The Daily Workshop Report
by Robert Sheard (TMF Sheard)

LEXINGTON, KY. (January 30)

The best keep getting better. Earlier this week I discussed how APPLIED MAGNETICS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: APM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: APM)") end if %> has a six-month price chart which looks something like a ski jump ramp. Today, someone boosted the angle of take-off. This producer of magnetic recording heads used in computer disk drives tacked on yet another 9% today. Since the beginning of October, it's up nearly 200%.

And it wasn't alone today. Disk-drive maker WESTERN DIGITAL <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: WDC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: WDC)") end if %> also soared, picking up more than 5.5% on the session. One thing market watchers look for, they tell me, is how the broader market reacts when the Dow industrials make a big move. Yesterday the Dow jumped 84 points late in the day, but the rest of the market didn't really move. Today, however, that wasn't the case as smaller stocks, led primarily by technology companies, picked up steam (or would a more appropriate metaphor be "increased output"? Nah... the old metaphor works just fine.)

On the Value screen front, the big winner today was PHILIP MORRIS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MO)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MO)") end if %>. After reporting earnings yesterday, the tobacco and food conglomerate jumped $3 1/2 a share today, or 3%. The company only beat First Call estimates for earnings per share by a penny, but when you realize Philip Morris has roughly 814 million outstanding shares, those pennies add up and soon enough, you're talking real money!

Looking ahead, tomorrow's new rankings for the Growth screens (which I'll post over the weekend) are not the ones we use for February. I always use the first Friday of each month, so we're still a week away from the update for next month.

For those of you playing the Thoroughbred Stock Challenge, tomorrow's session ends the first month and the entry form for February's game is up on the website and ready for your submissions. I will accept entries (based on the date and time-stamp provided by the server, so leave yourself some room for slow connections) up until the opening bell rings on Monday, February 3.

Monthly Growth Screens
     (Jan. 3 to present)
28.15%  Relative Strength  
25.10%  YPEG Potential  
  9.62%  Low Price/Sales  
  4.83%  S&P 500 Index  
  4.48%  Investing for Growth  
  2.17%  Unemotional Growth  
 -1.73%  EPS Plus RS  

Annual Value Screens
     (Jan. 1 to present)
  5.64%  Dogs of the Dow  
  4.59%  Beating the S&P  
  2.04%  Dow Combo  
  1.93%  Unemotional Value  
  1.93%  Beating the Dow  
  0.55%  Foolish Four