is 4.52%
Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.