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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Top Innovators Weathering the Financial Storm

HEWLETT-PACKARD

only FOR WOMEN: Fashion designer Vivienne Tam flanked by President (PSG), Hewlett-Packard India, Ravi Swaminathan (left), and Senior Vice-President Global Marketing, Hewlett Packard, Satjiv S. Chahil

Hewlett-Packard unveiled four new laptops, including a special edition stylish notebook PC designed by U.S.-based renowned fashion designer Vivienne Tam. HP has about 33 percent market share in India's laptop segment.

Addressing a press conference here, HP's Senior Vice-President (Global Marketing) of Personal Systems Group (PSG) Satjiv S. Chahil said: "We continuously work to ensure that our HP Pavilion line appeals to new markets and segments. Vivienne's fresh and authentic design speaks to an intrinsic part of a digital lifestyle-personal expression." According to HP India's President (PSG) Ravi Swaminathan, the company plans to strengthen its market leadership position with an aggressive 'go-to-market' strategy by increasing its retail footprint across 650 cities and expanding retail partner network to over 10,000 by this year-end.

HP Vice President in an interview today on CNBC indicated that HP PC business remains robust, and touted Gartner report that shows growth of at least 15%.

HP shares are down 23.5% year to date. Innovation Index Group has a BUY recommendation on HP with a 12 month price target of $50 to $60.

PROCTOR & GAMBLE

Mr. A.G. Lafley, CEO of P&G, said: "The reason P&G has grown so consistently for so long is that we're a company that sticks to the fundamentals. We build brands that improve consumers' lives. We deliver superior value day in and day out. We manage cash and costs with unrelenting discipline. And we invest in innovation as the primary driver of profitable organic sales growth.

"While the economic environment remains volatile and uncertain, I am confident that P&G can and will continue to prosper over the long term. We are committed to ensuring P&G will continue to be a company you can count on."

P&G's net sales for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008 increased nine percent to $83.5 billion, with organic sales up five percent - in the middle of the Company's four to six percent target range. Diluted earnings per share were $3.64, up 20 percent - or double the Company's ten percent target. P&G's free cash flow was $13.0 billion for the fiscal year, or 106 percent of net earnings - well above the Company's 90 percent goal.

P&G sales have nearly doubled for each of the past three decades - from $10 billion in 1980 to more than $80 billion today with earnings growth increasing from $640 million to $12 billion over the same period. Over the past five years, P&G has delivered 11 percent compound annual total return to shareholders, nine percent over the past ten years, and 16 percent over the past 20 years. The Company's dividends have also increased every year - more than nine percent a year, on average - over the past fifty-two years, and have been paid without interruption since the Company was incorporated 118 years ago. P&G recently announced a 40 cents dividend.

P&G shares are down 15.8% year to date. Innovation Index Group has a BUY recommendation on P&G with a 12 month price target of $75 to $85

APPLE

JP Morgan is upgrading Apple to Overweight from Neutral. Apple's model is far more diverse than previous vintages, and they think the staying power has been underappreciated. With its market share momentum likely intact, Apple in firm's view offers strong relative downside protection to the looming earnings reset that they expect to impact IT Hardware companies in coming weeks and again early next year.

- Diverse model provides staying power. There has been considerable investor concern lately over the Apple model losing steam, particularly if the consumer vertical rolls over. JPM estimates that the company's total model exposure is about 70-75% consumer, but they think that Apple's brand and market share momentum offer meaningful buffers to potential macro-driven pressures on the consumer.

- Retail expansion could sustain share gains and international momentum. JPM thinks a major force behind Apple's growth story will be its diversifying revenue streams. They expect Apple's penetration of the international markets to be measured in years and supported by the increasing build-out of the retail stores overseas.

- iPhone could lead to the enterprise or other content-rich devices. Firm thinks the iPhone could be a stepping stone to penetrating the enterprise. Also, they could envision the iPhone pushing Apple deeper into the set-top box market as the convergence of voice, web, data, and content continues.

- Expect numbers to come down across the sector, but Apple likely has a backstop beyond the first round. For Apple, they are revising their below-consensus revenue and EPS estimates. Looking to fiscal 2009, revenue and EPS estimates are $36.98 billion and $5.27, versus the Street consensus of $40.26 billion and $6.02.

