July 15, 2003 EPIQ Systems, Inc. (EPIQ)
O.K. so EVERYONE has heard of Harley Davidson and what is the point of stopping by a FREE internet site by some dude named BOB who writes about stocks you have already heard of. O.K. I hear you. How about this one, EPIQ Systems.

I have never heard of this one before two minutes ago when I came across it on the list of top gainers and NO I do not of course own any shares.

EPIQ, according to CNN.Money, "develops, markets, licenses and supports internally developed and proprietary software products for Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcy trustees, and other users of the federal bankruptcy system." And NO DUDE Chapter 7 and 13 are NOT the best chapters in the new Harry Potter Book!

EPIQ had a great day today closing at $19.62 up $1.82 or 10.22% on the day. Apparently someone elses BAD news is EPIQ's GOOD news! They signed on to Mirant's recent bankruptcy filing and apparently are participating in Loral Space & Communication's bankruptcy. Boy is THIS a BAD NEWS BEAR stock!

On April 28, 2003, EPIQ reported results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2003, with revenue growth of 63% over the prior year ($14.6 million vs $9.0 million in 2002), and gross profit was $10.2 million compared to $6.1 million. Net income, however, was not quite as exciting on a per share basis at $.13 vs $.12 last year.

Morningstar.com shows a steady growth of this small company from revenue of $8.4 million in 1997, $11.5 million in 1998, $14.8 million in 1999, $23.3 million in 2000, $30.1 million in 2001 and $38.0 million in 2002. Extrapolating the present quarter revenue rate of $14.6 million would get us just shy of $60 million of revenue in 2003.

Free cash flow, while small, has improved nicely from $1 million in 2000, to $3 million in 2001 and $9 million in 2002.

The company is loaded with cash (relatively speaking!) with $15.9 million of cash and $11.9 million of other current assets, per Morningstar.com, with only $6.7 million in current liabilities and $5.6 million in other long term liabilities.

The market cap is a small $314.7 Million with only 17.7 million shares outstanding. There are 14.7 million shares that float. The p/e is a moderate 32.78. There are 933 thousands shares short as of 6/9/03 which represents 3.81 days of trading so does not appear to be a good candidate for a short squeeze IMHO.

This is an INTERESTING stock which has GREAT potential to rise nicely. They are small but steadily growing and improving their financial picture. I don't own any shares but would be happy to add some to my portfolio if the opportunity should arise!

Thanks again for stopping by. Be sure to skim through the loads of other posts. I think you will find them informative and certainly the price is right on this site!

Bob

July15, 2003 Harley-Davidson (HDI)
No, I am not a biker kind of investor! Frankly, I confess I have NEVER ridden a motorcycle but still remember Dennis Hopper's performance along with Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider. Boy does THAT date me. Anyhow, enough of reminiscing...

Harley-Davidson (HDI) had a great day today. Even in a down market, Harley 'cycled' to a nice gain today closing at $43.68 up $1.89 or 4.52% on the day.

Harley is a perennial growth stock favorite but I do not own any shares and haven't looked closely at the numbers until today. Last quarter's results were reported on April 16, 2003, and Harley related that revenue for the quarter ending March 30, 2003, was $1.1 billion compared to $927.8 million in the year-ago quarter...a 20.0 percent increase. (as reported in Yahoo.com).

Diluted earnings per share were $.61 a 56.4% increase compared to last year's $.39.

It looks like the street is anticipating good results to be released soon for the second quarter as it is now almost exactly 3 months since the last results were reported....that might explain the rise today.

Looking at Morningstar, we see the beautiful linear improvement in revenue starting with $2.1 billion in 1998, $2.6 billion in 1999, $3.1 billion in 2000, $3.6 billion in 2001, $4.3 billion in 2002, and extrapolating from the first quarter we would have at least $4.4 billion in 2003.

Free cash flow is quite impressive improving from $362 million in 2000, to $466 billion in 2001, $456 million in 2002 and $610 million in the 'trailing twelve months' per Morningstar.com.

The company has plenty of cash at $890.7 million with $1.45 billion in other current assets. Current liabilities are a generous $954.4 million with $648 million in long-term liabilities. There is plenty of cash to cover the debt but the debt level is certainly not insignificant.

Harley has a market cap of $12.6 billion per Yahoo with 302.3 million shares outstanding and 301.6 million shares floating. There is small dividend of $.16/share with a yield of 0.38%.

