Cheap Stocks

We focus on undervalued small-cap stocks. Usually with a large cash cushion. We have developed a valuation formula that has been highly successful, especially on small tech stocks. Since 2006, we have closed out 49 stock positions with an average gain of 37%. 9 stocks have been taken over.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Cheap Stocks, 1/29/2010 Update

Another down week--for everybody. But at least we were down less than the averages (except the DOW). We lost 1.4% last week and remain in positive territory for the year with a 2.6% gain.

IPAS, MEDW, NINE and DWCH still are our favorites.

The DOW was down 1%, NASDAQ was down 2.6% and the S+P 500 was down 1.6%. The Russell 3000 was down 3.7% and the Wilshire 5000 was down 1.7%. For the year the DOW is DOWN 3.5%, NASDAQ is DOWN 5.4% and the S+P 500 is DOWN 3.9%. The Wilshire is down 3.5% and the Russell is down 4.7%.

Last week we went 7 stocks up, 8 down and 2 even. Since inception we are now 40 stocks up and 11 down.

Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:

2006-NTCT +44%
2006-ONXS +11% (Buyout offer)
2006-DTLK +41%
2006-CAW +21% (Buyout offer)
2007-IYXI.ob +44% (Buyout offer)
2007-MOBI +47% (Buyout offer)
2007-INFT +11% (Buyout offer)
2007-RITT +62%
2007-MIVA +55%
2007-DTLK +25% (2 weeks)
2007-PDLI + 3%
2007-QADI +25%
2007-CIMT +50%
2007-BDR +19%
2007-LINN.ob -57% (mortgage business bust didn't help here)
2007-TISA -39% (take some tax loss for 2007 due to disappointing results.
2008-ANGN +26%
2008-OPTO.ob +40% (Buy-out offer)
2008-PDLI +9% (company split, and special dividend)
2008-BDAY -39% (long overdue takeover offer-or "take-under")
2008-DTLK +40% (third trip on this one)
2008-ILOG +26% (Buy-out offer from IBM)
2008-PARL +56%
2009-MBRK +67%
2009-SNWL +14%
2009-CYNO +25%
2009-DTLK +33%
2009-NED +46%
2009-CUTR +13%
2009-HSTM +67% (continued good earnings)
2009-RNWK +36%
2009-OPK +116%
2009-CLZR -32% (a loser even on a buy-out)
2009-DTLK +28% (our 5th profitable trip on this one)
2010-HPOL +110%

The model portfolio assumes $10,000 invested in each stock (unless we double-up--then it is $20,000), less $10 commission each way (TD Ameritrade rate).

For the 35 stocks that we closed out since 2006 the average net gain was 30%.

Ninetowns Internet Tecnology (NINE-Recommended 1/25/2010)
Buy Price-$1.53
Valuation-$3.19
Closed unchanged at $1.53.
EVEN. BUY

Gravity Company Ltd. (GRVY-Recommended 1/18/2010)
Buy Price-$1.68
Valuation-$5.15
Closed up $.25 at $1.92.
Up 14%. HOLD

AEterna Zentaris (AEZS-Recommended 6/20/2009)
Buy price $1.42 (was $1.78 before adding another $10,000, $1.82 before double up)
Valuation --Speculation.
Closed down $.08 at $.85.
Following the early December announcement that Cetrorelix is dead, Sandofi and AEZS canceled their agreement to develop Cetrorelix. On the other hand Kerx (AEZS partner in U.S. on Perifosine) announced positive news, "The data presented here further supports the planned Phase 3 trial design which has been granted Special Protocol Assessment by the FDA". This is still a "lottery ticket".
Earnings out in November. Revenues about $8.5 million and they lost $11.3 million. This of course all means nothing yet. Still has $45 million of cash.
Their pipeline and the related announcements will be what drives this stock.
Just waiting for some more good developement news here.
They still have $45 million in cash, marketed products and a good pipeline
Down 40% HOLD

Spectranetics (SPNC-Recommended 9/2/2006)
Buy price $5.68 (was $8.90, $9.40 before adding $10,000,and was $10.65 before double up), Valuation --Suspended.
Closed down $.17 at $6.89.
Wells Fargo filed a 13G last week disclosing that they had upped their stake to 5.3 million shares or about 16%--up from their previously disclosed position of about 11.6%.
Canaccord Adams upgraded SPNC on the settlement announcement in December. Target price is $11.
The company has $34 million in cash ($1.04 per share), no debt and is growing about 10% a year.
Up 21%. HOLD.

DataWatch Corp. (DWCH-Recommended 2/12/2006)
Buy price $2.41 (was $3.02 before adding another $10,000,was $3.21 before adding another $10,000, averaged down from $3.66),
Valuation $7.17 (was $7.46, $8.12, $8.07, $8.12, $8.64, $8.47, $8.47, $10.30, $9.28, $9.20, $8.32, $7.50, $7.63, $9.31)
Closed up $.13 at $2.55
Earnings due out Thursday February 4th before the market open.
Earnings out in November. Not bad. Revenue down 14% as you would expect this year, but they maintained profitability and made $.04 a share. Has $.94 a share in cash and our valuation is still $7.17, almost 3 times the current price.
KVO Capital management filed a 13D in September 2009. They own 402,000 shares (just under 7% of the company). Purchases were all in the second half of August from $1.66 to $2.74 per share. Finally, someone else seems to see the value here.
Up 6%. BUY

Mediware (MEDW-Recommended 6/4/2007)
Buy Price $6.33, (was $6.52, $6.67 ($10,000 added), $6.98 after double up)
Valuation $12.57 (was $12.29, $11.90, $11.30, $11.48, $11.47 $10.99, $10.28, $13.32, $12.89, $13.40)
Up $.10 at $7.15.
MEDW announced the acquisition of 2 companies in the home infusion market for $5.5 million in November. These deals were closed in December.
Earnings out in November. Sales were up 9% and EPS more than doubled to $.08 per share. Cash is $2.78 per share and our valuation rose to $12.57 per share. Constellation Software filed a 13D/A in late August 2009. Bought 290,000 shares at $5.20 raising their stake to 21.8%. When is the take-over offer??
All we read is that medical records will be a hot area, so MEDW looks like the place to be.
Up 13%. BUY

Vertro. (VTRO (was-MIVA)-Recommended 10/21/2007)
Buy Price $1.63 (Was $2.38 before adding another $20,000, $2.62 before another $10,000 and was $3.00 before double up),
Valuation $2.17 (was $1.65, $1.89, $5.61, $6.42, $6.84, $7.58, $7.59)
Down $.01 at $.37.
VTRO presented at the Sidoti Microcap conference in January. Apparently they did not impress amyone. The presentation was just reiteration of old data.
Earnings out in November. Sales were $7.4 million and they lost $1.8 million before a $1.2 million gain from discontinued operations. Cash was about $6.9 million or $.20 per share. Our valuation rose to $2.17 per share. Thet are still saying they think they will get to positive EBITDA in Q4. We'll see.
We have no hope that we will ever make money on this one, nor are we sure they will survive at all. This one is teetering on the sell list--but not yet.
Down 77%. HOLD

IPASS. (IPAS-Recommended 6/1/2008)
Buy Price-$1.42 (adjusted for $.32 and $.16 dividends) (Was $2.07 before another $10,000 added and $2.15 before double up
Valuation $4.17 (was $4.73, $4.75, $4.12, $4.99, $4.30, $4.09)
Up $.02 at $1.11
Looks like Royce has reduced their holding to 1.5 million shares or about 2.5%. 13G filed last week. Likely why there has been so much selling pressure.
IPASS announced a 80 person layoff in November. This is about 18% of their workforce.
They will take a $4.6 million charge in Q4 and this will supposedly save about $8.6 million a year. We think this is a good move in light of the economy and last quarters loss.
Earning out in November. Hmmmm. Revenues down 12% and they lost $6.1 million. Excluding "dial-up" revenues, revenues were still down 2.3%. $4.8 million of the loss was "one-time". Apparently they figured out that they should have been charging sales taxes on some or all of their services. It took a state audit to turn this light on. This does not help with their credibility.
They also initiated a share buyback program of $10 million. Any buyback money not used will be dividended to shareholders in April 2010.
At September 30, they had $50 million in cash ($.81 per share) and our valuation fell a bit to $4.17.
Foxhill ownership is 6.7%. Millenium owns 9.9% and Federated, 5.5%.
Down 16%. BUY

CCA Industries. (CAW-Recommended 8/4/2008)
Buy Price-$5.51 (was $6.14 before $10,000 added, $6.66 before $10,000 added, $7.00 before $10,000 added) (6.5% dividend yield)
Valuation $18.89 (Was $17.09, $17.05, $14.51, $17.23, $18.36)
Down $.06 to $5.50.
CCA announced earnings in October. Revenues were up 8% to $15.3 million and they earned $.23 per share compared to $.16 last year. They also declared their $.07 quarterly dividend. Our valuation moved up slightly to $18.89 per share. Cash was $2.76 per share.
Down .2%. HOLD

Magic Software Enterprises. (MGIC-Recommended 8/18/2008)
Buy Price-$1.43 (adjusted for $.50 special dividend) (was $2.08 before another $10,000 added, $2.00 before $10,000 added at $2.16)
Valuation $3.78 (was $3.84, $3.80, $3.97, $4.18, $4.15)
Closed down $.02 at $1.60
Earnings due out February 10th.
A lot of confusion about the ex-dividend date on this one. As far as we can tell the ex-dividend date was January 7th, the record date was the 11th and the payment date is the 25th.
There was be $.10 withheld for taxes on the $.50 dividend, but depending on your tax situation, you may get all or some of this back when you file your tax return.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell 15% to $13.5 million but they were still profitable and made $.03 per share. Our valuation fell $.06 to $3.78 per share and cash per share was $1.15.
Formula Systems (NASDAQ-FORTY) holds 17,605,000 shares of MGIC or 55.4%. FORTY is a long-term investor that at some point will want to sell MGIC.
Up 9% (adjusted for special $.50 dividend). HOLD

Angeion Corporation. (ANGN-Recommended 8/28/2008)
Buy Price-$3.82 (was $5.15 before $10,000 added)
Valuation $11.73 (was $11.47, $11.16, $9.53, $13.30, $13.03)
Closed up $.22 at $3.83
Earnings out in December. Sales fell 13% to $6.6 million (but increased from the $6.2 million last quarter) and they lost $600,000 or $.14 per share. Cash increased to $2.71 per share, and our valuation rose to $11.73 (still about 3 times the current share price).
Blueline Partners filed a 13D on ANGN on June 23, 2008. They own 216,000 shares or about 5.3% of the company. All of their purchases were well North of the current price.
Up .2% BUY

