Top 10 International Stocks

Stock	Market Cap	Price	Yield	Profile	Pros	Cons
Matsushita Electric Industries (MC)	43B	20.31	1.49	Japanese manufacturer of the electronic products with leading brands like Panasonic, National, Technics, Quasar, and JVC.	Panasonic has very good brand recognition although it is a notch below Sony.	Margins are low. The multi-brand strategy is not bringing in the results expected.
ABB Limited (ABB)	63.5B	29.13	0.67	Swiss conglomerate of power and automation technologies. Its Combustion Engineering Unit almost brought the whole company down following the asbestos related litigation.	Proxy for global infrastructure growth.	Emerging markets should drive growth but execution risks are a concern.
GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (GOL)	5.12B	25.31	0.42	Brazilian regional airline with a low cost business model	Proxy for growth of Brazil	VRG acquisition poses risks as the airline expands more into the international routes.
Posco (PKX)	57.87B	154.25	0.88	Korean integrated steel producer. Buffet recently has built up a significant stake in the company.	The global demand surge for steel has resulted in the company growing rapidly and the stock price rising five fold over the last five years. Even then, the stock still trades at a forward-PE of just 10.	Posco is not immune to the cyclical nature of this commodity business.
Cognizant Technology (CTSH)	10.14B	34.92	None	Global software outsourcer for verticals focused in different sectors as Financial Services, Health Care, Manufacturing, Retail, and Logistics	It trades at a forward PE of about 22. Growth is expected to be well above that and so the valuation is attractive	Realizing high growth rates going forward will be challenging.
New Zealand Telecom (NZT)	6.14B	16.86	6.51	Telecommunications and IT services in New Zealand and Australia. This is one of the few ways for a US investor to invest in New Zealand.	Uncertainties regarding the impact of New Zealand’s regulatory policy along with concerns about the country’s monetary policy have caused the share price and yield to dip to a very attractive level.	The country is still in the early stages of opening up the telecom industry to competition and the company will feel the impact of regulatory pressures eventually. Australian operations will continue to under perform, as it is a relatively small operation in a highly competitive environment.
Trina Solar (TSL)	1.40B	55.22	None	Chinese manufacturer of polysilicon based solar modules. The company has a vertically integrated business model. Please see our article that compares such solar players.	Shares are down about 30% after a mildly disappointing earnings report and uncertainties about near-term polysilicon procurement making the valuation attractive.	The Company has announced plans to manufacture polysilicon. This is capital intensive and has its associated near-term risks.
Elan Corporation (ELN)	10.15B	21.72	None	Irish pharmaceutical company focused on Central Nervous System (CNS) treatments.	Tsyabri, a multiple sclerosis drug, developed and marketed with Biogen-Idec should drive growth near term. There is also a drug for Alzheimer’s and other CNS drugs in the pipeline.	The company’s shares are very volatile, it is trading at a 3-year high, with the valuation factoring in a lot of the expected growth.
Canadian National Railway (CNI)	23.53B	47.59	1.79	Canadian railroad with about 30% route miles in the US and the remaining in Canada.	This is best as a core defensive holding. Volumes should improve as a new terminal comes online at Prince Rupert.	Strong Canadian dollar is not in the company’s favor as part of the revenue is in US dollars. Additionally, the company has exposure to US housing downturn as demand for forestry products get reduced.
Creative Technology (CREAF)	355.41M	4.25	None	Singapore based manufacturer of audio/video consumer electronic products including mp3 players, speaker systems, webcams, soundcards, etc.	Attractive valuation.	Management’s conservative stance has cost the company dearly and allowed Apple to gain in all aspects in the audio/video player market, despite the fact that Creative had a head start of about 2 years in the late 90’s.

Laptops/Notebooks Review (Gateway, Toshiba, Compaq, Sony, and Dell Comparison) - Around $500 budget

A few key criteria should be evaluated when shopping for a laptop. The list below is limited to branded laptops priced under $550 and provides a summary of hardware and software details:

Product	Price	Store	Processor	Memory	Hard Disk (HD)	Other Feature Summary
Gateway ML6720	$399.99	Best Buy	Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core mobile processor T2310; 533MHz frontside bus, 1MB L2 cache and 1.46GHz processor speed	1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 memory for multitasking power; expandable up to 2GB	120GB	DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; Label flash support; 15.4" widescreen; Windows Vista Home Premium; Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100.
Toshiba A215-S7422 Onyx Blue	$499.99	Best Buy	AMD Turion™ 64 X2 mobile technology TL-58; HyperTransport™ and AMD PowerNow!™ technologies and improved security with Enhanced Virus Protection	1GB DDR2 SDRAM for multitasking power, expandable to 4GB	160GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm)	DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 15.4" widescreen; Windows Vista Home Premium; ATI RADEON X1200 graphics with 128MB-319MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory; S-video out.
Compaq Presario C581	$548	Walmart.com	Intel Celeron Processor 530; 533MHz FSB bus speed;1MB L2 Cache	1024MB DDR2 System Memory	120GB (5400RPM) SATA hard drive	15.4" widescreen; Windows Vista Home Premium; Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (shared) – 224MB total available shared graphics memory; Super Multi 8X DVD R/RW drive; S-video out.
Sony VAIO VGN-NR120E/S	$549.99	Best Buy	Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core mobile processor T2310; 533MHz frontside bus, 1MB L2 cache and 1.46GHz processor speed	1GB PC2-4200 DDR2 memory for multitasking power, expandable to 2GB	160GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm)	DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 15.4" widescreen; Windows Vista Home Premium; Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100.
Dell Vostro 1400	$549.99 (price valid when clicking through from marketing email from Dell small business)	Dell	Intel® Core2 Duo T5270 1.4GHz, 800Mhz, 2M L2 Cache	2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 DIMM	120GB	14.1” widescreen; Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100; 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery. S-Video Out.

The common features applicable to all of the models described above are:

• Windows Vista or Windows XP Home OS.
• 15.4” widescreen display.
• Graphics Media Accelerator Chipset.
• Lithium Ion 6 or 9-cell battery.
• Wireless 802.11b/g card.
• 10Base-T/100Base-TX Fast Ethernet LAN with RJ-45 connector
• High-Speed Modem.
• Two or more USB 2.0 ports.

