Dick Sears Commentary:  More Laws

Sorry, that was a typo. The last thing we need is
more laws.  I meant Moore's Law.

We all know Moore's Law, which is named for
Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel. But there
is some question as to just what the law is.

According to Intel, it's that the number of
transistors on a chip doubles about every two
years. But some contend that the doubling takes
place every year or 18 months. And others
contend that the whole thing is a myth and a
fraud. Got it?

I was reminded of Moore's Law the other day,
when it occurred to me that lately my computer
memory has doubled every six months.

In May I bought a new computer with 512MB
of RAM, a doubling from the 256MB I'd had six
months earlier. Then last week, in a bold move,
I bludgeoned open my Dell and adroitly or
clumsily, depending on who's talking, slotted
in yet another 512MB.

I'm happy to report that this full gig of memory
has slashed my reboot time. That's good. We
senior citizens don't like to spend our golden
years rebooting.

Speaking of aging, I've discovered another take
on Moore's Law. Every two years I forget about
half of what I used to know.

And there are more Moore's Laws. Gordon isn't
the only game in town. For instance:

Roger Moore's Law: A martini should be shaken,
not stirred. (My parents would be turning over in
their graves at this heresy. Doesn't he realize that
he'll bruise the gin?)

Michael Moore's Law (á la Barry Goldwater):
Extremism in the subversion of liberty is no vice.
Moderation in the pursuit of injustice is no virtue.

Stephen Moore's Law: Life is getting better all the
time, despite what you read in the newspapers,
or what the intelligentsia maintain.

Demi Moore's Law (R rated): I forget exactly what
it is, but I know it involves silicon and doubling.

Edward Moore Kennedy's  Law Number One:
Rats always desert a sinking ship. Or car.

Edward Moore Kennedy's  Law Number Two:
Power corrupts. (Click on the link and then keep
refreshing your browser. You'll see what I mean.)

Henry Moore's Law: There is a sucker born every
minute (no, it wasn't PT Barnum who said that).

Benjamin Moore's Law: A fair deal for everyone.
That used to be this paint company's slogan.
Now that Warren Buffet owns it, who knows?

Sir Thomas More's Law: The number of angels
on the head of a pin doubles every . . . sorry, that
was bad. 

Clayton Moore's Law: Hi Yo, Silver, Away!

That seems like a good place to stop.

And yet, as long as we're on a Western theme,
let's end with this epitaph from the Boothill
Graveyard in Tombstone, Arizona:

Here Lies Lester Moore
Four slugs from a .44
No Les no more.

The name Moore generated 111,000,000 Google
hits this morning. Yesterday it was 116 million,
and on Wednesday, 113 million. It seems that
some days have more Moores than have others.

Speaking of more, we have been blessed with a
fourth grandchild, Clayton Alexander Sears, born
to Katie and Nathaniel on November 3. Well done!

The Market This Week:
 

Another good week puts the GTI back in the
plus column for the year.

The two big winners in the GTI were Cepheid
(CPHD), up 32%, and NetLogic Microsystems
(NETL), up 18%. For CPHD, that makes a gain
of almost 70% in the last eleven sessions.

Absent from the party was Lanoptics (LNOP),
down 14%. It has fallen 33% since September 2.

Returns for the Week:

Gilder Technology Index (GTI):  + 2.7%
Nasdaq Composite Index (NSD):  + 1.5%
S&P 500 Index (S&P):  + 1.2%

Historical Returns:

Comparison of Returns for GTI Stocks
By Whether or Not They Pay Dividends:

Makeup of the GTI:

The GTI companies are those "Telecosm
Technologies" in the Gilder Technology
Report whose stock is readily available to
investors. If a company is not traded on the
NYSE, AMEX, or NASDAQ National Market,
it is not in the GTI.

This past week there were 28 companies in
the GTI.

Advances vs. Declines:

Among the GTI stocks this week, there were
22 up, 6 down, 0 unchanged.

From the GTI's Origin (1/1/99) to Now:

Trailing 3-Month Returns, Last 52 Weeks:


 

The GTI fell 94.1% from its March 6, 2000,
high to its October 9, 2002, low.  Click here
for the details of its long recovery attempt.