Become a Member

“$3 Tea Party Stock to Hit $6: Buy Monday!”

By Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe, December 21, 2009

Louis Navellier is at it again, telling us that he’s found another hot momentum stock …

“Grab it Now Before it Delivers another 400% Earnings Growth”

But today’s note from your friendly neighborhood Stock Gumshoe is as much a cautionary tale as it is a deciphering of a Navellier teaser — I’ll tell you the name of this stock, sure, but I’ve also told it to you before, because Louis has teased it before.

Unfortunately, the last time Navellier teased this stock he called it a “$4 Doubler” that would “hit $8 with or without you.” So the fact that it’s now a $3 stock that will hit $6 is, perhaps, a little disappointing.

The pitch Navellier uses this time is also almost exactly the same — he talks about how he’s only about making money, he’s not “politically correct.”

“I’m Louis Navellier, and if you know anything at all about me, then you know this: I don’t invest in a stock based on any kind of ‘political correctness.’

“No way.

“I ONLY invest in stocks that are:

“1. Riding the trends and,
“2. Making money and making my readers rich.

“To be sure, I hold a number of GREAT alternative energy companies that are making money hand over fist.

“But I don’t own them because of their ‘greenness!’ I own them because of their greenbacks!

“If you’re a politically incorrect greenback investor, as I am, then you’re going to love my fast- rising $3 Tea-Party stock.

“The reasons are simple: It’s on the verge of another blow-out quarter, shaking up the politically correct establishment and doubling investors money along the way.”

Navellier also says that some very unpopular politicians (I guess they’re pretty much all unpopular right now, technically) “bristle” at this company’s success … as if we’re foolish enough to say, “Hey, I hate them too, let me subscribe to your newsletter!”

And he tells us, like he did last time, that it’s “on the verge” of another blowout quarter:

“If My Politically Incorrect Doubler Doesn’t Jump at Least 50% After It Declares Earnings—You Won’t Pay a Dime

“That’s how confident I am that this one has winner written all over it.

“If I’m right, you could easily find yourself 50% richer in the blink of an eye. If I’m wrong, simply get your money back.

“The best part: You have 60 days to watch it double before you make your ultimate decision.”

(An aside, this company probably won’t release earnings until the second week of March, if they keep to their pattern — which is, conveniently enough, a hair past that 60-day guarantee … so this serves as a reminder that they probably just copied this text verbatim from the last time they used the teaser, when that 60 days would have encompassed the last earnings date).

Just to square the circle here, I’ll include the clues he noted in this ad:

“The company has …

Are you getting our free Daily Update
"reveal" emails? If not,
just click here...


  • Registered 447% earnings growth last quarter
  • A forward P/E ratio of—get this—just 8
  • A market cap of under $262 million
  • Handed investors 90% gains year to date
  • One of the strongest buy ratings of any of our stocks, and
  • Is about to clobber Wall Street and double investors’ money again.”

But yes, this is, again, Smith and Wesson (SWHC — free trend analysis here … hint: it ain’t pretty right now) — and it looks like the marketers and Louis himself might not actually be on the same page, this was a top-rated stock in Navellier’s proprietary system a few weeks ago, having jumped up to an “A” for most of the Fall, but two weeks ago it bumped back down to a “B” rating.

Why, do you reckon? Largely because SWHC’s grade for “analyst estimate revisions” is now an F … which, in turn, is because when they released earnings a few weeks ago they backpedaled on expecations for next year, and analysts have been slashing their estimates. They had been expecting SWHC to earn 24 cents per share over the next two quarters, and that number is now … 10 cents. So that’s a rough haircut, would definitely want to wear a hat to school the next day.

The story for Smith & Wesson Holding Corp is roughly the same as it was when I wrote about them in early November for Navellier’s almost identical teaser — they have had a year of spectacular earnings growth, that 447% earnings growth number was real, as was the 60% beat of analyst estimates (both were for the July quarter, not this most recent October quarter that reported on December 3), but that growth was from depressed levels, and most analysts see them falling back again pretty quick since the company issued very soft sales guidance.