The vital part of any computer is its Central Processing Unit (CPU) and should be considered in detail to effectively compare them. The Intel® Celeron processor is a basic low-end mobile chip and this is employed by Compaq. Pentium® Dual-Core is a higher-end chip that has hardware support for multi-threaded applications and is the one that Gateway and the Sony are shipped with. The AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58 is the primary competition for Intel’s high-end mobile chips processor that Toshiba is based on. The Dell is fired by the Intel® Core 2 Duo chip, which is one of its high-end processors. The following CPU features affect system performance -

• L1 Cache - faster than system memory and the L2 Cache usually located inside the CPU chip.
• L2 Cache – faster than system memory usually separate from the CPU chip.
• Clock Speed – Faster clock speed executes instructions more quickly. Benefits most applications - Media titles, games, and everyday productivity.
• System Bus – Key component for overall system performance. Improvements in Performance and Responsiveness. Transfers data faster between processor, system memory, and graphics.
• Hyper-threading technology – two software threads at the same time. Uses previously unused resources. Benefits multi-threaded applications and other applications such as virus protection that usually runs parallel with user applications.
• Dual-Core – True parallel processing. Two threads to be processed using single execution core (single-core) – partially parallel. Dual core has two execution cores thereby enabling true parallel processing.
• Virus Deterrent Technology – Added security for PCs. Avoids the classic buffer overflow viruses. Classify areas in memory by where application code can execute and where it cannot. When a malicious worm attempts to insert code in the buffer, the processor disables code execution, preventing damage and worm propagation.
• Power Management – Allows using less power when computing doesn’t need to use power for all resources.

The table below summarizes the core differences in the CPUs used by these laptops:

Machine	Processor	L1 Cache	L2 Cache	Clock Speed	System Bus	Others
Gateway ML6720 and Sony VAIO VGN-NR120E/S	Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core mobile processor T2310	128 KB	1MB	1.46 GHz	533 MHz	Dual Core true parallel processing enabled. Execute Disable Bit Virus Deterrent Technology and Intel Speedstep Power Management Technology Built In.
Toshiba A215-S7422 Onyx Blue	AMD Turion™ 64 X2 mobile technology TL-58	256 KB*	1MB*	1.9 GHz	1600MHz*	AMD PowerNow Power Management Technology and AMD Enhanced Virus Protection capabilities.
Dell Vostro 1400	Intel® Core2 Duo T5270	128 KB	2 MB	1.4 GHz	800 MHz	Dual Core true parallel processing enabled. Execute Disable Bit Virus Deterrent Technology and Intel Speedstep Power Management Technology Built In.
Compaq Presario C581	Intel Celeron Processor 530	128 KB	1 MB	1.73 GHz	533 MHz	Execute Disable Bit Virus Deterrent Technology.

• *The AMD processor uses dedicated L1 and L2 caches per core along with a full-duplex system bus. The Intel processors on the other hand use shared L1 and L2 caches along with a half-duplex front side bus.

Our Choice and Recommendation:

Our choice was the Dell Vostro 1400. It replaces an older Dell Cpi laptop with 256MB memory. The existing setup is with an external keyboard, mouse, and an LCD monitor and placed on a computer desk. The kids use the machine primarily to play their games such as Jumpstart KG, Curious George, KidPix, and games from pbskids.org. They also use it to browse the Internet and send emails. The Dell Cpi was perfect to execute these tasks. However, when we recently tried to hold a video conversation with it using Yahoo Instant Messenger the CPi was unable to handle it even at 100% CPU. That paved the way for the upgrade. The new Dell Vostro looks remarkably similar to the old Dell Cpi.

At the time we bought the new machine, the Gateway deal was not available at the Best Buy site. The pricing on the Gateway makes it a very attractive deal. The primary difference between the Gateway and the Dell are better CPU, 1GB extra memory, and better battery for the Dell. For our purposes, the Gateway would have worked just as well for about $150 less. Hopefully, our kids will appreciate the extra features that come with the Dell.

The Dell fares better against Compaq and the Sony – with more memory and better CPU for about the same price. The Toshiba, on the other hand provides an interesting comparison. It has the AMD chip and that compares very well with Intel’s latest offerings, more HD space, but less memory and can be had for $50 less than the Dell.

One other factor to consider is that the Dell comes preinstalled with Windows XP while the others come with Windows Vista. Windows XP sp2 is older but more stable operating system compared to Vista. Also, all the models except the Dell come with a number of trial versions of software installed. Needless to say, most will end up uninstalled.

For a family laptop, our recommendation would be the Gateway. The combination of the newer Intel chip, pricing, memory, and size of HD is hard to beat.

Itron Inc. (ITRI) – Part 3 – Outlook

Itron is currently riding the smart metering wave. The business is directly affected as government regulation on alternative energy shifts. To exemplify, in the US, should a senate bill that boosts big oil more than alternative energy companies be approved, Itron will be negatively impacted.

Below is a summary of Itron’s financials for the last 5 years:

Year	2007**	2006*	2005	2004	2003	2002
Revenue	983.5	644M	552M	399M	317M	285M
Net Income	-20.1M	33.8M	33M	-5.3M	10.5M	8.7M
Shares Outstanding	30.4M	26.3M	24.8M	20.9M	21.7M	21.4M
Net Income/Share	-0.69	1.28	1.33	-0.25	0.48	0.41
Net Profit Margin	-2.04	5.25	5.98	-1.32	3.31	3.05

• * Comparables show negative growth for 2007 without Actaris contribution largely due to a one-time contract from Progress Energy, which accounted for $60M of revenue in the first 6 months of 2006.
• ** First 9 months of 2007 only. Include contribution from Actaris. Numbers are negative as acquisition related expensing of in-process R&D ($35.8M) and amortization of intangible assets ($58.1M) offset by a tax benefit (13.2M) are factored in.

The stock trades at 24 times next years earnings estimate. Though this is a fairly rich valuation the price is justified given the PEG ratio is below 1 and the expectation is for the company to have earnings growth of about 27% in the next 5 years.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is a segment expecting a growth spurt in the future. Itron’s response to this is the OpenWay, a new meter utilizing CENTRON technology with integrated Zigbee radio-chip for in-home communication. Competition from companies like Echelon (ELON) with products for machine and device automation for commercial, industrial, and residential customers (LonWorks product suite) is a threat. Itron’s product is in an early deployment phase and has the potential to be a good growth area for the company in the coming future.

Another untapped area of growth for Itron is the opportunity to cross introduce products among Itron’s and Actaris’ customers. Executing well in the areas of sales training and implementing both minor and major changes as necessary to their respective products promptly are paramount to realizing the benefits.

Given the growth opportunity and its proven track record of successful execution of the growth strategy, Itron can definitely be a good core holding in the mid-cap growth portion of diversified stock portfolios.

