Potash is a fertilizer company that produces fertilizer, phosphate and nitrate. This company’s stock has more than doubled in the past year but I think this one can go higher. There is definitely more demands in emerging markets for potash and fertilizer suppliers as a whole have seen their profits increase dramatically. This is due to the high prices of grain giving farmers the income to purchase fertilizer. Potash has a production capacity of 12.9 millin ton’s, which is 20% of the world capacity. The company has a new price estimate of 265 based on a growing EPS of 9.80 for this year. The 19 PE given a 51% growth makes POT rather cheap. This company also has the chance of splitting its price which could attract new buyers.
Technically, this stock seems to follow the pattern of consolidation, breakout, retrace.
Since POT just broke out of a consolidation period, I wouldn’t get in until a retrace as the stock seems to have fallen into that pattern.

1. In-N-Out Burger : If you are not from the West Coast you probably haven’t heard of this one. This burger chain is the Chipotle of hamburgers. The company is able to strive by keeping prices low (even lower than McDonalds) while serving healthy, tasty burgers. Aside from this winning formula, they pay their employees well (minimum: $10.5/hour) and are most importantly, there is so much room for expansion as they are only in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah.

2. PricewaterhouseCoopers : PWC is the world’s largest auditing firm. They provide auditing services to the most Fortune 100 companies out of the respective ‘Big 4’ accounting firms. Accounting is one of the only professions aggressively recruiting in this bear market meaning the company must be raking in dollars. Lastly, with new International Accounting Standards being developed, PWC will hold expert status in helping companies comply. Oh yea, not to be biased, but I’m going to work them toward the end of the year.

3. The North Face : This is one of my more intuitive picks. The North Face, like you didn’t already know, produces outdoor products specializing in clothing and equipment. The jackets are so popular that they have become the target of scammers selling fakes. This alone doesn’t qualify a buy but the fact that the company has raised prices from 100 to 500 dollars for their winter jackets based on demand does. Look around, which jacket brand easily dominates the cold weather? I’m from sunny California and can even attest.

Ok, got to get back to studying for a test, yeah I have 3 weeks left till I really graduate. But let me know what companies you guys think would do well if they went IPO.

China Medical Technologies develops, manufacturers, and markets medical devices for the treatment of solid cancers and benign tumors in China. China Medical used to be focused on its ultrasound machines used to kill tumor cells but have recently focused on diagnostic tests such as ECLIA. ECLIA detects levels of light and looks at diagnostic markers in blood and other body fluids. This change (ECLIA and FISH) has been the catalyst for revenue growth. FISH and ECLIA make up 60% of revenues and they plan to expand from 200 to 500 hospitals by the end of the year. There has been a lot of news on diagnostic test makers such as HOLX and its clear that this field is becoming popular.
Fundamentally, CMED’s revenue was up 74% year over year. Earnings per share were also up 38% despite having to launch its fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) imaging analysis system.
I like CMED based on their ability to roll out new technology successfully in China. There may be better gems that can grow faster based on their size but I think CMED is still trading cheap (24PE).
Below is some technical analysis
What do you guys think about CMED’s future?

Energy Conversion Devices makes solar panels and batteries. What was interesting though was the type of solar panels and batteries. The solar panels they make through a thin-film process are flexible, lightweight, and actually serve as part of the roof. ENER is not affected by the polysilicon shortage which is toxic and scarce. The company has signed deals with semiconductor companies Samsung, Elpida, Hynix, Qimonda, and ST Microelectronics. They are also expanding their solar production production from 50 to 180 MW due to efficiencies in scale and production. Fundamentally, revenues are up 24 percent from last years second quarter and 155 percent higher than 3^rd quarter of 2007. Gross margin also improve from 19.2 to 30.7 percent. Energy Conversion Devices will report earnings on August 7^th and $0.20 is the target, very attainable. Technically, this one is mixed. The MACD and RSI say the stock is oversold but the upward trend line is still in tact. I would wait for this to play out 10 days and see where it stands. As this gets close keep an eye out.

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I know this site is named Bull Ringer and most of the time I do write about stocks in a bullish uptrend. But more importantly, this site is about making choices that will help our portfolios build. After reading a recent piece by Timothy Sykes on PokerTek, I couldn’t help but agree based on my own experience and the evidence at hand. I am an online poker player and frequent the popular forums. This past Spring Break I went on a cruise and had a chance to play on PokerPro, PokerTek’s digital poker table. The user interface was decent but the whole experience was an overall let down. If I want to play poker using a computer, I will do just that at home. The purpose of playing poker in Vegas or anywhere else is to interact with live players, dealers and to enjoy oneself in that environment. Everybody looking at a computer screen defeats this purpose. The other problem was people weren’t used to it and unless they stared at their computer screens the whole time they wouldn’t even know it was their turn to bet. Also, proponents like to say it speeds up game time. Then why not have the screen split up into 4 screens so they can play 4 tournaments at a time? Again, if your at a casino, your main purpose probably isn’t to get as many hands in as possible, its to have fun and try to make some money by studying your opposition
Fundamentally, PokerTek is flawed as well. The company has not made a dime -1.14EOS. They have been funding their tables through large loans reducing their credit and putting the company in immediate danger. The recent run up was based on some Goldman Sachs executives (not poker players) being impressed and internet message board hype. I am not sure how this company will do in the future. I guess if Casinos want to save money on labor they could keep installing these although I don’t see moderately serious player sitting down.
Technically, I think shorting this stock for the next month or so is a smart move. The recent gains in the stock price should retract to the support levels.

Note I wrote this post yesterday and it has already dropped 10%