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Ciena(CIEN Quote), Corning(GLW Quote), JDSU(JDSU Quote), even Tellabs(TLAB Quote): That's the way to play this Verizon(VZ Quote) quarter, where spending is going to accelerate on optical businesses. It's been ages since we had a spending cycle worth noting in telco (vs. the unbelievably strong aerospace cycle; witness United Tech(UTX Quote), Honeywell(HON Quote) and now B/E Aerospace(BEAV Quote) this morning). When we had the last one, it was fantastic for Ciena, JDSU, Alcatel, Lucent (pre-combination), Nortel(NT Quote) and Corning. Corning signaled the strength last week, even though it seemed that people focused far more on LCD screens. This morning, though, Verizon makes it very clear that spending's going to be huge for these businesses. I don't want to overthink this. The stocks in this sector aren't expensive if Verizon is going to accelerate spending. Just check the upgrade this morning of Ciena by Weisel. It again signals that this is the moment. Of these, JDSU is the most problematic. Its history of terrible execution could blunt the cycle. I have far more faith in Tellabs which already had its terrible quarter. I don't trust Alcatel-Lucent(ALU Quote) at all after Patricia Russo got the nod to run the company, but this Verizon story this morning explains the strength after that miserable quarter.