Global Shipping . (GSL-Recommended 10/12/2008)
Buy Price $2.16-(Was $2.59, $3.69 before adding another $10,000 each time)
Valuation NA-Dividend yield play
Closed up $.13 at $1.59
Current dividend yield--suspended
Earnings in November. Good again. Revenues up 57% to $37.6 million. Made $6.2 million or $.12 per share excluding a $8 million "mark-to-market" derivative charge. Everything else seems good.
CGM (their main customer continues to struggle. Trying to restructure their debt, get funding from the French goverment etc. We would think that GSL would be the last "supplier" to CGM to feel any effects of this due to CGM's equity ownership in GSL.
Big announcements in late August 2009. They finally made a deal with their bank and survived the ordeal. They had the rest of their credit line canceled, were allowed to take delivery of a used ship, no dividend until the loan to ship value is less than 75% and they have to start prepaying their loans. CGM has to stay in as an equity holder until at least November 30, 2010. Meanwhile their business is great. This is definitely going to be long-term though.
Could be the buy of a lifetime if the ecomomy--and ship prices recover.
Their average ship charter life is around 10 years and the closest-in renewal is at the end of 2012.
Down 27%. HOLD

DIVX Inc. (DIVX-Recommended 5/26/2009)
Buy Price-$4.94
Valuation-$8.57 (Was $8.49, $9.24)
Closed up $.06 at $5.62.
Royce cut their holding here to about 6% from about 14%. 13G filed last week.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell 32% to $16.6 million. They lost about $2.5 million, excluding a $9.5 million litigation gain. Cash rose to $143 million or $4.34 per share. On a non-GAAP basis they lost about $300,000.
Our valuation rose to $8.57 per share.
We will hang on to this one for a while more.
Up 14%. HOLD

OB-abies (Bulletin Board Listed Stocks)

As proven by OPTIO, patience is necessary with these stocks, especially in this Market.

ARI Networks (ARIS.ob-Recommended 8/19/2006)
Buy price $1.61 (Was $1.78 before another $10,000 added, was $2.06 before double up),
Valuation $5.74 (was $5.96, $4.72, $5.19, $5.66, $5.63, $5.61, $5.71, $5.49, $5.34, $5.03, $5.28, $5.28, $5.21)
Closed at $.88 down $.02.
Earnings out in December. Sales up 35% to $5.5 million and they made $162,000 or $.02 per share.
Our valuation backed off a bit to $5.74 per share. No one cares.
Wake up management--you have a great little company here worth 5-6X what it is selling for.
Now down 45%. BUY. Still a Huge valuation gap here.

Avatech Solutions Inc. (AVSO.ob-Bought November 28, 2005)
Buy price $.79 (Was $.93, $.99 and $1.19 before adding $10,000-each time),
Valuation $2.38 (was $2.57, $2.81, $2.78, $3.30, $3.76, $4.00 $3.41, $3.05, $2.53, $3.25, $3.29 $2.69, $3.36, $3.81)
Stock closed at $.47, down $.02.
Earnings out in November. Sales down 28% to $7.8 million, but they still made $127,000 of income. Our valuation fell to $2.38 per share, which is still 5X the current price. Market cap is about $9 million. AVSO sales are over $30 million, with decent margins, profitable and with $.11 in net cash.
Down 41%. HOLD.

CTI Holdings (CTIG.ob-Recommended 2/25/2006)
Buy price $.27 ask,
Valuation $.93 (Was $.75, $.85, $1.57, $1.40, $1.29, $1.38, $1.31, $1.38, $1.29, $1.42, $1.28 $1.13, $1.05, $.82)
Ask price $.075 down $.005. Closed at $.07.
At a $2 million market cap, this is stupidly cheap. Their itellectual property is probably worth 10 times this price. They need to liquify this value somehow.
Earnings out in November. Sales down 54% to $3.6. million (down from $4.1 in Q2) and they lost $320,000 (essentially breakeven excluding depreciation). They blame the sales decline on currency issues and the economy. Our valuation rose to $.93 ( 11 times the current selling price) as losses were reduced and margins gapped up over 70%.
Their VOIP business continues to struggle and lose money, sales were $112,000 down from $188,000 last quarter. They VOIP loss was $675,000. They also spent $129,000 on patent enforcement, which may result in some future gains for the company but there is no way to tell for sure.
They might have to sell or shut this VOIP business down in our opinion. Just losing too much money, and eroding shareholder value--or it could be a home run.
Still an "undercover" company and stock.
Down 72%. HOLD

Lotus Pharmaceuticals (LTUS.ob-Recommended 12/3/2007)
Buy price $.84 (Was $.95 before $10,000 adder, $1.08 before double-up)
Valuation-$2.00 (Was $1.84, $1.56, $1.99, $2.22, $1.61, $1.06, $2.28, $2.08)
Closed at $1.40, down $.26.
THis has been hot by a wave of selling in the last 6 trading days, after hitting $1.95. Profit taking we think. We are still a believer here. Still up 67%.
Remember our $2 valuation is a true "value" calculation. EPS is not given much weight. But LTUS looks like it will earn $.40 this year, fully diluted. So at even a measly 8 multiple we could see over $3 per share.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell only 13% from last year, but they were up from Q2. They made $5.5 million in profit or $.11 per share. For the nine months they have now earned $.28 per share. Our valuation headed back up again to $2.00 per share. Also selling under 3 times earnings.
Lotus announced in February 2009 that it bought the land use rights in Mongolia for $26 million, subject to contruction approvals etc. If the project is not approved, they get the money back. They paid for this out of internally generated funds. Pretty impressive. 3 years and $58 million to go to build this plant. They are also looking to sell or rent up to 80% of the land to other pharma companies to create a pharma industrial park.
This may work out ok. Unusual legal structure, $58 million construction project all hang over this company.
UP 67%. HOLD

Saturday, January 23, 2010

BUY Recommendation-NINE

Ninetowns Internet Technology Company Limited. (NASDAQ--NINE)
Valuation-$3.19
Closing price January 22, 2010-$1.53

Another China stock for us. NINE has $2.68 per share in cash and a real business, albeit small.

NINE derives a significant portion of its total net revenues from the sale and servicing of iDeclare software packages, Ninetowns' import/export enterprise software solution. It also has a fledgling on-line grocery business featuring organic/fresh/natural foods.

As of June 30, 2009, NINE had just under $94 million in cash and was slightly profitable. Our valuation is $3.19 per share so it is trading at 48% of our valuation and it trades at 57% of cash.

Revenues are only about $12 million a year, with 70% gross margins.

This is another foreign stock and relatively unknown..

It the stock can get to only trading AT cash value per share, we have a 75% gain.

NINE trades only about 14,000 shares a day, so careful, patient buying is required here..

There are about 35 million fully diluted ADRs outstanding.

About Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Company Limited
Ninetowns (Nasdaq: NINE - News) is a leading provider of online solutions for international trade, with its key services in automating import/export e-filing. Ninetowns has been listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange since December 2004 under the symbol "NINE". More information can be found at http://www.ninetowns.com/English .

Friday, January 22, 2010

Cheap Stock, 1/22/2010 Update

Well we couldn't post a gain this week. But at least we were down less than the averages. We "only" lost 2.5% last week and remain in positive territory for the year with a 4% gain.

IPAS, MEDW, GRVY and DWCH still are our favorites.

The DOW was down 4.1%, NASDAQ was down 3.6% and the S+P 500 was down 3.9%. The Russell 3000 was down 3.7% and the Wilshire 5000 was down 3.6%. For the year the DOW is DOWN 2.5%, NASDAQ is DOWN 2.8% and the S+P 500 is DOWN 3.9%. The Wilshire is down 1.8% and the Russell is down 2.9%.

Last week we went 3 stocks up, 12 down and 1 even. Since inception we are now 38 stocks up and 13 down.

Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:

2006-NTCT +44%
2006-ONXS +11% (Buyout offer)
2006-DTLK +41%
2006-CAW +21% (Buyout offer)
2007-IYXI.ob +44% (Buyout offer)
2007-MOBI +47% (Buyout offer)
2007-INFT +11% (Buyout offer)
2007-RITT +62%
2007-MIVA +55%
2007-DTLK +25% (2 weeks)
2007-PDLI + 3%
2007-QADI +25%
2007-CIMT +50%
2007-BDR +19%
2007-LINN.ob -57% (mortgage business bust didn't help here)
2007-TISA -39% (take some tax loss for 2007 due to disappointing results.
2008-ANGN +26%
2008-OPTO.ob +40% (Buy-out offer)
2008-PDLI +9% (company split, and special dividend)
2008-BDAY -39% (long overdue takeover offer-or "take-under")
2008-DTLK +40% (third trip on this one)
2008-ILOG +26% (Buy-out offer from IBM)
2008-PARL +56%
2009-MBRK +67%
2009-SNWL +14%
2009-CYNO +25%
2009-DTLK +33%
2009-NED +46%
2009-CUTR +13%
2009-HSTM +67% (continued good earnings)
2009-RNWK +36%
2009-OPK +116%
2009-CLZR -32% (a loser even on a buy-out)
2009-DTLK +28% (our 5th profitable trip on this one)
2010-HPOL +110%

The model portfolio assumes $10,000 invested in each stock (unless we double-up--then it is $20,000), less $10 commission each way (TD Ameritrade rate).

For the 35 stocks that we closed out since 2006 the average net gain was 30%.

Gravity Company Ltd. (GRVY-Recommended 1/18/2010)
Buy Price-$1.68
Valuation-$5.15
Closed down $.01 at $1.67.
Down 1%. BUY

AEterna Zentaris (AEZS-Recommended 6/20/2009)
Buy price $1.42 (was $1.78 before adding another $10,000, $1.82 before double up)
Valuation --Speculation.
Closed up $.09 at $.93.
Following the early December announcement that Cetrorelix is dead, Sandofi and AEZS canceled their agreement to develop Cetrorelix. On the other hand Kerx (AEZS partner in U.S. on Perifosine) announced positive news, "The data presented here further supports the planned Phase 3 trial design which has been granted Special Protocol Assessment by the FDA". This is still a "lottery ticket".
Earnings out in November. Revenues about $8.5 million and they lost $11.3 million. This of course all means nothing yet. Still has $45 million of cash.
Their pipeline and the related announcements will be what drives this stock.
Just waiting for some more good developement news here.
They still have $45 million in cash, marketed products and a good pipeline
Down 35% HOLD

Spectranetics (SPNC-Recommended 9/2/2006)
Buy price $5.68 (was $8.90, $9.40 before adding $10,000,and was $10.65 before double up), Valuation --Suspended.
Closed up $.04 at $7.06.
Canaccord Adams upgraded SPNC on the settlement announcement in December. Target price is $11.
The company has $34 million in cash ($1.04 per share), no debt and is growing about 10% a year.
Up 24%. HOLD.