- Apple trades at 18.8x JPM's calendar 2009 EPS estimate, versus the peer group average of 11.1x. With macro pressures showing no signs of dissipating, they believe it is time to play defense, and they think Apple can avoid having a major problem with the "E" in the price-to-earnings multiple moving through the coming year. Firm expects the company's model to limit a series of major earnings cuts from unfolding in coming quarters, and they think this should support a valuation gap in Apple's favor.

Apple announced new aluminum shell, more powerful laptops on October 14, and reduced the price on updated laptops to under $1,000. Apple is poised to see a robust growth in its sale of notebooks during the holiday season owing to competitive pricing and better features.

Apple shares are down 48.6% year to date. Innovation Index Group has a BUY rating on Apple, and is now updating the 12 month price target in the range of $160 to $190.

IBM

JPMorgan upgrades IBM as a stock that is a 'sturdy ship' in rough economic waters

A JPMorgan analyst upgraded International Business Machines Corp. saying the company's diverse and steady revenue streams make the stock a "sturdy ship" in the worsening economic environment, the firm said Wednesday.

Mark Moskowitz raised his rating to "Overweight" from "Neutral" because IBM has diverse revenue sources that offer relative stability. He also said at least half of the company's revenue comes from annual payments on long-term services and software contracts.

IBM represents a "flight to quality" for investors" due to its broad services, hardware and software reach," the analyst wrote. IBM 3Q profits jumped 20% from last year in large part due to services contracts.

IBM shares are down 15.3% year to date. Innovation Index Group has a BUY recommendation on IBM with a 12 month price target of $125 to $150.

These four innovators present attractive buying opportunity at the current price points.

Innovation Index Reports

About The Innovation Index

The Innovation Index introduced in December 2006 is a weighted stock price index of the top 20 Innovators in North America.

The Innovation Index returned 66% in 2007 based on performance model, and would have returned 174% over the previous five years (2002-2006) based on historical model*. This assumes equal investment in each stock of The Innovation Index as of December 31, 2001. An average of $100 invested in The Innovation Index on December 31, 2001 returned $454 as of December 31, 2007. By comparison, $100 invested in S & P 500 returned 28% or $129, $100 invested in NASDAQ returned 34% or $136, and $100 invested in the Dow Jones Index returned 30% or $131 through December 31, 2007. The Innovation Index beats the S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index by more than seven times over the past six years.*

Alphabetical list of the Top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index for 2008 and their stock ticker symbols:

3M Company - (NYSE: MMM)
Amazon.com, Inc. - (NASDAQ: AMZN)
America Movil - (NYSE: AMX)
Apple Inc. - (NASDAQ: AAPL)
AT&T Inc. - (NYSE: T)
Best Buy Co., Inc. - (NYSE: BBY)
Cisco Systems, Inc. - (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Costco Wholesale Corporation - (NASDAQ: COST)
eBay Inc. - (NASDAQ: EBAY)
General Electric Co. - (NYSE: GE)
Google Inc. - (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. - (NYSE: HPQ)
Intel Corporation - (NASDAQ: INTC)
International Business Machines Corp. - (NYSE: IBM)
Merck & Co., Inc. - (NYSE: MRK)
McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD)
Microsoft Corporation - (NASDAQ: MSFT)
NIKE, Inc. - (NYSE: NKE)
Research In Motion Limited - (NASDAQ: RIMM)
The Proctor & Gamble Company - (NYSE: PG)

The Innovation Index will analyze the positions and standings of the Top 20 Innovators at the end of each year. For 2008, there will be no further changes in The Innovation Index.

Disclaimer: The Innovation Index Group, Inc. invests in the stocks comprising The Innovation Index.
*Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Results

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Beat the Wall Street - Take Control of Your Finances and Invest Profitably

HURRY! SPACE IS LIMITED!! REGISTER TODAY FOR: BEAT THE WALL STREET, TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCES AND INVEST PROFITABLY!

