September 17, 2007 –
Redbox kiosk-based, $1/night DVD rentals is an opportunity in the making. Though not currently offered publicly, this company, first developed by McDonald’s Venture’s, LLC, the same people who brought you Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), is booming, with thousands of locations. Most visible at McDonald’s restaurants and many grocery store chains, including Albertson’s, a SuperValu company, and others, the kiosks are bright, inviting Mecca’s for the value-based video voyeur. The concept was first tested in 2002 and in 2005, Coinstar, Inc., famous for their self-service coin counting, electronic payment solutions, and entertainment services, bought nearly ½ ownership. Redbox Automated Retail, LLC, is operated by a four-person Board of Directors, with McDonald’s Ventures LLC and Coinstar, Inc, equally represented. In April 2007, they announced the surpassing of a benchmark; more than 38 million DVD rentals had been rented and they had 2,900 national locations. This is huge, since these numbers made them 5th in the nation in DVD rentals. They have few overhead costs and many convenient locations in Idaho. Each fully automated redbox kiosk holds more than 500 DVDs, representing over 70 of the newest movie releases, with new titles available weekly. Consumers simply use a touch screen to select their favorite movies, swipe a valid credit or debit card and go. Customers can keep the DVD for as long as they’d like for $1 per night plus tax or return it to any kiosk nationwide. This easy-to-use, no-muss, no-fuss system is a Godsend and I’m anxiously awaiting an opportunity to cough up more than a dollar when there is an IPO. [more]
June 11, 2007 –
Here's an interesting, recent article that provides information about the susceptibility of MRAP vehicles to Explosively Formed Projectiles, essentially copper-plated shaped charges designed to defeat armored vehicles. New Defense Against Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs)?
by David Crane
[more]
May 14, 2007 –
To say there has been a meteoric rise in FRPT share value in the past year is an understatement. The previous 5 years’ stock value has been worth less than $5/share. FRPT stock is up $7/share in past month, since I first considered it. The company, who has only been in the armored vehicle business since 2002, spent over $25M more than it made in the last year, mostly to fund manufacturing facility improvements and additions, I believe. Less than 40% of shares are owned by insiders or corporate investors. Their ROE is less than the industry average over the past 5 years. FRPT has an intrinsic value per share of $14.17. FRPT currently sells in the high $20/share range. This is less than a 25% discount to intrinsic value. To offer a 25% discount to intrinsic value, FRPT's price has to drop to $10.63 or lower. Quicken’s Motley Fool Foolish 8 criteria, which includes a companies relative strength, share price over $7 (eliminating penny shares), daily dollar volume, dynamic sales and earnings growth (>25%), sales of less than $500m over past 12 months (uncut gem criteria), net profit margin over past fiscal year, insider holdings and positive cash flow, merits some interest. FRPT currently has a P/E ratio of 60.8; anything with a P/E over 15 looks unattractive based on price. [more]
February 10, 2007 –
Owners of Quicken who use the stock research tools know that one option is to use the one-click scorecard, in which Motley Fool employs 8 questions to decide whether a stock is of potential interest. The questions are: [more]
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