The Deen's ListTM
Our Goal: To outperform the S&P through up markets and down.
A service of Deen Capital Management, Inc. (www.deencapital.com)
Vol.6 #387 Tuesday, December 30, 2008 12:06PM EST

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

Market Stance: BEARISH (since December 13, 2008)

Contents

Performance
Bought Aceto Corp. (ACET)
Open Positions
Subscription Information
Privacy Policy
Disclaimers
Contact Us

Performance

Deen Capital S&P 500
Year-to-date as of December 29, 2008 -27.6% * -39.4%
12 months (Dec 29, 2007 to Dec 29, 2008) -28.0% * -39.8%
24 months (Dec 29, 2006 to Dec 29, 2008) -7.8% * -36.1%

* An average of managed accounts, net after all commissions and fees.

Click here for more performance data.

Click here for information on managed accounts.

Bought Aceto Corp. (ACET)

Initial percent of portfolio (approx.)5.0%
Net buy price in managed accounts*$9.16
Most recent close (Dec 29)$9.01
Net change (based on net buy price)+0.15
Today's volume as of 12:45pm ET46,021 ($421,636)
Average daily volume172,000 ($1.6 million)
This year's earnings-per-share$0.66 (est)
Next year's earnings-per-share$0.81 (est)
P/E using next year's earnings11.3 (est)
Earnings growth rate, next 5 yearsn/a
Corporate HeadquartersLake Success, NY
Web sitewww.aceto.com

* Buy prices shown are net after commissions and fees.

Today, Tuesday, December 30, 2008, I bought ACET, first for client accounts, then for my personal accounts.

Aceto Corp. develops, manufactures, distributes, and markets chemicals are used in the agricultural, color producing, pharmaceutical, and surface coating industries.

Here's why I bought this stock:

+ Technical: This stock is in an uptrend, and, in that context, a 10% drop yesterday looks like a buying opportunity. The heaviest volume lately has been on the buy side.

+ Excellent recent sales growth. Here are the quarterly year-to-year sales growth rates from the last four quarters, in chronological order: +2%, +29%, +20%, and, most recently, for the quarter ended Sep 30, +18% to $93.8 million.

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

Dec 07 vs Dec 06:  4c vs 7c
Mar 08 vs Mar 07: 12c vs 7c
Jun 08 vs Jun 07: 32c vs 17c
Sep 08 vs Sep 07: 18c vs 13c

+ Strong and rising earnings-per-share estimates: According to recent data from First Call, the consensus earnings estimate for FY 09 (ends June 30) is 66c, unchanged from 90 days ago (and up from FY 08 actual earnings of 61c); and the consensus estimate for FY 10 is 81c, revised upward from 73c 90 days ago.

+ Valuation: At 11 times next year's estimated earnings, the stock is attractively priced. (The 5-year earnings growth rate is not available, but next year's earnings-per-share are expected to grow by 23%.)

+ History of earnings surprises: This company has reported earnings-per-share at least a penny above estimates in each of the past three quarters. Most recently, for the quarter ended September 30, they "beat the Street" by 2c.

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

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

- The company's industry group ("Chemicals - Specialty") is ranked #105 for relative strength out of 197 industry groups tracked by Investor's Business Daily. This ranking changes daily, and it has been generally falling over recent weeks and months.

-KD, Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Open Positions

Model Portfolio

Company Name Stock
Symbol
Buy
Date
NetBuy
Price*
Current
Price**
Weeks
Held
% of
Portfolio
Gain
(Loss)
Aceto Corp. ACET 12/30/08 $9.16 $9.19 0.0 5.0% +0.3%
American Science & Eng'g ASEI 12/24/08 $69.06 $70.16 0.9 5.0% +1.6%
AECOM Technology Corp. ACM 12/23/08 $28.99 $29.00 1.0 4.9% +0.0%
TeleCommunication Systems Inc TSYS 12/22/08 $8.39 $8.45 1.1 4.1% +0.7%
Shenandoah Telecom SHEN 12/18/08 $26.24 $27.04 1.7 5.2% +3.0%
S X C Health Solutions SXCI 12/16/08 $17.16 $17.97 2.0 5.3% +4.7%
Greatbatch Inc. GB 12/09/08 $24.37 $25.85 3.0 6.5% +6.1%
Cash 64.0%  
Total 100%  

* Buy prices shown are net after commissions and fees.

** 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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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.

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