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CSI TIP: BUY ATEC @ $1.56

Alphatec Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ–ATEC)

Valuation-$3.00

Price August 29, 2014-$1.56

ATEC has had some troubles lately. We personally bought ATEC earlier this year, but then sold it when it lost a $50 million lawsuit they inherited from an acquisition in March. We now own ATEC again based on recent performance.

Latest earnings were for the second quarter ended 6/30/2014. ATEC posted record sales and adjusted EBITDA. Revenues were up 4% to $53.2 million from $51 million and they lost $2.9 million versus a $4.7 million loss last year. They are projecting around $210 million of sales for 2014 and adjusted EBITDA of $30-$33 million. Our valuation based on the latest quarter is $3.00 a share.

Back in March when they lost the lawsuit they entered into a loan facility with Deerfield entities  (which own about 4% of ATEC) to be able to fund the lawsuit settlement. They currently have about $21 million in cash and $100 million in debt. They still have $31.5 million to pay on the settlement but are only required to pay this in $1.1 million quarterly installments.

Healthpoint Capital is a longtime holder of about 20% of ATEC.

Trading at only 52% of our valuation we think this is a BUY.

There are about 97 million shares outstanding and it trades about 180,000 shares a day.

About ATEC:  Continue reading →

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Cheap Stock Weekly Update August 29th 2014

We were up .2% last week. We are now up 6.5% for the year. The DOW was up .6% and NASDAQ was up .9%. For the year, the DOW is now up 3.2% and NASDAQ is up 9.7%

DAEG and CCUR earnings last week.

Some of our stocks are just stupid cheap—compared to their net cash on hand divided by their stock price.

Check this list:

UNTD 39%
CCUR 37%
SIGM 49%
MRVC 17%
SYNC 46%

PRSS, MRVC, DAEG, SYNC, SIGM, CCUR and UNTD can still be bought.

Last week we went 5 stocks up, 7 down and 2 unchanged. Since inception we are now 67 stocks up and 19 down for a 77.9% winning percentage (80% is our target win %).  Of our closed-out positions 59 have been winners and 13 have been losers for an 82% win percentage and a 34% average net gain per position.

The model portfolio assumes $10,000 invested in each stock (unless we double-up–then it is $20,000), less $10 commission each way (TD Ameritrade rate). Continue reading →

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Cheap Stock Weekly Update August 23rd 2014

We were down .6% last week. We are now up 6.4% for the year. The DOW was up 2.0% and NASDAQ was up 1.7%. For the year, the DOW is now up 2.6% and NASDAQ is up 8.7%

 MRVC earnings last week.

 Some of our stocks are just stupid cheap—compared to their net cash on hand divided by their stock price.

Check this list:

UNTD

40%

CCUR

30%

SIGM

52%

MRVC

17%

SYNC

48%

 PRSS, MRVC, DAEG, SYNC, SIGM and UNTD can still be bought.

 Last week we went 7 stocks up, 6 down and 1 unchanged. Since inception we are now 68 stocks up and 18 down for a 79.1% winning percentage (80% is our target win %).  Of our closed-out positions 59 have been winners and 13 have been losers for an 82% win percentage and a 34% average net gain per position.

 The model portfolio assumes $10,000 invested in each stock (unless we double-up–then it is $20,000), less $10 commission each way (TD Ameritrade rate).  Continue reading →

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Cheap Stock Weekly Update August 18th 2014

We were up 2.8% last week. We are now up 7.0% for the year. The DOW was up .7% and NASDAQ was up 2.2%. For the year, the DOW is now up .5% and NASDAQ is up 6.9%

XRSC, DXM, PRSS, SYNC, EXTR, BLIN, CTIG and UNTD earnings last week.

Some of our stocks are just stupid cheap—compared to their net cash on hand divided by their stock price.

Check this list:

UNTD 39%
CCUR 31%
SIGM 52%
MRVC 16%
SYNC 46%

PRSS, MRVC, DAEG, SYNC, SIGM and UNTD can still be bought.

Last week we went 7 stocks up and 7 down. Since inception we are now 68 stocks up and 18 down for a 79.1% winning percentage (80% is our target win %). Of our closed-out positions 59 have been winners and 13 have been losers for an 82% win percentage and a 34% average net gain per position.

The model portfolio assumes $10,000 invested in each stock (unless we double-up–then it is $20,000), less $10 commission each way (TD Ameritrade rate). Continue reading →

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Cheap Stock Weekly Update June 16th 2014

We gave a bit of last week gain back-down 1.1%.. The DOW was down .9% and NASDAQ was down .3%. For the year, the DOW is up 1.2% and NASDAQ is up 3.2%

 SIGM and ARI earnings last week..