Itron (ITRI) Analysis:

1. Itron (ITRI) - Part 1 - Introduction.
2. Itron (ITRI) - Part 2 - Business Issues.
3. Itron (ITRI) - Part 3 - Outlook.

Top 10 Stocks With High Dividend Yield (Above 7%)

Stock	Market Cap	Price	Yield	Profile	Pros	Cons
Genesis Lease Limited (GLS)	652M	18.08	10.52	Acquires and leases commercial jet aircrafts. The current portfolio consists of 52 airplanes under long-term contracts (average contract length 5.7 years).	Modern fleet with 6 years average age. The addressable market is huge and growing at a healthy pace - there is a total of 18500 commercial jet aircraft in the whole world and that number is expected to double in the next 20 years.	The company is expected to use debt as the primary source of capital to fund the airline purchases and so credit tightening has a direct impact on its business.
Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP)	2.57B	15.90	10.69	Developing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in the Gulf Coast (Sabine Pass Channel). Will own and operate it once the project is completed. Spin off from Cheniere Energy (LNG) which is developing other terminals in the area. LNG rose 60 times in the 2003-2004 timeframe.	Three 20-year leases (pay independent of use contracts) are already signed and the terminal is expected to be operational in the 3rd quarter of 2008 making the 9% dividend seem sustainable at a minimum. It is the biggest such terminal in North America.	The holding should provide stable income, but growth will be hard to come by.
Golar LNG Limited (GLNG)	1.43B	22.27	8.98	Owns and operates 12 LNG vessels. Six are under long-term charter contracts, three under shorter-term contracts and the remaining three are under five year flexible contracts with Shell. John Fredrikson, a billionaire has big stake in the company.	Earnings should be stable given the long-term contracts and the absence of spot market for LNG vessel charters.	Valuation is high.
Medical Properties Trust (MPW)	527M	10.47	10.32	Invests in healthcare facilities and provides mortgages on these facilities. Senior Network Housing (SNH) is an alternative investment in the mid-cap area.	Confusion in differentiating these loans from sub prime mortgages also contributes to the share price being down 20%.	The valuation is rich at roughly 20 times cash flow.
Allied Capital Corporation (ALD)	3.42B	22.15	11.74	One of the oldest Business Development Corporations (BDC).	Its business practices, valuation model, and fraud allegations in the Business Loan Express (BLX) portfolio company has caused the shares to be in an extended slump, making the valuation attractive.	Allied’s portfolio of companies invested in is well diversified by industry but not globally. This conservative stance limits returns.
Frontline Limited (FRO)	3.52B	47.10	12.74	Owns and operates oil tankers having one of the largest fleets in the world. The company primarily uses the spot market and so can be viewed as a direct proxy for tanker rates. At the helm is the Norwegian billionaire shipping tycoon John Fredriksen.	Given the exposure to the spot market and the volatility in that index, Frontline qualifies to be a good trading stock.	The projections call for a continued slump in charter rates for another year and that affects Frontline’s bottom line.
Gladstone Capital Corporation (GLAD)	342M	19.39	8.66	Provides debt financing to small and mid sized private United States businesses. It is a lesser known Business Development Company (BDC) when pitted against Allied Capital (ALD) and American Capital Strategies (ACAS)	Share price has declined to a very attractive level.	Small and mid sized US businesses are more vulnerable to a downturn in the economy and that could lead to write downs on assets. Likewise, the real estate side of the business is exposed to a slowdown in the commercial real estate sector.
Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. (EEP)	4.56B	50.59	7.51	Owns and operates crude oil and natural gas pipelines. The natural gas transportation and mid-stream assets are in the mid-continent and the gulf coast regions. The crude oil and liquid petroleum pipeline assets are primarily through the ownership of the US portion of the world’s longest such pipeline continuing through western Canada to refining centers in the Midwest and Ontario, Canada.	The company’s assets are very valuable and should continue to generate steady cash flow.	The recent fire is an indication of the inherent risks with its business.
Cedar Fair L.P. (FUN)	1.17B	21.64	8.78	Owns and operates amusement parks. The more popular ones are Cedar Point and Knott’s Berry Farm.	The chance of a rebound in attendance in its acquired properties and corresponding growth makes it an attractive opportunity.	The company has been an under performer for the past 10 years.
Ship Finance Limited (SFL)	2.06B	28.30	7.77	Owns and leases ships to shipping companies. The business plan consist of raising capital, buying ships, leasing to shipping companies under long-term contracts that has a fixed component that lock in a daily rate and a variable component that gets 20% of the rate above the fixed component, and generating cash flow to support dividends and reinvestments in the business.	The business is low risk considering the fixed daily rate in its long-term contracts. The 20% cut of the profit above the fixed component makes it a business that tracks shipping rates but with a floor built-in.	Growing profit per share is directly dependent on an increasing pattern in the shipping rates. Shipping rates are cyclical making the business itself cyclical in nature. Diversifying the ship fleet could mitigate the cyclical effects in the future as the rates vary across the commodity being transported.

Purchased MCG Capital Corp (MCGC)

We purchased MCG Capital Corporation (MCGC) at $11.86 per share yesterday. The company is a conservative Business Development Company (BDC) with a dividend yield of 15.5%. It provides debt financing to small & mid-capitalization companies. Speculation about a possible dividend cut in the future and concerns about the quality of its portfolio companies has brought down the shares more than 50% in the last year thereby making the valuation attractive. Returns on investments in certain competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC) have been mediocre. The investment in Cleartel is in non-accrual status and such accounts are at over 10% of the total as of 3rd quarter 2007.

To accommodate this purchase, we sold Bank Of Ireland (IRE) at $57.40 per share for a short-term loss of 25% during a period of 2 months. The stock experienced a continued decline during the period as Irish housing worries and the banks exposure to mortgages in the area continues to bear down on it.

The list of stock/options sold during the year and the gain/losses are listed below:

Stock	Buy Date	Buy Price	Sell Date	Sell Price	% Gain (Loss)	% Portfolio Return*
Harrah’s (HET)	10/2/2006	75.61	8/7/2007	83.68	10.66	0.62
St. Joe (JOE)	8/7/2007	39.4	8/8/2007	41.8	6.23	0.47
Google (GOOG)	3/14/2007	441	8/10/2007	515.99	16.86	1.14
LOCM (LOCM)	8/10/2007	5.47	9/17/2007	6.094	11.31	0.71
PetroChina (PTR)	9/12/2006	106	10/1/2007	188.5	78.14	2.83
PetroChina (PTR)	9/12/2006	106	10/3/2007	178.05	68.39	2.2
ValueClick (VCLK)	9/12/2007	19.4	10/12/2007	28.28	45.79	3.38
Canetic Resources (CNE)	11/2/2006	13.95	10/26/2007	15.88	13.78	1.06
Harvest Energy (HTE)	11/2/2006	23.46	11/9/2007	26.39	12.5	0.95
Canadian Solar (CSIQ)	10/30/2007	10.60	11/21/2007	14.30	34.9	2.82
Frontier Ltd. (FRO)	10/26/2007	43.51	11/28/2007	46.62	7.15	0.47
Asure Software (ASUR)	10/05/2007	1.31	12/18/2007	0.95	(28.78)	(1.46)
Bank Of Ireland (IRE)	10/01/2007	76.43	12/21/2007	57.40	(24.90)	(1.81)
Suntech March 45 Call	-	-	10/15/2007	5.00	-	-
TSM April 12.5 Call	-	-	10/18/2007	0.35	-	-
Realized Gain/(Loss) YTD	-	-	-	-	-	13.38

• % Gain/Loss Relative to Portfolio Value at Beginning of Year + Deposits
• The table assumes realization of profits associated with selling options only after the option is exercised or expiry.

