Top 200 September 23rd 2011

Top 200 List

I have now been creating these top 200 lists for about a year. What is the "best" MFI stock out there? With all the turmoil in the markets, it is a pretty good bet there are some mispriced stocks out there. The last time MFI really outperformed was the fall of 2008. I don't know if we're "there" yet, but we may be getting close. Here is the list, with "leader" LMLP, which is an interesting one to think about.

Ticker	Rank	Date	Stock Price	Market Cap	Earnings Yield	ROIC	Yahoo Yield
LMLP	1	9/23	1.75	51	64%	12172%	0.0%
STV	2	9/23	4.03	238	71%	1898%	0.0%
MAIL	3	9/23	4.69	47	63%	850%	14.9%
ASTX	4	9/24	1.89	115	147%	480%	0.0%
DEPO	5	9/23	5.47	296	29%	5729%	0.0%
TNAV	6	9/23	8.97	409	30%	756%	0.0%
PDLI	7	9/23	5.59	1,040	24%	637869%	7.8%
TSRA	8	9/23	12.58	647	77%	256%	0.0%
VECO	9	9/23	28.69	1,234	52%	262%	0.0%
XNY	10	9/23	1.50	87	75%	213%	0.0%
LACO	11	9/23	2.44	64	429%	209%	0.0%
NVMI	12	9/23	5.71	155	40%	275%	0.0%
BPI	13	9/23	19.46	1,127	29%	365%	0.0%
ESI	14	9/23	60.75	1,684	32%	295%	0.0%
MNTA	15	9/23	11.47	585	56%	212%	0.0%
GAME	16	9/23	4.94	1,406	22%	547%	0.0%
CRAY	17	9/23	5.13	180	57%	194%	0.0%
APOL	18	9/23	41.35	5,803	27%	257%	0.0%
CPLA	19	9/23	30.17	473	31%	210%	0.0%
PRX	20	9/23	25.87	950	27%	242%	0.0%
AGX	21	9/23	9.61	132	19%	803%	0.0%
GA	22	9/23	3.51	827	19%	567%	73.2%
AFAM	23	9/23	16.60	156	43%	140%	0.0%
RIMG	24	9/23	13.25	127	147%	113%	2.2%
ACAD	25	9/23	1.19	63	17%	2304%	0.0%
CYOU	26	9/23	29.33	1,563	19%	387%	0.0%
FRX	27	9/23	30.87	8,840	23%	202%	0.0%
UIS	28	9/23	15.91	686	30%	140%	0.0%
CNGL	29	9/23	1.98	73	142%	105%	0.0%
LTXC	30	9/23	5.47	276	44%	114%	0.0%
KLIC	31	9/23	8.20	608	56%	109%	0.0%
DJCO	32	9/23	68.00	94	36%	120%	0.0%
ASYS	33	9/23	9.24	91	243%	100%	0.0%
USMO	34	9/23	13.49	304	22%	196%	13.5%
DELL	35	9/23	14.40	26,942	20%	232%	0.0%
VPHM	36	9/23	17.94	1,605	19%	287%	0.0%
DLB	37	9/23	27.86	3,130	19%	255%	0.0%
SAVE	38	9/23	11.63	835	17%	546%	0.0%
PWER	39	9/23	5.23	734	50%	102%	0.0%
EGY	40	9/23	4.96	288	66%	97%	0.0%
LPS	41	9/23	14.18	1,217	20%	189%	2.4%
CECO	42	9/23	13.85	1,046	44%	102%	0.0%
STRA	43	9/23	78.81	925	21%	171%	4.4%
UEPS	44	9/23	6.42	290	27%	120%	0.0%
AMAT	45	9/23	10.59	14,085	26%	113%	2.6%
AMED	46	9/23	13.79	400	29%	107%	0.0%
MANT	47	9/23	30.65	1,127	20%	149%	0.0%
LIWA	48	9/23	5.24	158	105%	82%	0.0%
NOK	49	9/23	5.24	19,456	23%	119%	8.7%
SNDK	50	9/23	42.20	10,291	17%	320%	0.0%
KLAC	51	9/23	37.73	6,447	23%	114%	2.8%
HRB	52	9/23	13.33	4,072	17%	270%	4.2%
TER	53	9/23	11.41	2,629	21%	121%	0.0%
CHKE	54	9/23	12.37	106	16%	423%	7.4%
PETS	55	9/23	9.10	198	21%	122%	5.0%
LRCX	56	9/23	36.90	4,616	25%	102%	0.0%
USNA	57	9/23	25.89	408	20%	126%	0.0%
COOL	58	9/23	2.19	90	18%	162%	0.0%
