January 15, 2011

List of stocks up 200% in a year (1/10/11)

It was requested that I show the list of stocks...this list is of stocks that rose 200% in a year as of 1/10/2011. This list is alphabetical, but I am studying them in order of 1-year percentage gain, so this is not the order of the study. If you dump them in Telechart and sort by custom date sort 1/10/2010-1/10/2011 you should be able to see the order:

AAU
ABL
AKRX
AMRN
APKT
AXTI
BSQR
CPE
CPWM
CRDC
CSII
DEAR
DGSE
ENTR
FTK
GENT
GSL
HAUP
HDY
HNH
IDT
IDT.C
IGOI
LCRY
LDSH
LEI
LGL
MCZ
MGIC
MHR
MIPS
NCT
NFLX
NNBR
NSU
PKOH
PPO
QCOR
RDCM
RITT
RVBD
SHZ
SMTX
SPRD
SSN
SURG
TGA
TO
TORM
TPCG
TZOO
UPI
URRE
VHC
WNC
ZANE
ZLCS

January 11, 2011

Stock #2 - HDY - Hyperdynamics Corpration - 1 year return = 603% (1/10/2011)

Stock #2 - HDY - Hyperdynamics Corporation - Energy - Oil Drilling

If a name ever fit a stock, this may be it. The stock is as “hyper” as the name implies.






This stock, similar to CPWM, bottomed in early 2009 with the market, after a two-year decline. The stock had been stuck below $4 since 2000. The stock bottomed at about 25 cents a share after a two-year decline. If you zoom out you would see that the two year decline was actually part of the stock’s 10-year range between 25 cents and $4 that was not broken until late 2010.

After rallying off the bottom to about $2 in September 2009, the stock built a huge base between around 90 cents and $2 for a year into the end of August 2010. The company’s hopes were pinned on an oil field off the coast of Africa which had not had a single barrel of oil drilled yet. The company had zero revenue for their fiscal years 6/2009 and 6/2010 and had net losses as far back as the eye could see. No analyst estimates, no coverage. Neglected stock.

In early September 2010, the company announced estimated figures of 2.3B barrels of oil being in the oilfield that they have large interest in, and said it expected to spud (drill) the well by 2011 year-end (not sure if they meant fiscal or calendar year). This news release sparked a rally from just over $1 to $2, the top of the one-year range, within 2 days. The stock then drifted up in consolidation for about 12-13 days, pressing against the top of the one year range at $2 area. Then we get the following breakouts in the latter part of 2010:

9/28/2010 – The company released their 10K management discussion, where they point out that the zero revenue for last two years was due to focus on interpretation of seismic data from the well. It isn’t clear what the catalyst was in the 10K, but the stock finally broke out of the one-year range on high volume that day, and was up 25% for the day. However, there was no immediate follow through after the single day, and the stock went sideways for next 6 days on lower volume.

10/7/2010 – The stock broke out of the 6-day range at $2.50 and rallied for 7 trading days for a 40% gain to the $3.50 area. The stock fell swiftly for 2 weeks after issues with their audit report, but found a floor and established a 4-week tight base around $3-$3.50. This takes us to mid-December with the stock still in the base.

12/16/2010 – After an investor’s call where the company announced a farm out of a portion of the well, the stock broke out through $3.50 in the morning but gave up all its gains same day at the old $4 resistance from 2007. But the stock reversed upward next day and rallied through $4 to $5.40 in 4 days, a gain of 35% from the high of the failed breakout day. The stock then formed a small range pull back along its short-term averages for about 7 days.

1/6/2011 - No news as far as I can tell. But the stock broke through the $5.40 pivot point and out of the 7-day pull back. The stock ended up 14% on the day and as of 1/13/2011 is at $7.40, a gain from the breakout point of 37%. We’ll see how far it goes before pulling back, but this is the third breakout that resulted in a 35% + rally in last 4 months and doesn’t show signs of slowing down…yet.

The December 2010 and January 2011 breakouts alone and rally to date (1/13/2011) adds up to a gain of 85% once the price got through $4. Looking at the weekly chart, you can see that we had a rally off the bottom in 2009, then a year-long base into Q4 2010. The stock broke through that year-long base on the early October 2010 breakout, formed a base in Nov/Dec, and then broke out on huge volume. So we are in the second leg of the move out of that year-long base.

