Force Protection (FRPT)

Company

"Force Protection, Inc. is a leading American designer, developer and manufacturer of survivability solutions, predominantly blast- and ballistic-protected wheeled vehicles currently deployed by the U.S. military and its allies to support armed forces and security personnel in conflict zones. The Company's specialty vehicles, the Cougar, the Buffalo, the Cheetah and the Ocelot, are designed specifically for reconnaissance and urban operations and to protect their occupants from landmines, hostile fire, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs, commonly referred to as roadside bombs). The Company also is the developer and manufacturer of ForceArmor™, an armor package providing superior protection against explosively formed projectiles (EFPs), now available for a wide range of tactical-wheeled vehicles. The Company is one of the original developers and primary providers of vehicles for the U.S. military's Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicle program." (company website)

frpt(4-1)
FRPT 4-month chart
frpt(4-1)_1yr
FRPT 1-year chart

Buy

20 October 2009. Force Protection's stock collapsed in July when a big contract for armored vehicles was awarded to a competitor, Oshkosh (OSK), but it soon began to recover when Oshkosh announced it would subcontract some of the work to the losing bidders. FRPT now trades in a fairly narrow channel which, since September, has been above the 50-day moving average; it is now at the lower bound of the channel, which should be presage another upswing.

  • Percentage price oscillator (PPO) — a tad below the signal line, but the PPO has been closely shadowing the signal for some weeks now
  • Volume — although average volumes are declining, the higher-than-normal spikes are getting higher and higher

Based on technical analysis, MarketEdge calls FRPT a "buy" in a "strong upward trend."

bonecrusher
Buffalo series — aka The Bonecrusher. I wouldn't mind having one of those myself for dealing with the snowbird drivers.

Sell

gain Bottom line
-10%

26 October 2009. It was not a good sign when FRPT broke below the 50-day moving average, and it was an worse sign when my laptop froze up over the weekend so I couldn't get on to take action. But, my triggers kicked in and I bailed anyway.