Ah, the dog days of summer. They are few and fleeting and just what the market needs. Last week was a quiet one, with few of our stocks moving more than a few percent. With a shortened day of trading today and a holiday mid-week, I expect this one to be equally quiet.

Tech stocks took it on the chin once again as investors sold off their biggest winners during a market squall. As with most intra-earnings periods, the market is more susceptible to external influences like central bank commentary. I expect stocks with solid profits to regain their footing when second quarter earnings reports start in August. 

Commentary from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi upended global markets warning that the ECB’s support of low-interest rates may be coming to an end. He noted that the ECB, whose loose monetary policy has resulted in negative interest rates at some points, would not last forever.

Those hawkish comments paired with San Francisco Fed President John Williams bearish depiction of equities as expensive brought sellers to the surface. This description doesn’t shock me. Every day as I’m hunting for new names for our portfolio, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find stocks offering good value.

The challenge doesn’t deter me, but I do think we’ll see increased volatility as the market awaits some firm data on GDP, wage growth and second quarter numbers. With the government in gridlock and little movement on fiscal policies, stocks will move on their own merits, not on the hopes of higher government spending.

Around the Portfolio:

The Chemours Company (NSDQ: CC) released a new investor presentation on its website in which it increased expectations for this year. It raised 2017 adjusted EBITDA view to ‘above $1.25B with positive free cash flow. On May 1, Chemours had raised its FY17 adjusted EBITDA outlook to $1.15B-$1.25B.

Ichor Holdings (NSDQ: ICHR) dropped sharply last week alongside tech. It also reported that CFO Carson notified the company of his intention to retire later this year. The company has commenced a search for a new Chief Financial Officer. Carson will continue to serve in his current capacity, and on the Board of Directors, until his replacement is hired, after which he will consult with the company through the transition of his role and responsibilities to his successor. Mr. Carson is currently 59 years old and has been with Ichor since 2014, so this news does not concern me.

Integrated Device (NSDQ: IDTI) had its price target raised to $33 from $30 at Susquehanna.  Analyst Christopher Rolland believes the upcoming transition to the Purley platform will drive an outsized growth opportunity that is underestimated and misunderstood by the Street. He said the Purley platform is one of the most significant market-driven opportunities in the company’s history.

He is referring to Intel’s new Purley platform. This platform, which is a huge new product launch for Intel, requires a new motherboard and will support a new era of chips. The first Purley chip is Skylake-EP, whose name you might see in the press. The adoption of this new platform should boost sales of IDTI’s data center chips.

Impinj (NSDQ: PI) which we sold on June 21, got hit last week as Pacific Crest’s Brad Erickson cut his rating on the shares to Sector Weight from Overweight. He wrote that the more than doubling of the stock price since March has been “an incredible run,” and the risk and reward trade-offs are “now no longer favorable enough” to justify buying it.

His comments below are worth noting:

“We are no less positive on the longer-term RFID opportunity; we simply believe investors are now contemplating both the substantial growth opportunities in retail, healthcare, and logistics as well as a healthy impact from partnership announcements from larger players like Amazon or Kaiser. We continue to believe Impinj is the leading player in the RFID secular adoption story, particularly as traditional retailers fight to slow share losses to e-commerce. We maintain that retail alone could be an end market of 60 billion taggable items per year and Amazon could provide a material boost to volumes going forward. Still, given the 44% premium at which Impinj trades relative to its semiconductor peer group, we view the risk/reward as too balanced to maintain our Overweight rating should this upside not materialize.”

I’ll be watching this stock closely for a better entry point.

PRA Health (NSDQ: PRAH) was initiated with a Buy at BofA/Merrill  and an $89 price target due to its flexible and competitive CRO offerings, positive CRO industry fundamentals, and above average growth.

Smart Sand (NSDQ: SND) bounced 9% last week. A welcome lift after being mercilessly dragged down by the price of oil. Brokerage firm Jefferies had very positive comments after hosting investor meetings with management. He sees ‘very attractive value’ in Smart Sand  The company’s CFO Lee Beckelman affirmed continued contracting negotiation momentum and that its Oakdale expansion is on track. The analyst keeps a Buy rating on Smart Sand with a $15 price target.

As always, I spend significantly more time on stocks that do not behave in the portfolio. I’ve been scouring industry websites for more information on the frac sand market. A recent article in The Journal of Petroleum Technology notes the shift in demand from course sand to the finer grade sand that Smart Sand sells. It expects demand to exceed peak 2014 levels and notes those companies with improved logistics (like SND) will garner improved pricing from their oil customers.