3SOF

1)  HCSG  ----  Healthcare Services Group Inc.

Healthcare Services Group, Inc. provides housekeeping, laundry, linen, facility maintenance, and food services to nursing homes, retirement complexes, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals in the United States and Canada

2)  I'm picking this because of purely technical reasons.  HCSG has a very nice ascending triangle pattern that had been forming since early January 05.  It recently broke out of the triangle last week which is when I jumped in.  Also, it has been in a SOLID uptrend since 2000.  It looks as though fundamentally the company is doing great and that earnings are being met or exceeded.  Don't really have time to look into the company fundamentally.

 

Contest Pick
1.) My Stock Pick:
     AVII...... AVI BIOPHARMA INC

2.) Reason behind the pick:
     Things looking better, AVII seems to be at bottom for now.
     I think she is headed back up, all it needs is a little positive medical news
     The chart and indicators look to be stabilizing and looking like its ready to move up.
     On my thread of AVII located on The Stock Picking Board, AVII......This could be a rocket
     based on speculation alone ! I still have that thought about this stock. Headed Higher!!
     
Volume: 3,141,126
Avg Vol (3m): 2,750,780

Technicals
Close Above the 50-day EMA
Close Above the 13-day EMA
Percentage Gainer

Last Price Quote is:
0.65%above 13-day EMA
0.38%above 50-day EMA
RS Rating: 77 

Fundamentals
Key Data:
Market Cap (M): $354.97 
P/E Ratio: NA 
PEG Ratio: N/A 
Next Earnings: 05/08/2006
Last Analyst Rating: Mkt Outperform

3.) The awesome Stock Chart.

My Pick: Transmeta(TMTA)
Reasons behind the pick: I like their new bussiness model where they make $'s on licensing their technology, which also makes sense since its almost impossible to go head on with intc and amd in manufacturing the chips. There recent alliance with toshiba, sony and msft is also a plus.
Expecting earnings rally for next two weeks and they may also release more information with their microsoft alliance with better guidance.

Company Information
Transmeta Corporation. The Group's principal activities are to develop and distribute software-based microprocessors and additional hardware and software technologies for Mobile Internet Computers. These products are portable computing and communication devices that are compatible with PC software. The products also deliver the performance required to run standard PC and Internet applications and also offer long battery life. Crusoe microprocessors have been developed for lightweight notebook computers and wireless Internet access devices and other Internet appliances. The Crusoe microprocessors are suitable for a broad set of existing and emerging end markets where energy efficiency and x86 software compatibility are desirable. The Group's customers include Sharp, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard and Uniquest.

My Pick: VPHM

Reason for pick:  VPHM is arguably one of the most familiar stocks on 3SOF.  It has made many people some green and has been a value favorite of Michael's for some time.  It's currently low PPS was caused by the threat of a generic version of Vancocin coming onto the market and seriously eating in to the margins of this money maker for VPHM.  Even if a generic Vancocin is approved, it is still at least a few years away.  In the meantime, VPHM will continue to show increasing sales of Vancocin and increasing company earnings because of this.  I feel that the threat of the generics is overblown and it is only a matter of time before the PPS again reflects the earning potential of Vancocin, not to mention the other drugs in VPHM's pipeline.  Will the market recognize this within a month?  If so, the stock will be a rocket again. 

OUTD : Outdoor Channel Holdings Inc

Stock has had two upgardes this month and I see more people staying home watching more TV with the price of gas going up more and more. They have had one million more subscribers since Dec. for their channel and recent price action of stock shows it's on it's way to a new uptrend

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Outdoor Channel Holdings Inc., owner of a hunting and fishing cable television channel, surged Friday on news of strong subscriber-base growth in the first quarter.
The Temecula, Calif., company's stock rose $1.37, or 12.8 percent, to $12.07 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $9.10 to $17.49.
Outdoor Channel said its subscriber base has increased by 1 million since December, according to Nielsen Media Research estimates. The company says its channel is reaching 26.7 million homes.
Bear Stearns analyst Jennifer L. Childe gave Outdoor Channel an "Outperform" investment rating.
• Outdoor Channel upgraded by AG Edwards
Briefing.com (Fri 8:53am) 

Goodluck to all 

My pick=(CUP) Peru Copper Inc. closed @3.12 on friday!

Reasons: 27 million in cash, virtually no debt. Both copper and gold are extremly hot right now. Just broke out of its descending channel. Some unverified rumors of PCU perhaps buying them out! Besides that I don't know, chart looks good to me!

"Peru Copper, Inc. engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineable copper deposits in Peru. The company, through its subsidiary, Minera Peru Copper Syndicate S.A., holds an option to acquire certain mining concessions in the Toromocho project located in the Morococha mining district in central Peru. Peru Copper, Inc. was founded by J. David Lowell, Catherine E. McLeod Seltzer, David E. De Witt, Luis J. Baertl, and Geoffrey Loudon in 2003 and is based in Vancouver, Canada".