Here is our updated Stock Portfolio:

Stock	Buy Date	Buy Price	Current Price	Current % Of Portfolio	Unrealized % Return	Current Yield
Philip Morris (MO)	1/4/2005	46.54	77.43	9.16	63.37	4.29
Kraft Foods (KFT)	1/4/2005	21.11	33.26	2.72	57.53	3.15
Plum Creek Timber (PCL)	5/12/2005	35.5	47.10	8.36	32.66	3.74
Pfizer (PFE)	2/6/2006	25.15	23.24	-5.50	(7.61)	4.63
ICICI Bank (IBN)	5/18/2006	27.57	60.04	10.66	117.75	0.92
Taiwan Semi (TSM)	7/27/2006	8.71	9.85	5.83	13.08	3.4
Advantage Energy Fund (AAV)	11/2/2006	11.22	9.14	3.51	(18.61)	15.03
SunTech Power (STP)	3/14/2007	36.73	45	5.33	22.53	0
Central Europe & Russia Fund (CEE)	6/28/2007	51.5	58.20	5.17	12.86	9.6
Patni Computers (PTI)	8/10/2007	20.85	17.38	5.14	(16.71)	0.64
Itron Inc. (ITRI)	11/07/2007	85.01	93.36	5.52	9.69	0
Anthracite (AHR)	11/09/2007	7.97	8.21	4.86	3.01	0
ClickSoftware (CKSW)	11/09/2007	4.61	3.79	2.24	(17.79)	0
LDK Solar (LDK)	11/21/2007	30.30	45.13	13.35	48.94	0
Harvest Energy (HTE)	11/28/2007	21.01	20.55	4.86	(2.21)	17.2
iRobot (IRBT)	12/18/2007	18.65	17.83	3.43	(4.40)	0
MCG Capital (MCGC)	12/21/2007	11.86	11.81	4.19	(0.39)	0
Cash				0.15
Total Portfolio					20.23

• For SunTech Power (STP), we wrote a call option for March 45 (see first table) and so the price is listed as $45 as we won’t participate in the appreciation beyond that plus the premium received.

A detailed analysis of MCG Capital Corporation (MCGC) will follow.

Purchased iRobot (IRBT)

We purchased iRobot (IRBT) at $18.65 per share yesterday. iRobot is a maker of vacuuming and other specialized robots for residential and military applications. The stock rallied yesterday after it won a US military contract worth $286M over 5 years for bomb-disarming robots, parts, and training.

To accommodate this purchase, we sold Asure Software (ASUR) at $0.95 per share for a short-term loss of almost 30% during a period of 2 months. The stock experienced a slow decline during the period and the earnings yesterday didn’t inspire a rally.

The list of stock/options sold during the year and the gain/losses are listed below:

Stock	Buy Date	Buy Price	Sell Date	Sell Price	% Gain (Loss)	% Portfolio Return*
Harrah’s (HET)	10/2/2006	75.61	8/7/2007	83.68	10.66	0.62
St. Joe (JOE)	8/7/2007	39.4	8/8/2007	41.8	6.23	0.47
Google (GOOG)	3/14/2007	441	8/10/2007	515.99	16.86	1.14
LOCM (LOCM)	8/10/2007	5.47	9/17/2007	6.094	11.31	0.71
PetroChina (PTR)	9/12/2006	106	10/1/2007	188.5	78.14	2.83
PetroChina (PTR)	9/12/2006	106	10/3/2007	178.05	68.39	2.2
ValueClick (VCLK)	9/12/2007	19.4	10/12/2007	28.28	45.79	3.38
Canetic Resources (CNE)	11/2/2006	13.95	10/26/2007	15.88	13.78	1.06
Harvest Energy (HTE)	11/2/2006	23.46	11/9/2007	26.39	12.5	0.95
Canadian Solar (CSIQ)	10/30/2007	10.60	11/21/2007	14.30	34.9	2.82
Frontier Ltd. (FRO)	10/26/2007	43.51	11/28/2007	46.62	7.15	0.47
Asure Software (ASUR)	10/05/2007	1.31	12/18/2007	0.95	28.78	(1.46)
Suntech March 45 Call	-	-	10/15/2007	5.00	-	-
TSM April 12.5 Call	-	-	10/18/2007	0.35	-	-
Realized Gain/(Loss) YTD	-	-	-	-	-	15.19

• % Gain/Loss Relative to Portfolio Value at Beginning of Year + Deposits
• The table assumes realization of profits associated with selling options only after the option is exercised or expiry.

Here is our updated Stock Portfolio:

Stock	Buy Date	Buy Price	Current Price	Current % Of Portfolio	Unrealized % Return	Current Yield
Philip Morris (MO)	1/4/2005	46.54	75.93	8.55	63.15	4.29
Kraft Foods (KFT)	1/4/2005	21.11	33.05	2.57	56.53	3.15
Plum Creek Timber (PCL)	5/12/2005	35.5	45.16	7.63	27.20	3.74
Pfizer (PFE)	2/6/2006	25.15	23.27	-5.26	(7.10)	4.63
ICICI Bank (IBN)	5/18/2006	27.57	58	9.79	110.35	0.92
Taiwan Semi (TSM)	7/27/2006	8.71	9.67	5.44	11.01	3.4
Advantage Energy Fund (AAV)	11/2/2006	11.22	9.22	3.37	(17.86)	15.03
SunTech Power (STP)	3/14/2007	36.73	45	5.77	22.53	0
Central Europe & Russia Fund (CEE)	6/28/2007	51.5	64.05	5.41	24.21	9.6
Patni Computers (PTI)	8/10/2007	20.85	15.74	4.43	(24.57)	0.64
Bank Of Ireland (IRE)	10/1/2007	76.43	57.76	-4.06	(24.43)	4.5
Itron Inc. (ITRI)	11/07/2007	85.01	79.39	4.47	(6.72)	0
Anthracite (AHR)	11/09/2007	7.97	7.84	4.41	(1.63)	0
ClickSoftware (CKSW)	11/09/2007	4.61	3.36	1.89	(27.11)	0
LDK Solar (LDK)	11/21/2007	30.30	70	19.70	131.02	0
Harvest Energy (HTE)	11/28/2007	21.01	20.27	4.56	(3.54)	17.2
iRobot (IRBT)	12/18/2007	18.65	17.88	3.27	(4.13)	17.2
Cash				0.11
Total Portfolio					24.24

• For SunTech Power (STP), we wrote a call option for March 45 (see first table) and so the price is listed as $45 as we won’t participate in the appreciation beyond that plus the premium received.

A detailed analysis of iRobot will follow.

