Company name Online Resources Corporation
Stock ticker ORCC
Live stock price [stckqut]ORCC[/stckqut]
Confident Investor Rating Poor

The following company description is from Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=orcc

Online Resources Corporation provides outsourced, Web and phone-based financial technology services to financial institution, biller, card issuer and creditor clients. The Company’s products and services enable its clients to provide their consumer end-users with the ability to perform various self-service functions, including electronic bill payments and funds transfers, which utilize its debit architecture, ACH and other payment methods, as well as gain online access to their accounts, transaction histories and other information. The Company operates in two markets: Banking Services and e-Commerce Services. For banks, credit unions and other depository financial institutions, it provides electronic bill payment and online banking services. For billers, card issuers and credit providers, it provides Web- and phone-based payment, account presentation and Web-collections services, along with supporting professional services.
Confident Investor comments: At this price and at this time, I do not think that a Confident Investor can confidently invest in this stock. It is not possible to confidently invest in a company that is not currently profitable.

Company name National-Oilwell Varco, Inc.
Stock ticker NOV
Live stock price [stckqut]NOV[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Good

MANAGEMENT EXECUTION

Employee productivity Poor
Sales growth Good
EPS growth Good
P/E growth Poor
EBIT growth Good

ANALYSIS

Confident Investor Rating Fair
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $67.58
Target stock price (averages with growth) $66.25
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $56.32
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $67.76

The following company description is from Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=nov

National Oilwell Varco, Inc. is a worldwide provider of equipment and components used in oil and gas drilling and production operations, oilfield services, and supply chain integration services to the upstream oil and gas industry. The Company operates through three segments: Rig Technology, Petroleum Services & Supplies, and Distribution & Transmission. Its Rig Technology segment designs, manufactures, sells and services complete systems for the drilling, completion, and servicing of oil and gas wells. Its Petroleum Services & Supplies segment provides a variety of consumable goods and services used to drill, complete, remediate and workover oil and gas wells and service drill pipe, tubing, casing, flowlines and other oilfield tubular goods. Its Distribution & Transmission segment provides maintenance, repair and operating supplies and spare parts to drill site and production locations worldwide. In May 2012, it acquired Wilson distribution business segment from Schlumberger Limited.

 

Confident Investor comments: At this time, I think that a Confident Investor can cautiously invest in this stock as long as the price is correct. Most of the fundamentals of this company are good but there are some concerns.

 

Company name Mentor Graphics Corp
Stock ticker MENT
Live stock price [stckqut]MENT[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Good

MANAGEMENT EXECUTION

Employee productivity Poor
Sales growth Good
EPS growth Good
P/E growth Poor
EBIT growth Good

ANALYSIS

Confident Investor Rating Fair
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $22.76
Target stock price (averages with growth) $29.73
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $21.97
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $19.44

The following company description is from Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=ment

Mentor Graphics Corporation is a supplier of electronic design automation (EDA) tools – computer software and emulation hardware systems used to automate the design, analysis, and testing of electro-mechanical systems, electronic hardware, and embedded systems software in electronic systems and components. The Company markets its products and services worldwide, primarily to companies in the military and aerospace, communications, computer, consumer electronics, semiconductor, networking, multimedia, and transportation industries. The Company sells and licenses its products through its direct sales force and a channel of distributors and sales representativesThe electronic components and systems that the Company’s customers create with its products include printed circuit boards (PCBs), integrated circuits (ICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), embedded software solutions, wire harness systems, and computers. In January 2012, the Company acquired the Flowmaster Group.

 

Confident Investor comments: At this time, I think that a Confident Investor can cautiously invest in this stock as long as the price is correct. Most of the fundamentals of this company are good but there are some concerns.

 

There will be a national holiday in the US next week on Wednesday, July 4th. This may seem obvious to anyone looking at the calendar but it is very important for investors.

Many professional investors will be on vacation all next week.  More importantly, their bosses will likely be on vacation next week.  Be careful of your investments during times when major mutual funds and investment companies have large percentages of their executives on vacation. Many of the trades will be on “autopilot” and the market volume is likely to be down.

As a habit, I rarely initiate a new position on a short work week.  Also, I never initiate a new position on the week of Thanksgiving or when the national holiday is on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. I even try to avoid the first work day after a 3-day weekend.

You may have a different experience but avoiding these shortened work-weeks has been good for my portfolio.

Company name Mercer International Inc.
Stock ticker MERC
Live stock price [stckqut]MERC[/stckqut]
P/E compared to competitors Good

MANAGEMENT EXECUTION

Employee productivity Good
Sales growth Poor
EPS growth Poor
P/E growth Fair
EBIT growth Poor

ANALYSIS

Confident Investor Rating Poor
Target stock price (TWCA growth scenario) $0.28
Target stock price (averages with growth) $0.44
Target stock price (averages with no growth) $0.79
Target stock price (manual assumptions) $4.36

The following company description is from Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=merc

Mercer Inc. (Mercer) operates in the pulp business and is the producer of market northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp. The Company’s operations are located in Eastern Germany and Western Canada. The Company produces pulp for resale, which include market pulp in Germany. The Company operates three NBSK pulp mills with a consolidated annual production capacity of approximately 1.5 million air-dried metric tons. The mills include Rosenthal mill, Celgar mill and Stendal mill. The mills constitute to the Company’s individual pulp mills segment. The Company manufactures and sells NBSK pulp produced from wood chips and pulp logs. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company’s mills generated 652,113 megawatt hours, 520,005 megawatt hours and 478,674 megawatt hours, respectively, of surplus energy, primarily from a renewable carbon-neutral source. During the year ended December 3, 2011, the Company sold 652,113 megawatt hours and 520,005 megawatt hours of surplus energy.

 

Confident Investor comments: At this price and at this time, I do not think that a Confident Investor can confidently invest in this stock.