Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ: TSEM) ended the week on a high note by announcing its merger with Jazz Technologies. The merger means the new company, Jazz Semiconductor, is created as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tower Semiconductor. Tower is a specialty wafer foundry, while Jazz is a well-known specialist in Analog-Intensive Mixed-Signal Foundry solutions.

“We expect the merger of the two companies to provide expanded opportunities for growth based on the significant cross-selling opportunities and the broader, more complete product, technology, and service portfolio we are now able to offer to customers,” said Tower CEO Russell Ellwanger. “[We expect] significant improvements to our financial results, EBITDA and cash flow margins.”

In the move, Jazz Chairman and CEO will retire and begin to serve as a special advisor to the new Board of Directors. Ellwanger has been named chairman of the Jazz board of directors and is responsible for developing the final merger plan

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Zacks senior semiconductor industry analyst Abdul Saleh was on hand recently to give us his updated viewpoint of this sector. He even told us what his top three semi Buy-recommended stocks are at this time.

What’s new in the semiconductor industry lately?

With a slowdown in the domestic economy, the chip companies are looking globally -- notably Russia, India, China and South America -- for growth, where the demand for technology is growing at a healthy 30-40% clip. In fact, Intel’s (INTC) CEO Craig Barrett was interviewed recently on this subject and reiterated this viewpoint.

The Street has not bought this thesis as yet, but if the numbers turn out to be what the companies are projecting, it may be positive for investors. Also, we got some exposure with the media in this sector -- I, myself did an IBD interview on Atheros (ATHR) recently -- and our

...

Zacks senior semiconductor industry analyst Abdul Saleh was on hand recently to give us his updated viewpoint of this sector. He even told us what his top three semi Buy-recommended stocks are at this time.

What’s new in the semiconductor industry lately?

< ?DART(15);?> With a slowdown in the domestic economy, the chip companies are looking globally -- notably Russia, India, China and South America -- for growth, where the demand for technology is growing at a healthy 30-40% clip. In fact, Intel’s (

...

Zacks senior semiconductor industry analyst Abdul Saleh was on hand recently to give us his updated viewpoint of this sector. He even told us what his top three semi Buy-recommended stocks are at this time.

What’s new in the semiconductor industry lately?

With a slowdown in the domestic economy, the chip companies are looking globally -- notably Russia, India, China and South America -- for growth, where the demand for technology is growing at a healthy 30-40% clip. In fact, Intel’s (INTC) CEO Craig Barrett was interviewed recently on this subject and reiterated this viewpoint.

The Street has not bought this thesis as yet, but if the numbers turn out to be what the companies are projecting, it may be positive for investors. Also, we got some exposure with the media in this sector -- I, myself did an IBD interview on Atheros (ATHR) recently -- and our

...