Leo and I often speak of “innogration”, a term we invented to describe the marriage of internal assets with external resources to create a better product. It is the evolutionary process by which tech companies either stay one step ahead of the competition, or get trampled by the herd.

It occurred to us that just as we expect the companies we follow to pursue a proactive strategy of innogration, we should also be willing to implement it into Smart Tech Investor. After all, if it works so well for them then it should work just as well for us.

That’s why we are very pleased to announce that we are expanding our editorial team to include long time industry veteran Rob DeFrancesco as our Senior Industry Analyst. Rob has been the Managing Editor for Tech-Stock Prospector for more than ten years and knows the tech sector as well as anyone.

This is a homecoming of sorts for Rob; at one time he worked for our parent company when it owned his publication so we are excited to welcome him back into the fold. More importantly, Rob’s skill set is a perfect complement to Leo’s as he brings to this publication the granular level of tech industry insight that only a full-time, boots-on-the ground insider can possess.

It helps that Rob is based out of California, where he can attend the myriad trade shows, conferences, and other gatherings where the next great product ideas are often discussed over cocktails outside earshot of the mainstream media. While there is plenty of media coverage on the tech giants that dominate our daily conversation, little is said about the smaller companies that are leading the next generation of innovation.

To that end, next week Rob will take over writing the Next Wave Portfolio column, and beginning in September he will also begin writing our month Sector Spotlight article. Combined with Leo’s very broad strategic view of the macro workings of the tech sector, Rob’s tactical expertise will show you exactly how to capitalize on the opportunities that are constantly emerging.

Innogration is a very powerful force; when exercised properly it can elevate a good product to a great one, and that’s exactly what we are doing for you here at Smart Tech Investor.

NASDAQ Composite Index:                                                                        

Friday, August 8 = 4,370.90                                                     

Year to Date = + 5.5%                                          

Trailing 7 Days = + 0.4%                                      

Trailing 4 Weeks = – 1.5%

Portfolio Update:

Although our first two short sell recommendations have turned out very well, going forward we will no longer be including short sells as a regular component of our Equity Trades Portfolio. Few investors actually engage in these types of transactions, and they carry more risk than a conventional buy recommendation if employed incorrectly.

For that reason we are closing out the only two remaining short sell recommendations in our portfolio, Facebook (NSDQ: FB) and Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX). This is an opportune time to do so as both of them are currently trading above their respective Stop Loss limits so those positions are not presently open. Sooner or later the momentum stocks will have their day of reckoning, so if you are short either one of these companies then it should be only a matter of time until our opinion of them is vindicated.

And to make room for some of Rob’s new picks we are going to close out our long position in EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC), which is currently a ‘hold’ since it is trading so far above our buy limit. We first recommended EMC on December 16^th when it closed at $23.61; now trading at over $29, it represents a 25% gain in just eight months!

Finally, we are also closing out the other ‘hold’ position in the Equity Trades Portfolio. We’ve had a very nice run with Lenovo Group (OTC: LNVGY), but it too is trading far above our current buy limit so most of the short term opportunity for gain has been realized. We first recommended Lenovo on February 24^th when it closed at $19.93; it is now priced at over $28 for a 40% profit in only six months!