The p/e is a relatively reasonable 19.71, especially with $2.95/share in cash. There are 19.3 million shares out short as of 6/9/03 which represents 7.17 trading days....so not quite enough for a huge short squeeze...but if the stock starts rising....there may be a few short sellers out there scrambling to cover.

I like Harley even if their cycles ARE a bit noisy.

They are a classic growth company and the numbers at first glance certainly do not show a marked slowdown in the growth of this company. A nice company to add to your portfolio!

Regards to all of my friends! Thanks for stopping by. Please contact me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com if you have any questions, comments or words of encouragements!

Please stop by again and share this site with your friends!

Bob

July 14, 2003 Capital One Financial Corp. (COF)
You know when the market is running our kind of companies show up on the list! Now this is a bit of a different stock than some of our little dot.com's and fast growing tech stocks. This is a large cap financial services company....but for the most part fits our criteria nicely!

I do not own any shares of this company and nobody in my family owns shares but I am sure I make some monthly payments to this Bank for one or more credit cards in my family!

COF is having a nice day today trading at $55* on the day. This is a BIG company with an $11.7 Billion market cap. 226.4 Million shares are outstanding with 225.1 million floating. They pay a small dividend of $.11 per share for a yield of 0.21% (all of this from Yahoo.)

For big banks this isn't THAT big...fyi Citigroup (C) has a market cap of $237 Billion with 5 billion shares outstanding....about 20 times the size of this financial services company!.

Capital One Financial, per CNN.Money, is "the holding company for Capital One Bank, offers a variety of credit card and financial services to customers."

According to Yahoo news, Capitol One reported first quarter results on April 21, 2003. Earnings for the first quarter were $309.1 million or $1.35/share vs. $188.0 million or $.83/share for the prior year. COF also reported SEQUENTIAL improvement in earnings with $239.7 million or $1.05 in the fourth quarter of 2002.

Morningstar.com shows a nice linear growth in revenue with $2.6 billion reported in 1998, $4.0 billion in 1999, $5.5 billion in 2000, $7.4 billion in 2001, and $9.6 billion in 2002.

Banks have different financial reporting than other companies and I will not venture into this except to say that the company appears to be showing continued financial health and you might wish to look at the first quarter earnings news as reported on Yahoo at http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030421/dcm040_1.html

Looks like a nice financial if that is what you are in the market for!

Happy Monday everyone. The thing I love about Monday is that we have all those trading days to look forward to!

Regards to all of my friends!

Bob *on the original post I listed $33.66 the FNF price below...rechecked price based on time of original post....just wanted to clarify this!

July 14, 2003 Fidelity National Financial (FNF)
How about another financial stock for a noon-time snack? Checking the lists again, Fidelity National Financial shows up and seems to fit the bill!

FNF is having a great day today trading at $33.66 up $1.77 or 5.55% on the day.

According to CNN.Money, FNF, through its subsidiaries, "is engaged in issuing title insurance policies and performing other title related services." Now WHO among you has not refinanced their house lately? The only question is, will interest rates on mortgages resume their decline...or if they start to rise....will there be a panic to refinance for those that haven't?...hmmm.

They are about to report their second quarter results but revenue results for the first quarter of 2003 were reported on April 23, 2003, as per yahoo.com, revenue was $1.4 billion in 2003 vs $1.1 billion in first quarter of 2002. Net earnings were $144 million in 2003 vs $101 million in 2002 or on a per share basis, $1.44 vs $1.03 in 2002.

Morningstar.com shows a pretty sequential growth on 5 year financials with revenues increasing from $1.3 billion in 1998 to $1.4 billion in 1999, $2.7 billion in 2000, $3.9 billion in 2001, and $5.1 billion in 2002. Extrapolating the current quarter out would get us to about $5.6 billion in 2003.

They appear to have a very significant increase in free cash flow but the tables are incomplete on Morningstar.com...as they are with the financials...that is the assets/liabilities.

Except for this data which is not clearly presented, the stock looks like a nice investment...it even pays a $.38/share dividend with an indicated yield of 1.20%. There are 135.0 million shares outstanding with a $4.31 Billion market cap.

The stock trades at a REASONABLE p/e of 6.89....and looks to be an excellent investment minus some of the factors I like to review...which I am sure are available with just a bit more homework!

Regards to all!

Bob

July 14, 2003 Echelon Corporation (ELON)
Hello Friends! Thanks for stopping by the site. Please be sure to check out all the entries and different aspects of Bobsadviceforstocks! I spent the weekend updating the sites and then went out to my old Delphi stomping ground where I had my first website and put up a note to visit...so hope some of you are from Delphi as well!

