3SOF

And with the 54th pick in the 3SoF Contest 5th Edition Draft, Lucas Scott selects..

TGC out of the University of Tennessee

Does that ticker give you deja vu? It should because Fous and Healey have selected it too. Can I just link to their DD?

Fous' DD
http://www.3stocksonfire.org/trading/index.php?topic=5294.msg58082#msg58082
Healey's DD
http://www.3stocksonfire.org/trading/index.php?topic=5294.msg58472#msg58472

And my .02 on it.... The mining and metals stocks seemed to have the best charts, so I was looking to pick from that sector. I narrowed it down by eliminating stocks that had run a lot in recent days/weeks and are due for a 3-week consolidation. Then I did a rough fundamental comparison of the remaining candidates by comparing their EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) at Yahoo Finance. One stock stood above the rest and that was TGC. 

The chart shows a pretty triangle, a breakout at $.95, a retest of the breakout two weeks later, and strong volume over the past 4 weeks. A veritable 4-tool player. It can hit, run, catch and throw. But can it hit for power? This contest may resolve that question. If it hits $2, the answer is yes and we send him to the bigs.

Fous and Healey have the tiebreaker advantage, so I'll just have to time my sell better. Maybe we'll end up finishing 1-2-3. That would be cool. The top 3 spots all get cash. GO TGC!!

My Pick: HOUSEVALUES, INC. (NasdaqNM:SOLD)

Profile:
HouseValues, Inc. provides real estate marketing services through Internet in the United States. It operates a network of real estate and mortgage Web sites that provide consumers and real estate professionals with free access to the information and services throughout the home buying and selling process. The company provides an integrated service offering for residential real estate agents, which include online lead generation, online prospect management, online real estate portal content and advertising, and agent coaching and training. Its products include HomePages.com, a lifestyle and neighborhood-centric home buying and selling service; TheLoanPage.com, a service that provides current and prospective home owners with mortgage and refinance quotes from lenders; HouseValues.com, a service that provides home sellers with market valuations of their current home; and JustListed.com, a service that alerts home buyers as soon as new homes hit the market that meet their criteria. As of December 31, 2005, the company served approximately 16,000 customers. HouseValues was founded by Mark Powell in 1999 and is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington.

Reasons to Buy:
The drop causes by the downgrade on earning, but on friday the company raised the guidance back. So, I think it should get back where it was. The target is around 12-14.

http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/060420/0124202.html

Charts: Chartwise, there is a gap to be filled.

My Pick: MPET

Another company in Oil sector, no debt, 25 million shares and improved earnings.

  1. Technically, it has built a 5-month base since last November with higher lows.
     and turned bullish from April 11 with big volumes. It made another
     push April 18 and break $2.5 resistance.

  2. Fundamentally it is in the process of acquiring all the shares of Magellan Petroleum Australia Limited. The deal was approved last year but met some objection earlier last month thinking it sold to MPET too cheap. I believe MPET got a bargin.

If the acquire is successful, the stock will fly (final day extends to May 12).

Lejun Shao (James)

Chart: higher lows

FORD Forward Industries Inc

FORD saw some great stock price action last year and was somwhat of a momo traders dream. They had a great sales year in 2005, but of late have started to stall some (both in terms of sales and stock price due to price pressure and product mix). Last Qtr results were guided lower and were a lot weaker than previous years equivalent qtr. Fundamentally the Company is healthy, with $18M cash. With 8M shares out price moves on any news can be dramatic (in either direction really). Looking at weewklly chart I am expecting a continued bounce from $8 zone lows and hopefully positive reaction for any upside news or guidance in current qtr results (no idea if they have any decent upside news, they guided lower previous qtr, so will see).

NENG (NETWORK ENGINES)

Profile:  Network Engines, Inc. engages in the development and manufacture of server appliance solutions that deliver data storage and network security applications on server appliances. It provides server appliance solutions and services for the data storage and network security markets.

NENG has been on a bull run since the beginning of 2006.  It has a steady and beautiful chart and has recently retraced from it's high of 3.25 in March.  Volume has been rather low lately, but the stock has maintained above it's 50 sma.  Though the company is losing money, it has generated several new strategic partnerships and distributors of its server products in recent months.  Earnings is Thursday Apr 27, so that will probably provide direction for the stock in the month to come.

DOC - Digital Angel

Deciding to bump the trend of low-cap energy stocks and go with a pick from left field.

DOC is likely to attain profitability during the next quarter, management has been trying to clear the balance sheet by writing down what they can quarter after quarter.  Revenues and cash flow keep increasing and based on the last quarters conference call, I believe growth is really about to explode. The stock has a strong technical setup (I've recommended this to family and friends since the bullish pennant in the the low $3s).  Market cap is a little high at $190MM, but the low stock price will make this attractive to traders.

DOC is likely to be the primary beneficiary for any compulsary implementation of a National Animal Identification System, like the one currently being proposed by the USDA.  American beef quality, from what I understand, is a farily major topic in the agricultural industry, but still unbeknownst to the general public, and the investing public for that matter.

My pick is Boston Communications Group Inc.  BCGI.

BCGI has started an uptrend in recent months and I hope to ride that trend at least until it closes a gap left at $4.81.  They are posting a loss, but it's mainly because of  higher engineering, research & development expenses, higher sales & marketing expenses, higher legal expenses and inclusion of $64.3M estimated loss from litigation.

Now that things are turning around, I want to be part of that ride.  Also, I own a radio station and I like the fact that they're in communications