Other notes about the fundamentals and technicals:

- The stock bottomed out at less than $1 per share after a 2-year decline from $4 to about 25.
- The stock made 2 very large moves: the first after breaking out of a year-long range in early October (about 100% move), and the second after a 4-week tight base (85% and counting).
- The company’s fundamentals are almost not even worth mentioning, other than the fact that they have not made squat. They have lost money every year. Their revenue hopes appear to be reliant on a well that is yet to be drilled.
- At the same time, the upcoming drilling of the well is probably the single catalyst for this stock, other than oil prices being on the rise. So the macro environment is good for them and they have a source of revenue around the corner. It is merely a question of how long they can finance operations with zero sales for last 2 fiscal years before that well is drilled.
- The stock has no analyst coverage and has no estimates or ratings…this has been true for long period of time.
- Next earnings likely mid-February.
- Stock has had zero quarters of increasing fund ownership as of 1/2011.
- IBD/EPS/RS ratings were: August 2010: 40/25/88; December: 31/46/70; January: 73/12/99. Note that the earnings rating meant nothing and stock had 88 RS rating well before the Sept-Jan breakouts. Also note that the RS rating dropped to 70 at the end of the 2-month base in Oct-Dec. Currently the stock has RS = 99.
- The energy sector has been in favor since the summer with oil prices on the rise. Other stocks in same Sub-Industry have done well also – MHR AREX FXEN KOG SSN…about 10% of the stocks in that sub-industry were up 100% or more in the last 1 year.
- However, this story appears to also be about the company finally getting some revenue while oil prices are high. A lot of these exploration stocks seem to depend on their specific natural resources and what they can get out of the ground, all else being equal.
- Short interest was about 3% last two months but the change in float late in 2010 may affect that calculation.
- The stock had negative ROI, Margins. P/E was negative and d/e was over 0.5.Main problem was getting revenue from this well off the Africa coast.
- Float is 100M, but they did a private placement in 2010 that increased that by large amount.
- The insider buying was actually a point of note here – two big purchases took place by a director and the board chairman in February and May/June for a total of about 478,000 shares. These purchases took placed during the 1-year base in 2010.
- Dollar volumes on the breakouts were $2M (9/7/10); 4.5M (9/28/10); 5M (10/7/10), 14M (12/16/10), and 15M (1/6/10). Note the spike on the December breakout when the stock hit $4. Stayed high on January breakout, the second breakout after a 2-month base.
- Trend Intensity on the breakouts were above 105 each time: 9/7 111; 9/28 160; 10/7 172; 12/16 117; 1/6 155. Note each time a base formed for long period the TI fell back to 110-120 range. For example the 2-month base in late 2010 ended with a TI of 117.

Summary: Why did HDY move up by 200% or more in a year?

1. This company has essentially been in startup mode since 2000, where it began a 10-year range between 25 cents and $4. Like many companies in startup mode, the light at the end of the operating loss tunnel shines before the end of the tunnel is actually reached. So this stock’s move appears to be mostly based on the expectation for large amounts of revenue from the well off the Africa coast, which could take the company from a decade long loser to actual cash flow. Since the stock has never experienced making money, that can be a pivotal point in the future prospects for the stock as well as the company. It appears that the expectation of that time has money flowing into the stock.
2. As with any company in the oil industry, regulatory and economic factors have to be considered as well. Increasing oil prices at the same time the company is on the cusp of drilling this well appears to be as good a timing as they could ask for. The quirk with drillers is that they are all very different in the amount of resources they have and how they operate, so company specifics in this group can cause massive underperformance when the macro environment is favorable.

Looking at this stock without knowing the industry or time in history, I would have thought I was looking at a dot com stock in 1999. The zero revenue for 2 years on a stock spiking on hopes of revenue/earnings down the road sounded a lot like those days from what I remember. So this appears to be a stock that started as speculative and as the pivotal point approaches the stock is trying to price it in. It will be interesting to see how this stock’s momentum unfolds.

Anything I missed…let me know.

Stock #2 IDT - IDT Corp - 1-year return = 623% (1/11/2011)

Stock #2: IDT.C - IDT Corp. - Telecomm - Diversified Communication Services
This is actually the C Class of IDT common stock. Since IDT comes later in the list, I will skip the Class C stock and will cover both when I research IDT.


January 9, 2011

Stock #1: CPWM - Cost Plus Inc. 1-year return = 963 % (1/8/2011)

Stock #1: CPWM – Cost Plus Inc.
Sector: Retail – Department Stores (Home Furnishings)

Every stock has a story, as they say. Here’s CPWM’s story. The charts below are the weejly chart, then the daily chart at the first breakout, then the daily chart at the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th breakouts.








The move of 963% in 2010 was preceded by a year-long bottoming phase in 2009. The stock was coming off a six-year decline since late 2003 and finally bottomed out in 2009 below $1 per share. In March 2010, after building a bottom for nearly a year during which the price was between $1 and $3 per share, the stock raised earnings guidance for the Q1 2010, projecting a smaller loss for the quarter than expected. The stock doubled in the month after this news to $6 per share.

After the stock doubled in March/April 2010, it pulled back about 40% and formed what would become the lows of the cup near the 200-day average in August 2010. The stock made a 40% move off the 200-day average as it formed the right side of the cup. Volume was very low for 6 months during the formation of the cup pattern. The stock began forming a tight flag on low volume in mid-September 2010 after rallying 50% plus off the 200-day average.