Anyhow, back to business. The market is having a GREAT day today and the bull is still alive. This is the best environment for our earnings/price momentum stocks.

Looking at CNN.Money for the top percentage gainers today I came across Echelon Corporation. This is a new one for me. I do not own any shares nor does anyone in my family. ELON is having a terrific day trading at $17.05 as I write....up $2.38 on the day or 16.22%!

ELON, according to CNN.Money, "...develops, markets and supports hardware and software products and services that enable original equipment manufacturers and systems integrators to design and implement open, interoperable, distributed control networks." Hmmmm....I guess that means it is a 'networking' company.

The news suggests the company is due to report earnings tomorrow. Last quarter, their first quarter, came in on April 15, 2003. As reported in the NYTimes on the Web, revenues for the quarter were $32.6 million an increase of 18% over revenues of $27.6 million for the same period in 2002. Net profit was $4,217,000 or $.10 per share compared to a net profit of $2,687,000 or $.07/share last year.

The nice part of that earnings report was that EXPECTATIONS were for $.07/share and the company came in at $.10. The expectations are paramount in the investment world. That is why stocks often drop on meeting expectations as the news is 'built in' to the price in anticipation of results.

Morningstar.com shows a pretty picture on five year results with nice revenue growth from $32 million in 1998 to $40 million in 1999, $49 million in 2000, $77 million in 2001, and $123 million in 2002. At the current rate, ELON should come in at least at $128 million extrapolating from the current quarter for 2003.

Free cash flow while not linear is doing fine. In 2000, ELON was negative $(8) million which went to a negative $(33) million in 2001 but a positive $35 million in 2002.

The Assets/Liabilities picture is very clean for this company as reported on Morningstar. They apparently have $134.5 million in cash alone compared to $12.3 million in current liabilities and only a mere $0.2 million in long term liabilities. ELON has an additional $34.1 million in OTHER current assets.

Looking at Yahoo.com, we find that ELON has 39.9 million shares outstanding and 27.2 million which float for a market cap of $584.8 million.

The p/e ratio is a little steep at 32.60 and this stock has a potential short squeeze coming....if the stock rises and those borrowed shares that have been sold short should need to be covered (puchased and returned to the original owner)...the stock could rise precipitously. As of June 9, 2003, Yahoo reports that 18.0% of shares outstanding are short which amounts to 4.91 million shares with a ratio of 26.51 trading days to cover.

There are LOTS of things to like about this stock....and if I were looking for a new purchase, this would be a great one to recommend.

Thanks again for stopping by and please leave comments right here or contact me with any comments, questions, or what I love, words of encouragement at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com.

Bob

July 12, 2003 "How are we doing?" A look back on the picks of the week of June 2, 2003
Really haven't been too busy in this BLOG last couple of days. But sure have been busy at work! It is the weekend and we have a few hours to catch up with things...including this site! This is a great time to look back and see how we have been doing....have out picks been working out? Does what I am posting here make sense? The best test is the performance of these issues AFTER they are posted!

Our last look-back was for the week of May 26th...posted about 2 weeks ago...let's look at the following week when I was quite busy making picks...the week of June 2, 2003...about 5 weeks ago.

The first pick on 6/2 was Expressjet Holdings Inc (XJT) on the NYSE. At that time, XJT was trading at $12.60. Currently XJT as of 7/11/03, is priced at $15.20. This is a nice move from our pick of $2.60 or 20.6%.

Also on 6/2 we picked ACS, Affiliated Computer Services. This one has NOT performed well, and in fact was SOLD out of my trading portfolio on weakness. (I do not bat 100%!). We picked ACS on 6/2 at $49.18. Currently ACS is trading at $44.05, or a loss of $5.13 or (10.4%).

Coach, Inc. was picked on 6/2/03 at $51.53. Currently COH closed as of 7/11/03 at $55.33. this is a gain of $3.80 or a gain of 7.37%.

We also selected UFM, United Financial Mortgate, on 6/2/03 at $8.05. UFM closed on 7/11/03 at $8.40. This is a gain of $.35 or a gain of 4.34%.

On June 3, 2003, we selected SEM, SCHS, and WAG. SEM, or Select Medical Corporation, was trading at $22.10. Currently, as of 7/11/03, SEM is at $26.95 or a gain of $4.85. This represents a gain of 21.9%.

Also on June, 3, 2003, we picked School Specialty, Inc., which was at that time trading at $25.45. Currently, SCHS, as of 7/11/03, is at $30.61. This is a gain of $5.16 or a gain of 20.27%.