DataWatch Corp. (DWCH-Recommended 2/12/2006)
Buy price $2.41 (was $3.02 before adding another $10,000,was $3.21 before adding another $10,000, averaged down from $3.66),
Valuation $7.17 (was $7.46, $8.12, $8.07, $8.12, $8.64, $8.47, $8.47, $10.30, $9.28, $9.20, $8.32, $7.50, $7.63, $9.31)
Closed down $.16 at $2.42
Earnings due out Thursday February 4th before the market open.
Earnings out in November. Not bad. Revenue down 14% as you would expect this year, but they maintained profitability and made $.04 a share. Has $.94 a share in cash and our valuation is still $7.17, almost 3 times the current price.
KVO Capital management filed a 13D in September 2009. They own 402,000 shares (just under 7% of the company). Purchases were all in the second half of August from $1.66 to $2.74 per share. Finally, someone else seems to see the value here.
Up 1%. BUY

Mediware (MEDW-Recommended 6/4/2007)
Buy Price $6.33, (was $6.52, $6.67 ($10,000 added), $6.98 after double up)
Valuation $12.57 (was $12.29, $11.90, $11.30, $11.48, $11.47 $10.99, $10.28, $13.32, $12.89, $13.40)
Down $.01 at $7.05.
MEDW announced the acquisition of 2 companies in the home infusion market for $5.5 million in November. These deals were closed in December.
Earnings out in November. Sales were up 9% and EPS more than doubled to $.08 per share. Cash is $2.78 per share and our valuation rose to $12.57 per share. Constellation Software filed another 13D/A in late August 2009. Bought 290,000 shares at $5.20 raising their stake to 21.8%. When is the take-over offer??
All we read is that medical records will be a hot area, so MEDW looks like the place to be.
Up 11%. BUY

Vertro. (VTRO (was-MIVA)-Recommended 10/21/2007)
Buy Price $1.63 (Was $2.38 before adding another $20,000, $2.62 before another $10,000 and was $3.00 before double up),
Valuation $2.17 (was $1.65, $1.89, $5.61, $6.42, $6.84, $7.58, $7.59)
Down $.06 at $.38.
VTRO presented at the Sidoti Microcap conference this month. Apparently they did not impress amyone. The presentation was just reiteration of old data.
Earnings out in November. Sales were $7.4 million and they lost $1.8 million before a $1.2 million gain from discontinued operations. Cash was about $6.9 million or $.20 per share. Our valuation rose to $2.17 per share. Thet are still saying they think they will get to positive EBITDA in Q4. We'll see.
We have no hope that we will ever make money on this one, nor are we sure they will survive at all. This one is teetering on the sell list--but not yet.
Down 77%. HOLD

IPASS. (IPAS-Recommended 6/1/2008)
Buy Price-$1.42 (adjusted for $.32 and $.16 dividends) (Was $2.07 before another $10,000 added and $2.15 before double up
Valuation $4.17 (was $4.73, $4.75, $4.12, $4.99, $4.30, $4.09)
Down $.08 at $1.09
IPASS announced a 80 person layoff in November. This is about 18% of their workforce.
They will take a $4.6 million charge in Q4 and this will supposedly save about $8.6 million a year. We think this is a good move in light of the economy and last quarters loss.
Earning out in November. Hmmmm. Revenues down 12% and they lost $6.1 million. Excluding "dial-up" revenues, revenues were still down 2.3%. $4.8 million of the loss was "one-time". Apparently they figured out that they should have been charging sales taxes on some or all of their services. It took a state audit to turn this light on. This does not help with their credibility.
They also initiated a share buyback program of $10 million. Any buyback money not used will be dividended to shareholders in April 2010.
At September 30, they had $50 million in cash ($.81 per share) and our valuation fell a bit to $4.17.
Foxhill ownership is 6.7%. Millenium owns 9.9%, Royce 5.9% and Federated, 5.5%.
Down 17%. BUY

CCA Industries. (CAW-Recommended 8/4/2008)
Buy Price-$5.51 (was $6.14 before $10,000 added, $6.66 before $10,000 added, $7.00 before $10,000 added) (6.5% dividend yield)
Valuation $18.89 (Was $17.09, $17.05, $14.51, $17.23, $18.36)
Down $.34 to $5.56.
CCA announced earnings in October. Revenues were up 8% to $15.3 million and they earned $.23 per share compared to $.16 last year. They also declared their $.07 quarterly dividend. Our valuation moved up slightly to $18.89 per share. Cash was $2.76 per share.
Up 1%. HOLD

Magic Software Enterprises. (MGIC-Recommended 8/18/2008)
Buy Price-$1.93 (was $2.08 before another $10,000 added, $2.00 before $10,000 added at $2.16)
Valuation $3.78 (was $3.84, $3.80, $3.97, $4.18, $4.15)
Closed down $.16 at $1.62
Earnings due out February 10th.
A lot of confusion about the ex-dividend date on this one. As far as we can tell the ex-dividend date was January 7th, the record date was the 11th and the payment date is the 25th.
There will be $.10 withheld for taxes on the $.50 dividend, but depending on your tax situation, you may get all or some of this back when you file your tax return.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell 15% to $13.5 million but they were still profitable and made $.03 per share. Our valuation fell $.06 to $3.78 per share and cash per share was $1.15.
Formula Systems (NASDAQ-FORTY) holds 17,605,000 shares of MGIC or 55.4%. FORTY is a long-term investor that at some point will want to sell MGIC.
Up 10% (adjusted for special $.50 dividend). HOLD

Angeion Corporation. (ANGN-Recommended 8/28/2008)
Buy Price-$3.82 (was $5.15 before $10,000 added)
Valuation $11.73 (was $11.47, $11.16, $9.53, $13.30, $13.03)
Closed down $.31 at $3.61
Earnings out in December. Sales fell 13% to $6.6 million (but increased from the $6.2 million last quarter) and they lost $600,000 or $.14 per share. Cash increased to $2.71 per share, and our valuation rose to $11.73 (still about 3 times the current share price).
Blueline Partners filed a 13D on ANGN on June 23, 2008. They own 216,000 shares or about 5.3% of the company. All of their purchases were well North of the current price.
Down 6% BUY

Global Shipping . (GSL-Recommended 10/12/2008)
Buy Price $2.16-(Was $2.59, $3.69 before adding another $10,000 each time)
Valuation NA-Dividend yield play
Closed down $.10 at $1.46
Current dividend yield--suspended
Earnings in November. Good again. Revenues up 57% to $37.6 million. Made $6.2 million or $.12 per share excluding a $8 million "mark-to-market" derivative charge. Everything else seems good.
CGM (their main customer continues to struggle. Trying to restructure their debt, get funding from the French goverment etc. We would think that GSL would be the last "supplier" to CGM to feel any effects of this due to CGM's equity ownership in GSL.
Big announcements in late August 2009. They finally made a deal with their bank and survived the ordeal. They had the rest of their credit line canceled, were allowed to take delivery of a used ship, no dividend until the loan to ship value is less than 75% and they have to start prepaying their loans. CGM has to stay in as an equity holder until at least November 30, 2010. Meanwhile their business is great. This is definitely going to be long-term though.
Could be the buy of a lifetime if the ecomomy--and ship prices recover.
Their average ship charter life is around 10 years and the closest-in renewal is at the end of 2012.
Down 33%. HOLD

DIVX Inc. (DIVX-Recommended 5/26/2009)
Buy Price-$4.94
Valuation-$8.57 (Was $8.49, $9.24)
Closed down $.22 at $5.56.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell 32% to $16.6 million. They lost about $2.5 million, excluding a $9.5 million litigation gain. Cash rose to $143 million or $4.34 per share. On a non-GAAP basis they lost about $300,000.
Our valuation rose to $8.57 per share.
We will hang on to this one for a while more.
Up 13%. HOLD

OB-abies (Bulletin Board Listed Stocks)

As proven by OPTIO, patience is necessary with these stocks, especially in this Market.

ARI Networks (ARIS.ob-Recommended 8/19/2006)
Buy price $1.61 (Was $1.78 before another $10,000 added, was $2.06 before double up),
Valuation $5.74 (was $5.96, $4.72, $5.19, $5.66, $5.63, $5.61, $5.71, $5.49, $5.34, $5.03, $5.28, $5.28, $5.21)
Closed at $.90 unchanged.
Earnings out in December. Sales up 35% to $5.5 million and they made $162,000 or $.02 per share.
Our valuation backed off a bit to $5.74 per share. No one cares.
Wake up management--you have a great little company here worth 5-6X what it is selling for.
Now down 44%. BUY. Still a Huge valuation gap here.

Avatech Solutions Inc. (AVSO.ob-Bought November 28, 2005)
Buy price $.79 (Was $.93, $.99 and $1.19 before adding $10,000-each time),
Valuation $2.38 (was $2.57, $2.81, $2.78, $3.30, $3.76, $4.00 $3.41, $3.05, $2.53, $3.25, $3.29 $2.69, $3.36, $3.81)
Stock closed at $.49, down $.09.
Earnings out in November. Sales down 28% to $7.8 million, but they still made $127,000 of income. Our valuation fell to $2.38 per share, which is still 4X the current price. Market cap is about $9 million. AVSO sales are over $30 million, with decent margins, profitable and with $.11 in net cash.
Down 38%. HOLD.

