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The Nasdaq 100 just hit a record, but that doesn’t mean buying tech is off the table, one expert says.
The tech-heavy index made an all-time high Wednesday morning, helped by a 4% surge in shares of Intel. And, according to Blue Line Futures President Bill Baruch, there’s probably even more upside for the chipmaker.
“I think Intel had the most constructive pullback to those December lows, which was a double bottom,” Baruch said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Trading Nation,” pointing to the semiconductor company’s three-year chart.
“It’s come off those lows very well and, ultimately, it looks to be trying to close out above those highs from last year,” Baruch continued. “A close out above $58 is very, very bullish.”
As for Apple, shares of which inched higher in early trading Wednesday after the iPhone maker ended a yearslong battle on Tuesday with Qualcomm over patents, Baruch said the real test will be if the stock can push above the key $200 level. Apple’s opening price on Wednesday was $199.54.
“The 50-day moving average has not crossed out above the 200 in Apple yet. There is some strong resistance at $200. It’s a big battle ground there. But the [average directional index], which shows whether a stock is trending or not, is picking up force,” he said. “I think that, ultimately, Apple has the potential to really work hand in hand with the Nasdaq in a breakout. And don’t doubt it that Apple would be the fuel that really could drive a second-half move in the Nasdaq upon a breakout and really outpace other stocks.”
Michael Binger, president of Gradient Investments, favored another big-cap tech name: Google parent Alphabet.
Noting that he would rather wait for a pullback before buying most tech stocks, Binger said investors who need to buy at these levels should consider Alphabet for its internet advertising business and “the long runway of growth” it has.
“It’s not the cheapest stock in the world, but the growth warrants that multiple,” he said in the same “Trading Nation” interview.
Binger’s other picks? Fintech leader PayPal and under-the-radar biotech play BioMarin.
“I think PayPal is a great name and one of the leading companies in that space to own. It’s had an aggressive move, so any move below $100, I would step in full force,” he said.
Binger said BioMarin was on his list because it “is a biotech company that actually has revenue.”
“These revenues are growing 15% on a year-over-year basis,” he said. “They tend to spend a lot of money, but they’re doing so because they have what we consider a very interesting pipeline of new drugs that are coming on the market. So, all in all, I would look at Google, I would look at BioMarin and I would look at PayPal on a pullback in this kind of overbought space right now.”