Related Readings:

1. Top 20 Small Cap Stocks In Our Radar
2. iRobot Roomba 5-Series Review (530, 535, 550, 560, 570, 580).

Roomba 700, 600 & 500 Series Comparison/Review (790, 780, 770, 760, 610, 630, 650, 530, 532, 535/540, 550/551, 555, 560, 562, 564, 570, 572, 580, 585, 595)

The 700 series is iRobot’s latest generation of vacuuming robots designed to work seamlessly on both carpets and hard surfaces. The initial robots were introduced in 2002 and the 700-series is their 5th generation version introduced April 2011. They also introduced a couple of 600-series models with more economical versions of their key technology in the 700-series in August 2012. The most popular were the 500-series models introduced in mid-2007. A couple of 5-series robots (532 & 562 - since replaced by 564) along with a professional series product called 610 were introduced in September 2008. The primary differences in technology between different 500 and 600-series models are:

• Lighthouse vs Virtual Wall Technology: Virtual wall technology allows Roomba to block off areas and lighthouse allows Roomba to navigate between rooms thereby allowing cleaning of multiple rooms efficiently –535 and above has lighthouse technology while the 530 has the virtual wall technology only. The new models from Roomba as of 2010 only include the Lighthouse technology on 570 & above models. 550-based vendor-exclusive models such as Roomba 585 (Sam's club) and Roomba 595 (Costco) also do not have the Lighthouse technology.
• Wireless Remote Activation– Allows Roomba to be controlled and scheduled remotely – Included with 570 and up. $59.99 upgrade for 535 and upwards.
• On-board scheduling – 560 and up.
• A high-capacity sweeper bin – this is new with the 532 and 562 pet series. It holds three and a half times the amount of debris that the standard one that comes with the other 5-series products hold. The 564 pet series product feature the AeroVac bin which combines the high-capacity capability without degrading the vacuuming power (has a suction motor).
• Max Mode – Allows Roomba to run until batteries are almost drained and then return to home base. This feature can be very useful to clean large open areas such as in an office floor.

It is possible that all 500 series machines can be upgraded to have the above features through a firmware and/or hardware upgrade, but iRobot has not made any such promises. The other difference between the models boils down to the additional accessories; power rating of the batteries included and/or replacement parts that are part of the package.

The new 700-series models have the following key technologies:

• The 760, 770, and 780 models have the dual-HEPA filters that capture dust particles as fine as 0.3 microns.
• The 760, 770, and 780 models have the AeroVac Series 2 bins that holds more than standard bins and also pulls debris and hair from brushes into the bin.
• The 770 and 780 models have the new Dirt Detect Series 2 technology that uses optical sensors to detect dirt and debris in addition to acoustic sensors used in the other models.
• The 770 and 780 models have a Full Bin Indicator.
• The 780 model has a Touchpad Control as opposed to Buttons in the other models.
• The 790 model introduced in June 2012 adds a wireless command center to 780 for $100 more. 

Below is a comparison spreadsheet of the different Roomba 500 and 600-series models:

Comparison Term	530	532 - PET	535	550	560	562 - PET	564-PET	580	610
List Price	$269.98	$329.00	$249.99	$279.99	$349.99	$369.99	$379.99	$529.99	$599.99
Thumbnail
Virtual Wall or Lighthouse****	Virtual Wall	Virtual Wall	Virtual Wall	Virtual Wall	Virtual Wall	Virtual Wall	Light house	Light house	Light house
Number of Virtual Walls or Lighthouse in the package	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2
On board scheduling	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Remote	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Brush Kit***	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Accessory Kit**	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes – with Bonus Kit and Storage Case
Room Coverage	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Warranty	One Year	One Year	One Year	One Year	One Year	One Year	One Year	One Year	Two Years
Max Mode	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes
High-Capacity Sweeper Bin	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes

• **Accessory Kit contain silver face plate, additional virtual wall lighthouse, 3 bristle brushes, 3 beater brushes, 3 side brushes, and 3 extra filters.
• ***Brush Kit contains 1 bristle brush and 1 beater brush.
• ****Lighthouse has 2 modes – virtual wall & lighthouse.
•  Roomba 630 and Roomba 650 are new models introduced in August 2012. They both have Aerovac (suitable for pets), and latest cleaning (iAdapt & Dirt Detect) technologies. The 650 has scheduling while 630 does not. The models are good upgrades to the 530 and 550 models respectively. Compared to the 700-series, they do not have the dual-HEPA filters and the heavy duty "Aerovac Series 2" and "Dirt Detct Series 2" technologies.

All 700, 600 and 500-series models have the following common features:

• 3-hour charging – Faster charging compared to the previous model that has charging time of 7 hours.
• Spot cleaning – Allows quick cleanup of spills and concentrated masses.
• Self-charging home base – Automatically returns and self-charges.
• Voice Demo – Quick introductive video with self-demo – Cool!
• Light-touch bumpers – Identifies furniture, etc. slows down, lightly touches, and changes direction.
• Dirt detection – spends more time on dirtier areas.
• Virtual Wall – Allows blocking off specific areas within a room.

Pricing:

Below is a table that shows the best prices for each of the 700, 600, and 500 series models along with the incremental features they offer:

Model*	Thumbnail	Store	Best Price		Added Feature, Accessory, and replacement part
530		Amazon.com	$269.98		2 virtual walls.
532 - PET		Amazon.com	$329.99		Features in 530 PLUS High-Capacity Sweeper Bin, Accessory And Brush Kit MINUS Spot Mode, Voice Demo.
535		NA	$249.99		Features in 530 PLUS One extra filter. Only 1 virtual wall.
550		eBay	$279.99**		Three extra filters and 4 “C” batteries. 2 virtual walls. On-board Scheduling. Black design. Amazon.com sells a rebranded 551 model with additional accessories for $329.99
560		Amazon.com	$349.99***		Silver on black design. Pricing is a rip-off!
562 - PET		Amazon.com	$369.99		Features in 560 PLUS High-Capacity Sweeper Bin, Accessory And Brush Kit MINUS Spot Mode, Voice Demo.
564 - PET		Amazon.com	$379.99		Features in 562 PLUS Pet Food Halo Functionality and better Aerovac suction.
572-PET		eBay	$499.99		Features in 570 PLUS High-Capacity Sweeper Bin, Accessory And Brush Kit MINUS Spot Mode, Voice Demo.
580		eBay	$529.99		Extra Lighthouse, silver faceplate, 11 brushes, 7 filters.
610 - Professional		eBay	$598		Features in 570 PLUS Max Mode, 2-year warranty, Bonus Accessory Kit, and Storage Box.
760		Amazon.com	$449		Features in 572 PLUS Dual HEPA Filters, AeroVac Series 2 Bin MINUS Room-to-room Navigation.
770		eBay	$499		Features in 760 PLUS DirtDetect Series 2 Optical Sensor, Full Bin Indicator.
780		Amazon.com	$599		Features in 770 PLUS Touchpad Control, Room-to-room Navigation.
790		iRobot Store	$699		Features in 780 PLUS wireless command center, extra filters and brushes, storage and carrying case.

• **550 – Occasional manufacturer's discount can reduce this price.
  
