Getting In on Stocks Moving Forward: NCTY, COBZ, AKRX

Trends, Observations, and Exclusive Opinion

Three SmallCaps on Track to Increase Shareholder Value

NCTY: Online Gamers to Become Minority Investors

COBZ: Regional Banker Makes an Impressive Y-O-Y Resurgence

AKRX: Drug Provider Could Set another High if Numbers are Strong

First up this morning we have The9 Limited (NCTY) http://www.corp.the9.com/ currently trading in the $4.95 range. NCTY has a 52-week high of $10.10 set on 08-06-09 with current trailing twelve month revenues of $112+ million. NCTY develops and operates games for the online market. Based in Shanghai, NCTY operates licensed MMORPGs and advanced casual games, including: Soul of The Ultimate Nation, Granado Espada, EA SPORTS FIFA Online 2, Atlantica, and Kingdom Heroes 2 Online, as well as its proprietary games World of Fighter and Jiu Zhou Zhan Ji in mainland China. NCTY also holds exclusive licenses to operate other games in mainland China, including Shen Xian Zhuan and Audition 2. NCTY has a pipeline of proprietary games in the works like: Winning Goal, Miracles: Ultimate X, Tiny Tribe, and other MMORPGs and advanced causal games. On July 8 NCTY announced it had made a minority investment in Aurora Feint, a mobile game developer. U.S. based Aurora Feint operates OpenFeint, a mobile gaming network that lets users socialize with friends and other players while playing games on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. OpenFeint has more than 28 million registered users. The amount NCTY will invest wasn’t disclosed. Standard & Poor's equity analyst Scott Kessler called the move ‘a strategically sound investment’ for NCTY and reiterated a ‘hold’ rating on the NCTY American Depositary shares. At half of its high and getting a strong foothold in the U.S. primarily aimed at mobile game users, NCTY is a short-term (6 Mo) ‘Buy’ consideration for me. NCTY will host a conference call and webcast on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 9:00 PM, EST to discuss its Q2 ’10 financial results.

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Next up this morning we have CoBiz Financial Inc., (COBZ) http://www.cobizbank.com/ currently trading in the $6.15 range on a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 149,616 shares. COBZ has a 52-week high of $8.29 set on 04-26-10 with current trailing twelve month revenues of $43+ million.  As of December 31, 2009, COBZ operated 12 locations, including 9 in the Denver metropolitan area, 1 in Boulder, and 2 in the Vail area in Colorado under the name Colorado Business Bank; and 8 locations serving the Phoenix metropolitan area and the surrounding area of Maricopa County in Arizona under the name Arizona Business Bank. A very strong turnaround: COBZ recently posted a loss of $3.8 million in Q2, substantially less than the $15.8 million it lost in the same quarter a year earlier. “I am pleased to see our operating fundamentals continue to improve,” Chairman and CEO Steve Bangert said in a statement. “Our performance is trending in a positive direction as we continue to see loan-loss provision expense decline, reported strong fee income during the quarter and enjoy a comparatively strong net interest margin.” In mid-July research house Rodman and Renshaw initiated coverage on COBZ with a ‘market outperform. Readers know I’m a big supporter of regional and community banks and over $2 off its high, and that remarkable y-o-y turnaround, COBZ would also be a short-term ‘Buy’ consideration for me.  

And finally this morning we have Akorn Inc., (AKRX) http://www.akorn.com/ currently trading in the $3.55 range on a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 769,392 shares. AKRX has current trailing twelve month revenues of $74+ million. AKRX set a 52-week high on Friday. AKRX markets diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceuticals in the areas of ophthalmology, antidotes, anti-infectives, and controlled substances for pain management and anesthesia in the U.S. AKRX customers include physicians, optometrists, hospitals, wholesalers, group purchasing organizations, and other pharmaceutical companies. The new high came on the anticipation of an announced conference call on Tuesday, August 3, 2010, to discuss AKRX Q2 ’10 financial results. AKRX will release earnings the same day before the market opens. Even at its current high, AKRX would also be a short-term ‘Buy’ consideration for me.

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