Now at end of September the stock was at about $4 per share and had been in a tight base for about 10 trading days. This base resulted in the first of 3 breakouts in the next 3 months for the stock as follows:

10/3/2010: Stock had a 4% breakout on $1.6M $volume, through the $4 area, and rallied 18% in a 3-day burst. This breakout occurred in the bottom half of the cup so would likely not have been viewed as a favorable breakout from c&h view. But great setup for STIB type trade. After the 3 day rally, the stock formed another tight base for about 6 or 7 weeks heading into November eps report.

11/19/2010: The Company announced earnings better than estimates. Also they said that same store sales rose 9% y/o/y after a 9% drop in same last year. The company also extended its credit agreement. This positive news sparked an extremely high volume breakout of the 6-7 week tight base on an EP day, with $13M $volume. The stock rallied 42% from breakout point in 2 days, and then had a 6-day orderly pull back on low volume at the $8 range.

12/2/2010: After a 6-day sideways action, the stock broke out for the third time at around $8. Dollar volume was $6.5M on the breakout. The stock moved up 50%+ over next 18 trading days with a couple of 2-3 day pullbacks mixed in. The stock reversed at $12-$13 area in late December 2010.

This December 2010 rally completed a 300% move from the initial breakout point in October 2010 and a 170% move from November breakout point. The largest move came on the December breakout, which was the first breakout after the cup & handle breakout. The second and first breakouts were smaller respectively. This December breakout was last as stock broke down in late December after 50% move.

Other notes about the fundamentals and technicals:
- The stock bottomed out at less than $1 per share after a long period of decline (6 years).
- The stock made largest part of move that was tradable after it had formed a 6 month long base following a strong rally off the bottoming pattern.
- The stock’s trend intensity was at about 125 at the October and November breakouts, then hit 151 in December breakout. TI topped out at 172 in late December before the reversal.
- The stock spent the year prior to the move building a bottoming pattern in the$1-$4 area.
- The company’s first eps and sales acceleration was in Q1 2010 (May eps report). EPS/Sales growth was 75/3, 66/5, 62/7 in the first 3 quarters of 2010. The sales figures were good for retailer.
- There has been only one analyst covering the stock for couple of years – decline into 2009 was so severe that analysts abandoned the stock.
- The company’s first profitable year in a while is forecast for FY 1/2011. Earnings announcement is expected to be in February 2011.
- Stock has had 2 quarters of increasing fund ownership as of 1/2011.
- IBD rating and RS ratings were: 14/10 in January 2010, 54/96 in Aug 2010, and 67/99 in January 2011.
- RS rating was in high 90’s well before the first breakout in October.
- The retail sector has been in favor since the summer, and the group of stocks in CPWM group have also performed relatively well (WSM, PIR, BBBY). Those stocks have not performed to the extent of CPWM though.
- Short interest was about 12% in Nov 2010 and it dropped to 7%-9% by early 2011.
- The stock had negative ROI, Margins. P/E was negative and d/e was over 1 so debt was an issue.
- Float was 16M.
- No notable insider buying in 2010. One sale in early 2010 near lows.
- Dollar volume was 1.6M, 13M, and 6.5M on the Oct/Nov/Dec breakouts respectively. Note the last breakout in December was on lower $volume than the November b/o. Smaller base came along with that last Dec b/o.

Summary: Why did CPWM move up by 200% or more in a year?

This stock’s move seems to be fueled by a few factors:

1. Long period of neglect and a chart pattern that confirms it. Analysts stopped covering the stock in droves in late 2009 as the stock neared its 2009 bottoms below a dollar per share. The company’s earnings sucked for years going into 2010. Volume during the basing in 2010 was nonexistent.
2. The company’s extension of its credit agreements and same store sales news in November stands out as the continuation catalyst with a long 6-month c&h pattern supporting it.
3. The stock is a pure recovery play. It is forecast for profitability for first time this FY 1/2011, so some anticipation of that may have contributed to the recent rally as well. But with such a long period of neglect before bottoming, and then turning profitable as earnings and sales strengthen, it’s no shock that the stock rallied.
4. Sector strength was likely a factor also – others in sector did well. This was one of low float stocks in sector and made largest move.

Welcome

Welcome to the Five Trades Blog. The initial purpose of the blog is to compile research from a study of the market's best performing stocks. The research is aimed at developing a method of finding five trades a year that will have potential for gains of 50% plus, with possibility of pyramiding into the stocks.

The objective of the study is to answer the following question: "What makes a stock go up 200% + in a year?"

As of Friday, January 7, 2011, there are 58 stocks that are up 200% or more in one year. These are the stocks on which my research will be focused. As of now my plan is to update the list weekly and research additional stocks as they come up in the scan. This is my first study of this kind, so there is a bit of a learning curve for me in performing this research.

More later.

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