My pick is TGC

Tengasco, Inc. engages in the exploration, production, and transportation of oil and natural gas in Tennessee and Kansas. It also leases producing and nonproducing properties for exploration and development.
Tengasco Announced Record Fourth Quarter 2005 and Record Year-End 2005 Results on Mon, Mar 20 since then has been on a march up the hill. With the price of oil hitting record levels (again) and natural gas coming off it lows in anticipation of a hot summer. The climb should continue. At the moment the price is consolidating again with volume support and I am suspecting a continuation of the rise in share price. 
Also TGC seems to be forming a pendant, that being said pendants usually break in the direction of the trend in this case up. TGC also formed pendants at 0.72, 0.85 marks and now again at 1.32
A close below the 13 EMA at 1.21, or further, below trendline support at 1.18 would indicate a time to exit. I would also watch the oil and natural gas charts, for indications of the future price of TGC.

My pick CBMX - CombiMatrix  Corp.

Recent news concerning CombiMatrix group's subsidiary CombiMatrix Molecular Diagnostics (CMDX) shipping its first diagnostic microarray product for the diagnosis, mostly in children, who exhibit genetic developmental disorders and are currently undiagnosed due to the lack of technology for such diagnosis. This inability to diagnose the underlying cause of the disorder makes it difficult to provide appropriate medication or useful genetic counseling. The array, which can be used for pre- and post-natal analysis, will provide much greater genetic information for diagnosing and treating these disorders. The collaboration with Novavax on other vaccine technologies will I believe have a positive impact on CBMX's short term price performance. The early detection of mutated strains of the flu virus will be critical to the containment of the virus in its early stages. Positive news should set the stage for a nice gain.

Interesting article on DNA Micro arrays:

http://tinyurl.com/p5p83



Acacia Research Corporation - CombiMatrix engages in the development of technologies and products in the areas of drug development, genetic analysis, nanotechnology research, defense, and homeland security markets. Its platform technologies produce customizable arrays, which are semiconductor-based tools for use in identifying and determining the roles of genes, gene mutations, and proteins.

Novavax - NVAX
I Don't really expect to win this contest with this pick, but as in contest 2 where I picked SMSI at 5.50 and it is now 11.50, I will make a fundamental case and hope that a significant event will occur during the contest period.
NVAX is not just a bird flu stock! It is a new technology related to the production of vaccines. So my first fundamental reason for my interest in this stock is the fact that they just received approval and validation of their production facility from the FDA. 2nd, They have over 100million in cash to carry out their business plan. 3rd, they have 4 FDA approved products on the street. 4, they have 7 other products in phase 1,11,111 trials. NVAX is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in research, development,and commercialization of products for women's health, infectious diseases, and cancer. This company has just been taken to the woodshed by one analyst who's long term commentary on this company could lead one to believe he has an agenda. Regardless the stock is down from the 8 dollar level and certainly could go lower based on TA. I will hope to get a lower open on Monday and buy this stock under 5.30 knowing that a test of 4.80 is likely. However, this company presents at a UBS conference on 4/24 and will have their annual meeting during this contest period. Maybe I'll get some confirmation related to real fundamentals and see this stock turn and run. The chart is not my friend but with my real money I have a plan. Make sure you do before any of you buy this one.

VRSO

I think the charts look quite bullish right now, and I will consider buying it on Monday. The price is very low at this point. Oct. last year there was a stock-split 5:1, so the pre-split price now is $ 0,24, and that's to low in my opinion !
There will be a conference call on Thursday, May 4, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. and if earnings are good, we might have a winner. 

Verso Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries provide communications technology and solutions for communications service providers and enterprises seeking to implement application-based telephony services, Internet usage management tools, and outsourced customer support services. The company operates in two segments, Packet-based Technologies Group and Advanced Applications Services Group.

The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

My pick for this months contest is Insmed (INSM):

Insmed was really on fire in December and January as positive news came out about their key drug IPLEX, used to treat children with Growth Hormone Insensitivity, which I am sure most 3SOFers know all about.  Fulle coverage can be read here:
http://www.3stocksonfire.org/trading/index.php?topic=4489.msg57706#msg57706

Since peaking at 3.35 in January, it has been falling back in a descending channel, recently reaching a low of 1.65, just over a 50% drop

HOWEVER, I think that things are about to change for INSM.  As was expressed in their last conference call, everything is in place for the commercialization of IPLEX, which is set to happen this quarter, and probably within the next month.  Several key conferences, including the PAS Annual meeting are coming up, at which Insmed will be presenting recent results on IPLEX, and may provide an opportunity to announce commercial production.  They have already recieved approval and orpan status, so are really on the verge of starting to make some money!!! IPLEX has huge long term potential, but I see then next few weeks as turnaround time.

Technically, we have the bearish channel, which the stock has been recently traversing, but it made a nice little rally off the low of 1.65, up to 2.00, before selling off again.  If INSM can break above 2.00, then I think the reversal will be in.  The 13ema has been providing a nice little guide rope for INSM in the last 6 months, for the most part finding support there on the ascention and resistance as it fell back (bar a couple of rallying spikes), so I would like to see the 1ema get taken out next week.  It currently stands at 1.83, which is where INSMs AH price is as well. 

