The Deen's ListTM
A service of Deen Capital Management, Inc. (www.deencapital.com)
Vol.2 #310 Thursday, December 23, 2004 12:48PM ET

Please read carefully our disclaimers at the end of this newsletter.

Market Stance: BULLISH (since December 15, 2004)

  Contents

Year-To-Date Performance
Bought Resources Connection, Inc. (RECN)
Open Positions
Subscription Information
Privacy Policy
Disclaimers

  Year-To-Date Performance

Year-To-Date as of December 22, 2004

Deen Capital+3.9%*
S&P 500+8.8%

* An average of managed accounts, net after commissions and fees. Individual account results may vary. See also www.deencapital.com/perform.htm. For information on managed accounts, see www.deencapital.com/mgdaccts.htm.

  Bought Resources Connection, Inc. (RECN)

Net buy price in managed accounts* $52.09
Most recent close (Dec 22) $46.60
Net change (based on net buy price) +$5.49
Today's volume as of 12:33pm ET 1.9 million ($101.2 million)
Average daily volume 359,500 ($18.7 million)
This year's earnings-per-share $1.76 (est)
Next year's earnings-per-share $1.79 (est)
P/E using next year's earnings 29.1 (est)
Earnings growth rate, next 5 years 25.0% per year (est)
Web site http://www.resourcesconnection.com

* The "Net buy price" is the total net purchase cost after commissions for all managed accounts divided by the total number of shares.

Today, Thursday, December 23, 2004, I bought RECN, first for client accounts, then for my personal accounts. Resources Connection, Inc. is an international professional services firm. They provide professional consultants to clients on a project basis in several areas: accounting and finance, risk management and internal audit, information technology, human resources and supply chain management.

Here's why I bought this stock:

+ News: Yesterday right at the closing bell, the company announced results for the quarter ended Nov 30. Earnings came in at 62c per diluted share (vs 19c last year and First Call 45c). Revenue was up 85% to $137.0 million (First Call $122.8 million). This was a huge surprise!

+ Breakout: There was a breakout attempt back on Dec 1, a breakout from a 6-month trading range into all-time high territory. That breakout lasted 3 days and then failed. Today we're seeing a second and much more convincing (due to much higher volume) breakout attempt.

+ The stock's 200-day moving average is rising, indicating a long-term uptrend.

+ Excellent recent sales growth: Here are the quarterly year-to-year sales growth rates from the last four quarters, in chronological order: +78%, +81%, +94%, and, most recently, as cited above, +85%.

+ Excellent recent earnings-per-share growth: Here are the quarterly EPS figures for the last eight quarters:

Feb 04 vs Feb 03: 24c vs 12c
May 04 vs May 03: 43c vs 18c
Aug 04 vs Aug 03: 46c vs 15c
Nov 04 vs Nov 03: 62c vs 19c

+ Rising estimates: According to recent data from First Call, the consensus earnings estimate for FY 05 (May) is $1.76, up from $1.41 90 days ago (and up from FY 04 actual earnings of $1.00); and the consensus estimate for FY 06 is $1.79, up from $1.66 90 days ago.

+ Valuation: At 29 times next year's estimated earnings and a projected 5-year annualized earnings growth rate of 25%, the stock is moderately priced.

+ History of earnings surprises: This company has reported earnings at least 5c ahead of estimates in each of the past four quarters (including the just-reported quarter cited above).

+ The company's industry group ("Commercial Services - Consulting") is ranked #95 for relative strength out of 197 industry groups tracked by Investor's Business Daily. This ranking changes daily, and it has been generally rising over recent weeks and months.

-KD, December 23, 2004

  Open Positions

Company Name Stock
Symbol
Buy
Date
NetBuy
Price*
Current
Price**
Weeks
Held
Gain
(Loss)
Resources Connection, Inc.RECN12/23/04$52.09$52.290.0+0.4%
MPS Group, Inc.MPS12/23/04$12.28$12.230.0-0.4%
Garmin Ltd.GRMN12/23/04$59.98$61.030.0+1.7%
Lennar Corp. Cl ALEN12/22/04$55.58$54.830.1-1.4%
Intervoice-Brite Inc.INTV12/22/04$13.96$13.970.1+0.1%
Insteel Industries Inc.IIIN12/22/04$19.29$19.250.1-0.2%
Nextel Partners Inc.NXTP12/21/04$19.08$19.460.3+2.0%
Infocrossing Inc.IFOX12/21/04$17.45$17.150.3-1.7%
Aleris International Inc.ARS12/20/04$14.69$17.140.4+16.7%
Armor Holdings Inc.AH12/17/04$46.40$48.710.9+5.0%
Sirenza MicrodevicesSMDI12/16/04$5.91$6.411.0+8.5%
Olympic Steel Inc.ZEUS12/15/04$23.95$27.681.1+15.6%
IXYS Corp.SYXI12/15/04$10.15$9.891.1-2.6%
Standard Pacific Corp.SPF12/14/04$61.78$62.301.3+0.8%
Rofin-Sinar Tech Inc.RSTI12/13/04$38.28$40.871.4+6.8%
Average0.6+3.4%

  Subscription Information

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  Disclaimers

All stocks discussed in The Deen's ListTM involve a high degree of risk. It should not be assumed that any stock discussed in The Deen's ListTM or purchased by Deen Capital Management, Inc. will be profitable.

Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

The information contained herein has been compiled from sources deemed to be reliable; however, we are not responsible for its accuracy or completeness.

 

Ken Deen
Deen Capital Management, Inc.
PO Box 30925
Santa Barbara, CA 93130
(805) 682-1870
deenslist@deencapital.com

Copyright © 2004 Deen Capital Management, Inc.