• Roomba 572, a new pet-series model was introduced in September 2010.
• Roomba 585 is a Sam's club version which is an upgrade tothe 550 - it has Aerovac technology (better pet hair cleaning) and the latest cleaning technology (iAdapt & Dirt Detect)
• Roomba 595 is a Costco-exclusive product that is the same as the 585 with the following extras: 2 extra side brushes, 2 extra beater brushes, 2 extra bristle brushes, 3 extra AeroVac filters, and 4 Duracell C Batteries for the virtual walls.
• Roomba 630 and Roomba 650 are new products introduced in August 2012. They are good upgrades to the 500-series robots as they have Aerovac (suitable for pets), and latest cleaning (iAdapt & Dirt Detect) technologies.

Roomba also sells certain models with technology from the previous generation as well as a number of remanufactured models. Re-manufactured Roomba's are available for between $50 and $100 less than their brand new counterparts. The downside is that they come with a 90-day warranty..

Our Experience:

Our purchase decision was made after reading the vast amount of information available at RoombaReview and Amazon.com. We settled on the 535 from Home Shopping Network as it offered the best upgrade path for the least amount of money. An additional virtual wall ($29.99 list price) was in the plans for us but after using it for almost two years, we have come to the realization that bells & whistles are not that useful:

1. The lighthouse and virtual wall technology – we tend to use it a room at a time and the door amply serves to keep the Roomba in. Even in an open floor-plan family area, it is easier to block access to certain areas than reaching for the lighthouse.
2. The self-docking capability – Roomba is usually transported to the desired location sans the dock and returned to the dock for charging.
3. The scheduling interface and the voice demos - The remote for the scheduling option is beyond the scope of our purpose and the voice demo was used only the first time and its real value is moot.

Roomba performs better with a certain amount of preparatory work. This could involve such things as moving light furniture like chairs out of the way, picking up bigger pieces of garbage, dusting down furniture and baseboards, etc. Not all of it needs to be done every time as Roomba is able to handle most obstacles, albeit less efficiently.

Unlike with a vacuum, it makes a lot of sense to use the Roomba frequently – it involves minimal work on your part and the Roomba does its thing while you leave it alone and does not require light. Further one can quickly warm up to the fact that Roomba is relatively quiet and cleans hard-to-reach areas. It is best to clean up the brushes, filters, and empty the debris bin after every run. This takes less than 5 minutes and the modular design along with the fact that Roomba is light makes this less of a chore than it sounds.

Following is a summary of some of the cons we have noticed:

1. Roomba does not suck in pencil point tips. Instead it drags the Pencil tip and leaves pencil marks all over our laminate floor. We usually use an eraser to get it off,
2. Roomba misses certain spots,
3. Transition strips that are between our laminate and tile floorings are problematic for the Roomba, especially when the tile area is very small as around our fireplace & entrance – it attempts to get over it and in the process bumps on the wall turns back and the process continues.
4. Roomba was a little bit hard on one of our glass cabinets as the bumping is not that light. We use the lighthouse for these purposes.
5. The adhesive on the bumper pad does not stick on easily.

Replacement parts are sometimes back-ordered. This is something to watch out for. One solution may be to keep one set of replacement parts handy.

Cleaning Head Module (CHM) is a part that Roomba has historically been below-par as far as performance. There have been multiple redesigns over the years but the current design is still not that durable - your best bet is to keep one handy, if your warranty has run out ($49.99).

Best Value Recommendation:

The 700, 600, and 500-series Roomba’s are excellent products that can save busy households’ valuable time. Among the Roomba 500 & 600 series models, our recommendation is to go with the basic model with the newest technology: Roomba 630. If you need the scheduling functionality, go for the Roomba 650 for around $50 more. Among the 700-series models, the best value is the Roomba 770 - it incorporates all the new features in the 700-series with the room-to-room navigation virtual lighthouse technology and the touch-pad control as the missing items compared to the top-end 780 model which is priced at $100 more.
Upgrading: If you have pets but own a 500-series robot as opposed to the PET-series robots, purchasing the Aerovac upgrade kit for around $70 is a good option to consider.



Parts & Accessories:  The one part that require periodic (every six months or so depending on use) replacement with Roomba are the side brushes - they are inexpensive (less than $10). The brushes along with the filters are available in a kit as well for around $40. Other parts that need replacement, albeit less frequently include the batteries ($25 and up) and what is termed the Cleaning Head Module (CHM) (around $50). 


Hacker's Corner:

Roomba provides an open API and encourages robotic enthusiasts to explore the limits of the product. Below are links to resources. Anyone inclined to explore this option should also invest in the following additional resources:

1. Hacking Roomba: ExtremeTech (Paperback) by Tod E. Kurt or the Kindle Edition that explains the following cool projects: Build a serial interface tether, Set up a Bluetooth® interface, Drive Roomba, Play with sensors, Make it sing, Ceate a Roomba painter, Use your Roomba as a mouse, Connect Roomba to the Net, Wi-Fi your Roomba, Replace Roomba’s brain, Build the RoombaRoach, Install Roomba-cam, Put Linux® on Roomba.
   
2. Companion HackingRoomba Website.

Related Posts:

1. Roomba 700, 600 & 500 Series Comparison/Review (780, 770, 760, 610, 530, 532, 535/540, 550, 555, 560, 562, 570, 580).
2. iRobot (IRBT) Analysis.
3. ConnectR delays highlight growing pains at iRobot (IRBT).
4. Infinuvo CleanMate QQ-1, QQ-2 – An Alternative To The iRobot Roomba Robotic Vacuums – Comparison and Review!.
5. iRobot Roomba 5-series Robotic Vacuum Part/Accessory Replacement (Side Brushes) – Customer Support/Warranty Coverage Experience
6. Best Value Robotic Vacuums - A Comparative Review.

Last Updated: 10/2012.

