The Gee$e.

[di4]

4/3/2007 ***********************************************
ZACKS.COM PROFIT from the PROS
** Tactics that Work in Good and Bad Markets **
***********************************************

Today's Topics: Tuesday - April 3, 2007

1) ZACKS RANK BUY STOCKS - Today we highlight four new stocks
with a short-term "Buy" or "Strong Buy" recommendation:
Cephalon (CEPH), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX), Sun
Microsystems (SUNW) and AMERISAFE (AMSF). Get these stories
below.

2) PROFIT TRACKS - RETURN ON EQUITY (ROE) - Use this screening
method to discover solid stocks that are creating assets.

3) ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH - U.S. automakers are continuing to
cut costs in order to be competitive with their overseas
rivals. Read the Analyst Interview and get our Bull and Bear
Stocks of the Day.

4) OPTIONS CENTER - The experts at Schaeffer's highlight
another proven options filter and find a retailer with bullish
implications from a contrarian perspective.

5) BEST OF THE ZACKS $100,000 CHALLENGE- Beris highlights a
commodity play that could be on the verge of a breakout. Read
this Simulator participant's blog post, along with two
competitors.


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==============================================

1) ZACKS RANK BUY STOCKS

==============================================

Zacks #1 Rank stocks average a 31.8% annual return. Every day
on Zacks.com we highlight four new Zacks Rank Buy stocks. Each
individual stock is chosen based on how well they match the
criteria for the four main schools of investing: Aggressive
Growth, Momentum, Growth & Income and Value.

Aggressive Growth - Cephalon (CEPH)

Cephalon (CEPH) received an approvable letter, along with
draft labeling, from the Food and Drug Administration for its
new drug application for Nuvigil, a treatment for excessive
sleepiness. The stock got a boost on the news. Read the full
analysis on CEPH at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2494


Growth & Income - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX), presented as a
Growth & Income pick on Oct 20, has returned 14%. A brokerage
analyst recently upgraded the stock based on the company's
recent acquisition of Phelps Dodge Corp. It was upgraded to
overweight" from neutral. The acquisition is expected to add
to earnings as well as provide growth and diversification. FCX
exceeded analysts' earnings expectations in nine consecutive
quarters. Read the full analysis on FCX at
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2495


Momentum - Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW)

Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) is moving its silicon group into
a separate business division. The Sparc microelectronics group
will develop chips for the high-performance, cryptography and
network markets. The group will also supply Sun's systems
businesses and do business with OEMs around the world. CEO
Jonathan Schwartz commented, "Sun's innovations have value and
appeal beyond our own servers and storage products. As with
our software, decoupling our silicon from a strict reliance on
Sun's systems raises our profile and opportunity globally."
Read the full analysis on SUNW at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2496


Value - AMERISAFE, Inc. (AMSF)

AMERISAFE, Inc. (AMSF), presented as a Value pick on Dec 21,
has returned over 28%. AMSF exceeded analysts' earnings
expectations for the past five quarters--all double-digit
percentage surprises. Consensus earnings estimates continue to
trend higher for AMSF. Read the full analysis on AMSF at
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2497


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==============================================

2) PROFIT TRACKS

==============================================

Zacks.com is proud to share with you some of the best trading
strategies that truly allow you to Profit from the Pros. Today
we highlight...

Profit Tracks: Return on Equity (ROE)

This Profit Track strategy uses Return on Equity (ROE) to
discover solid stocks. ROE is one of the quickest ways to
gauge whether a company is creating assets or gobbling up
investors' cash.

ROE = income / common equity

Here are four stocks that make the grade for the Return on
Equity (ROE) Profit Track:

Alliant Techsystems, Inc. (ATK) will announce financial
results for the fiscal fourth quarter on May 4, 2007. The
company reported third-quarter results in early February.
Earnings per share increased on a year-over-year basis and
topped the consensus estimate by 6%. The company also raised
its guidance for fiscal 2007 and analysts followed suit. The
current full-year 2007 consensus estimate moved up to $5.20
per share. Two months ago, Wall Street was forecasting $5.08.
The company is creating assets as evidenced by its ROE of
29.75. The company's price to sales ratio is 0.83. Continue
your research on ATK at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2389

Big Lots, Inc. (BIG) has a ROE of 11.29 and a price to sales
ratio is 0.72. The company posted fourth-quarter results in
early March, stating that during 2006, it restored consistency
in comp sales growth, turned inventory faster, and generated
more cash than any other period in its history. Quarterly
earnings per share beat the consensus estimate by 15.5% and
more than doubled year-over-year. Continue your research on
BIG at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2390

United America Indemnity, Ltd (INDM) satisfies the criteria of
this Profit Track as evidenced by its ROE of 12.92 and price
to sales ratio is 0.91. INDM released fourth-quarter earnings
of 79 cents per share in early February. The result eclipsed
Wall Street estimates by 39% and topped the year-ago total.
The company reported quarterly earnings per share that were
ahead of the consensus estimate four times out of the past
five quarters. Continue your research on INDM at
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2391

