Stocks Getting Cheaper?

Every month or so, I crank up my "MFI Cruncher" spreadsheet and calculate the earnings yield and return on capital on the top 30 stocks. Actually, this time I am also going to start doing the top 50. I wish I had used the top 50 all the way as I feel it is a more robust sample. But back when I started, I didn't have the cruncher, and it is time-consuming by hand. I have used the median Earnings yield as the best metric to compare portfolios period to period. As I move to top 50, I think the average will also be a good yardstick. Return on capital, doesn't really measure "cheapness", as you recall from the book its purpose is to find good companies.

Here are the top stocks, in descending order:

Stock	EY	ROC	EY Rank	ROC Rank	Sum
SNTA	127%	2699%	1	2	3
IDCC	32%	1778%	4	3	7
BDSI	72%	1123%	2	6	8
SNTS	28%	1218%	6	5	11
ELNK	45%	524%	3	12	15
PDLI	20%	213023%	16	1	17
UEPS	23%	1263%	13	4	17
SOLR	26%	744%	9	9	18
SMED	28%	235%	7	18	25
IMMU	17%	793%	19	8	27
CEU	27%	196%	8	21	29
OSK	25%	254%	12	17	29
MRX	17%	741%	21	10	31
CHOP	26%	178%	10	22	32
CSKI	32%	129%	5	28	33
PPD	20%	197%	15	20	35
UIS	26%	170%	11	24	35
CHKE	12%	854%	29	7	36
LO	15%	684%	26	11	37
AMED	16%	257%	22	16	38
PRSC	16%	323%	25	14	39
ENDP	16%	282%	24	15	39
EME	21%	149%	14	26	40
UNTD	16%	227%	23	19	42
CNU	18%	153%	17	25	42
USMO	10%	513%	30	13	43
VPHM	17%	173%	20	23	43
CBPO	17%	128%	18	29	47
SOHU	14%	139%	27	27	54
CBI	14%	89%	28	30	58

		EY	ROC
26-May	Median	19.9%	269%
30-Apr	Median	16.8%	551%
3/19/10	Median	15.6%	321%
2/19/10	Median	18.8%	329%
11/06/09	Median	16.1%	229%
07/31/09	Median	19.7%	212%
04/16/09	Median	27.1%	228%

So you can see that on a median basis, the stocks are the cheapest since last June. Then here are the stats on the top 50, I will start tracking these regularly as well.

Rank	```	EY	ROC	Total	Mkt Cap
1	SNTA	127%	2699%	4	119
2	IDCC	32%	1778%	8	1,113
3	BDSI	72%	1123%	9	61
4	SNTS	28%	3766%	9	172
5	ELNK	45%	524%	15	923
6	SOLR	26%	744%	19	772
7	PDLI	20%	213023%	22	982
8	UEPS	23%	1263%	22	621
9	SMED	28%	235%	28	82
10	OSK	25%	254%	32	3,019
11	CEU	27%	196%	35	123
12	IMMU	17%	1234%	35	240
13	USMO	31%	170%	38	310
14	CHOP	26%	178%	40	281
15	MRX	17%	741%	41	1,438
16	CSKI	32%	129%	44	213
17	PPD	20%	197%	44	460
18	UIS	26%	170%	45	941
19	LO	15%	684%	48	11,296
20	AMED	16%	257%	50	1,358
21	ENDP	16%	282%	51	2,404
22	PRSC	16%	323%	51	241
23	UNTD	16%	227%	54	563
24	CHKE	12%	854%	54	183
25	EME	21%	149%	55	1,658
26	PVSW	14%	433%	56	81
27	APOL	15%	215%	58	8,286
28	VALU	13%	453%	59	195
29	CNU	18%	153%	59	228
30	MHP	10%	513%	60	8,852
31	VPHM	17%	173%	60	1,055
32	TNDM	24%	102%	61	451
33	AFAM	15%	205%	61	338
34	UTA	24%	92%	62	142
35	ARO	18%	153%	62	2,577
36	IPXL	25%	80%	63	1,296
37	GME	19%	107%	65	3,389
38	FWLT	18%	116%	66	2,984
39	RGR	20%	94%	66	305
40	NSR	14%	196%	67	1,595
41	DLX	14%	205%	67	1,057
42	AHCI	19%	103%	67	119
43	CBPO	17%	128%	68	305
44	FLL	18%	71%	76	56
45	SOHU	14%	139%	77	1,673
46	TTT	-65%	193%	78	290
47	CBST	13%	150%	80	1,391
48	SHE	9%	127%	89	260
49	CBI	14%	89%	90	1,859
	Grand Total	21%	235492%	2,470	68,357
5/26/2010	Median	18.1%	197.1%		563
5/26/2010	Average	21.4%	4806.0%		1,395