Top 20 Micro Caps In Our Radar

Stock	Market Cap	Price	Yield	Profile	Pros	Cons
Local.com (LOCM)	64.76M	4.56	None	Internet local search service. Also has a patent portfolio comprising of a location-based search method and a free 411 model.	Please click for our detailed analysis of local.com.	Please click for our detailed analysis of local.com.
SMTC Corporation (SMTX)	23.55M	1.70	None	End-to-end Electronics Manufacturing Service (EMS) based out of Ontario, Canada with manufacturing facilities in US, Canada, Mexico, and China.	“Quebec Deposit And Investment Fund” (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec), a Canadian pension plan manager, disposed more than 15% of its holdings in the last few months bringing the price per share down sharply. This in effect has brought the valuation down to an attractive level.	The business is very low margin.
Analysts International (ANLY)	32.13M	1.29	None	Specializes in delivering and integrating technology for businesses.	The Company is valued very low and is a good buyout target.	Staffing is a low margin business and being specialized in expertise in certain areas may not be enough to keep the margins up.
Directed Electronics (DEIX)	40.51M	1.60	None	Polk & Definitive brands in Audio speakers. It also has auto security, GPS, and other related products.	Brand is well recognized. There has been some insider trading activity recently in the $4.5/share price range.	Balance sheet weighed down with a large amount of debt.
Medifast Inc. (MED)	53.19M	3.88	None	Branded (Medifast & Hi-Energy) and private label weight and disease management products. The stock has slid from around $15 per share over competitive issues with Glaxo’s Alli OTC drug.	New ad-campaigns and other investments should benefit the company.	The company lowered outlook significantly due to competitive pressures.
Mesa Lab (MLAB)	77.43M	24.43	1.64	Manufacturer of disposable products utilized in connection with industrial applications and hemodialysis therapy. They are used to ensure sterility.	R&D to expand the use of their technology could result in upside surprises.	The company is very sparsely traded and is very volatile having dropped about 20% for no apparent reason in the last few months after popping by about 30% following good results in May.
Blue Holdings (BLUE)	15.74M	0.60	None	Manufacturer of jeans, apparel, and accessories. Their products are sold at high-end department stores.	Insiders hold 80% of the shares and there has been a slight increase in the ownership as the shares fell in the last 6 months.	It recently wound up its two retail stores (SFO & LA) and the Life & Death brand joint venture due to under performance. Nasdaq de listing risk.
Mothers Work (MWRK)	102M	17.50	None	Designer and retailer of maternity apparel in the US & Canada. They operate around 810 stores and 731 leased departments within department stores.	Valued very low.	The Company has struggled to realize profits.
Tucows (TCX)	50.9M	0.69	None	Internet domain registrar, software downloading, advertising services, email, and web hosting services.	If the company can indeed generate free cash flow of $10M for the year as announced, the share price should see an upward spike.	The businesses are very low margin.
Zila, Inc. (ZILA)	71.26M	1.14	None	Focused on prevention, detection, and treatment of Oral diseases.	The share price is depressed due to uncertainties surrounding its drug pipeline.	Zila is encountering a tough time getting OralTest, the company’s oral cancer screening product approved.
Datalink Corp. (DTLK)	47.66M	3.85	None	Design, Installation, and Support of data storage infrastructure. Products include disk arrays, tape systems, and software.	Guiding revenue projections down is the main reason for the downfall in the share price. Might be a good opportunity, should the company be able to grow revenue going forward, as projected.	Competition from much bigger companies that targets a much broader area limits ability to grow.
Journal Register (JRC)	88M	2.24	3.57	Has 27 daily newspapers, 368 non-daily publications, 239 related websites, and 19 employment websites.	Increasing its online presence while stabilizing the traditional media assets should foster growth.	The company has a large debt load.
Inventure Group (SNAK)	38.62M	2.01	None	TGI Friday’s brand (licensed) salted snacks account for 66% of the company’s business. It also has indigenous brands that are also sold through national retailers.	Burger King alliance should bring in some stability to the revenue outlook	Rader Farms acquisition has execution risks.
The Management Network Group (TMNG)	78.67M	2.20	None	Management Consultancy business with a focus on communications and financial services industry.	Valuation is attractive	The competitive landscape is very tough.
InfoLogix (IFLG)	49.8M	2.0	None	Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based mobile intelligent technology solutions for the health care industry and other enterprises.	The Company should be able to cash in on the expected growth of healthcare consulting and technology markets.	It needs to build partnerships to sell as part of the hardware and software solution suites to be successful.
Atherogenics (AGIX)	19.32M	0.49	None	Drug development programs based on its v-protectant technology.	Any positive development in the diabetes drug phase III study will bode well for the share price.	The trial for the largest dose version of the drug was stopped recently. Nasdaq de listing risk.
Qualstar Corp (QBAK)	37.25M	3.04	None	Manufacturer of magnetic tape libraries.	Grew revenue about 20% last quarter after years of stagnation as a result of the new XLS product line aimed at the high end of the tape library market.	Competition from much bigger companies is a big negative.
DryClean USA (DCU)	10.9M	1.55	4.80	Industrial laundry product distributor.	Stable business with over 4% yield.	Growth is hard to come by.
Technology Research Corp (TRCI)	20.6M	3.50	2.15	Electrical Safety Products Manufacturer.	Positive outcome of a patent infringement lawsuit against Shanghai ELE regarding the FireShield® technology could build up the share price.	Growth is dependent on military orders.
Building Materials (BLG)	173.61	5.91	6.40	House Building Materials supplier.	Valued very low as the stock price came down significantly because of housing exposure.	Shareholders have asked the CEO to resign due to underperformance. Large debt load.

Itron Inc. (ITRI) – Part 2 – Business Issues

The table summarizes Itron’s acquisitions over the years:

Date	Name	Acquisition Amount	Product/Technology
3/2002	LineSoft Corporation	$43.5M – half cash, half stock (848,870 shares issued)	Transmission and Distribution software solutions – optimizes the construction/rebuild of transmission and distribution lines.
10/2002	Regional Economic Research (RER)	$14.3M cash. Additional $3.7M earn out cash paid over 2 years as revenue targets were exceeded	Energy consulting, analysis and software services and associated software.
10/2002	eMobile Data Corporation	$9.4M cash	web-based workforce management solutions.
3/2003	Silicon Energy	$71M cash	Enterprise Energy Management Software targeted for both utilities and large energy users. Provided company foothold into the large energy user area. Had ~$15M revenue.
7/2004	Schlumberger’s Electric Meter (SEM) Business	$256M Cash	market share in residential electronic meter space. Had $229M revenue.
4/2006	Quantum Consulting	$4.5M Cash	Consulting services in energy efficiency, planning design, and market research.
6/2006	ELO Systemas	$3.85M Cash	AMR Technology and related manufacturing and service in Brazil.
11/2006	Flow Metrix, Inc.	$13.6M Cash	Leak detection for underground pipelines to complement fixed network water products.
4/2007	Actaris Metering Systems	$1.7B Cash	Gained breadth in the gas & water metering area along with geographical reach in Europe.

Itron is a globally diversified company and underscored it further with the Actaris acquisition this year. Comparing revenue numbers prior to acquisition Actaris was bigger than Itron. Blending the unique identity of the two companies will require time and could, in the meantime portray haphazard coordination at the helm. Eventually, the products and geographical diversification Actaris provides should enable Itron to navigate markets that were previously a challenge to charter. This is Itron’s gamble at putting resources for gaining resources.

Itron was able to accommodate almost all of the various purchases by combining cash generated from the business with an accumulated debt of $1.6B. For the LineSoft acquisition the company paid half in stock and for funding the Actaris acquisition 4.1 million additional shares were issued.

The market sector that Itron is trying to tap into is sprawled out. To uniquely address the various categories requires a breadth of products which can be arduous to develop or assemble. The rapid pace of acquisitions has helped Itron gain popularity in the market. However, they encounter the risk of spreading themselves too thin in some of these areas. Continuing the aggressive acquisition strategy along with organic growth by developing a culture of strong R&D internally is the right strategy to go forward. In the last few years, Itron has proved they can do the former successfully but for the latter part, the jury is still out.


