11 www.taipanonline.com DECEMBER 2004 ing US$179 stock later collapsed to a low of US$4,
investors are waking up to the massive potential
that could push the stock back above US$7 in the
near term. Recent uses for ADSX’s technology have includ-
ed tracking animals to avert mad cow disease and
helping find lost or injured pets after the recent hur-
ricanes. About 6,000 pets per month are helped
using the technology. As for humans, it can help the way we live, play
and even spend. The VeriChip, roughly the size of a
grain of rice, can help identify people, store com-
plete medical records, etc. There are Mexican offi-
cials who have been “chipped” already should they
“turn up missing.” With ADSX’s upcoming appearance at the ID
World 2004 conference and continued media expo-
sure, we’re recommending a buy on ADSX shares
under US$5. Contact: 1690 South Congress Avenue,
Suite 200, Delray Beach, FL 33445, tel. 561-805-
8000, fax 561-805-0001, website www.adsx.com. ADSX appears to be the one company to own in
this market segment, if you are buying just one. But
if you’d like to decrease your risk through diversifi-
cation—usually a prudent measure—the competi-
tion is performing quite well also. Shares of Canadian company Bioscrypt
(BYT:TORONTO) have been rising steadily on news
that it has teamed up with IBM and other compa-
nies to develop and market secure identity solu-
tions to businesses and governmental agencies. The product, called the IBM identity manager, uti-
lizes BYT’s fingerprint scanning technology. The
University of Texas Medical Branch has already
selected BYT’s access control fingerprint readers to
help secure its lab for infectious diseases. Buy
shares of BYT under US$2 using the ID World con-
ference as a near-term catalyst. Still riding its uptrend, Zebra Technologies
(ZBRA:NASDAQ) has also made our buy recom-
mendation list. While it’s in charge of developing
RFID specifications for the Department of Defense,
it’s also a top supplier to the likes of Wal-Mart. Buy
shares of ZBRA under US$60. This is just one of
many companies that are likely to benefit from the
January 2005 date set by Wal-Mart for suppliers to
be RFID compliant. Finally, there’s Symbol Technologies
(SBL:NYSE), which just posted blowout Q3 earn-
ings and higher guidance for Q4. The bar code
equipment maker posted a nice US$21 million or 9
cent per share profit, compared to US$11.5 million
or 5 cents per share last year. Exclude the compa-
ny’s acquisition of Matrics, and it earned 14 cents
per share. That’s 3 cents above estimates. Revenue was up 17% to US$443 million—the
highest in company history. For Q4, the company
forecast EPS of 9 to 10 cents per share on revenue
of US$445 million to US$450 million. This is likely
to include a 5-cent reduction because of the Matrics
acquisition. With growth not a likely problem, buy
shares of SBL under US$15. ¦ IBM is a household name. You
probably use their machines every
day, whether you’re at work or at
home. Not to mention that they’re
one of the biggest manufacturers of
computer hardware, making them a
member of both the Dow Industrials
and the S&P 500. What’s new with IBM? Well, in the
words of Tim Allen,“More power!” Just recently, four of IBM’s
machines made the biannual top ten supercomputer
list. IBM’s Blue Gene/L ranks first on the list of the
world’s top 500 fastest computers announced on
November 8 at the SC2004 conference in Pittsburgh. IBM’s current version of the Blue Gene/L is a
33,000-processor system capable of performing
70.72 trillion calculations per second. The final ver-
sion, to be housed at the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory in California in early 2005, will
be a 130,000-processor system with a peak perform-
ance of 360 trillion floating-point operations per sec-
ond (TFLOPS). It even beats the Earth Simulator in
Yokohama, Japan. I’m sure some of you have no idea what that
means. In fact, neither do I. All those computing num-
bers and processor speeds confuse the heck out of
me. All I need to know is that computer junkies are
salivating over those numbers. And that means Next, page… The wrath of the computer industry: How a senior tech company could make you 152% in 40 days Ann Sosnowski