CTI Holdings (CTIG.ob-Recommended 2/25/2006)
Buy price $.27 ask,
Valuation $.93 (Was $.75, $.85, $1.57, $1.40, $1.29, $1.38, $1.31, $1.38, $1.29, $1.42, $1.28 $1.13, $1.05, $.82)
Ask price $.08 unchanged. Closed at $.07.
At a $2 million market cap, this is stupidly cheap. Their itellectual property is probably worth 10 times this price. They need to liquify this value somehow.
Earnings out in November. Sales down 54% to $3.6. million (down from $4.1 in Q2) and they lost $320,000 (essentially breakeven excluding depreciation). They blame the sales decline on currency issues and the economy. Our valuation rose to $.93 ( 11 times the current selling price) as losses were reduced and margins gapped up over 70%.
Their VOIP business continues to struggle and lose money, sales were $112,000 down from $188,000 last quarter. They VOIP loss was $675,000. They also spent $129,000 on patent enforcement, which may result in some future gains for the company but there is no way to tell for sure.
They might have to sell or shut this VOIP business down in our opinion. Just losing too much money, and eroding shareholder value--or it could be a home run.
Still an "undercover" company and stock.
Down 70%. HOLD

Lotus Pharmaceuticals (LTUS.ob-Recommended 12/3/2007)
Buy price $.84 (Was $.95 before $10,000 adder, $1.08 before double-up)
Valuation-$2.00 (Was $1.84, $1.56, $1.99, $2.22, $1.61, $1.06, $2.28, $2.08)
Closed at $1.66, up $.07.
This was up for the week? Seems like it wnet down. After hitting $2 earlier in the week, we lost $.34. China stocks swooned generally as economic and fiscal worries rattled investors.
Remember our $2 valuation is a true "value" calculation. EPS is not given much weight. But LTUS looks like it will earn $.40 this year, fully diluted. So at even a measly 8 multiple we could see over $3 per share.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell only 13% from last year, but they were up from Q2. They made $5.5 million in profit or $.11 per share. For the nine months they have now earned $.28 per share. Our valuation headed back up again to $2.00 per share. Also selling under 3 times earnings.
Lotus announced in February 2009 that it bought the land use rights in Mongolia for $26 million, subject to contruction approvals etc. If the project is not approved, they get the money back. They paid for this out of internally generated funds. Pretty impressive. 3 years and $58 million to go to build this plant. They are also looking to sell or rent up to 80% of the land to other pharma companies to create a pharma industrial park.
This may work out ok. Unusual legal structure, $58 million construction project all hang over this company.
UP 99%. HOLD

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Buy Recommendation-GRVY

Gravity Company, LTD. (NASDAQ--GRVY)
Valuation-$5.15
Closing price January 15, 2010-$1.68

With the rise in the markets, and the generally worse performance of most companies, it is hard to find stocks that we think are truly undervalued. Even though Gravity is a foreign stock, we think it fits the bill.

As of September 30, 2009, Gravity had $2.17 per share of cash and was slightly profitable. Our valuation is $5.15 per share so it is trading at 42% of our valuation and at 77% of cash.

Aside from being a foreign stock and relatively unknown, Gravity has been dogged by litigation. All of the material lawsuits were resolved at the end of 2009, so this “black cloud” is gone.

With excess cash, a huge market that it addresses we would be surprised if some transaction does not happen in the next 12 months—special dividend, buy-out, etc.

It the stock can get to only trading AT cash value per share, we have a 30% gain.

GRVY trades over 62,000 shares a day, so liquidity is not a huge issue.

There are about 28 million fully diluted ADR’s outstanding.

About Gravity
Based in Korea, Gravity is a developer and publisher of online games. Gravity's principal product, Ragnarok Online(tm), is a popular online game in many markets, including Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, and is currently commercially offered in 38 markets. For more information about Gravity, please visit http://www.gravity.co.kr.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Sell HPOL @ $1.45

We will take our 110% gain on HPOL. It could get bought out, and is only trading at 53% of our valuation, but the economy is still shaky and HPOL is not burning it up either with continuing losses.

Cheap Stocks, 1/15/2010 Update

2010 continues to be good for us. We were up 2.7% last week and are now up 6.6% for the year, on top of our 90% gain in 2009.

IPAS, MEDW and DWCH still are our favorites.

The DOW was down .1%, NASDAQ was down 1.3% and the S+P 500 was down .8%. The Russell 3000 was down .9% and the Wilshire 5000 was down .9%. For the year the DOW is up 1.7%, NASDAQ is up .8% and the S+P 500 is up 1.9%. The Wilshire is up 1.9% and the Russell is up .9%.

Last week we went 4 stocks up, 10 down and 2 even, but double digit gains in LTUS and HPOL propelled us into the plus column. Since inception we are now 39 stocks up and 11 down.

Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:

2006-NTCT +44%
2006-ONXS +11% (Buyout offer)
2006-DTLK +41%
2006-CAW +21% (Buyout offer)
2007-IYXI.ob +44% (Buyout offer)
2007-MOBI +47% (Buyout offer)
2007-INFT +11% (Buyout offer)
2007-RITT +62%
2007-MIVA +55%
2007-DTLK +25% (2 weeks)
2007-PDLI + 3%
2007-QADI +25%
2007-CIMT +50%
2007-BDR +19%
2007-LINN.ob -57% (mortgage business bust didn't help here)
2007-TISA -39% (take some tax loss for 2007 due to disappointing results.
2008-ANGN +26%
2008-OPTO.ob +40% (Buy-out offer)
2008-PDLI +9% (company split, and special dividend)
2008-BDAY -39% (long overdue takeover offer-or "take-under")
2008-DTLK +40% (third trip on this one)
2008-ILOG +26% (Buy-out offer from IBM)
2008-PARL +56%
2009-MBRK +67%
2009-SNWL +14%
2009-CYNO +25%
2009-DTLK +33%
2009-NED +46%
2009-CUTR +13%
2009-HSTM +67% (continued good earnings)
2009-RNWK +36%
2009-OPK +116%
2009-CLZR -32% (a loser even on a buy-out)
2009-DTLK +28% (our 5th profitable trip on this one)

The model portfolio assumes $10,000 invested in each stock (unless we double-up--then it is $20,000), less $10 commission each way (TD Ameritrade rate).

For the 34 stocks that we closed out since 2006 the average net gain was 27%.

AEterna Zentaris (AEZS-Recommended 6/20/2009)
Buy price $1.42 (was $1.78 before adding another $10,000, $1.82 before double up)
Valuation --Speculation.
Closed up $.01 at $.84.
Following the early December announcement that Cetrorelix is dead, Sandofi and AEZS canceled their agreement to develop Cetrorelix. On the other hand Kerx (AEZS partner in U.S. on Perifosine) announced positive news, "The data presented here further supports the planned Phase 3 trial design which has been granted Special Protocol Assessment by the FDA". This is still a "lottery ticket".
Earnings out in November. Revenues about $8.5 million and they lost $11.3 million. This of course all means nothing yet. Still has $45 million of cash.
Their pipeline and the related announcements will be what drives this stock.
Just waiting for some more good developement news here.
They stil have $45 million in cash, marketed products and a good pipeline
Down 41% HOLD

Spectranetics (SPNC-Recommended 9/2/2006)
Buy price $5.68 (was $8.90, $9.40 before adding $10,000,and was $10.65 before double up), Valuation --Suspended.
Closed up $.15 at $7.02.
Canaccord Adams upgraded SPNC on the settlement announcement in December. Target price is $11.
The company has $34 million in cash ($1.04 per share), no debt and is growing about 10% a year.
Up 24%. HOLD.

DataWatch Corp. (DWCH-Recommended 2/12/2006)
Buy price $2.41 (was $3.02 before adding another $10,000,was $3.21 before adding another $10,000, averaged down from $3.66),
Valuation $7.17 (was $7.46, $8.12, $8.07, $8.12, $8.64, $8.47, $8.47, $10.30, $9.28, $9.20, $8.32, $7.50, $7.63, $9.31)
Closed down $.10 at $2.58
Earnings out in November. Not bad. Revenue down 14% as you would expect this year, but they maintained profitability and made $.04 a share. Has $.94 a share in cash and our valuation is still $7.17, almost 3 times the current price.
KVO Capital management filed a 13D in September. They own 402,000 shares (just under 7% of the company). Purchases were all in the second half of August from $1.66 to $2.74 per share. Finally, someone else seems to see the value here.
Up 7%. BUY

Mediware (MEDW-Recommended 6/4/2007)
Buy Price $6.33, (was $6.52, $6.67 ($10,000 added), $6.98 after double up)
Valuation $12.57 (was $12.29, $11.90, $11.30, $11.48, $11.47 $10.99, $10.28, $13.32, $12.89, $13.40)
Down $.07 at $7.06.
MEDW announced the acquisition of 2 companies in the home infusion market for $5.5 million in November. These deals were closed in December.
Earnings out in November. Sales were up 9% and EPS more than doubled to $.08 per share. Cash is $2.78 per share and our valuation rose to $12.57 per share. Constellation Software filed another 13D/A in late August 2009. Bought 290,000 shares at $5.20 raising their stake to 21.8%. When is the take-over offer??
All we read is that medical records will be a hot area, so MEDW looks like the place to be.
Up 12%. BUY

Vertro. (VTRO (was-MIVA)-Recommended 10/21/2007)
Buy Price $1.63 (Was $2.38 before adding another $20,000, $2.62 before another $10,000 and was $3.00 before double up),
Valuation $2.17 (was $1.65, $1.89, $5.61, $6.42, $6.84, $7.58, $7.59)
Down $.04 at $.44.
VTRO presented at the Sidoti Microcap conference last week. Apparently they did not impress amyone. The presentation was just reinteration of old data.
Earnings out in November. Sales were $7.4 million and they lost $1.8 million before a $1.2 million gain from discontinued operations. Cash was about $6.9 million or $.20 per share. Our valuation rose to $2.17 per share. Thet are still saying they think they will get to positive EBITDA in Q4. We'll see.
We have no hope that we will ever make money on this one, nor are we sure they will survive at all. This one is teetering on the sell list--but not yet.
Down 73%. HOLD

Harris Interactive. (HPOL-Recommended 5/25/2008)
Buy Price $.69 (was $1.79, $1.82 before adding $10,000 each time, $2.02 before $10,000 added and $2.15 before double up),
Valuation $2.72 (Was $3.09, $2.78, $4.67, $4.66, $6.00, $5.96)
Closed up $.20 at $1.45.
Earnings out in late October. Not bad at all. While sales were down 23% to $38.8 million, they had a tiny loss of $.01 per share ($.04 loss last year). Adjusted EBITDA was $2.1 million up from $.7 million last year.
Our valuation fell to $2.72 per share.
More interestingly, Mill Road Capital filed a Form 13D/A on 10/29/2009 disclosing that they bought another 742,000 shares at an average price of about $.88 from October 8th to October 28th. This brings their ownership up to 4,178,000 shares or 7.7% of the company (up from 6.4% previously).
Finaciere De Sainte Marine, is a big investor in HPOL. They own over 14% of the company.
Up 110%. HOLD