Keystone Automotive Industries, Inc. (KEYS) recently announced
that it intends to appeal a ruling by an administrative judge
in a patent suit filed against the company by Ford Global
Technologies LLC. KEYS offers a ROE of 11.28 and a price to
sales ratio is 0.79. In late January, the company noted that
it delivered record earnings and sales for its fiscal third
quarter. Earnings per share totaled 57 cents, which surpassed
the previous year's 44 cents and jumped ahead of the consensus
estimate by 21%. Continue your research on KEYS at
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2392

To see the track details for this winning screen, go to
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2393

All the Profit Track strategies were created and backtested
using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment
Research. If you like this screening strategy, but want to
narrow down the list of stocks and even improve the
performance, then you should start a free trial to this
powerful stock picking tool. Learn more about the Research
Wizard free trial offer and our new special report "Top 10
Stock Screening Strategies" at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2394

****************************************************************


SCREEN OF THE WEEK

Don't Trade the Headlines

Kevin Matras explains why using a backtested trading strategy
is the only way to go:
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2395


====================================================

3) ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH

====================================================

With gas prices again heading north as the spring season
emerges, we wanted to speak with senior analyst Paul Raman,
CFA about how this - and other issues - are currently
affecting the automotive industry.

Where are U.S. automakers in terms of a turnaround these days?
Are you expecting big things in 2007?

U.S. automakers are continuing to cut costs in order to be
competitive with their overseas rivals. GM (GM) has witnessed
impressive earnings gains due to cost cutting, while Ford (F)
has not yet done so. I expect more of this basic trend in
2007.

More...

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Zacks Equity Research cont...

Are Japanese automakers still taking large amounts of market
share from its U.S. brethren, or is this finally slowing down?

Overseas car makers have 37% of the U.S. market, and this is
still rising. This is due to better quality cars that are gas
efficient and the U.S. public does not mind paying more for.

With gas prices going up again, do you expect to see more
hybrid cars emerging from U.S. automakers? How fast is the
hybrid market growing?

I expect to see more hybrids, but right now they are only 1-2%
of the market because they are expensive. It is growing, but
it takes time to introduce new products.

Which companies are your top Buy recommendations at this time?
Any Sells you'd care to mention?

I have GM rated a Buy. GM has witnessed noticeable earnings
improvement due to cost cutting, and is still a cheap stock at
only 7-8 times earnings.

To read the complete Analyst Interview, click
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2379

Paul Raman, CFA is a senior analyst covering the automotive
industry for Zacks Equity Research.

***********************************************************************

MORE FROM ZACKS EQUITY RESEARCH...

Analyst Blog

Real-time market insights from Zacks Equity Research Analysts.
Stocks featured recently include Conseco (CNO), Norfolk
Southern (NSC), Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) and CarMax (KMX). Get
their latest posts at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2584


BULL OF THE DAY

Dendreon Corp. (DNDN) - Up Big on FDA News.
Full Zacks research report at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2376


BEAR OF THE DAY

TriQuint Semi (TQNT) - Softening Market.
Full Zacks research report at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2377


EARNINGS PREVIEW

The Week of Apr 2 - Apr 6

Two religious holidays will have an impact on trading activity
this week:
http://at.zacks.com/?id=3241


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Find out which stocks have been recently upgraded by
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Read the reports on all of the stocks on the
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****************************************************************

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==============================================

4) OPTIONS CENTER

==============================================

Zacks has partnered with the leading options experts,
Schaeffer's Investment Research, to provide you the best
options commentary, research, and trading tools on the market
today.

Free Online Options Research at
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2664

Zacks/Schaeffer's Options Trading service at
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2665

Here is this week's article on how Schaeffer's Tools can help
you Profit with Options.

Last week, we looked at the Most Active Calls filter on Zacks.
This week we'll switch gears and check out the Put/Call Open
Interest Ratio Above 1.0 filter.

A put/call open interest ratio is simply the ratio of total
put open interest to total call open interest. We compute
Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) based on open
interest in the front three months only. These near-term
options tend to attract a more speculative crowd, the
sentiment of which is more useful for shorter-term trading.

Before looking at a particular stock, let's address our
Schaeffer's methodology. We are contrarian-based investors,
indicating that we want to see skepticism toward an
outperforming stock. On the other hand, we typically like to
see optimism toward an underperformer. In our eyes, too much
optimism is a sign that nearly everyone who wants to invest in
a particular stock already has. Just because a stock sees
substantial optimism doesn't mean that we will blindly short
that particular security; we need to see some negative price
action or a major catalyst for a downside move in order to
pull the trigger in most cases. Other indicators we use to
measure overall sentiment include short interest, magazine
cover stories, media comments, and analyst ratings.

Looking over the list of stocks with SOIRs above 1.0, I
noticed Kohl's (KSS). The security's SOIR rests at 1.64, as
put open interest easily outweighs call open interest among
options with fewer than three months until expiration. What's
more, this reading sits at an annual high. In other words, at
no time during the past year have options speculators been
more bearishly aligned against the shares.

Options players aren't the only ones who have their doubts
about the retailer. The number of KSS shares sold short has
risen to 10.4 million, resulting in a respectable short-
interest ratio of 3.7. An unwinding of these bearish bets
could supply the security with some short-covering support.

