Zacks.com Featured Expert Kevin Matras Highlights: JLG Industries, Lamson & Sessions and Maritrans, Inc.

CHICAGO -- Kevin Matras looks at cash flows (and increasing cash flows) for a winning stock picking strategy. Stocks in this week's article are: JLG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:JLG), Lamson & Sessions Co. (NYSE:LMS), and Maritrans, Inc. (NYSE:TUG). Click here for the full story exclusively on Zacks.com: http://at.zacks.com/?id=109

Screen of the Week written by Kevin Matras of Zacks Investment Research:

This week's screen focuses on cash flows (and increasing Cash Flows) as one of the main components in this stock picking strategy. Cash flow is considered by some analysts to be a company's most important financial barometer. Since cash flow pays the bills and keeps the company operating, many look to it as the best measure of a business's profits.

The parameters to this screen are as follows;

--  Zacks Rank equal to 1
        (The Zacks Rank has proven to be one of the best, if not THE
        BEST rating system out there. Only stocks with a "Strong Buy"
        from Zacks are included.)

    --  Average Broker Rating equal to 1
        (Since broker ratings are typically skewed wildly to 'Buy' and
        "Strong Buy", Kevin has decided to cancel out any company
        where the brokers aren't fully on board.)

    --  Current Cash Flow greater than or equal to 5 Year Avg. Cash
        Flow ($/share)
        (This will produce only those stocks that are exhibiting
        Stable or Increasing cash flows with respect to their 5-year
        average cash flow numbers.)

        And all of the stocks have to be trading at:

    --  Greater than or equal to $5 share

Results:

Kevin ran a series of tests over each of the last 4-1/2 years (January 2001 thru July 2005). Each test used a four-week rebalancing period and each run was rebalanced over a different set of four-week periods to eliminate coincidental performance and to verify robustness.

In 2001, this strategy showed an average annualized gross return of 37.8%. In 2002, it showed a return of over 41.9%. In 2003, it was up a whopping 102.9%. In 2004, its average annualized gross return was up 22.4%. And so far in 2005 (thru 7/29/05), its average cumulative gross return is up 20.8%.

This week (for Monday, 8/15/05), there are nine stocks that made it thru this screen.

(BTW, one of the stocks Kevin planned on featuring in this week's list, had a significant upside breakout Monday and was up $3.49 by day's end. That stock was LUFK. So he won't be highlighting that one. But imagine if you had this strategy and the Research Wizard. You would have known about it on Monday morning instead of reading about it on Tuesday. In fact, it's been on this screen's list for the last four weeks and is up over $11 since it first appeared.)

Here's 3 (other) stocks from this week's list:

JLG JLG Industries, Inc.

LMS Lamson & Sessions Co.

TUG Maritrans, Inc.

All the Screen of the Week strategies are created and back-tested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. Learn more about the Research Wizard free trial offer and our new special report "Top 10 Stock Screening Strategies" at http://at.zacks.com/?id=111

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

About Screen of the Week

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