New ETF Book by Larry Connors - Click here to read more
 |
|
Receive Alerts Free For One Week! Short Term PowerRatings Use PowerRatings every day to find the stocks for tomorrow to focus on and the ones to avoid. Sign Up Now >>
Long Term PowerRatings
Gary Kaltbaum Intraday Breaking Setups
Kevin Haggerty's Professional Trading Service
|
The economic world is changing fast. Government intervention into private business, radical consumer sentiment changes, once iconic companies struggling to survive, mergers among fierce competitors, and all time high business bankruptcy filings create fertile ground for the legal profession.
The legal profession thrives in difficult times as everyone is looking to use the law as their final chance at survival or to gain an advantage in turbulent times. Our PowerRating Stock Spotlight today is on a company that serves and profits from law firms, EPIQ Systems (EPIQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating). EPIQ is a 3 Long Term PowerRated company that provides integrated technology solutions for the legal profession. In other words, this company manages and handles, the often complex, back office duties of law firms.
Before we dig deeper into this spotlight stock, for those of you unfamiliar with our PowerRatings here is a basic overview. It is a stock rating system that ranks stocks on a scale from 1 to 10 based on the likelihood of price being higher one year in the future. 10 rated stocks have an 81% chance of trading higher one year later, 9 rated stocks have a 79.1% chance and so on down the scale. These ratings are based on 13 years of statistically valid studies of 1000's of trades across most market conditions. Unlike other ranking systems, PowerRatings are a dynamic tool. This refers to the fact that the figure represents the odds one year in the future from the day you see the number. This makes the PowerRatings a critical tool that should be used on a daily basis to help you in making decisions for your investment portfolio.
EPIQ Systems is a Kansas City, Kansas based legal technology company. They have 9 locations in the United States and United Kingdom. The company provides software and platforms to assist law firms in case management, discovery, administration and disbursements for over 1000 law firms. In fact, 47 of the global top 50 legal practices utilize EPIQ Systems. Regulatory compliance, bankruptcy, class actions, and financial transactions are all topics EPIQ has expertise in managing. Difficult financial times create demand in all of these areas, therefore sparking my interest in this firm.
Looking closer at the financials, EPIQ truly had an epic 4th quarter and a stellar 2008. Operating Income was up 41% in the quarter, Operating Revenue was up 37% in 2008, Net Income was up an astounding 100% in 2008 with a 54% gain in the 4th quarter over last year. Due to large increase in bankruptcy filings, they just added a new facility in Connecticut and hired over a dozen experts in this field. The electronic discovery segment was down slightly on the quarter due to fewer e-discovery matters. However, this trend seems to have reversed as of January 1st, 2009. CEO Tom Olofson provided very positive guidance into 2009 due to projected increases in legal actions throughout the year.
Technically, shares bounced hard today off of the 200-day SMA, adding over 8.20% as this is being written. The 50-day SMA at 16.26 appears to be the next technical resistance level on the chart.
EPIQ is a company that is poised to thrive in these difficult economic times. It is definitely something that should be on your watch list for further consideration.
| Click here to start your free, 7-day trial to our Short Term PowerRatings! |
Learn what you need to know as an active investor looking to invest in companies with a history of financial strength and a track record for growth. Click the link above or call us at 888-484-8220 extension 1 to get your copy of the "5 Secrets to Successful Stock Investing" today!
David Goodboy is Vice President of Business Development for a New York City based multi-strategy fund.
About TradingMarkets | Contact | Advertise | Careers | Link to Us | Site Map | Help | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Return Policy | Testimonials | Feedback
The Connors Group, Inc. ("Company") is not an investment advisory service, nor a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer and does not purport to tell or suggest which securities or currencies customers should buy or sell for themselves. The analysts and employees or affiliates of Company may hold positions in the stocks, currencies or industries discussed here. You understand and acknowledge that there is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities and/or currencies. The Company, the authors, the publisher, and all affiliates of Company assume no responsibility or liability for your trading and investment results. Factual statements on the Company's website, or in its publications, are made as of the date stated and are subject to change without notice.
It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable or that they will not result in losses. Past results of any individual trader or trading system published by Company are not indicative of future returns by that trader or system, and are not indicative of future returns which be realized by you. In addition, the indicators, strategies, columns, articles and all other features of Company's products (collectively, the "Information") are provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Examples presented on Company's website are for educational purposes only. Such set-ups are not solicitations of any order to buy or sell. Accordingly, you should not rely solely on the Information in making any investment. Rather, you should use the Information only as a starting point for doing additional independent research in order to allow you to form your own opinion regarding investments. You should always check with your licensed financial advisor and tax advisor to determine the suitability of any investment.
HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN INHERENT LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING AND MAY NOT BE IMPACTED BY BROKERAGE AND OTHER SLIPPAGE FEES. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT ACTUALLY BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER- OR OVER-COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.
The Connors Group, Inc.
10 Exchange Place, Suite 1800
Jersey City, NJ 07302
© Copyright 2009 The Connors Group, Inc.
