But sometimes, we make exceptions – especially when their over-zealous attitude causes a stock to blast higher and hand us triple-digit gains.

I remember one such occurrence in particular with a high-tech company that we own in our Xclerated Profits Report portfolio. Thanks to some giddy CNBC analysts pumping up the price, the stock surged from $6 to $20 and we took half our position off the table for a gain of more than 100%.

The small-cap stock has suffered along with the broader market, but there’s no doubt that its business is viable. It’s leading the way in the field of touch screen and force-feedback technology – otherwise known as “haptics.” In short, this simplifies and enhances human interaction with technology in a variety of ways.

Cellphones… Games… Cars… Healthcare… This Technology is Everywhere

You’ve probably used the company’s tactile feedback technology and don’t even know it.

• For example, its technology is what causes cellphones to vibrate when they ring, or you get a message. And the company has licensed the technology to major firms like Nokia (NYSE:NOK), Samsung, Motorola (NYSE:MOT), and LG.
• It’s also present in video games, which gives gamers a more interactive, realistic experience, as the action on the screen is “forced” back into the controller.
• Elsewhere, it’s used in the auto industry in dashboard instruments, the casino industry in gaming machines, and the medical industry, in helping to train surgeons and doctors by replicating the behavior of the human body.

The company holds hundreds of patents and it recently signed a deal with a major chip company, a move that an influential analyst called a “game changer.”

In short, we spotted the vast potential well before Wall Street and we’re looking for another triple-digit win on the stock. And if that happens, we’ll adopt the same practice that we always do – one that you should use in your own investing…

The Name of the Game is Profits

We have a hard and fast rule at the Xcelerated Profits Report: We don’t discriminate when it comes to profits. That means if we have a winner of 100%-plus, we take our money off the table. This is true for stocks or options.

We did this last week when we sold half our shares in the gold company Golden Star Resources (NYSE: GSS) for a cool 103% gain in just a couple of months. But what makes this trade even sweeter is that we bought the shares using the proceeds from call options that we sold on another gold stock we’ve owned for a while – Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY).

Come options expiration in January, if Yamana is trading above $6.75 per share or thereabouts (it’s currently close to $11), we’ll have essentially bought the shares of GSS for nothing.

And speaking of gold, I’ve made another play in the upcoming October Xcelerated Profits Report issue, due out at the end of this week. But it’s a play with a twist – we’re taking a “show me” stance on gold prices, arguing that gold is either going to soar or plunge from current levels. What’s more, we’ll make it do so for about $3. If you’re looking for exposure to gold, or to hedge against a price drop, you don’t want to miss it.

The bottom line is that we don’t just make picks. We take our ideas and then figure out how to turn them into “xcelerated” profits by using straightforward investment strategies that many other investors don’t know about. We teach, then we trade.

Good investing,

Karim Rahemtulla

Source: How to Turn Ordinary Profits into ‘Xcelerated’ Profits

Immersion develops haptic technologies that allow people to use touch to operate digital devices. Think the type of fancy touch-screen technology used by the much-hyped iPhone.

Paul says Immersion remains loaded with potential but remains still somewhat on the launchpad. But with three major set to toss the firm new business, Paul is bullish…

While Immersion has met its financial expectations, the mass adoption curve for its technology has been pushed out and has overlapped a point in time where high beta stocks have been stripped of premium valuations.

That said, we believe the underlying fundamentals remain intact and the stock is attractive here.

In case you don’t know about Immersion’s industry, the company is a market leader in the field of haptics – a technology that simplifies and enhances human interaction with everyday technology. The company holds hundreds of patents and provides products and patent licensing to some of the world’s biggest firms.

We’ve already seen the first wave of enthusiasm, as Immersion’s technology is incorporated in cutting-edge consumer electronics products like cellphones (Immersion’s patented VibTonz software is already in Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Samsung, and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) handsets) and Sony (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation video games.

However, the company’s smaller segments (mobility, gaming, and automotive) are enjoying faster growth at the moment and offer the most opportunity. And as this technology matures, it will filter into products with lower price points that have mass appeal. At that point, IMMR’s top line will have the potential to grow exponentially in line with unit shipments.

Medical Division Set To Spring Back To Life, While Other Segments Rise Rapidly

While the consumer products receive most of the attention, the bulk of Immersion’s revenue actually comes from medical training devices that help surgeons learn their craft.

That core business has slowed in the US recently, but a push to expand in Europe and Asia is likely to reaccelerate revenues from this segment later this year. And even as its Medical division has slowed, Immersion has managed to offset that through rapid growth in newer areas.

For example, strength in the Mobility (NADAQ:USMO) division saw sales shoot up by ten times during the most recent quarter and now accounts for 13% of revenues. And looking ahead to the remainder of 2008, there is plenty to be excited about…

The Buyer’s Favorite Word

Right off the bat, three major industries are set to toss more business Immersion’s way:

1. Auto: BMW (FRA:BMW) is expanding the use of iDrive into its 3-series models.
2. Telecom: Samsung and LG are shipping handsets that leverage haptics and Nokia is expected to follow later this year.
3. Gaming: 3M (NYSE:MMM) is producing casino gaming screens, which could offer upside over the second half of 2008.

That’s the business end. But what about the stock’s valuation?

In a word: Cheap.

While the concept of buying low and selling high is a mainstay of investing, every now and again, this simple concept temporarily eludes investors.

That explains why Immersion trades for less than two times its net cash. In the software industry, buying a profitable company at that price is relatively unheard of. But at a time when fear is rampant, you occasionally get the opportunity to snag a bargain.

In Immersion’s case, it boasts $4.52 in net cash per share. This is in cash equivalents that could be quickly liquidated if a majority holder were to buy the company.

