Shlomi Cohen is a veteran Israeli financial journalist and stock analyst who writes the popular 'Buy, Sell, Hold' column for Israel's leading financial publication, Globes. He also manages a virtual portfolio on Globes. something that no analysts dare to do. In English he publishes in Seeking Alpha, an Israeli site.
He caused me to hold Orckit and Tsem, two Israeli electronics companies. No success but I am persisting. He is intelligent and convincing, and here is a quote:
On the subject of Israel Internet companies, this week I decided to take another look at what's happening at a company that exactly a decade ago was at its peak, VoIP inventor VocalTec Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:VOCL). From a market cap of hundreds of millions of dollars under the person considered the father of the field, Dr. Elon Ganor, it has been through many twists and turns, including a merger with Tdsoft, and today it has a market cap of just $6.4 million, with not many people realizing that it has $11.4 million in the bank.
13 comments:
I went to the about section of Seeking Alpha and I couldn't find any indication that the site is Israeli. The wiki article states that SA has employees on two continents, which leaves open the possibility of an Israeli office though.
I stand corrected, SA is based Israel. I found a picture of the founder, and although his name is not Jewish, he certainly looks it.
Many internet and hi tech companies are legally based in the USA but are Israeli. It makes thing easier.
The US is actually one of the harder places to base a business if I remember correctly. Corporate taxes are higher here than on the rest of the West, and companies listed on the US stock exchanges have to pass expensive (but useless) regulatory requirements.
The only bright spot I can think of is for privately held LLCs, and their derivatives LLPs neither of which are required to pay corporate income taxes.
I would assume that an Israeli company that felt the need to be listed on a US stock exchange would actually incorporate in Bermuda the way Ingersoll-Rand and Dresser Industries did.
A lot of American companies would save themselves a lot of grief and taxes if they would undergo a "corporate inversion" and charter themselves in Bermuda.
If you want I can explain why.
There are advantages in being an American company.
* Access to finance.
* Access to the world largest market
* Access to almost any market in the world - countless trade and tariff agreements
* American standards are accepted everywhere
* America is the world most advanced country
* Good companies like to pay taxes and receive worldwide protection
* If you make in Silicon Valley you make it anywhere
There are advantages in being an American company.
* Access to finance.
* Access to the world largest market
* Access to almost any market in the world - countless trade and tariff agreements
* American standards are accepted everywhere
* America is the world most advanced country
* Good companies like to pay taxes and receive worldwide protection
* If you make in Silicon Valley you make it anywhere
It is an Israeli organization. If you have any doubts ...
There are advantages to doing business in the US, but you don't have to have the parent company chartered here - Ingersoll-Rand produces a lot of construction equipment here, even though it is based in the Caribbean. The whole point of being based offshore is to avoid excess taxes that are high enough to destroy a successful business.
The US corporate tax is very arbitrary and rate can be very high for those who do not organize tax-efficient organizations, and very low for others. GE pays (I think) 10-15%, even though the top marginal rate is 35%, not including state corporate income taxes which can be another 5% depending on the location.
The top rate marginal rate in California is close to 10% making the combined top marginal rate 45% if a business is large and doesn't organize itself to avoid such hassles.
Of course, as an Israeli patriot, your long term goal should be to have Israeli businesses chartered in Israel.
* America is the world most advanced country
Japan is the world's most advanced country.
Yahoo! Finance shows VOCL with a market cap of about $10 million and $9.44 million in cash. Cheap on an asset basis, but not trading at a discount to its net cash at this point.
Dave,
Probably, Shlomi Cohen's numbers were right a few days ago. These opportunities dont last much after being published.
As you may have read on YAHOO FINANCE's comments, WOCL has some patents that may be worth something.
I also use YAHOO FINANCE but you have to check their numbers because they have many errors.
Dave wrote in the comments section: This company has a relatively new CEO who is very experienced and who has led it to improved performance over the past couple of quarters. The stock is on hardly anyone's radar, but if the trend continues, you should see a much more reasonable and significantly higher valuation.
The comment is very well written, so it must be from a smart person.
TODAY + 17% !
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