Transitional period

After 8 years of slugging it out in the corporate world, the student life is quite the change of pace. I have quite a bit more free time and always feel like I'm forgetting something. I will also say that I am missing my co-workers. After 8 years of spending 40+ hours per week with a group of people - it's like a second family. I feel that it's important that I disconnect from the business right now and immerse myself in my studies, but plan on stopping by near the end of the month. Enough with the introspective speech....here is the weekly feature:

Stock pick of the week:
Techwell (NYSE: TWLL). Let me be the first to say that I am not usually keen on stocks of semiconductor manufacturers. The margins are extremely tight, the competition fierce and the behemoths of the industry (Intel, Texas Instruments, AMD to name a few) allow little room for entry. I might make an exception for a fabless semiconductor manufacturer (a retailer of semiconductor-driven hardware that outsources the production of semiconductor chips to a foundry or "fab").

Techwell specializes in security surveillance systems, in-car LCD monitors, storage/transport of digital video, DVD recorders and HDTV displays. One of the first things that caught my eye is that the CEO is also the founder and the CTO (or CIO) has been with the company pretty much since inception. Dedicated management is always a plus. Additionally, they have barely any debt, limited operating expenses (primarily all Sales and R&D) and solid earnings growth. Currently trading at 17x earnings at $11, but most targets I've seen have them at $15-16 in the near future.

Disclosure: I do not own any shares of this security......yet.