Target-wise, the fibs for the last rally give us some nice targets, with the 61.8% retrace at 2.01, right where INSM needs to get over to put its reversal in, 50% at 2.26, which corresponds to the top of the bearish channel, and finally the 38.2% at 2.52, which is the top of the gap when INSM crashed after earnings.  A move from where it closed on Friday at 1.80 to the top of this gap would be a 40% move, and could happen quite quickly.  Beyond that, well, lets just see.

Anyway, in line with this, I will be buying INSM back on Monday to put my stock pick into practice

My pick is ICO -  International Coal Group (NYSE)

I like tha VU boyyom pattern, and i think the break oh the last maximum to cast the price to an important target. International Coal Group, Inc.  will release its first quarter results for 2006 after the market closes on Thursday, April 27, 2006
In addition announced that its Vindex Energy Corporation subsidiary has significantly expanded its Maryland production by acquiring the Allegany County surface mining operations of Barton Mining Company. In a transaction concluded earlier today, the associated assets of Barton Mining Company and George's Creek Land Company were purchased by the ICG subsidiary for an undisclosed price.
ADVERTISEMENT
This surface mining complex, located near Frostburg, Maryland, is expected to produce about 500,000 tons annually from a permitted reserve base of over 3.5 million tons. Although mining activities have been idle in recent weeks, coal production is projected to resume within the next 7-10 days

look the chart

1) CVM  --  CEL-SCI Corp.

2) CEL-SCI Corporation engages in the research and development of drugs and vaccines used in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. The company owns a pre-clinical technology called ligand epitope antigen presentation system (L.E.A.P.S) that designs and synthesizes proprietary peptide immunogens. Its products include Multikine, an immunotherapeutic agent that is used for the treatment of cancer and CEL-1000 peptide, a product developed through its L.E.A.P.S, which provides protection in animals against malaria, herpes, and cancer. The company markets its products to cancer centers, physicians, and clinics involved in immunotherapy.

Recent headlines:
• Cel-Sci, Navy Extend Drug Study AP. (Thu, Apr 20) 
• CEL-SCI Extends Agreement With U.S. Navy for CEL-1000 Drug. PR Newswire(Thu, Apr 20) 
• Cel-Sci Up on Vaccine Booster Tests .AP (Wed, Apr 19) 
• CEL-1000 Peptide Shows Adjuvant Activity with Malaria Vaccines .PR Newswire (Wed, Apr 19) 
• Cel-Sci flies on Avian flu vaccine .bizjournals.com (Tue, Apr 4) 
• Cel-Sci Up on Bird Flu Claim, Patent .AP (Tue, Apr 4) 
• CEL-SCI Files Patent for Prevention/Treatment of Bird (Avian) Flu .PR Newswire (Tue, Apr 4) 
• CEL-SCI Corporation Releases Bird (Avian) Flu Letter to Shareholders .PR Newswire (Mon, Apr 3) 

* Outstanding Shares : 74.2 mil
* Float : 6.7 mil
* Market Value : $56.41
* Debt : $0.00
* Cash on hand : $1.89 mil

3) Technically it's forming a symmetrical triangle which hopefully will break to the upside soon.


Good luck all!

1)   Stock Pick
IIP - Internap Network Services Corp.
Profile: Internap Network Services Corporation offers products and services that provide Internet connectivity solutions to business customers who require network availability for business applications, such as e-commerce, video and audio streaming, voice over Internet protocol, virtual private networks, and supply chain management. Its products and services are delivered by IP access services, such as colocation and data center services, content distribution networks, and managed security services, as well as pre and post installation services and consulting.

2)   Reason behind this pick
Technical: IIP has a nice bullish pattern to it.
- It bounced off of the 61.8 fib retracement and looks like it will shoot up from there, with support at 1.00.
- RSI is bouncing off of 50, Fast Sto and MACD are all turning bullish.
- Daily Average volume keeps going up.

Financial: Revenues do not make huge jumps up every year, but consistenly go up (+4-6%). However, net loss are getting closer to a net profit every year:
2005: ($4,964) +263%
2004: ($18,062) +274%
2002: ($67,614)
Current Ratio: 2.90
Quick Ratio: 1.11
Long-term debt is high at $7m, but down 38% from the year before.
Cash is negative Q1 through Q3 2005, but positive for Q4= negative $9m for 2005.

3)   Chart

1) My pick is CERS

2) Since this is just a contest, I'm going a little risky and am going to try to find the bottom. CERS is down about 50% from just Feb., It recently has hit the 7.00-7.10 support line. Volume has been high the last month or 2 of the fall. Two new analysts started coverage in March, one giving a buy and another, a strong buy. Lastly, Earnings are released on May 2nd. Who knows, a good earnings report may fill in some of the gap between 7 and 14. Also, it's oversold and had a bullish MACD crossover.