AZN	59	9/23	42.91	59,516	20%	125%	6.1%
CMTL	60	9/23	26.52	859	24%	100%	3.6%
PRSC	61	9/23	9.39	125	19%	135%	0.0%
AIXG	62	9/23	15.43	1,570	33%	82%	5.0%
OSK	63	9/23	16.12	1,478	30%	83%	0.0%
DV	64	9/23	37.44	2,617	21%	105%	0.6%
AVEO	65	9/23	16.07	592	15%	334%	0.0%
TAOM	66	9/23	6.21	231	14%	753%	0.0%
MSFT	67	9/23	25.06	213,536	15%	333%	2.4%
WSTG	68	9/23	10.32	48	22%	101%	7.2%
TNH	69	9/23	139.51	2,581	15%	432%	6.0%
CPIX	70	9/23	5.43	112	20%	109%	0.0%
PWRD	71	9/23	12.89	682	38%	75%	0.0%
GTIV	72	9/23	5.39	166	18%	128%	0.0%
CNTF	73	9/23	1.90	101	200%	65%	0.0%
RIMM	74	9/23	21.32	11,175	38%	75%	0.0%
KFY	75	9/23	12.63	597	22%	98%	0.0%
KONG	76	9/23	3.70	157	67%	69%	0.0%
MDP	77	9/23	22.33	1,020	19%	121%	4.1%
CUB	78	9/23	37.46	1,002	16%	226%	0.7%
ENTR	79	9/23	4.03	360	26%	81%	0.0%
DLX	80	9/23	19.01	983	16%	231%	4.6%
MEDW	81	9/23	11.08	91	14%	843%	0.0%
NOC	82	9/23	51.05	14,662	20%	107%	15.3%
HPQ	83	9/23	22.32	46,426	21%	91%	1.7%
RTN	84	9/23	39.31	14,038	19%	112%	3.9%
EME	85	9/23	18.82	1,291	21%	92%	0.0%
MBND	86	9/23	2.69	52	16%	201%	0.0%
LHCG	87	9/23	16.17	297	24%	79%	0.0%
ARO	88	9/23	9.61	781	37%	65%	0.0%
MKSI	89	9/23	21.85	1,156	33%	67%	1.2%
INSP	90	9/24	8.42	321	16%	153%	0.0%
DGIT	91	9/23	19.08	530	19%	99%	0.0%
GME	92	9/23	22.51	3,201	20%	85%	0.0%
CTCM	93	9/23	10.02	1,585	16%	153%	6.2%
CREG	94	9/23	0.98	54	25%	72%	0.0%
CEL	95	9/23	20.47	2,036	19%	90%	13.2%
LINC	96	9/23	7.90	178	50%	60%	8.3%
UNTD	97	9/23	5.57	494	15%	171%	7.0%
GNI	98	9/23	110.00	165	13%	498%	11.8%
SAI	99	9/23	12.06	4,088	20%	83%	0.0%
CHOP	100	9/23	3.02	179	117%	57%	0.0%
ASEI	101	9/23	59.69	557	18%	94%	2.3%
CATO	102	9/23	23.25	675	24%	70%	3.5%
NSR	103	9/23	24.79	1,860	15%	185%	0.0%
EDS	104	9/23	3.97	124	239%	55%	0.0%
HITK	105	9/23	32.60	429	21%	76%	0.0%
CSCO	106	9/23	15.61	85,793	14%	220%	0.7%
ADI	107	9/23	32.85	10,142	15%	144%	2.7%
NVLS	108	9/23	28.59	2,346	20%	76%	0.0%
MED	109	9/23	16.54	239	17%	102%	0.0%
XUE	110	9/23	3.93	283	18%	85%	0.0%
CBPO	111	9/23	6.85	183	40%	58%	0.0%
BRKS	112	9/23	8.29	540	28%	60%	0.9%
IPXL	113	9/23	19.67	1,331	17%	92%	0.0%
GEDU	114	9/23	4.24	110	241%	52%	0.0%
SPRD	115	9/23	19.75	1,072	13%	343%	0.2%
GD	116	9/23	55.92	20,770	18%	81%	2.9%
MPAA	117	9/23	8.44	104	14%	154%	0.0%
CSGS	118	9/23	12.83	426	18%	81%	0.0%
SPU	119	9/23	2.18	58	178%	50%	0.0%
VCI	120	9/23	19.21	964	16%	103%	0.0%
OVTI	121	9/23	16.15	992	28%	58%	0.0%
WU	122	9/23	15.10	9,601	12%	710%	1.7%
GPS	123	9/23	16.31	8,889	22%	62%	2.5%
LXK	124	9/23	28.03	2,242	30%	55%	0.0%
GMAN	125	9/23	11.79	229	18%	75%	0.0%
ERIC	126	9/23	9.49	30,662	18%	75%	3.2%
ICON	127	9/23	16.69	1,259	12%	466%	0.0%
NTCT	128	9/23	11.61	503	12%	351%	0.0%
GCI	129	9/23	9.09	2,218	24%	56%	2.0%