IPASS. (IPAS-Recommended 6/1/2008)
Buy Price-$1.42 (adjusted for $.32 and $.16 dividends) (Was $2.07 before another $10,000 added and $2.15 before double up
Valuation $4.17 (was $4.73, $4.75, $4.12, $4.99, $4.30, $4.09)
Down $.02 at $1.17
Shamrock sold all their IPAS shares to Millenium partners in December at $.95, removing the overhang. Millenium now owns 6.2 million shares or 9.9% of the company.
IPASS announced a 80 person layoff in November. This is about 18% of their workforce.
They will take a $4.6 million charge in Q4 and this will supposedly save about $8.6 million a year. We think this is a good move in light of the economy and last quarters loss.
Earning out in November. Hmmmm. Revenues down 12% and they lost $6.1 million. Excluding "dial-up" revenues, revenues were still down 2.3%. $4.8 million of the loss was "one-time". Apparently they figured out that they should have been charging sales taxes on some or all of their services. It took a state audit to turn this light on. This does not help with their credibility.
They also initiated a share buyback program of $10 million. Any buyback money not used will be dividended to shareholders in April 2010.
At September 30, they had $50 million in cash ($.81 per share) and our valuation fell a bit to $4.17.
Foxhill ownership is 6.7%. Millenium owns 9.9%, Royce 5.9% and Federated, 5.5%.
Down 13%. BUY

CCA Industries. (CAW-Recommended 8/4/2008)
Buy Price-$5.51 (was $6.14 before $10,000 added, $6.66 before $10,000 added, $7.00 before $10,000 added) (6.5% dividend yield)
Valuation $18.89 (Was $17.09, $17.05, $14.51, $17.23, $18.36)
Down $.04 to $5.90.
CCA announced earnings in October. Revenues were up 8% to $15.3 million and they earned $.23 per share compared to $.16 last year. They also declared their $.07 quarterly dividend. Our valuation moved up slightly to $18.89 per share. Cash was $2.76 per share.
Up 7%. HOLD

Magic Software Enterprises. (MGIC-Recommended 8/18/2008)
Buy Price-$1.93 (was $2.08 before another $10,000 added, $2.00 before $10,000 added at $2.16)
Valuation $3.78 (was $3.84, $3.80, $3.97, $4.18, $4.15)
Closed down $.26 at $1.78
Earnings due out February 10th.
A lot of confusion about the ex-dividend date on this one. As far as we can tell the ex-dividend date was January 7th, the record date was the 11th and the payment date is the 25th.
There will be $.10 withheld for taxes on the $.50 dividend, but depending on your tax situation, you may get all or some of this back when you file your tax return.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell 15% to $13.5 million but they were still profitable and made $.03 per share. Our valuation fell $.06 to $3.78 per share and cash per share was $1.15.
Formula Systems (NASDAQ-FORTY) holds 17,605,000 shares of MGIC or 55.4%. FORTY is a long-term investor that at some point will want to sell MGIC.
Up 18% (adjusted for special $.50 dividend). HOLD

Angeion Corporation. (ANGN-Recommended 8/28/2008)
Buy Price-$3.82 (was $5.15 before $10,000 added)
Valuation $11.73 (was $11.47, $11.16, $9.53, $13.30, $13.03)
Closed down $.10 at $3.92
Earnings out in December. Sales fell 13% to $6.6 million (but increased from the $6.2 million last quarter) and they lost $600,000 or $.14 per share. Cash increased to $2.71 per share, and our valuation rose to $11.73 (still about 3 times the current share price).
Blueline Partners filed a 13D on ANGN on June 23, 2008. They own 216,000 shares or about 5.3% of the company. All of their purchases were well North of the current price.
UP 3% HOLD

Global Shipping . (GSL-Recommended 10/12/2008)
Buy Price $2.16-(Was $2.59, $3.69 before adding another $10,000 each time)
Valuation NA-Dividend yield play
Closed down $.03 at $1.56
Current dividend yield--suspended
Earnings in November. Good again. Revenues up 57% to $37.6 million. Made $6.2 million or $.12 per share excluding a $8 million "mark-to-market" derivative charge. Everything else seems good.
CGM (their main customer continues to struggle. Trying to restructure their debt, get funding from the French goverment etc. We would think that GSL would be the last "supplier" to CGM to feel any effects of this due to CGM's equity ownership in GSL.
Big announcements in late August 2009. They finally made a deal with their bank and survived the ordeal. They had the rest of their credit line canceled, were allowed to take delivery of a used ship, no dividend until the loan to ship value is less than 75% and they have to start prepaying their loans. CGM has to stay in as an equity holder until at least November 30, 2010. Meanwhile their business is great. This is definitely going to be long-term though.
Could be the buy of a lifetime if the ecomomy--and ship prices recover.
Their average ship charter life is around 10 years and the closest-in renewal is at the end of 2012.
Down 29%. HOLD

DIVX Inc. (DIVX-Recommended 5/26/2009)
Buy Price-$4.94
Valuation-$8.57 (Was $8.49, $9.24)
Closed down $.22 at $5.78.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell 32% to $16.6 million. They lost about $2.5 million, excluding a $9.5 million litigation gain. Cash rose to $143 million or $4.34 per share. On a non-GAAP basis they lost about $300,000.
Our valuation rose to $8.57 per share.
We will hang on to this one for a while more.
Up 17%. HOLD

OB-abies (Bulletin Board Listed Stocks)

As proven by OPTIO, patience is necessary with these stocks, especially in this Market.

ARI Networks (ARIS.ob-Recommended 8/19/2006)
Buy price $1.61 (Was $1.78 before another $10,000 added, was $2.06 before double up),
Valuation $5.74 (was $5.96, $4.72, $5.19, $5.66, $5.63, $5.61, $5.71, $5.49, $5.34, $5.03, $5.28, $5.28, $5.21)
Closed at $.90 unchanged.
Earnings out in December. Sales up 35% to $5.5 million and they made $162,000 or $.02 per share.
Our valuation backed off a bit to $5.74 per share. No one cares.
Wake up management--you have a great little company here worth 5-6X what it is selling for.
Now down 44%. BUY. Still a Huge valuation gap here.

Avatech Solutions Inc. (AVSO.ob-Bought November 28, 2005)
Buy price $.79 (Was $.93, $.99 and $1.19 before adding $10,000-each time),
Valuation $2.38 (was $2.57, $2.81, $2.78, $3.30, $3.76, $4.00 $3.41, $3.05, $2.53, $3.25, $3.29 $2.69, $3.36, $3.81)
Stock closed at $.58, down $.02.
Earnings out in November. Sales down 28% to $7.8 million, but they still made $127,000 of income. Our valuation fell to $2.38 per share, which is still 4X the current price. Market cap is about $9 million. AVSO sales are over $30 million, with decent margins, profitable and with $.11 in net cash.
Down 27%. HOLD.

CTI Holdings (CTIG.ob-Recommended 2/25/2006)
Buy price $.27 ask,
Valuation $.93 (Was $.75, $.85, $1.57, $1.40, $1.29, $1.38, $1.31, $1.38, $1.29, $1.42, $1.28 $1.13, $1.05, $.82)
Ask price $.08 unchanged. Closed at $.08.
At a $2 million market cap, this is stupidly cheap. Their itellectual property is probably worth 10 times this price. They need to liquify this value somehow.
Earnings out in November. Sales down 54% to $3.6. million (down from $4.1 in Q2) and they lost $320,000 (essentially breakeven excluding depreciation). They blame the sales decline on currency issues and the economy. Our valuation rose to $.93 ( 11 times the current selling price) as losses were reduced and margins gapped up over 70%.
Their VOIP business continues to struggle and lose money, sales were $112,000 down from $188,000 last quarter. They VOIP loss was $675,000. They also spent $129,000 on patent enforcement, which may result in some future gains for the company but there is no way to tell for sure.
They might have to sell or shut this VOIP business down in our opinion. Just losing too much money, and eroding shareholder value--or it could be a home run.
Still an "undercover" company and stock.
Down 70%. HOLD

Lotus Pharmaceuticals (LTUS.ob-Recommended 12/3/2007)
Buy price $.84 (Was $.95 before $10,000 adder, $1.08 before double-up)
Valuation-$2.00 (Was $1.84, $1.56, $1.99, $2.22, $1.61, $1.06, $2.28, $2.08)
Closed at $1.59, up $.24.
Remember our $2 valuation is a true "value" calculation. EPS is not given much weight. But LTUS looks like it will earn $.40 this year, fully diluted. So at even a measly 8 multiple we could see over $3 per share.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell only 13% from last year, but they were up from Q2. They made $5.5 million in profit or $.11 per share. For the nine months they have now earned $.28 per share. Our valuation headed back up again to $2.00 per share. Also selling under 3 times earnings.
Lotus announced in February 2009 that it bought the land use rights in Mongolia for $26 million, subject to contruction approvals etc. If the project is not approved, they get the money back. They paid for this out of internally generated funds. Pretty impressive. 3 years and $58 million to go to build this plant. They are also looking to sell or rent up to 80% of the land to other pharma companies to create a pharma industrial park.
This may work out ok. Unusual legal structure, $58 million construction project all hang over this company.
UP 90%. HOLD

Friday, January 08, 2010

Cheap Stocks, 1/8/2010 Update

So far 2010 has been pretty good.

A nice week last week for us--up 3.9%.

IPAS, MEDW, DWCH, and LTUS.ob still are our favorites.

The DOW was up 1.8%, NASDAQ was up 2.1% and the S+P 500 was up 2.7%. The Russell 3000was up 1.75% and the Wilshire 5000 was up 2.8

Last week we went 11 stocks up, 4 down and 1 even. Since inception we are now 39 stocks up and 11 down.

Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:

2006-NTCT +44%
2006-ONXS +11% (Buyout offer)
2006-DTLK +41%
2006-CAW +21% (Buyout offer)
2007-IYXI.ob +44% (Buyout offer)
2007-MOBI +47% (Buyout offer)
2007-INFT +11% (Buyout offer)
2007-RITT +62%
2007-MIVA +55%
2007-DTLK +25% (2 weeks)
2007-PDLI + 3%
2007-QADI +25%
2007-CIMT +50%
2007-BDR +19%
2007-LINN.ob -57% (mortgage business bust didn't help here)
2007-TISA -39% (take some tax loss for 2007 due to disappointing results.
2008-ANGN +26%
2008-OPTO.ob +40% (Buy-out offer)
2008-PDLI +9% (company split, and special dividend)
2008-BDAY -39% (long overdue takeover offer-or "take-under")
2008-DTLK +40% (third trip on this one)
2008-ILOG +26% (Buy-out offer from IBM)
2008-PARL +56%
2009-MBRK +67%
2009-SNWL +14%
2009-CYNO +25%
2009-DTLK +33%
2009-NED +46%
2009-CUTR +13%
2009-HSTM +67% (continued good earnings)
2009-RNWK +36%
2009-OPK +116%
2009-CLZR -32% (a loser even on a buy-out)
2009-DTLK +28% (our 5th profitable trip on this one)

The model portfolio assumes $10,000 invested in each stock (unless we double-up--then it is $20,000), less $10 commission each way (TD Ameritrade rate).

