December and January Stock Talk I

Vermeer,

Ethanol is a terrible solution you are right. We arent the low cost producers, we import tax Brasil 100% on theirs..and producing ethanol drives up the price of corn, which raises prices of other things.

We are going after the wrong things as usual. We should be giving automakers and small biz owners a ton of cash to develop gas free and oil free cars, we should make solar VERY affordable for the residential user..and subsidize the development of more efficient solar technology.

Yeah..lets subsidize ethanol and oil refiners...makes great sense.     

  I think we will see stagflation, and no solutions at all from the Federal government regarding oil/energy. Our governemtn is the last place to look for economic wisdom, as the Treasury attests.They are good at wasting money, not creating it...and they  are the same regarding energy.

Anybody know anything or have an opinion about LSI Industries (LYTS)?

For what it is worth Depeche:

Acceptable Grades Put Stock Near BUY Rating -
MarketGrader currently has a HOLD rating on LSI INDUSTRIES INC (LYTS), based on a final overall grade of 56.9 scored by the company's fundamental analysis. LSI INDUSTRIES INC scores at the 73rd percentile among all 5405 U.S. listed equities currently followed by MarketGrader. Our present rating dates to November 30, 2007, when it was downgraded from a BUY. Relative to the Electrical Components & Equipment sub-industry, which is comprised of 82 companies, LSI INDUSTRIES INC's grade of 56.9 ranks 27th. The industry grade leader is EMERSON ELECTRIC CO (EMR) with an overall grade of 77.6. Relative to the Electrical Components & Equipment sub-industry which has returned 15.15% in the last six months, the stock has performed poorly, down 0.27%, albeit better than the S&P 500's -3.08%.

  CC: I would think layoff announcements would cause that stock (MER) to rise...

 On another note, given BAC's year, why ould anyone pay attention to their estimates of semiconductors, or any other stock?

 Lastly, and this is for purely personal reasons, I note Circuit City closed at $4.09...burn baby burn.

For LYTS Depeche:

Growth	B-
Market Growth LT	A-
Market Growth ST	B
Relative Price Strength	B-
Growth Potential	D
Earnings Momentum	F
Earnings Surprise	B

Value	B+
Capital Structure	A+
P/E Analysis	D
Price/Book Ratio	A+
Price/Cash Flow Ratio	A-
Price/Sales Ratio	A+
MarketValue	F

Profitability	B-
Asset Utilization	B+
Capital Utilization	D
Operating Margins	B
Relative Margins	B+
Return on Equity	D
Quality of Revenues	C

Cash Flow	B+
Cash Flow Growth	B
EBIDTA Margin	B-
Debt/Cash Flow Ratio	A+
Interest Cov. Capacity	A+
Economic Value	B+
Retention Rate	B

Thanks vermeer.  Who provides those ratings and analysis?

 Fundamental analysis by MarketGrader.com via Tradeking...

Anyone still with HOKU? I am, thanks to Wall...

Vermeer,

Funny you say that..I tried to get some Jan 17.50 calls today but the stock hasnt come in at all.

I wouldnt be shocked if she moves into the 30 range by the end of the year..

 I had bought some April 7.5 calls back when you were talking about it...hope you are right and hope it keeps moving up before April...

Those April calls have to be doing quite well..stock has moved 3 pts since we talked about it.

The only risk/downside I see is if they dont get financing in place, they could lose a few contracts and that would NAIL the stock.

I think it is worth the risk, but you might want to check the volitility and when it peaks you might want to sell and roll out when the volatility is lower. (options speaking)

 Thanks, will do...the options did move nicely since purchase...up 1.4 today

Guys, right now let's hear your single best pick for the year.  I got some money.  Convince me.

p.s. I just bought LYTS @$17.90

WS, what are your current thoughts on TINY? 

   A recipe for the worst of all worlds, inflation and recession, back to the good old days of Jimmy Carter.

  More rate cuts in the future, meaning:downer for USD upper for GLD. The numbers reveal to economists who apparently can't see by looking around (at what is obvious):recession dead ahead.

Depeche,

In the NANO group, TINY is my favorite. I actually owned them a while back..they are an incubator for nano companies, like a VC for nano.

Man this market looks deadly.

Well I'm in now @ $8.34.  Seems like a reasonable entry.  Stock has touched over $14 at some point in every year since '04.  Hopefully it'll go there again and then catch fire with some successful offerings.  I think the rise of NANO is inevitable, though still somewhat early.

I may be a homer here: MO.

 Nice move by SKF today...and TWM.

2008 is starting out as one HELL of a year!  Markets retesting August and November lows.