So I told you that this is a cautionary tale, in some ways — by which I mean that many of us, especially those of us who are new to investing, see a boldface name like Louis Navellier touting a stock breathlessly in this way, and we think it must be spectacular and well-timed … and, at least, an idea direct from the man himself. This further reiterates, since Navellier’s own system downgraded the stock a couple weeks ago, that many (if not most) of the teaser ads, and the timing for sending them, is based solely on marketing success, not on the actual stock beneath the teaser.

That’s not to say that we can’t find gems in here sometimes, or that the original idea wasn’t inspired by an actual investment analysis, but this smacks of marketing gimcrackery. Clearly, the folks at Investorplace Media, who publish Navellier’s stuff, know that being a bit “edgy” and claiming political incorrectness (as they’ve done when gun stocks hit their momentum screens before, as with Sturm Ruger over the Summer) works to appeal to their core demographic (60 year old well-off men who are grouchy about taxes), so they even throw in that very tangentially relevant “tea party” bit to help tap into the popular angst about government spending.

And are they embarrassed that a stock they predicted would boom after earnings and double from $4 is now being promoted as a double from $3? Not too likely, not as long as the subscriptions keep rolling in… and heck, this latest “double” is even a cheap one, the stock has only really barely dipped a toe into the $3’s, at $3.95 as I type this (down from close to $5.80 that it hit in pre-earnings enthusiasm before the weak forecast), so getting to six dollars would only be about a 55% jump from here.

SWHC may do fine, of course, and it’s always worth being skeptical of analysts — but in this case, when lots of analysts are downgrading a stock and slashing estimates, it’s hard not to listen to them. We might also note that analysts are pretty optimistic in the very long term — so as long as we’re talking about completely made up numbers, like the guess for growth over the next five years (18.3% according to analyst averages), SWHC sounds pretty cheap. After all, who wouldn’t be willing to pay a trailing PE of 6 for a stock that’s supposed to grow 18% a year? It’s when we get to the numbers that analysts might have a much better chance of estimating correctly, the earnings and revenue over the next quarter or two, that things look ugly — estimates now say we’ll get an 80% cut in earnings this quarter, and a 36% cut next quarter.

So what do you think? If SWHC goes back to making 10 cents a year, maybe not such a hot stock at $4 (sorry, $3.95)… but if it can make 40 or 50 cents a year, that ain’t so bad … have any confidence in those earnings numbers? Think Smith & Wesson is lowballing analysts, or are they really going to hit a sales slump as predicted? Let us know with a comment below.

guest

12345

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

12 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Kim Dawson
Kim Dawson
December 21, 2009 2:43 pm

I bought SWSC when you thinkolatored it the first time. Sounded like a good bet. It didn’t do much so I sold it for a gain of four cents a share. Glad to get my money out of it. Now that there is a plan to require everyone to list their guns on their tax return, and pay a yearly fee of $50 each and be subject to fingerprinting, compentency tests, and home inspections for inspecting your under-18-proof gun storage cabinet, I would suspect that less people will buy new guns. Hope this doesn’t happen, but once the politicans come up with a way to separate the citizens from their money and restrict freedom, the majority party (democrats) will be hard to stop. Look for them to add it on to another bill and shove it down our throats next year. All this is not good for SWSC. Although more citizens probably should have guns in this freedom-squashing environment.

Add a Topic
372
edski
Irregular
December 21, 2009 2:44 pm

I fear Mr. Navellier will shoot himself in the other foot on this again.

BILL
Guest
BILL
December 21, 2009 5:29 pm

NAVELLIER’S GOT NERVE, I’LL GIVE HIM THAT. BUT STOCK PICKING ABILITY, NOT SO MUCH.

Add a Topic
5971
Timothy I
Timothy I
December 21, 2009 9:35 pm

Even if the fundamentals aren’t great, this is a good place to play a quick technical bounce. SWHC has been in a falling wedge for months and just bounced off the bottom. Indicators are turning upward for another run to the top of the channel. The opportunity is there for a nice profit with a very tight, low-risk stop-loss: buy at market around $4, target ~5.20, stop $3.70.