For the 34 stocks that we closed out since 2006 the average net gain was 27%.

AEterna Zentaris (AEZS-Recommended 6/20/2009)
Buy price $1.42 (was $1.78 before adding another $10,000, $1.82 before double up)
Valuation --Speculation.
Closed up $.02 at $.83.
Following the early December announcement that Cetrorelix is dead, Sandofi and AEZS canceled their agreement to develope Cetrorelix. On the other hand Kerx (AEZS partner in U.S. on Perifosine) announced positive news, "The data presented here further supports the planned Phase 3 trial design which has been granted Special Protocol Assessment by the FDA". This is still a "lottery ticket".
Earnings out in November. Revenues about $8.5 million and they lost $11.3 million. This of course all means nothing yet. Still has $45 million of cash.
Their pipeline and the related announcements will be what drives this stock.
Just waiting for some more good developement news here.
They stil have $45 million in cash, marketed products and a good pipeline
Down 42% HOLD

Spectranetics (SPNC-Recommended 9/2/2006)
Buy price $5.68 (was $8.90, $9.40 before adding $10,000,and was $10.65 before double up), Valuation --Suspended.
Closed down $.09 at $6.87.
Canaccord Adams upgraded SPNC on the settlement announcement in December. Target price is $11.
The company has $34 million in cash ($1.04 per share), no debt and is growing about 10% a year.
Up 21%. HOLD.

DataWatch Corp. (DWCH-Recommended 2/12/2006)
Buy price $2.41 (was $3.02 before adding another $10,000,was $3.21 before adding another $10,000, averaged down from $3.66),
Valuation $7.17 (was $7.46, $8.12, $8.07, $8.12, $8.64, $8.47, $8.47, $10.30, $9.28, $9.20, $8.32, $7.50, $7.63, $9.31)
Closed up $.03 at $2.68
Earnings out in November. Not bad. Revenue down 14% as you would expect this year, but they maintained profitability and made $.04 a share. Has $.94 a share in cash and our valuation is still $7.17, almost 3 times the current price.
KVO Capital management filed a 13D in September. They own 402,000 shares (just under 7% of the company). Purchases were all in the second half of August from $1.66 to $2.74 per share. Finally, someone else seems to see the value here.
Up 11%. BUY

Mediware (MEDW-Recommended 6/4/2007)
Buy Price $6.33, (was $6.52, $6.67 ($10,000 added), $6.98 after double up)
Valuation $12.57 (was $12.29, $11.90, $11.30, $11.48, $11.47 $10.99, $10.28, $13.32, $12.89, $13.40)
Down $.21 at $7.13.
MEDW announced the acquisition of 2 companies in the home infusion market for $5.5 million in November. These deals were closed in December.
Earnings out in November. Sales were up 9% and EPS more than doubled to $.08 per share. Cash is $2.78 per share and our valuation rose to $12.57 per share. The stock got up to $7.38 before falling back a bit. This should be a $10 stock right now, in our opinion.
Constellation Software filed another 13D/A in late August. Bought 290,000 shares at $5.20 raising their stake to 21.8%. When is the take-over offer??
All we read is that medical records will be a hot area, so MEDW looks like the place to be.
Up 13%. BUY

Vertro. (VTRO (was-MIVA)-Recommended 10/21/2007)
Buy Price $1.63 (Was $2.38 before adding another $20,000, $2.62 before another $10,000 and was $3.00 before double up),
Valuation $2.17 (was $1.65, $1.89, $5.61, $6.42, $6.84, $7.58, $7.59)
Up $.06 at $.48.
Earnings out in November. Sales were $7.4 million and they lost $1.8 million before a $1.2 million gain from discontinued operations. Cash was about $6.9 million or $.20 per share. Our valuation rose to $2.17 per share. Thet are still saying they think they will get to positive EBITDA in Q4. We'll see.
We have no hope that we will ever make money on this one, nor are we sure they will survive at all. This one is teetering on the sell list--but not yet.
Down 71%. HOLD

Harris Interactive. (HPOL-Recommended 5/25/2008)
Buy Price $.69 (was $1.79, $1.82 before adding $10,000 each time, $2.02 before $10,000 added and $2.15 before double up),
Valuation $2.72 (Was $3.09, $2.78, $4.67, $4.66, $6.00, $5.96)
Closed up $.06 at $1.25.
Earnings out in late October. Not bad at all. While sales were down 23% to $38.8 million, they had a tiny loss of $.01 per share ($.04 loss last year). Adjusted EBITDA was $2.1 million up from $.7 million last year.
Our valuation fell to $2.72 per share.
More interestingly, Mill Road Capital filed a Form 13D/A on 10/29/2009 disclosing that they bought another 742,000 shares at an average price of about $.88 from October 8th to October 28th. This brings their ownership up to 4,178,000 shares or 7.7% of the company (up from 6.4% previously).
Finaciere De Sainte Marine, is a big investor in HPOL. They own over 14% of the company.
Up 81%. HOLD

IPASS. (IPAS-Recommended 6/1/2008)
Buy Price-$1.42 (adjusted for $.32 and $.16 dividends) (Was $2.07 before another $10,000 added and $2.15 before double up
Valuation $4.17 (was $4.73, $4.75, $4.12, $4.99, $4.30, $4.09)
Up $.15 at $1.19
IPASS announced a 80 person layoff in November. This is about 18% of their workforce.
They will take a $4.6 million charge in Q4 and this will supposedly save about $8.6 million a year. We think this is a good move in light of the economy and last quarters loss.
Earning out in November. Hmmmm. Revenues down 12% and they lost $6.1 million. Excluding "dial-up" revenues, revenues were still down 2.3%. $4.8 million of the loss was "one-time". Apparently they figured out that they should have been charging sales taxes on some or all of their services. It took a state audit to turn this light on. This does not help with their credibility.
They also initiated a share buyback program of $10 million. Any buyback money not used will be dividended to shareholders in April 2010.
At September 30, they had $50 million in cash ($.81 per share) and our valuation fell a bit to $4.17.
Foxhill ownership is 6.7%. Shamrock owns 9.8%, Royce 5.9% and Federated, 5.5%.
Down 12%. BUY

CCA Industries. (CAW-Recommended 8/4/2008)
Buy Price-$5.51 (was $6.14 before $10,000 added, $6.66 before $10,000 added, $7.00 before $10,000 added) (6.5% dividend yield)
Valuation $18.89 (Was $17.09, $17.05, $14.51, $17.23, $18.36)
Up $.39 to $5.94.
CCA stock price has risen significantly over the last few weeks and we are now actually in the black on this one. The 50% take-over premium on an already pricy valuation of Chattem (NASDAQ-CHTT) may have woken investors up to the value here.
CCA announced earnings in October. Revenues were up 8% to $15.3 million and they earned $.23 per share compared to $.16 last year. They also declared their $.07 quarterly dividend. Our valuation moved up slightly to $18.89 per share. Cash was $2.76 per share.
Up 8%. HOLD

Magic Software Enterprises. (MGIC-Recommended 8/18/2008)
Buy Price-$1.93 (was $2.08 before another $10,000 added, $2.00 before $10,000 added at $2.16)
Valuation $3.78 (was $3.84, $3.80, $3.97, $4.18, $4.15)
Closed up $.25 at $2.04
A lot of confusion about the ex-dividend date on this one. As far as we can tell the ex-dividend date was January 7th, the record date in the 11th and the payment date is the 25th. So on Thursday when the stock dropped from $2.35 to $1.85 it sure looked lke a dividend adjustment to us. Our 32% gain calculation is based on this.
There will be $.10 withheld for taxes on the $.50 dividend, but depending on your tax situation, you may get all or some of this back when you file your tax return.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell 15% to $13.5 million but they were still profitable and made $.03 per share. Our valuation fell $.06 to $3.78 per share and cash per share was $1.15.
Formula Systems (NASDAQ-FORTY) holds 17,605,000 shares of MGIC or 55.4%. FORTY is a long-term investor that at some point will want to sell MGIC.
Up 32%. HOLD

Angeion Corporation. (ANGN-Recommended 8/28/2008)
Buy Price-$3.82 (was $5.15 before $10,000 added)
Valuation $11.73 (was $11.47, $11.16, $9.53, $13.30, $13.03)
Closed down $.07 at $4.02
Earnings out in December. Sales fell 13% to $6.6 million (but increased from the $6.2 million last quarter) and they lost $600,000 or $.14 per share. Cash increased to $2.71 per share, and our valuation rose to $11.73 (still about 3 times the current share price).
Blueline Partners filed a 13D on ANGN on June 23, 2008. They own 216,000 shares or about 5.3% of the company. All of their purchases were well North of the current price.
UP 5%. HOLD

Global Shipping . (GSL-Recommended 10/12/2008)
Buy Price $2.16-(Was $2.59, $3.69 before adding another $10,000 each time)
Valuation NA-Dividend yield play
Closed up $.17 at $1.59
Current dividend yield--suspended
Earnings in November. Good again. Revenues up 57% to $37.6 million. Made $6.2 million or $.12 per share excluding a $8 million "mark-to-market" derivative charge. Everything else seems good.
CGM (their main customer continues to struggle. Trying to restructure their debt, get funding from the French goverment etc. We would think that GSL would be the last "supplier" to CGM to feel any effects of this due to CGM's equity ownership in GSL.
Big announcements in late August. They finally made a deal with their bank and survived the ordeal. They had the rest of their credit line canceled, were allowed to take delivery of a used ship, no dividend until the loan to ship value is less than 75% and they have to start prepaying their loans. CGM has to stay in as an equity holder until at least November 30, 2010. Meanwhile their business is great. This is definitely going to be long-term though.
Could be the buy of a lifetime if the ecomomy--and ship prices recover.
Their average ship charter life is around 10 years and the closest-in renewal is at the end of 2012.
Down 27%. HOLD

DIVX Inc. (DIVX-Recommended 5/26/2009)
Buy Price-$4.94
Valuation-$8.57 (Was $8.49, $9.24)
Closed up $.35 at $6.00.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell 32% to $16.6 million. They lost about $2.5 million, excluding a $9.5 million litigation gain. Cash rose to $143 million or $4.34 per share. On a non-GAAP basis they lost about $300,000.
Our valuation rose to $8.57 per share.
We will hang on to this one for a while more.
Up 22%. HOLD

OB-abies (Bulletin Board Listed Stocks)

As proven by OPTIO, patience is necessary with these stocks, especially in this Market.