TRW	130	9/23	33.59	4,514	24%	57%	0.0%
MYGN	131	9/23	18.47	1,627	12%	261%	0.0%
WSTL	132	9/23	2.37	166	28%	53%	0.0%
CA	133	9/23	19.95	9,992	12%	307%	0.9%
SOHU	134	9/23	58.82	2,286	13%	158%	0.0%
LEA	135	9/23	39.77	4,272	21%	59%	0.8%
BSQR	136	9/23	4.50	52	12%	471%	0.0%
VG	137	9/23	2.79	682	13%	152%	0.0%
GSIT	138	9/23	5.00	152	24%	54%	0.0%
FCX	139	9/23	32.37	30,946	33%	48%	2.1%
PRGS	140	9/23	18.71	1,296	13%	199%	0.0%
OMPI	141	9/23	9.71	181	14%	109%	0.0%
ASMI	142	9/23	24.37	1,585	29%	49%	2.2%
PTNR	143	9/23	9.56	1,491	17%	71%	14.8%
DNB	144	9/23	61.61	3,062	11%	894%	2.2%
MCO	145	9/23	30.37	7,031	12%	277%	1.5%
SFUN	146	9/23	12.50	1,045	11%	1401%	0.0%
CACI	147	9/23	47.63	1,519	14%	100%	0.0%
OSIR	148	9/23	5.08	168	11%	555%	0.0%
QLGC	149	9/23	13.28	1,405	14%	97%	0.0%
LO	150	9/23	106.00	15,048	11%	722%	4.5%
CJES	151	9/23	17.99	932	16%	77%	0.0%
NTES	152	9/23	41.76	5,472	12%	369%	0.0%
CXDC	153	9/23	4.51	214	30%	46%	0.0%
LUK	154	9/23	23.48	5,847	13%	118%	0.9%
CBST	155	9/23	35.97	2,177	12%	202%	0.0%
LLY	156	9/23	36.07	40,180	17%	70%	5.2%
TNDM	157	9/23	9.55	329	21%	54%	0.0%
HRS	158	9/23	35.54	4,432	17%	69%	2.5%
BID	159	9/23	32.35	2,248	16%	72%	0.5%
RBCN	160	9/23	11.05	264	37%	45%	0.0%
VDSI	161	9/23	5.23	203	14%	94%	0.0%
AEIS	162	9/23	9.10	402	34%	45%	0.0%
MIPS	163	9/23	5.30	287	11%	1015%	0.0%
MDCO	164	9/23	15.68	852	12%	307%	0.0%
LRAD	165	9/23	1.74	56	13%	117%	0.0%
NTRI	166	9/23	11.58	316	14%	88%	5.8%
CHRM	167	9/23	9.33	383	17%	62%	0.0%
NATR	168	9/23	14.35	225	14%	89%	0.0%
FICO	169	9/23	21.67	872	11%	469%	0.3%
STO	170	9/23	20.87	66,421	42%	43%	4.8%
FLR	171	9/23	50.31	8,817	14%	102%	0.8%
NANO	172	9/23	15.06	353	21%	52%	0.0%
SYNA	173	9/23	22.93	803	13%	104%	0.0%
TRR	174	9/23	3.13	85	14%	94%	0.0%
CVVT	175	9/23	2.35	84	101%	41%	0.0%
SHS	176	9/23	30.63	1,485	21%	50%	0.0%
INTC	177	9/23	22.16	120,573	15%	76%	3.4%
ITRN	178	9/23	11.70	245	16%	66%	8.0%
ASIA	179	9/23	8.05	595	18%	58%	0.0%
ALV	180	9/23	47.70	4,484	20%	54%	3.1%
TEO	181	9/24	18.77	3,695	23%	47%	7.9%
CGA	182	9/23	4.53	121	71%	41%	0.0%
GILD	183	9/23	38.43	30,775	12%	165%	0.0%
PKE	184	9/23	22.18	462	18%	56%	1.6%
LMT	185	9/23	72.09	24,986	14%	88%	4.0%
DISH	186	9/23	26.76	11,970	15%	78%	0.0%
MMS	187	9/23	32.12	1,150	13%	123%	0.9%
MTSC	188	9/23	29.54	466	17%	59%	2.5%
EDMC	189	9/23	15.80	2,104	15%	72%	0.0%
RTEC	190	9/23	6.52	209	36%	42%	0.0%
WWE	191	9/23	9.10	680	15%	74%	10.5%
NSP	192	9/23	20.25	523	15%	69%	2.6%
EXPR	193	9/23	19.69	1,750	13%	112%	0.0%
SBGI	194	9/23	7.62	619	14%	77%	4.4%
BLC	195	9/23	5.15	536	14%	78%	0.9%
AMSC	196	9/23	5.08	249	10118%	38%	0.0%
IOSP	197	9/23	24.15	592	17%	59%	0.0%
MFW	198	9/23	24.68	481	12%	133%	0.0%
BKE	199	9/23	37.64	1,781	13%	91%	8.4%
PRIM	200	9/23	10.31	527	15%	66%	0.9%

