Buying into tech

• Buy 400 shares of Juniper Networks (JNPR, news, msgs) at the open.

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My portfolio has leveled off in recent weeks as I've been sitting on a pile of cash. While I remain skeptical of the market's ability to sustain a rally over the near to intermediate-term, I am a little surprised by the market's resilience to higher energy prices, weakness in the financial sector, rising inflationary pressures and plunging consumer confidence. Under these conditions, stocks should be falling. The fact that they aren't -- except for brief dives like the one last Friday -- suggests that stocks might just rally longer and stronger than expected.

Making a tech buy

Consequently, I'll continue to gradually reduce my cash holdings. I'll look to add 400 shares of Jupiter Networks at today's open. Not only are techs exhibiting impressive relative strength, but Juniper is finding support at its 50-day moving average after staging a nice recovery run a few weeks back. The corrective action in recent days has been on relatively light volume and looks to have run its course.

It's also worth noting that analysts have been raising their estimates for the current fiscal year over the last 30-days, if only slightly. Toss in a solid balance sheet and discounted valuations and the stock looks like a nice buy in here. I'm not looking for a huge gain, but 20-25% over the next three to six months is within reach.

Solar may still shine

As for the rest of my portfolio, I'll stay the course. MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR, news, msgs) started off slowly as the entire solar-related group suffered some profit-taking on the dip in oil prices. However, there's no reason to think that the decline in crude will last long and once prices start moving higher the alternative energy group will regain favor.

Have a great week and go Big Brown.