WAG, or Walgreens, was picked on 6/3/03 at $32.17. WAG closed on 7/11/03 at $30.90 or a loss of $1.27 or (3.9%).

On June 4, 2003, EELN was selected here at $5.06. E-Loan, Inc. closed at $6.59 on 7/11/03. This is a gain of $1.53 or 30.2%. A very nice move!

I was busy posting again on June 5, 2003, when we listed CBK, APPX, MWRK, and KMX.

CBK, Christopher and Banks, Corp., was trading at $33.45 when we picked it on 6/5/03. On 7/11/03, CBK closed at $37.19, a gain of $3.74 or a gain of 11.2%.

APPX, American Pharmaceutical Partners, was trading at $37.39 when we posted it on 6/5/03. APPX closed at $40.93 on 7/11/03, a gain of $3.54 or a gain of 9.5% since posting.

MWRK, or Mothers Work, Inc., was picked on 6/5/03 at $25.55. MWRK closed at $30.19 or a gain of $4.64 or a gain of 18.2% during this short period.

The last pick of 6/5/03 was KMX, or Carmax, Inc. which was trading at that time at $28.65. KMX closed at $34.40 on 7/11/03. This is a gain of $5.75 or a gain of 20.06%.

The final pick for the week was CAH, or Cardinal Health, Inc. CAH was trading at $64.17 on that day. on 7/11/03, CAH closed at $64.89. This is a gain of $.72 or a gain of 1.1% for the 5 week period.

Overall, not too bad a job! The thirteen selections of that week had gains of 20.6%, 7.3%, 4.34%, 21.9%, 20.27%, 30.2%, 11.2%, 9.5%, 18.2%, 20.06%, and 1.1%. Only two stocks had losses of (10.4%), and (3.9%). Averaging this performance, we have an average gain of 11.6% for the 5 week period.

To get more details about these selections, click on the dates along the left side of this BLOG in the Calendar and the postings will pop up.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will try to update the rest of this site including my trading portfolio later this weekend! Regards to all my friends!

Thanks for stopping by!

Bob

July 8, 2003 Websense (WBSN)
o.k. I give up. Another dot.com stock! Yet it DOES fit our criteria and the value/growth is quite nice imho.

Websense apparently confirmed bullish estimates on the upcoming second quarters and Motley Fool reported that the stock was moving up because of a 'short squeeze'. That occurs when people who are negative sell a lot of shares 'short' in anticipation of a drop in the stock and are then able to buy it back later at a lower price and thus a profit. A squeeze is a panic, that forces short sellers to buy shares back as the price mounts and their losses grow. O.K. that is enough for basic education on this site!

Websense had a great day today closing at $20.26 up $4.64 or 29.71% on the day! Wow! The stock trades with what appears to be a very reasonable p/e of 20.03. According to Yahoo, this San Diego, California based company has a smallish market cap of $341.8 Million with 21.9 million shares outstanding and 21.7 million shares float.

On April 22, 2002, WBSN reported their first quarter results for the quarter ending March 31, 2003. Revenue was a "record $18.5 million, an increase of 42 percent from the $13.0 million reported in the first quarter a year ago." according to a Business Wire report recorded on Yahoo. Net income for the quarter was $3.9 million or 17 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $2.7 million or 11 cents per diluted share last year.

Websense, per CNN.Money, "...is a provider of employee Internet management products that enable businesses to monitor, report and manage how their employees use the Internet."

Looking at Morningstar.com, we find a beautiful picture of revenue growth, starting with $5.0 million in 1997, $6.9 million in 1998, $8.6 million in 1999, $17.4 million in 2000, $35.9 million in 2001, $61 million in 2002, and if we extrapolate the current quarter of revenue reported above without any growth we would have about $74 million in 2003. Very nice!

By the way, I do not own any shares of this issue, but would not be adverse to adding some to my portfolio in the near future.

Morningstar also shows a dramatic improvement in free cash flow from $6 million in 2000, $19 million in 2001, and $31 million in 2002.

This company, per Morningstar, is sitting on loads of cash with $151.2 million in cash and $26.3 million in other current assets, compared with $59.6 million in current liabilities and $17.2 million in long-term liabilities.

Overall, this is another BEAUTIFUL issue, reasonably priced with outstanding growth characteristics. I like it a lot and don't be surprised to see this added to my trading portfolio if I get a chance!

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment right here or email me at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com with your comments, questions, and most appreciated words of encouragement!

