The high tech has been a big laggard in the past few years. Russel 2000 has been making all time highs since 2004. Dow Jones index finally broke over its 2000 high and advanced 12% over its prior high. S&P 500 is trying to approach its March 24, 2000 high of 1557. The Nasdaq, however, is still about 50% off its March 2000 peak.

Just look at the sectors like semi chips (INTC, TXN, ADI, MXIM, LLTC, BRCM, MRVL, MU, etc.) , semi equipments (AMAT, KLAC, LRCX ...), networks (CSCO, JNPR, ...), software (MSFT, ORCL, …), most of these prior leading companies are still well off their 2000 highs. The main reasons are related to globalization and out-sourcing. Everyone knows that when China / India are able to manufacture / design chips or telecom / network equipments, write codes, the end of high tech is coming in America.

When you go to Home Depot to buy a box of nails, you can easily feel that the nail prices go up year over year since the raw material prices go up each year. You also can see the window blinds worth a few hundred bucks, curtains worth thousands. But the price appreciation are not for high tech products. The high tech product prices go down each year, they are not inflation protected, in reality, are deflation protected for sure.

When buying stocks for long term, stay away from the tech stocks. The glorious time is well over for high tech during the globalization.