Meanwhile, Wall Street is split on the firm's prospects.
Zacks reports that KSS has earned eight "buy" ratings, seven
"holds," and one "strong sell." This configuration leaves
ample room for potential upgrades, which could supply the
shares with a nice boost.

From a technical perspective, KSS has been a stellar
performer. The equity has easily outpaced both the S&P 500
Index (SPX) and its peers in the S&P Retail Index (RLX) on a
monthly basis since January 2006. What's more, the stock is
currently sitting on a year-to-date gain of 11%, while the SPX
has tacked on less than 0.2%.

Last week, the equity broke through staunch resistance in the
74-75 region, which had capped KSS on a number of occasions
since late October. The stock hit its highest level since May
2002, and is now less than 4% away from its all-time high of
$78.83. Furthermore, the security has been in a strong
uptrend along the support of its 10-week and 20-week moving
averages since mid-February 2006. During this time frame, the
equity has suffered only four weekly closes below both of
these trendlines.

Overall, this combination of growing pessimism against the
stock's strong technical backdrop has bullish implications
from a contrarian perspective. As traders shed their short
positions and jump on the stock's bandwagon, the equity should
enjoy a nice boost in buying pressure.

Make sure to continue utilizing all of the valuable filters on
these pages for more money-making ideas. Moreover, don't be
afraid to make a few paper trades in order to see what
strategy works best for you. Please remember that, when it
comes to options, the majority of your trades are going to be
losers. Don't get discouraged, because that's the beauty of
the leverage that options provide. It takes only a few winners
out of every 10 trades to make you a very happy investor.
Thanks for reading, best of luck in your trading!

To learn more about the Most Active Call Options filter, click
here: http://at.zacks.com/?id=2381


Discover all the tools and commentary available from the
Zacks.com Options Center at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2382

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==============================================

5) Best of the Zacks $100,000 Challenge

==============================================

Zacks is conducting a nationwide talent search to find the
very best stock pickers. The winner gets a $100,000 dream job
with Zacks! Sign up for free to join the competition, or just
read what stocks the leading players are trading on the Zacks
Challenge Player Blogs. http://at.zacks.com/?id=3504


Best of the Zacks Challenge Player Blogs
-----------------------------------------

Here's what the leading players are saying lately:

Beris (Rank #15 with $139,686)

MY PRECIOUS SHINES AGAIN (HL)
This should be a sign of a strong, very strong, stock that is
just about to break out! Even as silver sells off somewhat, as
it did Friday, my precious keeps rising. Hecla Mining (HL)
keeps slowly creeping...

Read More or Comment on this post:
http://at.zacks.com/?id=3505


Java J

>> JAVA'S MARKET MUSINGS #21 <<
On Friday the market opened with a brief upward rally and then
immediately reversed and sold off...the result was a day that
saw the market virtually unchanged...let's see if we can
continue to sustain and build on the rally attempt started
Friday...

Read More or Comment on this post:
http://at.zacks.com/?id=3506


LesterMajkowicz (Rank #14 with $143,599)

MY PARTIAL LIST OF METAL STOCKS
Tredegear (TG): This is not a mining stock but it is a user of
aluminum for extrusions. The company has good revenue growth
and very low debt. I think this looks good at...

Read More or Comment on this post:
http://at.zacks.com/?id=3507


Read all the Player Blog posts at:
http://at.zacks.com/?id=3504

****************************************************************

OTHER TOOLS FROM ZACKS

At the heart of Zacks Investment Research is the Zacks Rank
investment philosophy that continues to vastly outperform the
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* +31.8% average annual return since 1988 versus +11.8% for
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* +43.8% total return from 2000 to 2002 - the worst
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* +18% in 2005

And just as importantly, the Zacks #5 Rank stocks (Strong
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FREE PORTFOLIO TRACKER

Do you believe that these events affect stock prices?

* Broker Recommendation changes
* Earning Estimate revisions
* Earnings Announcements
* Zacks Rank changes

If you answered yes, then how are you staying on top of these
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We hope you enjoyed this issue of "Zacks.com Profit from the
Pros" and we look forward to visiting with you again tomorrow.

REFER-A-FRIEND

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Regards and Happy Investing,

Charles Rotblut, CFA

Senior Market Analyst
Zacks.com

p.s. What is the mission for Zacks Profit from the Pros?
To find out how we will help you become a more
successful investor, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=2388

The Zacks Performance Rank performance is the total return
(price changes + dividends) of equal weighted portfolios,
consisting of those stocks with the indicated Zacks Rank,
assuming zero transaction costs and monthly rebalancing.
Simulated results do not represent actual trading and may not
reflect the impact that economic and market factors might have
had on decision-making if an adviser were actually managing a
client's money.

*The S&P 500 Index is a well-known, unmanaged index of the
prices of 500 large-company common stocks, mainly blue-chip
stocks, selected by Standard & Poor's. The S&P 500 Index
assumes reinvestment of dividends but does not reflect
advisory fees. An investor cannot invest directly in an
index.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future
results. Investors should always research companies and
securities before making any investments. Nothing herein
should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell
any security.

To contact us by mail:

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