[ NKE, PERLF ]
Scott,
Two things:
Nike: You were correct in the assumption that I was referring to opening a possible short position. It of course rests on the assumption that the upward momentum will fade and exhaust itself to the extent that a breakout attempt would fail. If it does fail, then I would expect it to be one of the last attempted trendline-breakout failures. The next shot should do it, at least for my current opinion.
Perle: I ran across it from a stock screen that I ran from the sight iqc.com Admittedly, the features are quite limited, but it did the job in that it came up with some interesting value candidates. Perle came out on top, and that's when I decided to take a deeper look. I tried to contact Doug Langford (the CFO) today about other matters. Every time I look deeper into the company, more questions need to be answered, but the answers I find seem to be quite positive.
The next batch of questions I need to address to the company has to do with the AS/400 business. As it makes up 89% of the revenues for the company, I realized I should be putting 89% of the focus onto that side of the business, rather than the 11% I have been giving it. The Remote Access portion of the business makes up the other 11%, but it seems that I was giving it 89% of the focus. My impression of Perle's RAS is very good. I have checked with some of their resellers' web sites, and it is good to see the heavier focus given to the Perle 833.
The company has outstanding service. To me, it is what provides the company with a niche in their market. Service is what has made the Dells and Nordstroms what it is today. In Making It in America, the authors cite Ten Paths to Success, of which number 4 is "Exceed Customer Expectations." This means going all out to please the customer, and getting that repeat business. My conversations with others in the business world tell me that it was the Compaqs' and the Maxtors' unquestionable service that played large roles in having them refer others to their businesses.
Here's a site that will show you the edge that Perle has over its competitors:
sps.co.za
Scroll down to the very bottom and look at the chart. In the mean time, I am going to try and focus on the AS/400 portion of the business, and see if I can find out more about the employee stock ownership within the company.
Regards,
Rainier |
