Most weeks experience some type of significant event in the markets, some more (or less) significant than others. This week was no different in that respect. While there were no announcements or pronouncements or press conferences by the Federal Reserve this past week as there were in the prior week, there is always something happening. Following is an overview or summary of some of this past week’s events as highlighted in the daily posts. More detailed information can most likely be obtained by going to the related appropriate posts for the past week.

1) Intel (ticker: INTC) has announced a radical shift in semiconductor technology and design with the introduction of a new 3-D transistor design that changes the game in chip architecture and manufacturing. Bill Holt, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s technology manufacturing group, states that “We’re going to be able to provide better performance and lower power at the same time. These benefits will extend across the entire range of our product line.” The 3-D chips will help Intel close the gap with ARM Holdings (ticker ARMH), whose chip designs dominate the mobile device market, says Craig Ellis, an analyst with Caris & Co. Intel will be “a heck of a lot more competitive,” he said. Intel says the chips should start showing up in servers, PCs and mobile devices in 2012. Intel’s stock price has been on a real upswing recently, closing the week at $23.25, up $.10 from its close the week before.

2) There seems to be an increasing buzz developing around and about a new technology referred to as near field communications (NFC), a set of short-range wireless technologies, typically requiring a distance of 4 cm or less, which allows mobile devices to communicate with each other across very short distances. Utilization of this technology will allow credit card payments, for example, to be made at the point of sale by simply scanning or swiping a phone or other mobile device across a passive target such as a sticker or tag. Google (GOOG) and Intel are both getting involved and Google is currently testing NFC in San Francisco and New York with plans to include NFC capability in the Nexus S, its latest flagship Android phone. Research In Motion (ticker RIMM) is also including NFC capability in the latest update to its BlackBerry phones. Via Licensing, a subsidiary of Dolby Labs (ticker DLB), essentially owns the patent and manages the patent pool governing commercial applications of NFC. NXPI Semiconductors (ticker NXPI) seems to currently enjoy first mover advantage in manufacturing of chips enabling the technology for mobile devices. For investors and traders hoping to benefit, the stocks of Dolby Labs and NXPI may be worthy of consideration.

3) As LinkedIn has chosen to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for its IPO, the valuations currently enjoyed in the private markets for consumer oriented social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, and Groupon, for example, continue to increase to levels that are of concern and surprise to some in the venture capital, banking, and investing communities. Recent trading in the private shares of Facebook reflect a current valuation of approximately $70 billion for the company. As a result of the inflated valuations and other factors, such as the significantly lower initial funding requirements and cash burn rates enjoyed by start ups targeting consumer oriented markets as compared to the financial requirements of start ups targeting businesses and business products, venture capital funding is becoming more skewed toward investments in young companies that target consumer oriented markets. Some hedge funds are also getting in on the action, seeking returns on investments outside their traditional trading activities by joining venture capital and even some private equity outfits in funding young companies either directly or via the purchase of shares in the private markets.

4) Chinese Internet related IPOs continue to perform well despite material weaknesses in their accounting practices, as exhibited by the successful debut this past week of Chinese social network Renren (ticker RENN). The stock prices of other Chinese Internet companies that have gone public recently, such as Youku (ticker YOKU), continue to perform well after their debut. So far, anyway. However, not every IPO of a Chinese company outperforms. There is wide variation among individual issues and some have performed quite poorly. Concerns related to material weaknesses in accounting practices may ultimately cause longer term investors to shun investments in these equities.