The Deen's ListTM
A service of Deen Capital Management, Inc. (www.deencapital.com)
Vol.2 #318 Wednesday, December 29, 2004 1:45PM 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 AMX Corp. (AMXC)
Open Positions
Subscription Information
Privacy Policy
Disclaimers

  Year-To-Date Performance

Year-To-Date as of December 28, 2004

Deen Capital+4.3%*
S&P 500+9.1%

* 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 AMX Corp. (AMXC)

Net buy price in managed accounts* $16.44
Most recent close (Dec 28) $16.03
Net change (based on net buy price) +$0.41
Today's volume as of 1:28pm ET 187,118 ($3.1 million)
Average daily volume 218,400 ($3.6 million)
This year's earnings-per-share $1.09 (est)
Next year's earnings-per-share $1.13 (est)
P/E using next year's earnings 14.6 (est)
Earnings growth rate, next 5 years N/A
Web site http://www.amx.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, Wednesday, December 29, 2004, I bought AMXC, first for client accounts, then for my personal accounts. AMX Corp. is designs, developments, markets and distributes systems that control a variety of otherwise incompatible electronic devices and integrated systems. These systems simplify the automation and integration of audio/video, environmental and communications technologies through the combination of a processing platform and intrinsic user interface. AMX's systems provide control solutions in various industries, including broadcasting, education, entertainment, government, healthcare, hotels, houses of worship, network operations centers, presentation facilities, retail, residential applications, including home theater, home automation and private transportation.

Here's why I bought this stock:

+ Yesterday, the stock had a dramatic day. I call it a "climactic selloff/rebound", or "bullish reversal". What happened is this: On Monday, the stock closed at $16.39. This was within pennies of setting a 4-month low. (The stock has been in a downtrend since peaking at $20.58 on Oct 26.) Then, yesterday, the stock sold off hard right after the opening bell. It bottomed out at $12.32 just a few minutes after that, and spent the rest of the day, and this morning, recovering from that huge drop. As of the time I bought, the stock had completely recovered back to Monday's close. Volume was very heavy yesterday, setting a 5-month record. This bullish reversal just might signal the end of that downtrend.

+ The stock's 200-day moving average is rising smartly, and has been throughout the shorter-term downtrend. In other words, the long-term trend is definitely up.

+ Excellent recent sales growth: Here are the quarterly year-to-year sales growth rates from the last four quarters, in chronological order: +5%, +15%, +32%, and, most recently, for the quarter ended Sep 30, +22% to $27.2 million.

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

Dec 03 vs Dec 02: 12c vs  3c
Mar 04 vs Mar 03: 16c vs  8c
Jun 04 vs Jun 03: 29c vs  6c
Sep 04 vs Sep 03: 33c vs 14c

+ Rising estimates: According to recent data from First Call, the consensus earnings estimate for FY 05 (Mar) is $1.09, up from $1.02 90 days ago (and up from FY 04 actual earnings of 50c); and the consensus estimate for FY 06 is $1.13, up from $1.07 90 days ago.

+ Valuation: At 14 times next year's estimated earnings, the stock is attractively priced. (The 5-year projected earnings growth rate is unavailable.)

+ History of earnings surprises: This company has reported earnings at least 5c ahead of estimates in each of the past three quarters.

+ The company's industry group ("Computer Networking") is ranked #56 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.

I chose to buy the stock in spite of the following negative factor:

- Next year's earnings estimate is only about 4% better than this year's.

-KD, December 29, 2004

  Open Positions

Company Name Stock
Symbol
Buy
Date
NetBuy
Price*
Current
Price**
Weeks
Held
Gain
(Loss)
AMX Corp.AMXC12/29/04$16.44$16.390.0-0.3%
Lifecore Biomedical Inc.LCBM12/28/04$11.45$11.590.1+1.2%
Korn/Ferry InternationalKFY12/28/04$21.01$20.860.1-0.7%
EZCORP, Inc.EZPW12/28/04$15.29$14.980.1-2.0%
Resources Connection, Inc.RECN12/23/04$52.09$55.130.9+5.8%
MPS Group, Inc.MPS12/23/04$12.28$12.190.9-0.7%
Garmin Ltd.GRMN12/23/04$59.98$61.550.9+2.6%
Insteel Industries Inc.IIIN12/22/04$19.29$19.761.0+2.4%
Nextel Partners Inc.NXTP12/21/04$19.08$19.541.1+2.4%
Infocrossing Inc.IFOX12/21/04$17.45$17.401.1-0.3%
Aleris International Inc.ARS12/20/04$14.69$16.531.3+12.5%
Armor Holdings Inc.AH12/17/04$46.40$47.681.7+2.8%
Sirenza MicrodevicesSMDI12/16/04$5.91$6.531.9+10.5%
Olympic Steel Inc.ZEUS12/15/04$23.95$29.112.0+21.5%
IXYS Corp.SYXI12/15/04$10.15$10.222.0+0.7%
Rofin-Sinar Tech Inc.RSTI12/13/04$38.28$41.802.3+9.2%
Average1.1+4.2%

* Net buy prices shown are the total net purchase cost after commissions for all managed accounts divided by the total number of shares.

** Current prices are at least 20 minutes old.

  Subscription Information

Welcome to The Deen's ListTM, an e-mail stock newsletter from Deen Capital Management, Inc.

My intention is to inform you as quickly as is practical regarding my stock market moves. When I buy or sell a stock, first I take care of client accounts, then I buy/sell for my personal account(s), and then, third, I send out this newsletter.

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  Privacy Policy

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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.