Some of our stocks are just stupid cheap—compared to their net cash on hand per share divided by their stock price.

Check this list:

UNTD 48%
CCUR 29%
SIGM 55%
MRVC 16%
SYNC 53%

PRSS, MRVC, DAEG, EXTR and UNTD can still be bought.

Last week we went 4 stocks up, 9 down and 1 even. Since inception we are now 66 stocks up and 19 down for a 77.6% winning percentage (80% is our target win %). Of our closed-out positions, 59 have been winners and 13 have been losers for an 82% win percentage and a 34% average net gain per position.

Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:  Continue reading →

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Cheap Stock Weekly Update March 28th 2014

Bad week last week as we were down 4.4%, and are up 72.7% for 2014. The DOW was up .1% and NASDAQ was down 2.8%. For the year, the DOW is down 1.5% and NASDAQ is down .5%
No earnings last week.

Some of our stocks are just stupid cheap—compared to their net cash on hand per share divided by their stock price.
Check this list:

GRVY 169%
CCUR 31%
SIGM 56%
MRVC 22%
SYNC 52%

BLIN, DAEG, GRVY and CBEY can still be bought.
Last week we went 0 stocks up, 13 down and 1 unchanged. Since inception we are now 66 stocks up and 18 down for a 78.6% winning percentage (80% is our target win %).

Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:

Continue reading →

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Welcome from the Cheap Stock Investor

I have a 40 year background in accounting and finance at a number of public and private companies in increasingly responsible positions and have been a CFO for the last 20 years. My background in preparing financial statements, reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission and having been involved in a number of company sales and purchases are invaluable tools in reading and understanding public company financial statements and their valuations.

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Cheap Stocks Weekly Update March 21st 2014

We were up 3.1% last week, and are up 7.2% for 2014. The DOW was up 1.5% and NASDAQ was up .7%. For the year, the DOW is down 1.7% and NASDAQ is up 2.4%
MRVC  earnings last week.

Some of our stocks are just stupid cheap—compared to their net cash on hand per share divided by their stock price.
Check this list:

GRVY
159%
CCUR
30%
SIGM
49%
MRVC
21%
SYNC
50%
UNTD, SYNC, BLIN, DAEG, GRVY and CBEY can still be bought.

Last week we went 9 stocks up, 4 down and 1 unchanged. Since inception we are now 68 stocks up and 16 down for a 81% winning percentage (80% is our target win %).

Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:  Continue reading →

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Cheap Stocks Weekly Update March 14th 2014

We were down .6% last week, and are up 4.1% for 2014. The DOW was down 2.4% and NASDAQ was down 2.1%. For the year, the DOW is down 3.1% and NASDAQ is up 1.7%
DXM and CBEY earnings last week.
Some of our stocks are just stupid cheap—compared to their net cash on hand per share divided by their stock price.

Check this list:

GRVY
155%
CCUR
31%
SIGM
50%
MRVC
24%
SYNC
49%

MRVC, BLIN, DAEG, GRVY and CBEY can still be bought.

Last week we went 4 stocks up, 8 down and 2 unchanged. Since inception we are now 67 stocks up and 17 down for a 79.8% winning percentage (80% is our target win %).

Since our beginning, we have closed out the following positions:

Continue reading →

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CSI Tip: BUY UNTD @ $10.28

United Online  Inc. (NASDAQ–UNTD)

Valuation-$$27.86
Price December March 12, 2014-$10.28

I planned to recommend UNTD a while ago. I purchased some for $9.57 a share, and then it went straight up to $15.88 on February 20th this year on a good revenue quarter. We sold half our position. But now it has come almost all the way back down and given that it is trading at 40% of our valuation, we think it is time to buy more. The last time we saw a company like this was AOL in the mid-teens. Everyone thought AOL was dead. Now it is over $40 a share. UNTD is also one of the remaining early internet pioneers with brands like Classmates, NetZero and Juno.

Trading at only 37% of our valuation and with 50% of its market cap in cash ($5.06 a share) we think this is a BUY.

Their latest quarterly results were the first ones since UNTD spun off FTD last year, but they were still impacted on the expense side by spin-off costs. Revenues were $62.6 million (which drove the stock to its high) and after adjusting for litigation, transaction, share based compensation, intangible amortization, depreciation etc. they made $12.6 million. For 2014 they are projecting OIBDA of $28-$34 million.
There are about 14 million shares outstanding and it trades about 600,000 shares a day.
About UNTD:

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