ARI Networks (ARIS.ob-Recommended 8/19/2006)
Buy price $1.61 (Was $1.78 before another $10,000 added, was $2.06 before double up),
NEW Valuation $5.74 (was $5.96, $4.72, $5.19, $5.66, $5.63, $5.61, $5.71, $5.49, $5.34, $5.03, $5.28, $5.28, $5.21)
Closed at $.90 unchanged.
Earnings out in December. Sales up 35% to $5.5 million and they made $162,000 or $.02 per share.
Our valuation backed off a bit to $5.74 per share. No one cares.
Wake up management--you have a great little company here worth 5-6X what it is selling for.
Now down 44%. BUY. Still a Huge valuation gap here.

Avatech Solutions Inc. (AVSO.ob-Bought November 28, 2005)
Buy price $.79 (Was $.93, $.99 and $1.19 before adding $10,000-each time),
Valuation $2.38 (was $2.57, $2.81, $2.78, $3.30, $3.76, $4.00 $3.41, $3.05, $2.53, $3.25, $3.29 $2.69, $3.36, $3.81)
Stock closed at $.60, up $.02.
Earnings out in November. Sales down 28% to $7.8 million, but they still made $127,000 of income. Our valuation fell to $2.38 per share, which is still 4X the current price. Market cap is about $9 million. AVSO sales are over $30 million, with decent margins, profitable and with $.11 in net cash.
Down 24%. HOLD.

CTI Holdings (CTIG.ob-Recommended 2/25/2006)
Buy price $.27 ask,
Valuation $.93 (Was $.75, $.85, $1.57, $1.40, $1.29, $1.38, $1.31, $1.38, $1.29, $1.42, $1.28 $1.13, $1.05, $.82)
Ask price $.08 down $.01. Closed at $.07.
At a $2 million market cap, this is stupidly cheap. Their itellectual property is probably worth 10 times this price. They need to liquify this value somehow.
Earnings out in November. Sales down 54% to $3.6. million (down from $4.1 in Q2) and they lost $320,000 (essentially breakeven excluding depreciation). They blame the sales decline on currency issues and the economy. Our valuation rose to $.93 ( 11 times the current selling price) as losses were reduced and margins gapped up over 70%.
Their VOIP business continues to struggle and lose money, sales were $112,000 down from $188,000 last quarter. They VOIP loss was $675,000. They also spent $129,000 on patent enforcement, which may result in some future gains for the company but there is no way to tell for sure.
They might have to sell or shut this VOIP business down in our opinion. Just losing too much money, and eroding shareholder value--or it could be a home run.
Still an "undercover" company and stock.
Down 70%. HOLD

Lotus Pharmaceuticals (LTUS.ob-Recommended 12/3/2007)
Buy price $.84 (Was $.95 before $10,000 adder, $1.08 before double-up)
Valuation-$2.00 (Was $1.84, $1.56, $1.99, $2.22, $1.61, $1.06, $2.28, $2.08)
Closed at $1.35, up $.07.
Remember our $2 valuation is a true "value" calculation. EPS is not given much weight. But LTUS looks like it will earn $.40 this year, fully diluted. So at even a measly 8 multiple we could see over $3 per share.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell only 13% from last year, but they were up from Q2. They made $5.5 million in profit or $.11 per share. For the nine months they have now earned $.28 per share. Our valuation headed back up again to $2.00 per share. Also selling under 3 times earnings.
Lotus announced in February 2009 that it bought the land use rights in Mongolia for $26 million, subject to contruction approvals etc. If the project is not approved, they get the money back. They paid for this out of internally generated funds. Pretty impressive. 3 years and $58 million to go to build this plant. They are also looking to sell or rent up to 80% of the land to other pharma companies to create a pharma industrial park.
This may work out ok. Unusual legal structure, $58 million construction project all hang over this company.
UP 61%. BUY

Friday, January 01, 2010

Cheap Stocks, January 1, 2010 Update

Happy New Year. Let's hope 2010 brings a continuation of 2009 in the market.

A nice week last week for us--up 9.3%, while the market averages were all down.

So we finished the year up a huge 89%, crushing the Dow by 70 points, the S+P 500 by 65 points and NASDAQ by 45 points.

IPAS, MEDW, DWCH, and LTUS.ob still are our favorites.

The DOW was down .9%, NASDAQ was down .7% and the S+P 500 was down 1%. For the year the DOW was up 18.9%. NASDAQ is up 43.9% and the S+P 500 is up 23.5%. The Russell 3000 and the Wilshire 5000 were up 26-27% this year.

Last week we went 13 stocks up and 3 down. Since inception we are now 39 stocks up and 11 down (we just missed our 80% winner target) .

Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:

2006-NTCT +44%
2006-ONXS +11% (Buyout offer)
2006-DTLK +41%
2006-CAW +21% (Buyout offer)
2007-IYXI.ob +44% (Buyout offer)
2007-MOBI +47% (Buyout offer)
2007-INFT +11% (Buyout offer)
2007-RITT +62%
2007-MIVA +55%
2007-DTLK +25% (2 weeks)
2007-PDLI + 3%
2007-QADI +25%
2007-CIMT +50%
2007-BDR +19%
2007-LINN.ob -57% (mortgage business bust didn't help here)
2007-TISA -39% (take some tax loss for 2007 due to disappointing results.
2008-ANGN +26%
2008-OPTO.ob +40% (Buy-out offer)
2008-PDLI +9% (company split, and special dividend)
2008-BDAY -39% (long overdue takeover offer-or "take-under")
2008-DTLK +40% (third trip on this one)
2008-ILOG +26% (Buy-out offer from IBM)
2008-PARL +56%
2009-MBRK +67%
2009-SNWL +14%
2009-CYNO +25%
2009-DTLK +33%
2009-NED +46%
2009-CUTR +13%
2009-HSTM +67% (continued good earnings)
2009-RNWK +36%
2009-OPK +116%
2009-CLZR -32% (a loser even on a buy-out)
2009-DTLK +28% (our 5th profitable trip on this one)

The model portfolio assumes $10,000 invested in each stock (unless we double-up--then it is $20,000), less $10 commission each way (TD Ameritrade rate).

For the 34 stocks that we closed out since 2006 the average net gain was 27%.

AEterna Zentaris (AEZS-Recommended 6/20/2009)
Buy price $1.42 (was $1.78 before adding another $10,000, $1.82 before double up)
Valuation --Speculation.
Closed up $.02 at $.81.
Following the early December announcement that Cetrorelix is dead, Sandofi and AEZS canceled their agreement to develope Cetrorelix. On the other hand Kerx (AEZS partner in U.S. on Perifosine) announced positive news, "The data presented here further supports the planned Phase 3 trial design which has been granted Special Protocol Assessment by the FDA". This is still a "lottery ticket".
Earnings out in November. Revenues about $8.5 million and they lost $11.3 million. This of course all means nothing yet. Still has $45 million of cash.
Their pipeline and the related announcements will be what drives this stock.
Just waiting for some more good developement news here.
They stil have $45 million in cash, marketed products and a good pipeline
Down 43% HOLD

Spectranetics (SPNC-Recommended 9/2/2006)
Buy price $5.68 (was $8.90, $9.40 before adding $10,000,and was $10.65 before double up), Valuation --Suspended.
Closed up $.99 at $6.96.
Finally the FDA resoulution was announced last week. Basiacally a $5 million penalty and promises to not screw up in the future. Too bad more people weren't around for the announcement.
Maybe after this quarter with no litigation costs and distractions, SPNC can actually start announcing "EARNINGS" and we can get back into the double digit price range again.
SPNC is up 167% this year.
SPNC announced FDA approval on a new "lead" management device in December.
Earnings out in October. Pretty good actually. Sales up 7% to $28.8 million (second highest quarterly sales ever). They lost $2.5 million or $.08 per share. Excluding write-offs and litigation costs they made $641k pre-tax.
A 510(K) filing for in-stent restenosis happened in early Octobber.
Canaccord Adams upgraded SPNC on the settlement announcement. Target price is $11.
The company has $34 million in cash ($1.04 per share), no debt and is growing about 10% a year.
Up 23%. HOLD.

DataWatch Corp. (DWCH-Recommended 2/12/2006)
Buy price $2.41 (was $3.02 before adding another $10,000,was $3.21 before adding another $10,000, averaged down from $3.66),
Valuation $7.17 (was $7.46, $8.12, $8.07, $8.12, $8.64, $8.47, $8.47, $10.30, $9.28, $9.20, $8.32, $7.50, $7.63, $9.31)
Closed up $.17 at $2.65
Earnings out in November. Not bad. Revenue down 14% as you would expect this year, but they maintained profitability and made $.04 a share. Has $.94 a share in cash and our valuation is still $7.17, almost 3 times the current price.
KVO Capital management filed a 13D in September. They own 402,000 shares (just under 7% of the company). Purchases were all in the second half of August from $1.66 to $2.74 per share. Finally, someone else seems to see the value here.
Up 10%. BUY

Mediware (MEDW-Recommended 6/4/2007)
Buy Price $6.33, (was $6.52, $6.67 ($10,000 added), $6.98 after double up)
Valuation $12.57 (was $12.29, $11.90, $11.30, $11.48, $11.47 $10.99, $10.28, $13.32, $12.89, $13.40)
Up $.33 at $7.34.
MEDW announced the acquisition of 2 companies in the home infusion market for $5.5 million in November. These deals were closed in December.
Earnings out in November. Sales were up 9% and EPS more than doubled to $.08 per share. Cash is $2.78 per share and our valuation rose to $12.57 per share. The stock got up to $7.38 before falling back a bit. This should be a $10 stock right now, in our opinion.
Constellation Software filed another 13D/A in late August. Bought 290,000 shares at $5.20 raising their stake to 21.8%. When is the take-over offer??
All we read is that medical records will be a hot area, so MEDW looks like the place to be.
Up 16%. BUY

Vertro. (VTRO (was-MIVA)-Recommended 10/21/2007)
Buy Price $1.63 (Was $2.38 before adding another $20,000, $2.62 before another $10,000 and was $3.00 before double up),
Valuation $2.17 (was $1.65, $1.89, $5.61, $6.42, $6.84, $7.58, $7.59)
Up $.03 at $.42.
Earnings out in November. Sales were $7.4 million and they lost $1.8 million before a $1.2 million gain from discontinued operations. Cash was about $6.9 million or $.20 per share. Our valuation rose to $2.17 per share. Thet are still saying they think they will get to positive EBITDA in Q4. We'll see.
We have no hope that we will ever make money on this one, nor are we sure they will survive at all. This one is teetering on the sell list--but not yet.
Down 74%. HOLD