Comparison With Official List

I generally have stocks on my list that are not on the official list. Usually they are foreign stocks, like MAIL or STV. But sometimes they are US stocks, like BPI. I honestly can not explain why BPI is not on the official list. I frankly think they have screwed up. But I like to see where the official top 50 is on my list. In my opinion, they should all be in about my top 80 (adjusting for the fact that I have more stocks). The other difference can be timing. The official list is as of Thursday and mine is as of Friday. If the price changed in between those days or earnings were published, we could differ.

Ticker	Mkt Cap	Date	My Ranking
ACAD	66.00	21-Sep	25
AFAM	150.26	21-Sep	23
AMED	401.42	21-Sep	46
APOL	5,986.88	21-Sep	18
AMAT	14,295.21	21-Sep	45
AGX	127.09	21-Sep	21
ASTX	120.25	21-Sep	4
HRB	4,023.88	21-Sep	52
CPLA	453.24	21-Sep	19
CECO	1,086.79	21-Sep	42
CHKE	101.86	21-Sep	54
CMTL	708.21	21-Sep	60
CRAY	189.73	21-Sep	17
CPIX	106.90	21-Sep	70
DELL	26,941.46	21-Sep	35
DLX	984.80	21-Sep	80
DLB	3,180.36	21-Sep	37
FRX	8,622.96	21-Sep	27
GTAT	1,019.88	21-Sep	#N/A
ESI	1,656.51	21-Sep	14
KLAC	6,377.22	21-Sep	51
KLIC	599.80	21-Sep	31
LMLP	54.77	21-Sep	1
LTXC	265.96	21-Sep	30
LRCX	4,712.07	21-Sep	56
LPS	1,219.82	21-Sep	41
COOL	96.65	21-Sep	58
MANT	1,136.54	21-Sep	47
MDP	993.08	21-Sep	77
MSFT	217,692.24	21-Sep	67
MNTA	542.69	21-Sep	15
MPAA	111.35	21-Sep	117
NVMI	154.28	21-Sep	12
PDLI	780.06	21-Sep	7
PRX	965.76	21-Sep	20
PETS	193.67	21-Sep	55
PWER	568.30	21-Sep	39
PRSC	113.56	21-Sep	61
SNDK	10,207.77	21-Sep	50
STRA	964.80	21-Sep	43
TNAV	365.95	21-Sep	6
TER	2,185.52	21-Sep	53
TSRA	651.37	21-Sep	8
USMO	304.99	21-Sep	34
USNA	404.36	21-Sep	57
UIS	692.06	21-Sep	28
EGY	316.00	21-Sep	40
VECO	1,108.48	21-Sep	9
VPHM	1,360.76	21-Sep	36
VG	618.55	21-Sep	137

The two outliers are MPAA and Vonage. Looking a bit deeper, Vonage is probably caused by a couple of things. I calculate a market cap of 682m, the official site is at 618m. Then the stock went up 5% on Friday. I don't talk about this point much, but market cap (which drives enterprise value), is often one of the largest discrepancies.

Mechanical Update

For those who have been reading for sometime know I have two mechanical portfolios that I keep as further metrics on MFI. Very simply, I look at the list every weekend (both the top 30 over 50m and the top 50 over 50m).

Stocks get added to my mechanical portfolios if they are new to the list in past 52 weeks. I think hold the stock for a year and I compare how each stock does vs the S&P 500 over the year. The performance has been a mess of late, the average open stock in the top 50 is down 17.2% (seems familiar) while the S&P isdown about 8%. The top 30 list has been an absolute bloodbath, down an average of 23% vs 9% for the S&P. As I write that down, I am stunned. The new stocks to the list have been atrocious. Here are some of the recent stinkbombs:

MNDO -22.6%
TTHI: -31%
VECO: -45%
VNDA: -30%
POZN: -48%
ACAD: -33%
CPLA: -39%
NVMI: -47%... I am getting bored. You can see them all by clicking on link in left margin.

If you care, after my description of recent performance (in fairness, the MPs have outperformed going back to 2008), the new MP stocks this week are VG (top 50) and DLB (top 30). DLB is actually the first addition in over a month to the top 30 list.

Ok. I am going to enjoy my cup of joe now and watch some football on this 1st Sunday of fall.