Bob

July 7, 2003 FindWhat.com FWHT
I hope everybody had a great 4th of July. Looks like it has taken until Monday to get some fireworks on Wall Street! Market is up strong today. Especially the NASDAQ.

Looking through the lists, another dot-com has shown up today: Findwhat.com. I guess I am getting used to suggesting dot.com's on this website!

According to CNN.money, FWHT "develops and markets performance-based advertising services for the Internet. Clients pay the Company for each visitor delivered to their web sites." Certainly could help THIS web site!

FWHT is having a great today trading at $22.16 up $2.25 or 11.30% on the day. The p/e ratio is reported at 37.50 on NYTimes on the web.

On April 30, 2003, FindWhat.com reported their first quarter results as noted on Yahoo.com. Highlights: revenue of $15.8 million increased 18% over prior quarter SEQUENTIALLY, and an increase of 82% over first quarter revenue of $8.7 million in 2002. Diluted earnings per share increased to $.14 this year compared to $.10 last year. In addition, the company increased its current projection for 2003 results!

Morningstar.com shows revenue growth from $.1 million in 1998 to $.5 million in 1999, $2.9 million in 2000, and $20.4 million in 2001 with $43 million reported in 2002. Extrapolating the current result without any growth would result in about $63 million in revenue for 2003.

Free cash flow has been improving from $-5 million in 2000, to $4 million in 2001, $9 million in 2002 and $12 million in the trailing twelve months as reported in Morningstar.com

The company, per Morningstar, has $27.7 million in cash and $2.9 million in other current assets and only $6.8 million in current liabilities and NO long-term liabilities at all.

I do not at this point own any shares but this is another pretty picture as a dot.com that has turned profitable on spectacular revenue growth. I guess that means I like it!

Thanks for reading this post. Please feel free to leave comments right here or drop me a line at bobsadviceforstocks@lycos.com if you have any questions, comments, or my favorite: words of encouragement!

Regards!

Bob

July 2, 2003 Digital River (DRIV)
O.K. this one I do own. I purchased some today prior to making this post and have owned some elsewhere in a managed account. Let me share with you the numbers, and you may wish to own some too!

Digital River (DRIV), per CNN.Money, "provides comprehensive electronic commerce outsourcing solutions to software publishers and online retailers." I know that I recently downloaded a Norton Antivirus 2003 program online...and it was Digital River that provided the software to do this.

DRIV is having a GREAT day...and that is how we came across it. Trading at $21.69, it is up $2.83 or 15.01% for the day. The p/e is a bit pricey at 41.71, although Yahoo shows the same stock with a p/e of 78.58....so not exactly a screaming value play. The market cap is a small $612.6 Million.

Yahoo reports 28.3 million shares outstanding with 25.2 million float.

Per CBSmarketwatch.com, on April 23, 2003, DRIV reported the first quarter results for the quarter ending March 31, 2003. Revenue was $24.6 million a 36% increase over last year's revenue of $18.1 million. Sequentially, from the prior quarter, revenue increased 14% from the $21.5 million in the fourth quarter of last year.

Net income this quarter was $4.0 million or $.13/share compared to a net LOSS of $3.5 million last year or ($.13)/share last year.

Morningstar.com shows the EXCELLENT revenue progression of this company starting at a miniscule $3 million in 1998, going to $15 million in 1999, $31 million in 2000, $58 million in 2001, $78 million in 2002, and extrapolating from the present quarter should be nearly $100 million in 2003.

Free cash flow has improved annually from a NEGATIVE $26 million in 2000 and Negative $5 million in 2001, to POSITIVE $12 million in 2002 and $19 million for the trailing twelve months.

The company has LOADS of cash with $49.2 million in cash which is more than the $43.3 million in current liabilities. Morningstar reports NO long-term liabilities.

Like I already said, I LIKE this stock A LOT....and just purchased some TODAY. There isn't much not to like except the valuation is a bit steep. But this is a company JUST turning profitable and the p/e should drop quickly as revenues and earnings grow. At least I hope so! If it hits the 8% loss, it will be sold like all the others.

Have a great day and evening....and best wishes for the Fourth!

Bob

July 2, 2003 Trading Transparency
I sold positions in two of my stocks in my trading account today....both on GOOD news! Sold 50 shares of KRON when it hit a 30% gain, and sold 100 of my 400 shares of RATE when it hit a 30% gain after holding it for UNDER A WEEK!....wow...wish I had bought more of that one! Regards again...Bob