Spherion Corp (SFN)

With companies wary of making long term hires in an uncertain market, they may turn to temp agencies to fill needs in the interim.

trend PS test

Temp agency - understandably low with unemployment going through the roof. However, they are in much better position compared to Kelly services (KELYA), MPS Group (MPS), and True Blue (TBI).

President recently put his money where his mouth is, buying $10,000 shares.
No LT Debt, PEG extremely low at .17

I'm holding out for a retracement to the $1.00 neighborhood.

I'm experimenting with a particular stock screen. Super low PE, PEG and P/B with a great growth rate makes this an attractive stock.

Low P/E, high projected 5-year EPS growth rate will produce at least a three bagger with this one!

this company is shady. check out the recent headlines: denial of benefits to the spouses of their deceased employees; discriminatory hiring practices. this "thumbs-down" is more of a wish than an analysis. i hope they fail miserably,

The Company provides temporary staffing services, managed services and permanent placement services within North America.

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Small cap value. Est valuation $400M

Its ability to place people in the workforce.

Piotroski's

Staffing co. will do well in the real estate downturn.

5-star stock on sale today.

Trading at 61% intrinsic value.

As gas prices continue to rise, the whole retail sector will come under more and more pressure, especially stores
that sell cr*p.

I have worked with consultants from this agency. They are usually very good at what they do.

Spherion Corporation (SFN) provides temporary staffing services, managed services and permanent placement services in the US and Canada. Temporary staffing services include personnel in clerical, light industrial, information technology, finance and accounting, legal, engineering, sales and marketing and other sectors. Managed services include managing recruitments, administrative services, data center and network operations. Within permanent placement, the company’s employees locate talent on behalf of clients, screen the candidates and assist in the recruitment efforts.

The staffing market in North America, which includes temporary staffing, permanent placement and other services, is worth $108 billion as of 2006 and is expected to grow by 5%-6% annually for the next few years. Demand for skilled workforce is increasing in sectors like finance, accounting, legal, engineering, and information technology. Demographics of the labor force continue to indicate that the overall labor pool may shrink over the next 10 years, creating a shortage of qualified job candidates. This shortage would translate companies to use services provided by Spherion.

SFN is focusing on bringing down its low margin large account business while concentrating on increasing its business mix from small and mid sized accounts, which represented 54% of revenues for 2006. This initiative is likely to drive bill rates and improve its gross margins. Also during the 2005-2006, the company exited some of its non-core business, which should enable the company to return to revenue growth. Thus the shares of Spherion offer good opportunity for long-term investors.

Bought on 1/312007.

Staffing is great place to be - labor will be THE challenge over the next decade.

Spherion's internaal turn-over of key people at the operational level will significanly hinder their Q1