Do you want to profitably invest in the U.S. stock market and beat the Wall Street? Are you tired of losing money on your stock investments, paying fees on your investment accounts, and have even stopped looking at your monthly statements? Does your Investment Adviser provide you adequate choices to better invest your money? What financial strategies are you considering for your longer term investments, including your IRA? Innovation Index Group systematically invests in the Innovation Index, a weighted, stock index of The Top 20 Innovators in North America. We have delivered over 60% return since 2007 through systematic investment philosophy. Learn from us about disciplined Financial Strategies, the Innovation Index, and how to profitably invest in the American stock market.

Presenter:
Sanjay Dalal, President & Managing Director
Innovation Index Group, Inc.

Panelists:
Presenters from Entrust, Financial Companies and Real Estate / Mortgage Planners

Cost:
For a limited time, this web seminar is FREE (valued at over $100; only for the first thirty registrations)

Register for a session now by clicking a date below:

Wed, Sep 24, 2008 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PDT

Wed, Oct 8, 2008 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PDT

Wed, Oct 22, 2008 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PDT

Wed, Nov 5, 2008 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PST

Wed, Nov 19, 2008 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PST

Wed, Dec 3, 2008 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PST

Wed, Dec 17, 2008 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PST

Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Beat the Wall Street - Take Control of Your IRA and Invest Profitably


	Register for this Web Seminar (hurry, space is limited) Do you want to profitably invest in the U.S. stock market and beat the stock markets? Are you tired of losing money on your IRA, paying fees on your IRA account, and have even stopped looking at your monthly statements? Does your IRA provide you adequate choices to better invest your money? What financial strategies are you considering for your longer term investments, especially with your IRA? Innovation Index Group systematically invests in the Innovation Index, a weighted, stock index of The Top 20 Innovators in North America. We have delivered over 60% return since 2007 through systematic investment philosophy. Learn from us about disciplined Financial Strategies, the Innovation Index, and how to profitably invest in the American stock market. Presenters include Kaaren Hall, Business Development Manager Entrust Financial Services, LLC and Sanjay Dalal, President & Managing Director Innovation Index Group, Inc. Date: August 26, 2008 Time: 6 pm Pacific Register for this FREE Web Seminar now (space is limited, valued at $150)

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Introducing The Innovation Index Fund

Dear Creativity And Innovation Driving Business Blog Subscribers:

Are you interested in making your money work smarter and grow faster, and achieve potential average returns over 25% a year?*

We have created a brand new private placement investment fund called:

The Innovation Index Fund

What is The Innovation Index Fund?

The Innovation Index Fund is a private investment fund where investors such as you can invest their monies in The Innovation Index. The Innovation Index Fund, LLC is managed by Innovation Index Group, Inc.

What is The Innovation Index?

The Innovation Index introduced in December 2006 is a weighted stock price index of the top 20 Innovators in North America.

What has been the performance of The Innovation Index?

The Innovation Index would have returned 174% over the last five years as per the historical performance model. This assumes equal investment in each stock of The Innovation Index as of December 31, 2001. An average of $100 invested in The Innovation Index on December 31, 2001 returned $274 as of December 29, 2006. By comparison, $100 invested in each of S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index only returned $124 as of December 29, 2006.

What is the performance of The Innovation Index in 2007?

The Innovation Index returned 66% in 2007 as per our performance model. The Innovation Index beats the major U.S. indices including the S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones. S & P 500 was up 4% for the year, NASDAQ was up 10% for the year and the Dow Jones Index was up 6% for the year.

Which companies comprise The Innovation Index?

Here are the the top 20 Innovators that comprise The Innovation Index for 2007 and their stock ticker symbols:

3M Company - (NYSE: MMM)
Amazon.com, Inc. - (NASDAQ: AMZN)
America Movil - (NYSE: AMX)
Apple Inc. - (NASDAQ: AAPL)
Cisco Systems, Inc. - (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Dell Inc. - (NASDAQ: DELL)
eBay Inc. - (NASDAQ: EBAY)
General Electric Co. - (NYSE: GE)
Google Inc. - (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. - (NYSE: HPQ)
Intel Corporation - (NYSE: INTC)
International Business Machines Corp. - (NYSE: IBM)
Microsoft Corporation - (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Research In Motion Limited - (NASDAQ: RIMM)
Southwest Airlines Co. - (NYSE: LUV)
Starbucks Corporation - (NASDAQ: SBUX)
Target Corp. - (NYSE: TGT)
The Proctor & Gamble Company - (NYSE: PG)
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. - (NYSE: WMT)
Yahoo! Inc. - (NASDAQ: YHOO)

The Innovation Index Group will analyze the positions and standings of the top 20 Innovators at the end of each year, and make changes for 2008.