Itron (ITRI) Analysis:

1. Itron (ITRI) - Part 1 - Introduction.
2. Itron (ITRI) - Part 2 - Business Issues.
3. Itron (ITRI) - Part 3 - Outlook.

Top 20 Small Caps In Our Radar

Stock	Market Cap	Price	Yield	Profile	Pros	Cons
Santarus (SNTS)	134M	2.62	None	Acid reflex pill (Zegerid) manufacturer. Stock down significantly from its 52-week high of 8.52. The product is a combination of Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) and antacids	The pill is highly effective.	Uncertainty clouds over revenue projections.
Stillwater Mining Company (SWC)	963M	10.44	None	Palladium and Platinum producer – Platinum Group Metals (PGM). Palladium has the ability to absorb 500 times its volume of hydrogen and that characteristic is sought after for industrial use.	Palladium prices peaked in 2001 and chances are high for an encore.	Alternative metals could replace Palladium for industrial use thereby limiting its flight. The following article covers a bearish scenario: “Peak Palladium, Perhaps”.
Quality Systems (QSII)	840M	30.73	3.25	Software provider in the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) field. All Scripts (MDRX) is an alternative investment option in this space with web-based and client-server solutions.	Its NextGen product is a popular client-server product in the field that addresses the high-end of the medical practices space.	Timing of the web versions of their product line is unclear and is a risk.
U.S. Global Investors (GROW)	297M	18.82	1.28	Manages Mutual Funds focused on emerging markets and commodities. Returned 32 times in the last five years but the final two have been less stellar.	Even after such returns, it trades at reasonable valuation.	Any downturn in the bull cycle currently in emerging markets and commodities could result in further downward pressure on the share price.
Comtech Group (COGO)	673M	17.55	None	Customized module design solutions (LCD, camera, bluetooth, etc. components) for manufacturers in China.	30% grower trading for roughly that PE.	The business is low margin.
American Oriental Bioengineering (AOB)	870M	11.60	None	Plant Based Pharmaceutical (PBP) & Plant Based Nutraceutical (PBN) products manufacturer based in China. The valuation is reasonable and any pullback in Chinese companies may provide a compelling entry point.	Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a growth area.	Chinese shares may be vulnerable to a pullback in the short-term as the bull market has had an extended run.
Avatar Holdings (AVTR)	333M	40.25	None	Florida and Arizona housing developer.	Holding up better in the wake of the housing downturn compared to other homebuilders as it benefits somewhat from being a full service provider whereby the other services bring in revenue. They also have 17000 acres of developable land that holds up the book value.	It is not immune to an extended housing downturn.
Standard Pacific (SPF)	242M	3.33	None	Worst performer of the homebuilders as a result of the housing wores.	A rebound of the housing market can make this a good investment.	Bankruptcy is a real possibility.
EnerNOC Inc. (ENOC)	844M	45.36	None	Energy Management Services Company. Its systems help reduce energy usage by automatically turning off non-essential drainers of power when peak power demands occur.	The business has high potential as utilities find the technology to be very cost-effective as they are charged 10 or more times normal rates for power at peak times.	Valuation & growth expectation are both very high and so any disappointment on either front could slam the share price.
iRobot Corp (IRBT)	406M	16.61	None	Manufacturer of the Roomba and other robots. 3rd quarter loss along with a loss of a large government contract has brought the price down 35%.	Good holiday sales along with litigation outcomes could cause a reversal in the company’s prospects in the short-term. Long-term potential to dominate market because of patented technology. Adoption rates should pick up as the products becomes mainstream.	Returns of earlier model robots are very high and the strategy of selling remanufactured products is questionable although it will help clear such inventory.
Uranerz Energy (URZ)	116M	2.98	None	Exploration of Uranium properties in Wyoming, Sasketchewan, Canada and Mongolia. Slated to start production in the 2010 timeframe. Spot pricing has varied between $70 and $135 in the last few months. Now at around $90	Low valuation, high potential growth	Production is still 2 years away and pricing of the end-product is very volatile.
SulphCo (SUF)	336M	4.26	None	Development stage company engaged in Sonocracking (using high frequency sound waves to reduce the viscosity and other properties of crude oil increasing the amount of lighter oils that can be recovered during the refining process)	Huge potential growth.	Development Stage Company with associated risks.
Ionatron (IOTN)	254M	3.20	None	Laser Guided Energy (LGE) and Counter Improvised Explosive Device (IED) products for the military. Non-lethal Laser Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC) is its core expertise.	The best-case scenario is if it replaces guns as the weapon of choice in the battlefield. Humane treatment of enemy combatants is touted as a selling point of the technology.	Valuation is very high.
TravelZoo (TZOO)	215.75M	15.14	None	Publisher of travel offers.	Takeover/speculation could pop the share price. Reasonably valued.	Competition is huge and differentiating their offerings from competitive ones is easier said than done.
VeraSun (VSE)	1.23B	13.27	None	Ethanol producer.	Attractive Valuation.	The industry faces high corn prices and distribution hurdles. Growth is dependent on additional subsidies and a mandate that increases ethanol mix from the government.
Audible (ADBL)	240M	9.83	None	Provides audio entertainment, information, and education programming on the Internet.	It may get acquired by one of the bigger players like Apple or Amazon at a premium. On revenue multiple basis, the valuation seems reasonable.	It is trading close to 52 week high. It is unclear when it will become profitable.
Elron (ELRN)	359M	12.11	None	Holding company whose group companies are in the fields of medical devices, information and communications technology, clean technology and semiconductors.	Elron has about 90M cash and a good portion of the rest of the market cap accounts for the public companies in which Elron has interests. So, its large portfolio of privately held companies is valued very low.	The valuation may stay low for an extended period of time as they find it hard to catch Wall Street’s attention.
SinoBiomed (SOBM)	165M	1.26	None	Development stage bio-pharmaceutical focused on protein based therapeutics.	Has 10 drug candidates in the pipeline. It has a Hepatitis B & C treatment product and a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis products in the Chinese domestic market.	Trades in the OTC market. It is a speculative stock with high volatility.
Euroseas (ESEA)	241M	13.13	8.83	Dry Bulk Carrier. Currently 80% in long-term contracts but expects to bring it down to 40% in 2008 thereby hoping to take advantage of all-time high spot pricing.	It has managed to keep the operating costs low. Low valuation.	The fleet is old. Increasing spot exposure will ultimately result ibn more volatility, as the index is fickle.
Canadian Solar (CSIQ)	643M	23.45	None	Manufacturer of Solar Cells & Modules expanding into Ingot/Wafer capacity. Has more than doubled after announcing an earnings surprise	Attractive valuation. The stock trades at a forward revenue multiple of less than 1	Uncertainty of margins the company will realize going forward. The company has never been that profitable.