And I agree, NOTHING has changed since the Bush administration regarding federal gun laws; no changes have even been proposed and no bills introduced into committee. The right wing and the gun lobby (with enthusiastic support from manufacturers–wonder why?) have been screaming about Obama taking away their guns and taxing their ammo. It’s misleading and disingenuous–wait, no it’s not, it’s lies, pure and simple.

jake
Guest
jake
December 22, 2009 6:22 am

Perhaps SWHC’s problem is not digging around outside the box. China is opening up and not a single policeman anywhere in China carries a firearm, let alone the citizenry. Moreover, the government is spending millions of yuan on advertising for the public to purchase anything, yes, anything. What a market for SWHC!

Add a Topic
108
Add a Topic
108
Durwood M. Dugger
Guest
December 22, 2009 11:28 am

Before we all run off into the conservative paranoia wilderness regarding gun ownership in the US, I suggest you take a critical look at the current gun ownership record situation. There is no current gun ownership record database maintained by the state or federal governments. Current Federal law requires gun ownership records to be maintained at the point of purchase and there is no record or requirement for a record of second hand sales. When the licensed gun business – stops doing business they are supposed to mail their “notebooks” of gun purchase records into the BATF. Many of these records are lost when said gun businesses collapse. These records are lost in fires, hurricanes and floods and occasionally – the gun shop dog eats them. There is no evidence that BATF has done anything with those records more than archive them in cardboard boxes. Before and under this current system, hundreds of millions of guns have been sold in the US, perhaps over a billion. It is far too late to have an effective gun ownership records in this country. Before you can require gun reporting on tax records, you would have to amend the Constitution and more importantly you would have to create and finance a capable gun record database for such gun registration – one capable of tracking guns being sold and following them into the future. Unlike automobiles with about a 10-15 life span, effective firearms are around a hundred years or more. My family has guns (with modern ammunition capability) in its possession that go back three generations and over a hundred years. Basic logic says there are far more and higher priorities in this country than gun registration. This country can’t even outlaw smoking that kills 10+ times as many people as guns do every year (admittedly the tobacco, health care and insurance industries have much deeper pockets to maintain their status quo than gun owners). More people are killed by drunk drivers than guns. Lightening strikes kill more people than guns.

Undoubtedly, gun ownership rights will be infringed upon incrementally as time and as political opportunist are able. On the other hand when crime rates or terrorism acts climb, you tend see gun opposition move in the opposite direction with increased purchases and “right to carry” laws.

Several theoretical events will do away with firearms before gun “taxes” ever become law: 1. The growing loss of hunting areas due to continued overpopulation expansion, 2. Significant reduction to the point of elimination in violent crime rates, and 3. The public perception of a government where citizens do not perceive of it being threatening – ever.

So, don’t count on guns disappearing in this country for quite a while, or that there will be any sudden governmental intervention of gun ownership. Based on the current embarrassing health care legislation debacle – imagine our incompetent Congress (both parties) debating the destruction of the Second Amendment.

So, gun related stock ownership is only an effective short term investment – if you can predict sudden changes in peoples perception of their relative safety – regarding crime, terrorism and or government abuse. As long as our population continues to expand as it has, hunting will decline accordingly – and increased violent crime becomes more and more probable as we become aware that we have an unsustainable economy.

Add a Topic
5916
Add a Topic
501
Add a Topic
882
Peter
Guest
Peter
December 30, 2009 1:57 pm

Forget the TEA Party nonsense! The real $$$ Money Making Party is in JBII . The CEO John Bordyuik is a genius with some game changer ideas! Yes , OTCBB but I see $10.00 in the very near future ….What is JBII and John Bordyuik all about …..Check it out here !
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=42612879

Dave O
Member
Dave O
December 30, 2009 4:48 pm

Navellier is a marketer, but not a good stock analyst. I had his Blue Chip Review letter for a couple of years. I bought POTASH at 68 and sold it at 73 based on his urgent stock update saying the commodity stocks were due for a serious correction. Guess what? Within a few months POTASH was at $120. Brilliant man, that Navellier…Guess he’s smarter than me though, I’m the one who listened to him.

Add a Topic
5971
Add a Topic
392
Add a Topic
5971

We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience. By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies.

More Info  
34
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x