The Top 20 Innovators for 2008 were announced on December 31, 2007. Here is the alphabetical list of the Top 20 Innovators for 2008:

3M Company - (NYSE: MMM)
Amazon.com, Inc. - (NASDAQ: AMZN)
America Movil - (NYSE: AMX)
Apple Inc. - (NASDAQ: AAPL)
AT&T Inc. - (NYSE: T)
Best Buy Co., Inc. - (NYSE: BBY)
Cisco Systems, Inc. - (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Costco Wholesale Corporation - (NASDAQ: COST)
eBay Inc. - (NASDAQ: EBAY)
General Electric Co. - (NYSE: GE)
Google Inc. - (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. - (NYSE: HPQ)
Intel Corporation - (NYSE: INTC)
International Business Machines Corp. - (NYSE: IBM)
Merck & Co., Inc. - (NYSE: MRK)
McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD)
Microsoft Corporation - (NASDAQ: MSFT)
NIKE, Inc. - (NYSE: NKE)
Research In Motion Limited - (NASDAQ: RIMM)
The Proctor & Gamble Company - (NYSE: PG)

How do I find out more information on the Innovation Index?

We have created a brand new website that provides all the relevant information about the Innovation Index, the performance, our selection process, founding principles, history and more.

Please browse to:
http://www.innovationindexgroup.com/

How do I learn more and invest in The Innovation Index Fund?

You need to first contact us to obtain more information about the Innovation Index. We will then contact you with the relevant details about the Innovation Index Fund and the prospectus. We will keep your contact information completely confidential, and only use it to contact you about The Innovation Index Fund and the associated information.

You can also email us at: info@innovationindexgroup.com

Or if you prefer, you can fill out the contact form at the bottom of the page here:
http://www.innovationindexgroup.com/invest.html

Are my investments completely safe in The Innovation Index Fund?

No. The Innovation Index invests in the stocks of the top 20 innovators in North America, and stocks can lose value. Historically, The Innovation Index would have returned average annual performance gains of over 34% a year for the past five years. However, the investments are not FDIC insured, and have no bank guarantee. Investments may lose value including the principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Next steps:

If you are a serious accredited investor who wants to put your hard earned money to work smarter and grow faster and beat the stock market, email us at:

info@innovationindexgroup.com

Include your full name, phone number and address.

I look forward to your response.

Sincere regards,

Sanjay Dalal
President and Managing Director
Innovation Index Group, Inc.

*Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Results

Sunday, July 13, 2008

To Sell Or Not To Sell? You Decide.

If you are an investor in the stock market or real estate, are you considering selling your investments because of the current market conditions?

The major U.S. indices are down more than 20% from the recent peak set in October, 2007 - officially marking the return of the Bear market. Oil is more than $145 a barrel, and showing a real impact at the gas station when you take your car for a fill-up. Real estate prices are back to 2004 levels, or perhaps even 2003 or 2002. Foreclosures, Short sales, Auctions and Loan Defaults are accelerating, and going through the roof. Countrywide, the nation's largest home lender, was acquired by Bank of America earlier in the year; then it was Bear Sterns that had one last gasp, before getting a bail-out from JP Morgan and Federal Reserve; last Friday, IndyMac, one of the largest lenders in the nation and California, went bankrupt and closed doors. And there are rumors on whether Freddie and Fannie will survive through this mess. Oh my!

Your hard-earned money has perhaps lost 10%, 20%, 30% or even more than 50% owing to investments in the stock market or real estate.

What do you do?

Do you sell or hold on to your investments? Or do you double down?

This is perhaps the toughest question you would need to answer.