Harris Interactive. (HPOL-Recommended 5/25/2008)
Buy Price $.69 (was $1.79, $1.82 before adding $10,000 each time, $2.02 before $10,000 added and $2.15 before double up),
Valuation $2.72 (Was $3.09, $2.78, $4.67, $4.66, $6.00, $5.96)
Closed down $.05 at $1.19.
HPOL is up 600% from its lows earlier in 2009.
Earnings out in late October. Not bad at all. While sales were down 23% to $38.8 million, they had a tiny loss of $.01 per share ($.04 loss last year). Adjusted EBITDA was $2.1 million up from $.7 million last year.
Our valuation fell to $2.72 per share.
More interestingly, Mill Road Capital filed a Form 13D/A on 10/29/2009 disclosing that they bought another 742,000 shares at an average price of about $.88 from October 8th to October 28th. This brings their ownership up to 4,178,000 shares or 7.7% of the company (up from 6.4% previously).
Finaciere De Sainte Marine, is a big investor in HPOL. They own over 14% of the company.
Up 72%. HOLD

IPASS. (IPAS-Recommended 6/1/2008)
Buy Price-$1.42 (adjusted for $.32 and $.16 dividends) (Was $2.07 before another $10,000 added and $2.15 before double up
Valuation $4.17 (was $4.73, $4.75, $4.12, $4.99, $4.30, $4.09)
Up $.02 at $1.04
IPASS announced a 80 person layoff in November. This is about 18% of their workforce.
They will take a $4.6 million charge in Q4 and this will supposedly save about $8.6 million a year. We think this is a good move in light of the economy and last quarters loss.
Earning out in November. Hmmmm. Revenues down 12% and they lost $6.1 million. Excluding "dial-up" revenues, revenues were still down 2.3%. $4.8 million of the loss was "one-time". Apparently they figured out that they should have been charging sales taxes on some or all of their services. It took a state audit to turn this light on. This does not help with their credibility.
They also initiated a share buyback program of $10 million. Any buyback money not used will be dividended to shareholders in April 2010.
At September 30, they had $50 million in cash ($.81 per share) and our valuation fell a bit to $4.17.
Foxhill ownership is 6.7%. Shamrock owns 9.8%, Royce 5.9% and Federated, 5.5%.
Down 20%. BUY

CCA Industries. (CAW-Recommended 8/4/2008)
Buy Price-$5.51 (was $6.14 before $10,000 added, $6.66 before $10,000 added, $7.00 before $10,000 added) (6.5% dividend yield)
Valuation $18.89 (Was $17.09, $17.05, $14.51, $17.23, $18.36)
Up $.63 to $5.55.
CCA stock price has risen significantly over the last few weeks and we are now actually in the black on this one. The 50% take-over premium on an already pricy valuation of Chattem (NASDAQ-CHTT) may have woken investors up to the value here.
CCA announced earnings in October. Revenues were up 8% to $15.3 million and they earned $.23 per share compared to $.16 last year. They also declared their $.07 quarterly dividend. Our valuation moved up slightly to $18.89 per share. Cash was $2.76 per share.
Up 1%. HOLD

Magic Software Enterprises. (MGIC-Recommended 8/18/2008)
Buy Price-$1.93 (was $2.08 before another $10,000 added, $2.00 before $10,000 added at $2.16)
Valuation $3.78 (was $3.84, $3.80, $3.97, $4.18, $4.15)
Closed up $.44 at $2.29
MGIC announced a special $.50 dividend last week pushing the stock price up to $2.50 at one point. There will be $.10 withheld for taxes, but depending on your tax situation, you may get all or some of this back when you file your tax return.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell 15% to $13.5 million but they were still profitable and made $.03 per share. Our valuation fell $.06 to $3.78 per share and cash per share was $1.15.
Formula Systems (NASDAQ-FORTY) holds 17,605,000 shares of MGIC or 55.4%. FORTY is a long-term investor that at some point will want to sell MGIC.
Up 19%. HOLD

Angeion Corporation. (ANGN-Recommended 8/28/2008)
Buy Price-$3.82 (was $5.15 before $10,000 added)
Valuation $11.73 (was $11.47, $11.16, $9.53, $13.30, $13.03)
Closed up $.49 at $4.09
Earnings out in December. Sales fell 13% to $6.6 million (but increased from the $6.2 million last quarter) and they lost $600,000 or $.14 per share. Cash increased to $2.71 per share, and our valuation rose to $11.73 (still about 3 times the current share price).
Blueline Partners filed a 13D on ANGN on June 23, 2008. They own 216,000 shares or about 5.3% of the company. All of their purchases were well North of the current price.
UP 7%. HOLD

Global Shipping . (GSL-Recommended 10/12/2008)
Buy Price $2.16-(Was $2.59, $3.69 before adding another $10,000 each time)
Valuation NA-Dividend yield play
Closed up $.01 at $1.42
Current dividend yield--suspended
Earnings in November. Good again. Revenues up 57% to $37.6 million. Made $6.2 million or $.12 per share excluding a $8 million "mark-to-market" derivative charge. Everything else seems good.
CGM (their main customer continues to struggle. Trying to restructure their debt, get funding from the French goverment etc. We would think that GSL would be the last "supplier" to CGM to feel any effects of this due to CGM's equity ownership in GSL.
Big announcements in late August. They finally made a deal with their bank and survived the ordeal. They had the rest of their credit line canceled, were allowed to take delivery of a used ship, no dividend until the loan to ship value is less than 75% and they have to start prepaying their loans. CGM has to stay in as an equity holder until at least November 30, 2010. Meanwhile their business is great. This is definitely going to be long-term though.
Could be the buy of a lifetime if the ecomomy--and ship prices recover.
Their average ship charter life is around 10 years and the closest-in renewal is at the end of 2012.
Down 35%. HOLD

DIVX Inc. (DIVX-Recommended 5/26/2009)
Buy Price-$4.94
Valuation-$8.57 (Was $8.49, $9.24)
Closed up $.40 at $5.64.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell 32% to $16.6 million. They lost about $2.5 million, excluding a $9.5 million litigation gain. Cash rose to $143 million or $4.34 per share. On a non-GAAP basis they lost about $300,000.
Our valuation rose to $8.57 per share.
We will hang on to this one for a while more.
Up 14%. HOLD

OB-abies (Bulletin Board Listed Stocks)

As proven by OPTIO, patience is necessary with these stocks, especially in this Market.

ARI Networks (ARIS.ob-Recommended 8/19/2006)
Buy price $1.61 (Was $1.78 before another $10,000 added, was $2.06 before double up),
NEW Valuation $5.74 (was $5.96, $4.72, $5.19, $5.66, $5.63, $5.61, $5.71, $5.49, $5.34, $5.03, $5.28, $5.28, $5.21)
Closed at $.90 up $.10.
Earnings out in December. Sales up 35% to $5.5 million and they made $162,000 or $.02 per share.
Our valuation backed off a bit to $5.74 per share. No one cares.
Wake up management--you have a great little company here worth 5-6X what it is selling for.
Now down 44%. BUY. Still a Huge valuation gap here.

Avatech Solutions Inc. (AVSO.ob-Bought November 28, 2005)
Buy price $.79 (Was $.93, $.99 and $1.19 before adding $10,000-each time),
Valuation $2.38 (was $2.57, $2.81, $2.78, $3.30, $3.76, $4.00 $3.41, $3.05, $2.53, $3.25, $3.29 $2.69, $3.36, $3.81)
Stock closed at $.58, up $.01.
Earnings out in November. Sales down 28% to $7.8 million, but they still made $127,000 of income. Our valuation fell to $2.38 per share, which is still 4X the current price. Market cap is about $9 million. AVSO sales are over $30 million, with decent margins, profitable and with $.11 in net cash.
Down 27%. HOLD.

CTI Holdings (CTIG.ob-Recommended 2/25/2006)
Buy price $.27 ask,
Valuation $.93 (Was $.75, $.85, $1.57, $1.40, $1.29, $1.38, $1.31, $1.38, $1.29, $1.42, $1.28 $1.13, $1.05, $.82)
Ask price $.09 down $.005. Closed at $.06.
Tax loss selling at least brought some volume to this stock! We even sold some last week to offset other taxable gains.
At a $2 million market cap, this is stupidly cheap. Their itellectual property is probably worth 10 times this price. They need to liquify this value somehow.
Earnings out in November. Sales down 54% to $3.6. million (down from $4.1 in Q2) and they lost $320,000 (essentially breakeven excluding depreciation). They blame the sales decline on currency issues and the economy. Our valuation rose to $.93 ( 11 times the current selling price) as losses were reduced and margins gapped up over 70%.
Their VOIP business continues to struggle and lose money, sales were $112,000 down from $188,000 last quarter. They VOIP loss was $675,000. They also spent $129,000 on patent enforcement, which may result in some future gains for the company but there is no way to tell for sure.
They might have to sell or shut this VOIP business down in our opinion. Just losing too much money, and eroding shareholder value--or it could be a home run.
Still an "undercover" company and stock.
Down 67%. HOLD

Lotus Pharmaceuticals (LTUS.ob-Recommended 12/3/2007)
Buy price $.84 (Was $.95 before $10,000 adder, $1.08 before double-up)
Valuation-$2.00 (Was $1.84, $1.56, $1.99, $2.22, $1.61, $1.06, $2.28, $2.08)
Closed at $1.28, down $.02.
Lotus is up 540% from the stupidly low price at the end of 2008.
Remember our $2 valuation is a true "value" calculation. EPS is not given much weight. But LTUS looks like it will earn $.40 this year, fully diluted. So at even a measly 8 multiple we could see over $3 per share.
Earnings out in November. Sales fell only 13% from last year, but they were up from Q2. They made $5.5 million in profit or $.11 per share. For the nine months they have now earned $.28 per share. Our valuation headed back up again to $2.00 per share. Also selling under 3 times earnings.
Lotus announced in February 2009 that it bought the land use rights in Mongolia for $26 million, subject to contruction approvals etc. If the project is not approved, they get the money back. They paid for this out of internally generated funds. Pretty impressive. 3 years and $58 million to go to build this plant. They are also looking to sell or rent up to 80% of the land to other pharma companies to create a pharma industrial park.
This may work out ok. Unusual legal structure, $58 million construction project all hang over this company.
UP 53%. BUY