ICF International, Inc. (ICFI)

testing top 12 1yr gainers

Read their annual reports and presentations, they speak for themselves. In a few words: Great sectors, great management, and solid recruitment of employees.

Safe harbor.

Company for hire by government agencies to do unbiased research and reporting on various subjects. Given that government appears to be stepping up and working again, and given that the amount of contracts awarded to ICFI has increased...the stock price look poised for sustained upward movement.

O/U 129

IMO demand will stay stable to strong in this area of consulting. I think there will continue to be major spending on infrastructure and global climate changes/impact.

Global business. Selling information is always a high profit business so long as you can deliver the goods.

I was impressed with the CEO on the conf call. You just often have a feeling about a CEO, especially when he/she has to answer the tough questions from analysts. This guy has it.

Lastly, institutional ownership is very low so if it pops up on some radars after a few quarters there is a long way to go before it could overbought.

magicformulainvesting.com screen at $153M market cap, top 25 companies on June 26, 2008

This company has such amazing potential that I decided to dedicate some time to a slightly lengthy analysis.

Please read: http://caps.fool.com/Blogs/ViewPost.aspx?bpid=63970&t=01001664020471485901

Found ICFI via the CAPS Screener [great tool!], 5 Stars, >250 picks, no all-star underperforms.

If McCain wins in '08, the sky's the limit for this defense contractor. Obviously, the market doesn't feel the same way, but I see an opportunity right now to get in cheap.

CAPS Rating: 5 Stars [364 outperforms / 3 underperforms]

Only 2 large fund managers have gotten this one right in q-1 2008. All others will look foolish.

I said buy back in May, it's May.

MagicFormula pick. Betting on a low here. CAPS 5 stars with no underperforms. I may watch and put real money in this. Buy@17.42 and check in a year.

Almost 7% drop today plus lots of recommendations. If I had spare change around, I'd buy for real. May evaluate some current holdings and see about lateral movement of money.

screen

p/e < 10

rev growth > 20

earnings growth > 20

re-up to lower basis

Energy, environment and infrastructure with a global presence and a super low stock price due to Katrina errors. Katrina's not coming back, but the demand for ICF's services will only continue to accelerate. I C a buying opp.

Testing out a portfolio of smallish-cap 5-star stocks found using the CAPS screener. All picks have at least 50 allstars backing them, which should be enough to minimize star rating fluctuations. It's only been about a week, and I expect a LOT of volatility, but I have high hopes for market beating performance. Time will tell...

They have a great growth opportunity in the environmental consulting space. The carbon credit market is emerging and many companies will be looking for ways to cut emissions.

This company is in all the right sectors, but is beaten down, if I'm not mistaken, because of a $3M max charge it may have to take relating to Katrina bureaucracy.

2nd try