History shows that markets go through cycles of expansion, peak, contraction, consolidation, expansion, peak.... bull markets and bear markets. For instance, after the dot-com meltdown, we had an unprecedented boom that began in 2002 and lasted through 2007 - over five years. The bear market had lasted about two years prior to that. Whereas the last bear market had to do with the collapse from the dot-com euphoria and companies who lacked fundamentals, the current bear market is driven by larger macro-economic factors impacting the nation whole.

Fundamentally, except for the financial companies who had exposure to mortgages and sub-primes, most of the sectors are doing equal or better than they did in 2007. This is HUGE! However, Wall Street's business is driven by finance - and when the going was good, many Wall Street firms doubled up on the risky bets of the derivatives, sub-primes and mortgages. And they paid a dear price! The smart firms such as Goldman Sachs actually made money. Now some of the Wall Street firms want to save their face, and also make up for the huge losses. One way to do this is spread fear, talk the bear talk, get inside the investors' psyche, bet down the entire market - and make money as the markets go down. Someone has to panic as markets go down - the ones who panic the most are not the large Wall Street firms - instead, they are the individual investors who can't stomach the losses on their portfolio, and sell out while the chips are down. While the individual investors are selling at lowered prices, large hedge funds and institutions are making money.

So should you sell out now, or wait?

If you have invested in companies with great fundamentals, solid operations, sound management, and if these companies are still growing or holding steady in these tough economic times, you should have the strength of conviction and hold on to your investments. Just ask two questions - are they going to be around tomorrow, and are they going to be stronger than what they are today? Perhaps, you want to invest more if you believe in their future.

What are some of these top companies? GE, P&G, 3M, IBM, Apple, HP, Intel, J&J are just a few companies who have withstood economic and market downturns for the past decades. Newer bell-weathers include Cisco, Microsoft, McDonald's, Costco, Nike, Amazon.com, eBay, the new AT&T, RIM, Google and more.

An often repeated stock market mantra is to "sell in May and go away." One often forgotten fact is historically the market has performed differently - "better" - in presidential election years.

A recent chart by Chart of the Day details the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in election years.

Dow Jones Industrial Average performance in election years

Source: Chart of the Day

As Chart of the Day notes:

With the 2008 presidential campaign now in full swing, today's chart illustrates how the stock market has performed during the average election year. Whether the average election year is measured from 1980 or 1900, the market has tended to struggle during the first five months of an election year. That initial subpar performance was then followed with a rally (on average) right up to the November election. One theory to support this election year stock market behavior is that the first five months of choppiness is due in part to the uncertainty of the outcome of the presidential election (the market abhors uncertainty) with the market beginning to rally as the outcome of the election becomes increasingly evident.

If some of your other investments are making money, it may be a good idea to balance them with the ones that are losing money towards the end of the year.

To Sell or Not to Sell? You Decide.

About Innovation Index Group:

Innovation Index Group, Inc. is a new research company focused on systematically identifying, tracking, researching and reporting on the most innovative publicly traded companies in North America – collectively called the Innovation Index. Over the past six years, the Innovation Index would have generated a gross average annual return of 40% based on historical model.*

The Innovation Index Reports:
Introducing The Innovation Index - Learn about the Innovation Index
Innovation Index Group BUY Recommendations - 2008 BUY Recommendations and Estimates
Q1 2008 Report - Innovation Index ahead of S&P 500 - Q1, 2008 Report
The Innovation Index closes 2007 at 66% - 2007 Annual Report on the Innovation Index
Top 50 Innovative Companies in the world - 2007 Report on Top 50 Innovative Companies
Annual Report - Chapter One - Total Innovation Activity - 2006 Annual Report One
Annual Report - Chapter Two - The Top Innovator - 2006 Annual Report Two
Annual Report - Chapter Three - The Innovation Insights - 2006 Annual Report Insights
Innovation and Stock Performance Correlation - The Innovation Index and Stock Performance
Future earnings guidance, A leading indicator - Earnings Guidance and Stock Price
Smart Investing In Tough Economic Times - Guide to Prudent, Value Investing

The Innovation Index will analyze the positions and standings of the Top 20 Innovators at the end of each year. For 2008, there will be no further changes in The Innovation Index.

Disclaimer: The Innovation Index Group, Inc. invested in the stocks comprising The Innovation Index.
*Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Results

References:
Source: Sphere: Related Content David Templeton, CFA