This basically means that if a third party such as Sony or Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) or Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) were to buy the company, it would be getting the operating business and patent portfolio for $2.30 per share (assuming a $6.82 share price). When stocks get to these levels, it becomes cheaper for a partner to acquire the firm than pay royalties for the licenses.

The Big Boys Bailed Out… But Are Now Getting Back In

Unless you took a vacation from the planet over the first three months of the year, you’ll probably know that it represented the worst start to the year for the stock market, as gridlock in the credit markets plunged financial institutions into dire straits.

That goes some way to explaining the unusual selling pressure that Immersion endured during the first quarter.

For example, Immersion’s largest holder, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), all but liquidated its position over that period. Goldman sold 78% of its 3.1 million share position and if you assume that the firm sold those evenly throughout the quarter (a measured program of selling, rather than panic), it accounted for 5% of the daily volume each day. This represents a significant hurdle for a stock to overcome in a stable market, let alone a panic situation.

Since then, however, big institutions have ramped up their buying of Immersion shares. Two large shareholders have stepped up big-time, with Balyasny beefing up the size of its position by 131%, while Immersion’s largest current shareholder, Mazama, has bought 23% more stock.

This represents a strong vote of confidence from institutions that are intimate with Immersion’s story and have combined to own 15% of the shares outstanding.

Here’s The Skinny On Immersion’s Plan To Fatten Up

To sum up, Immersion has its finger on several different developing markets that have the ability to dramatically increase its growth. If one of them catches fire, investors will benefit from accelerating profit growth and multiple expansion. Additionally, Immersion remains a buyout candidate for the likes of Sony or Samsung and a precedent was set earlier this year when Nokia acquired Navteq (NYSE:NVT).

The downside scenario would be if Immersion’s share price stagnates at current levels. That could happen if increasing pressure on consumer spending delays the adoption of devices using haptics. However, the low valuation would likely still provide support for the stock and you’d merely sacrifice opportunity, which is much better than sacrificing investment capital.

Source: Immersion Is ‘Force-Feeding’ Its Way Towards Solid Growth

If you need proof, just look at the Top Five suitors for General Electric Co.’s (GE) century-old home-appliances division. There isn’t a U.S. company on the list.

GE Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey R. Immelt – who last week told analysts the company was “seriously considering a spin-off” for the unit – said yesterday (Wednesday) that there were five possible buyers, including:

• LG Electronics Inc., a South Korean electronics and telecommunications giant that’s positioning itself as a global heavyweight.
• Haier Group Co., a China-based appliance-maker that’s one of that country’s real corporate success stories.
• Controladora Mabe S.A. de C.V., a successful Mexico-based appliance firm that is partly owned by GE, and that already makes appliances for other brand-name firms – including GE.
• Electrolux AB (OTC ADR: ELUXY), a Stockholm-based company that parlayed its success in high-end vacuum cleaners into a broader success in home appliances.
• Arcelik Anonim Sirketi, an Istanbul, Turkey-based appliance-maker that does business throughout the world – including in the United States.

It’s only been a week since reports surfaced that GE was looking to sell or spin-off its home-appliance business unit, the latest in an ongoing series of divestitures aimed at unshackling the Corporate America heavyweight from the ebb-and-flow of consumer-focused markets. In that time, however, the unconfirmed rumors have solidified to the point that Immelt yesterday identified specific possible suitors.

“The players become very obvious,” Immelt said during a breakfast meeting with businessmen in Seoul yesterday. “It’s Haier in China, LG in Korea, and so on. Of course, LG is one of the leading candidates.”

Immelt said the sale of the unit will be “a long process.”

GE’s appliances division is the No. 1 provider of refrigerators, ovens and dishwashers for newly-constructed houses in the U.S. market. The unit may draw bids of $3 billion to $8 billion, according to analysts at Citigroup Inc. (C) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS).

For Haier, the acquisition of the GE unit would give the China-based company a household brand name it could use to accelerate its U.S. expansion. Once named Qingdao Refrigerator Plant, the company is now “China’s ambassador to appliance stores worldwide,” according to Hoover’s, the well-known business-information provider.

From the brink of bankruptcy, Haier rebounded and remade itself into China’s largest appliance company and a world-renowned brand that sells refrigerators, freezers, mobile phones, computers, air conditioners and more in more than 160 countries worldwide. Since “pulling itself up by its bootstraps,” Haier has used joint ventures and other shrewd maneuvers to branch out both geographically and commercially, Hoover’s reports.

For the Seoul-based LG Electronics, the purchase of GE’s appliance business would allow the Korean firm to challenge U.S. heavyweight Whirlpool Corp.’s (WHR) global lead in the production of appliances, Bloomberg News reported.

According to published reports by Bloomberg and others, LG hasn’t decided whether to bid for the GE unit, the company said yesterday in response to a query by Korea’s stock exchange.
LG is “carefully monitoring” the sale of GE’s appliances division, Chief Executive Officer Nam Yong said. Zhao Rui, a spokeswoman at Haier, declined to comment, Bloomberg said.
James Kim, an analyst at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH), wrote in an investment note that speculation that LG will bid for GE “has been overdone, without any concrete developments … according to our channel checks, GE and LG Electronics have not talked about this potential acquisition.”

However, Castor Pang, an analyst at Sun Hung Kai Securities in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg that “both LG and Haier need [the] GE [business unit in order] to break into the U.S. market because [GE] has a very strong brand. Buying GE would be a big advertisement for them. After all, the U.S. market is still a very big market.”

GE’s appliances business had a U.S. market share of 27% in 2006, the most recent figures available, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) analysts estimate. The unit had revenue of $7.2 billion in 2007, according to Credit Suisse Group (ADR: CS) estimates.

Source: GE Home Appliance Unit Sale Underscores Again That Corporations and Investors Alike Must Go Global to Succeed