Q. Does the future look bright for Motorola Inc.? Will its stock reward us? - PM, via the Internet

A. The world's third-largest manufacturer of wireless handsets hopes to revive its glory days when the Razr phone was the hippest item around.

It is banking on strong holiday acceptance of its upcoming line of smartphones built on the Google-developed Android platform. A blockbuster product would win back some market share from the iPhone by Apple Inc. and the BlackBerry by Research in Motion Ltd.

The initial charge is being led by its Cliq, which has a touch screen, a slide-out "QWERTY" keyboard and software that pulls together social networking and e-mail. T-Mobile USA Inc.'s pre-sale on the Cliq, which runs to November 1, has a cost of $199.99 with a two-year contract.

Jump-started by the potential of the new smartphones, Motorola shares are up 80 percent this year following declines of 71 percent last year and 21 percent in 2007.

Motorola derives about 40 percent of total sales from handsets, a business that has been dragging on overall results. There's been a revolving door of top executives and waves of lay-offs. However, the firm's current financial discipline, its strong engineer pool and its brand name make a turnaround seem feasible.

The consensus analyst opinion on Motorola stock is "hold," according to Thomson Reuters, consisting of six "strong buys", four "buys", 20 "holds", one "underperform" and one "sell".

Due to pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who owns a 7.6 percent share in the company, Motorola intends to spin off the handset business into a separate company once its results improve. It can then emphasise its profitable divisions.

Motorola is a leading provider of wireless infrastructure equipment such as cellular transmission base stations, amplifiers and servers. The firm supplies set-top boxes, surveillance systems and barcode scanners.

It is betting on the new WiMax technology that's being promoted by a consortium of Sprint, Clearwire, Google and several cable companies.

The fact that it is the only equipment manufacturer within that group is a plus if the effort succeeds.

Earnings are expected to decline 300 percent this year compared with a 23 percent drop predicted for the communication equipment industry.

The five-year annualised growth rate projection is nine percent versus 12 percent forecast for its peers.

Blockbuster Inc., which has its own set of financial challenges, recently announced plans to offer movies that can be watched on Motorola cell phones.

Q. I own shares of Weitz Hickory Fund. What's the outlook? - VM, via the Internet

A. After its 40-stock portfolio took it on the chin from 2000 through 2002, founder Wally Weitz assumed command of this Omaha-based fund and prospects have improved.

Focusing on out-of-favour, inexpensive stocks of companies with strong cash flow, he is willing to make large bets on stocks and on sectors he considers attractive.

The $182 million Weitz Hickory Fund is down one percent over the past 12 months to rank above the middle of mid-cap growth and value funds. Its three-year annualised decline of nine percent places it in the lowest one-tenth of its category.

"We're confident in Weitz Hickory Fund long-term and, while its 10-year return does look bad, it includes that negative period," said Michael Breen, analyst with Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. "This is a complementary fund that can be out of step for periods of time, but it usually works out well over time and you must be patient with it."

Contrarian investor Weitz has run the Weitz Partners Value Fund and Weitz Value Fund for the past 25 years, noted Breen, with the same emphasis on strong cash flow, a decent balance sheet and cheap prices as this fund. He publishes detailed quarterly reports, holds annual meetings for shareholders and has a Web site that delivers concise answers.

Six of the fund's eight trustees are independent, and none of the independent trustees have worked for the fund company during the past five years. Weitz has invested more than $1 million of his own money in this fund, and there have been no significant regulatory issues over the past decade.

"Weitz Hickory tends to find opportunities in one sector," said Breen. "For example, media is an area it has always liked, and last year it had a lot of spin-offs with Liberty Media."

Consumer services and financial services each represent about one-fourth of the fund's portfolio. Largest holdings include Berkshire Hathaway, Redwood Trust, Liberty Media, WellPoint, Liberty Global, Dell and Telephone and Data Systems.

This "no-load" (no sales charge) fund requires a $2,500 minimum initial investment and has a 1.28 percent annual expense ratio.

Q. What actually qualifies as an insider? Who does this term cover and why is this group so important to follow? - SR, via the Internet

A. An insider is a corporate officer, director or other employee in a policy-making function who has potential access to non-public information about a firm.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that any stock transactions involving such insiders be disclosed publicly.

This can involve purchase or sale of stock, exercising of options or granting of options. Insider transactions are disclosed in filings that can be viewed on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov

"Investors should pay attention to this because corporate executives and board members can say a lot of things publicly, but seeing what they do with their own money speaks louder," said Ben Silverman, director of research for InsiderScore.com in Princeton, New Jersey, which tracks insider trading for institutional clients.

Of course, sometimes stock sales are done for perfectly legitimate reasons, such as paying for a house or a child's education.

Separate from legal insider trading by corporate insiders who must disclose activity, there is illegal insider trading on information that isn't public. The latter can include individuals with no company connection but who somehow receive material non-public information.

Andrew Leckey answers questions only through the column. Address inquiries to Andrew Leckey, 555 N Central Ave., Suite 302, Phoenix, AZ 85004-1248, or by e-mail at andrewinv@aol.com

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